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.