2010 Winter Hokkaido Day 5 - Sapporo

This picture was taken the night before. As I mentioned, I was walking the streets in the falling snow. And the snow got heavier as the night went on.

Next morning...

 

The streets were all covered with snow and I woke up to a -3 degrees morning, which eventually went to -8 degrees by night.

 

I had a sandwich I bought the night before as I intended to try a ramen place in a few hours' time. But as I walked out, it was so cold, I decided to hide in Mister Donut at the station.

While I was here, I decided to try the mochi donut my friend raved about. Indeed, it was quite delightful as it was not overly chewy. I also had this bitter chocolate donut which I think was sensational. Inside, was a gooey filling of chocolate pudding. Mind you, that's pure chocolate goodness and not the whipped cream kind we get at JCo. Overall, I think Mister Donut's great. Their donuts do not have that oily feel and smell like our local shops.

 

I decided to walk to the ramen shop which was actually quite far as I was still early. The streets are really covered with snow.

 

This ramen had better be good too, because I fell along the way crossing the streets, because of the slippery snow...so malu. I landed on my butt and spectacles literally flew. It was so cold I had to duck into convenience shops when I could, and I saw these cans along the way.

 

Finally, I found Ramen Gojyogen which was located in a really quiet neighbourhood, as it was pretty far from the bustling side of town. I knew about this shop not from books, but from some Taiwanese blogs.

 

Being so early, I was the first customer. I even had to wait a while as they were not quite ready yet.

 

Char-siu Onigiri as recommended by what I read.

 

I ordered a pork and salt flavoured ramen. Overall, I think it was not too bad in its own right. The egg was runny enough. The char-siu was well seasoned, and the little fats went well with the ramen.

 

However, therein lies my new resolution with regards to ramen: it no longer excites me. Apart from Marutama's Seven Nuts soup stock, every ramen place is usually salt, miso, tonkotsu or shoyu. Ramen no longer surprises any more in terms of taste or texture. It has, for me, simply become a case of "nice" or "not nice". I conclude henceforth ramen is no longer my priority and I will not make an effort to try it unless I'm in the mood.

It was snowing again and was freezing, but in the end I decided to make my way to the next stop: Sapporo Beer Factory. How could I possibly miss the birthplace of my favorite beer.

 

  

They have a museum inside on the history of the beer. Here are some old signages from 1900s.

 

 

A small gallery of their different bottles and cans.

 

Old advertisement posters.

 

At the lounge, I ordered their beer sampler set. The one of the left is the usual cans you see in Singapore. The one in the center had a stronger flavour. The one on the right is the one I like best. It was very light and refreshing. I wonder if they sell it in Singapore.

 

A complimentary pack of crackers.

 

Next to the beer factory was a large shopping mall.

 

There was a huge supermarket here and it was a delight walking through it looking at all the local produce. It was also the first supermarket in Japan that I came across that stocks everything from raw foods to tidbits, as the ones in the city usually stock only raw foods.

 

Next, I headed back to city center. Sapporo also has a tram system, but here, it costs a flat fee of 170yen.

 

Sweet innocent love trudging in front of me as I walked to my next destination after getting off the tram.

 

I was headed up Mt. Moiwa. As usual, you ride a ropeway up the mountain. A cemetery along the way.

 

But surprise surprise. I still have not reached the summit. I had to ride this mini bus which was modified with snow tracks.

 

 

 

From the summit, you get the view of Sapporo city. It was freezing and very windy. I had to hide indoors until night fell and the city was lit up.

 

Sapporo by night. Once again, I became a photographer for a Hong Kong couple who were on the deck as well.

 

Definitely not as breathtaking as Hakodate's view.

 

I returned to the Sapporo station area again. Remembering I saw an ad for restaurants above the Tokyu departmental store building, I headed there to check it out. In the end, I chose this tonkatsu restaurant.

 

 

I orderd the kurobuta hire katsu set. The sauce was a little different from the usual tonkatsu sauce. This was a little sharp and sweet, and went very well with the tender pork.

 

Since it was my last night, I decided to indulge in some desserts. At Daimaru's basement, I bought this snack from Morimoto. Morimoto also sells tomato jelly which looked to be pretty delicious, but as it came in a pack, I did not try it.

This item is actually like butterless egg cake; somewhat like our "huat kueh", and you can even taste the egg flavour. Sandwiched in between was white chocolate cream. Eaten cold, the combination was something different. Perhaps I shall try baking this some time.

 

 

The night does not end with a visit to the well-stocked convenience stores of Japan. I bought this red bean man ju. The outer layer was flavoured with shiso and the red bean paste on the inside was not overly sweet.

 

 

Finally, the finale. The one that dethroned the convenience store's milk pudding which I once adored. I came across this store in the station a few times. All I can say is I hate myself for not stepping in earlier. The store is called Hanabatake Bokujyo. It sells products made from Hokkaido milk, such as cheeses, jams, bread etc.

I bought this milk pudding. It had a strong mik taste to it. Texturally, the cross between a viscous liquid and mousse was simply pure heaven. The end result was a light and frothy pudding packed full of milk flavour!