Sapporo (Day 61): Snow in April

April 30, 2016

We woke up this morning, looked out the window, and it was snowing! Not the magical white fluffy snow, but more of the wet icy type of snow. Tim checked the forecast yesterday and saw it was going to snow a bit today, and he was excited. I think he thinks it’s really magical (and romantic) when it snows.

Can't really tell from this picture but it's hailing
Can’t really tell from this picture but it’s hailing
You could see more of the hail in this picture
You could see more of the hail in this picture

We bundled up even more today and headed out. For lunch, we planned on going to a yakitori (grilled skewers) place we saw on our first night that looked good. We didn’t eat there that night because the wait was too long so we passed. When we got to the restaurant, they had a lunch menu displayed and it was all tonkatsu lunch sets. We then realized that yakitori isn’t lunch food, and thought to come back for dinner (third time’s a charm, right?).

Since it was cold out we decided to check out “ramen alley” in Susukino. We had watched Anthony Bourdain’s Hokkaido episode on our first night here and wanted to check it out. Instead of walking outside today, we headed straight for the underground (like the rest of Sapporo). When we got to Susukino and found “ramen alley”, half of the restaurants were closed. It’s Golden Week in Japan right now, so a lot of people are on vacation. The restaurants that were opened were not very busy, some were even empty (it was 12:30pm). We did pass by the restaurant that Anthony Bourdain went to, it was also pretty empty. We didn’t see anything that seemed too interesting and since we had ramen yesterday we decided to find something else (Tim: I should note here that while some of Kaitlyn’s posts might give the impression that I love ramen, I actually don’t like it all that much. There’s a very small subset of ramen I really enjoy (Tonkatsu broth, thin noodles, no bamboo shoots), otherwise most bowls of ramen fall way down on the noodle-soup rankings for me).

Going down to the underground
Going down to the underground
Susukino
Susukino, it’s apparently Sapporo’s red light district, but during the day we didn’t notice anything
Sapporo Star is everywhere
Sapporo Star is everywhere
Ramen Alley in Susukino
Ramen Alley in Susukino
Where Anthony Bourdain had his butter, corn and seafood Hokkaido ramen
Where Anthony Bourdain had his butter, corn and seafood Hokkaido ramen in 2011 (Tim: umm, here’s a stock photo of Bourdain, and another photo of the restaurant without Bourdain)

We walked around the block from ramen alley and found a tonkatsu restaurant that looked interesting. It is part of the Matsunoya chain, which serves mostly donburis, but this restaurant just specialized in tonkatsu. The prices advertised were extremely reasonable so we decided to give it a try.

Outside Matsunoya
Outside Matsunoya
Ticket machine to order and pay
Ticket machine to order and pay. Luckily there’s English as an option.
Tim's tonkatsu set (500 jPY = $5.90 CAD) with an extra order of ebi (490 JPY to $5.75 CAD)
Tim’s tonkatsu set (580 jPY = $6.85 CAD) with an extra order of ebi (490 JPY to $5.75 CAD)
My tonkatsu with daikon set (500 JPY = $5.90 CAD)
My tonkatsu with daikon set (500 JPY = $5.90 CAD)

Everything at Matsunoya was very good. It’s quite easy to find good quality cheap food in Japan. That’s something that we’re going to really miss when we leave Asia for Australia. After that filling lunch, we headed back to the underground and did a bit of browsing and last minute shopping at Muji, Uniqlo and Don Quijote, as our time in Japan is winding down.

We're in the "Pole Town" part of the underground. There's a good selection of stores and restaurants in this area.
We’re in the “Pole Town” part of the underground. There’s a good selection of stores and restaurants in this area.

While walking through Pole Town, we noticed a line up outside a bakery that made cheese tarts (similar to the ones we had at Pablo) and they also served Hokkaido ice cream. Before coming to Sapporo, everyone told us we had to have Hokkaido ice cream, as Hokkaido produces high quality dairy products. We got in line at Kinotoya Bake and ordered one cheese tart and an ice cream cone to share.

Kitanoya Bake
Kinotoya Bake
Freshly baked cheese tarts - 170 JPY = $2 CAD each or 1,000 JPY = $11.80 CAD for 6.
Freshly baked cheese tarts – 170 JPY = $2 CAD each or 1,000 JPY = $11.80 CAD for 6.
Hokkaido ice cream (360 JPY = $4.25 CAD)
Hokkaido ice cream (360 JPY = $4.25 CAD) and our cheese tart.

The ice cream cone was huge! The soft serve is different than what we’re used to. It’s a lot creamier and not as sweet (if you’re comparing it to Dairy Queen). The cheese tart was like a warm cheesecake except a bit more gooey. It was good, but we both thought the cheese tart from Pablo was better.

We came up from the underground and saw it was sunny and there were blue skies. It was the first time we’ve seen blue skies in Sapporo. I guess being underground for most of the day, you don’t get to see what’s going on outside. We went to the Former Hokkaido Government Office and walked around inside. It’s free to visit and there are rooms filled with Sapporo memorabilia – like letters from world leaders who attended the G8 Summit in Sapporo in 2008. The building is a beautiful red brick building and looked very western inside.

Former Hokkaido Government Office
Former Hokkaido Government Office
Carp flags outside the government building
Carp flags outside the government building
Inside the Governor's old office
Inside the Governor’s old office
Beautiful pond and some lingering cherry blossoms around beside the government building
Beautiful pond and some lingering cherry blossoms around beside the government building

We went back underground and went to Sapporo Station to browse around at the stores. The Uniqlo at Sapporo Station is one of the better ones I’ve been to this trip. Since it’s Golden Week, there are a lot of sales going on. After trying on a lot of items, I restricted myself after thinking about my bulging backpack.

Can see the sunset through the buildings from Sapporo Station
Can see the sunset through the buildings from Sapporo Station
Sapporo Station at dusk
Sapporo Station at dusk
Sapporo TV Tower lit up green for Golden Week which used to celebrate the Emperor's birthday but now it's celebrated as "Greenery Day"
Sapporo TV Tower lit up green for Golden Week which used to celebrate the Emperor’s birthday but now it’s celebrated as “Greenery Day”

From our shopping today, here are some snacks that were interesting but we didn’t/couldn’t buy. Too bad all the specialty Glico Pockys are always in such big boxes. I knew that Hokkaido was known for its dairy products but I didn’t know they also specialized in cantaloupe/melon flavoured treats.

Melon pocky
Melon pocky. Huge box for 800 JPY $9.45 CAD
Red bean Kit Kat at Don Quijote
Red bean Kit Kat at Don Quijote

It was time for dinner so we walked back towards the yakitori restaurant, Kushidori. There were two other groups ahead of us and had to wait about 15 minutes. We got seated at the counter and ordered 15 skewers, edamame, and two drinks (ginger ale and a beer) for 28,000 JPY = $33 CAD. Everything was really good, I think yakitori is one of my favourite types of Japanese food. Grilled meat is so simple but it tastes so good. My favourites from tonight were the bacon wrapped mochi and the classic chicken and leek skewer. Most of the skewers we ordered were 130-140 JPY = $1.50 – $$1.65 CAD.

Kushidori in Sapporo
Kushidori in Sapporo
There's a grill in the front and in the middle of the restaurant
There’s a grill in the front and in the middle of the restaurant
Mochi and bacon, pork and leek, eggplant, scallop
Mochi and bacon, pork and leek, eggplant, scallop
Chicken meatballs, chicken wings, chicken and leek
Chicken meatballs, chicken wings, chicken and leek

The restaurant is a block away from our hotel, so it was a short walk back. My favourite meals in Japan have been izakayas or yakitori restaurants. I guess I like bars in Japan even though I don’t drink. The only downside to eating at these places is that smoking is allowed, which is not something we’re used to.

It’s our last day in Japan tomorrow. I’m a bit sad to be leaving. There’s so much more to see and eat!

Steps today: 16,000

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