2010 Winter Hokkaido Day 3 - Sapporo

Woke up early to catch the 7.04am train to Sapporo. There were tractors plowing the snow on the roads.

Took the Super Hokuto which was a 3 hour ride to Sapporo.

 

Bought my breakfast at the convenience store to eat on the train.

 

Tasty onigiri with bonito flakes inside.

 

 

Some random shots of the snow-clad countryside.

 

 

 

 

 

After I deposited by bags, I made my way to the Ishiya's Shiroi Koibito Park - home of the Shiroi Koibito snacks.

 

 

 

You are given this passport thing which you can somehow accumulate points to become a member or something.

 

The production line of the factory.

 

Took a break at the cafe inside.

 

Had this chocolate and strawberry cake.

 

Coffee. Somehow, the whipped cream on top was mightily delicious - very fluffy and aromatic and does not give me that oily, queasy sensation I get with whipped creams in our local shops.

 

After doing some snack shopping, I proceeded back to the city centre. This is an old clock tower within the city. Quite a contrast to the surrounding modern buildings. Houses a museum within, but I did not venture in.

 

Hakodate was pretty quiet with not much eye candies. Sapporo being a city had more, but probably not as much as Tokyo. In the name of fashion, you can spot some of these girls actually wearing short skirts and no leggings in the winter, especially the high school students.

 

Sapporo TV tower located at one end of the Odori Park.

 

That's Odori Park running down right in the centre. You can see construction going on in preparation for the Snow Festival in February.

Unlike Tokyo, Sapporo is easy to navigate. To the right is North side of the city; and to the left is the south side. Addresses are simply in terms of how many blocks in a certain direction. For example, South 5 West 3 simply means 5th block south and 3rd block west!

 

The park lits up at night. I am sure it would be even more beautiful during the winter festival.

 

Yes, it is only 5.30pm and it is totally dark.

 

 

 

Next I was headed for my dinner, and I had to walk through Susukino, which was a nightlife area, with shops and hawks dealing in trades of the flesh.

 

It's 0 degrees tonight as seen on the Kirin board. It was cold but not the coldest of my days here.

 

I had called to book myself at this restaurant which I saw on Channelnewsasia's Japan Hour. After getting a little lost, I finally found the place, where I was soon to have my most expensive meal to date, but certainly the most worthy in my opinion.

 

I was headed to Kani-tei, a crab restaurant. There are many such restaurants in this city, but usually books recommend the more common ones which are probably more touristy.

 

 

Can't get any more local than this. I sat on tatami mats, and besides myself, there was only another table of three. I wonder how they actually survive.

  

They had a variety of crab courses, and I simply took the one which the proprietress recommended, which was neither the most expensive nor the cheapest.

First up is some appetizers - pickled bamboo shoots, scallop trimmings and a piece of beef.

 

Sauces to go with the food. Was not too sure what the sauce on the right was actually.

 

They asked if sashimi was ok for me; of course it was ok! It was a mixture of uni, scallop, shellfish, ebi and some kind of fish. They were all very fresh. First time I had shellfish sashimi and it was of a slightly crunchy texture. Ebi was very sweet and uni was as good as what I had in Hakodate.

 

Crab sashimi - first time for me too. Even in its raw state, you could see the fibrous strands of the meat. It was a little chewy and sweet.

 

Crab Shu-mai. This was amazing! It was crispy on the outside, and extremely soft inside because I think they used a little tofu. A textural contrast!

 

The course came with 2 kinds of steamed crabs. This was not a whole crab. Not too sure what kind it is, but you can see the horn-y shell. The meat was light and did not have the usual crab flavour, but it was very very sweet.

 

I was also served kegani or hairy crab. This was one whole crab. The meat on this one tasted like the crab taste we get locally, but a little more intense and sweet. The roe was packed full of flavour.

 

The shells are cracked ready for you such that you can easily dig out the meat with the special tool provided. I took a long time to eat this until they were no longer hot. I was probably too quiet too, because the cook and proprietress came to check on me a few times, asking me if it was delicious.

 

Grilled fish.

 

Steamed mussel.

 

The other thing Hokkaido is famous for is the quality of its potatoes. This was baked mashed potato which was very sweet. The topping was squid seasoned in miso. It was a pretty nice combination together.

 

Pickled radish.

 

The last item was porridge. It had the scent of what I believe to be shiso herb. The stock was very sweet and I think it was crab stock.

 

 

I was offered ice cream, but I passed as I was quite full.

This is the proprietress and the cook. I told them I knew their shop from a TV program, and apparently, it had aired in Japan a year ago, although I only saw it a few months back. Their reaction to me being from Singapore was again: "Merlion."

 

This course cost 12060yen or about about S$186. My most expensive meal, but definitely a memorable one and one for which the quality is worth the price.