miscellaneous rambling

We were going to finish our short 5 day trip would a two night stay in the small town of Otaru. This town is an old port town, which still has many of it’s old buildings. the area around the canal is famous for it’s romantic walks, and merging of old and new, as well as East and West, because many of the old buildings were built during the Meiji era, when Japan was learning Western ideas and styles.

We stayed at a backpacker hostel, and although it was cozy, it was a bit lacking. Perhaps we have gotten soft in our 30’s. Our room was full of bunk beds and there was a communal bathroom and shower.

But, just when we thought we lost our edge for adventure, along comes another challenge!

We were strolling down the streets at night, and wandered into a small, no, SUPER TINY restaurant. It was about a 5x5 meter square in size. I originally thought it was a Japanese stewed vegetable restaurant, but was wrong. We almost left, but decided to give it a try. Dallas ordered through a phrasebook, and the owner was going in and out of the kitchen showing us veggies and meat, because we had no idea what we were ordering.

In the end, it turned out it was battered, deep fried skewers of veggies and meats. Shortly after we arrived, three more people showed up, and the place was basically full. it could have maybe sat 2 more people.

One guy we met spoke a bit of English and we of course had our phrasebooks. We began a conversation with him, and found out he was visiting his girlfriend in Otaru, but was from the town of Furano which was 2 hours away. We had considered going to Furano to see snow in the mountains.

He offered to take us there the next day, and we took him up on his offer.

After treating us to a few beers, we left and continued to walk. <>

We wondered if this guy was for real, and if we could/should go. Also, we paid for two nights at the hostel, would we get our money back for the second night? Should we go to Furano for the day, and then bus back at night?

In the end, we got our refund for the second night, and our new friend, Yoshifumi took us to to Furano. During the drive, I furiously flipped through the phrasebook to discuss things with him. When we arrived, he helped us find a cheap hotel close to the bus station. we checked the timetable, and we would have to take a early bus back to Sapporo to catch our plane. It was our last day in Japan.

Then, he took us out for lunch, and drove us around all afternoon sightseeing.

After we went back to the hotel, and he thanked us for allowing him to show us around. We were the thankful ones. This stranger had taken care of us completely and wouldn’t even let us pay a cent for gas or lunch.

This photo was taken in a strange attraction called the “Recycled House”. Most of the house is made of recycled items. The door of an old refrigerator becomes a built-in shelf in a wall. Whiskey bottles become glass windows, and egg cartons become insulation for the roof. This seat and window behind us is cut from the back end of a bus.

We stumbled into a gallery that was presenting Japanese flower arrangement, calligraphy, as well as selling antiques, bolts of cloth, and used clothes. It seemed to be held by a woman’s group, of what focus, I couldn’t say. I think though, that they were primarily a flower arrangement club.

Out of curiousity we picked through some of the clothes. I tried on this silk kimono, and this woman to my left was explaining that the crests on it show that it once belonged to a samurai class family. Inside the black kimono is also embroidered a lion. She said that her brown one which she was wearing, has no markings, indicating that it once belonged to a commoner. <>

So I bought the kimono. It is about 130 years old. I’m going to wear it to parties. Things were amazingly cheap. Dallas bought a robe which only costed $5!

We had the fortune of eating at a very good sushi bar in Sapporo. Our friend Tetsu took us, and our friend Noriko ( both of which had flown from Kyoto and Tokyo, respectively just to join us for a weekend in Sapporo)

Tetsu is a man who knows his sushi. He did all the ordering. I lost count after a dozen different kinds of fish, over half of which I had never seen or tasted before in the way it was prepared. Everything was brilliant. The picture here is of raw fish testes. I didn’t even know that fish had them, but as Tetsu-San said, “Well, boy fish, girl fish. makes sense. No?”

It tastes like very very soft tofu, and the soy and fresh onions take away the fishy taste. It was pretty good.

Asahikawa is a town in Hokkaido, Japan where our last travels have taken us. This town, seems quite pleasant, and it’s main attraction is it’s zoo. Rated the best zoo in Japan, and one of the top ten in the world, it houses some interesting animals, and boasts some creative displays.

I have to admit, I wasn’t that keen on taking the better part of a day and spending the money to take a train out to this town just to see a zoo. But in the end, it was a good trip. We saw polar bears play fighting in the water, lions roaring in defiance over it’s captivity, and Emperor penguins close enough to touch ( no cage)

I had even seen some animals from Canada, that I’d not seen in my home country. Snow white Arctic owls, and Artic Foxes! Beautiful.

The Japanese crane was a highlight of mine. One of Japan’s national symbols, and a Chinese symbol of longevity, this bird was amazing to behold.

In addition to the zoo, Asahikawa is home to the Otokoyama Sake brewery. Japan's most Northern sake brewery, and perhaps the oldest at 335 years! It is obviously one of the most famous and prestigious brands of sake in Japan. We had a free tour of it's museum, which has famous Ukiyo-E prints, and antique, traditional sake making tools. On top of that, there was a free tasting of about 10 different kinds of sake.
It was a lot more than expected. Very generous of them I thought, compared to paying for each sample of wine in Canada in the Niagra area.
Since there was much more than expected, we all left feeling a bit sauced.
Later than evening over sushi, our friend Tetsu-San made the comment over our trip " That's not tasting, that's drinking!"
I coudn't have put it better. Oh well, I did buy 4 bottles of sake, so the brewery made a worthwhile investment with the free samples.