Wow-wee, what a quick, exhausting yet excellent 12 days it has been starting off with a 4:30 AM wake up for me to fetch my lil sis from Haneda. And so begins days of fun with minimal sleep and lots of walking a day!
Lucky for me it was a long weekend on March 21 so we went to Hokkaido. A stark contrast to our visit 7 years ago when it was very warm in the peak of summer. This time it was cold, grey and bleak with bits of rain and lots of bitterly cold wind. Nevertheless, it's always fun to see snow and walk through snow covered roads.
We visited Otaru where it was "Sushi and Chirashi Heaven" and stuffed our faces with seafood, soft serve and Hokkaido milk. The second day, after a bit of convincing from my side, we went to Mount Teine where we had a day of snowboarding. Well actually, I had around 45 minutes of snowboarding and decided that it really wasn't my kind of fun... fell down too many times but I wasn't in tears! It was still fun to go up the gondolas and stuff. Amazing to see lots of real snow and snowflakes.
We went to Sapporo Ramen Alley for dinner. So good... the broth was kind of sweet but not overdone and it was just the right amount. We got gyoza too and it the gyoza wraps were soo thin it was just crispy and hot and delicious.
We ventured a little further out (actually, I think it was inland) to a place called Yoichi. It feels very quaint and kind of off the tourist path. There are very few trains in the day so you have to plan the visit but the reason for this was the Nikka Distillery. Absolutely worth the trek. It is free entry with whiskey samples in their tasting room. It's like a piece of Scotland in Japan, just beautiful scenery and seeing the distillery in action is actually really educational. Like all of my other wine country trips, it does make you appreciate the product a lot more. The musuem kind of markets the story of the founder and his wife as a bit of a love story but there was a lot more to it than that... it was a story of believing that he could do something and change the way the Japanese thought about whiskey. Something probably really hard back in the 1900s especially with a foreign Scottish wife.
Was absolutely exhausted after this weekend and had 2 full days of workshops following and a team dinner. Haha, we always end up at the same bar in Roppongi... but they drinks are so good there. This time the boss came along so got special service!
Weeknights were dinners and expensive shopping. We were in Omotosando for handbags (oopsies), we tried a DIY okonomiyaki & monjoyaki place, we went to Andy's Seafood (amazing) and Shabu Shabu (so good we went twice) in Shibuya, Uobei Sushi was fun but the food is very average and ordinary. So much for 'I'm not going to shop in Tokyo'. As if that'll ever happen.. she ended up going home with 2 suitcases and a carry on and a backpack and a handbag (although it was my handbag).
Saturday was DisneySea. I LOVED IT! Yes it was busy and it was cold but it was so different and the rides were so much cooler and we managed to do most things. The park is not huge and the water surrounding the park actually means you have to walk around. The performances were cheesy only in a way that the Japanese can make it cool and all the popcorn flavours were yummy (I really really wish they still sold Milk Tea flavour). We have been awesome if there were shorter lines because I would have loved to go on some of the rides twice. There's always next time.
Sunday was Ghibli Musuem which is definitely worth the trip. You do have to secure your tickets in advance and it is more expensive to purchase them outside on Japan through a travel agent. I was surprised at the number of tourists here as well but the short movie was so cute and delightful. I bought another ticket for this weekend (as I actually bought the two tickets from Yahoo) so I might go again to see it. Then it was shopping around Shibuya and people watching at the famous crossing. Going home to pack and assess luggage space - turns out we could have bought more. Still have 7 kg in check in luggage had we wanted to! Should have bought more Perfect Whip...!
Monday was work again for me and staying local and seeing the Cherry Blossoms one last time as well as going to lunch... 1000 Yen for a yummy Chirashi bowl or 10 pieces of AMAZING sushi. Shame that the weather was grey again because it is an absolutely stunning day today. I'm gonig to walk to my language class this evening through the Cherry Blossoms. Excited!!!
