Blogs from Hokkaido, Japan, Asia - page 20

Our last day in Sapporo was mainly about beer. As Nick doesn't drink beer, Mike and I ventured out alone for this one. But first, a stop at the dollar store -- just out of curiosity. It was actually pretty impressive. Definitely better things at their dollar store than at ours. I got a few needed and unneeded items (including toe socks!). Mike and I headed out for the Sapporo Bier Garten, but first stopped for lunch at a famed ramen place. All over Japan, ramen shops are well-known for a good lunch. It's essentially ramen noodles (but theirs start off cold and partially cooked -- like wet noodles) with different additions. Most have beef with different broths. I got miso. Tasted like ramen noodles. haha Not sure what all the fuss is about. By the ... read more

Our fun-filled adventure for today was a trip to the zoo. The adventure part included renting a car to get there -- Megumi's car is in the shop. It was a pretty nice honda rental though, and allowed us to fit more people (Matt and Yo-ichi came too). Nick and Megumi had donuts for breakfast (I snagged one) which were way better than donuts in the states. Very fresh and a little crunchy. It was like the best donut you've ever had (hot Krispy Kreme excluded). Nick's looked like a plain ring with chocolate frosting, but inside was chocolate (not cream, just chocolate). How interesting.... It'll be my next donut. The zoo was a good 3hour drive, but we stopped at a little shop on the way. About 5minutes after getting into the car, we were ... read more

The main city of Hokkaido. Sapporo was like the gateway to many parts of Hokkaido since it had good train infrastucture and an international / domestic airport. However, we didn't go further than Sapporo. Time was a determinant and I was less enthusiastic abt seeking koyo (autumn foliage) any more. Last bid in finding koyo was a visit to the Hokkaido Uni which was right opposite our lodging. At least, this wasn't a futile trip. There are green, yellow, brown, red all over the campus... this was more like the scene I wished for... My stay in Sapporo was marked by great food & cool weather at night. (Pics only shown half of the stuff I had eaten) Sadly, I couldn't take in many more meals. At this point in time, I also had to satisfy ... read more

My trip up north today was fairly uneventful. Despite not knowing a lick of Japanese (I counted up today -- I know 5 words total), I managed to get on the train, transfer twice, check in and get on a plane, and even get food. Not bad for a completely foreing country. It's funny -- whenever I needed to say something, I had a reflex to say it in Spanish. If only... The train system was actually pretty nice. Very clean, quick, efficient, and cheap. They even have TVs in the local "metro" trains. High tech. I was struck by the generous variety of hairstyles. I felt like I was looking through one of those books at the hair salon -- ranging from garrish to quite stylish. I also noticed how everyone seems to have better ... read more

donnerstag, 09.10.08 die toyoko-hotels sind wirklich ganz toll! - ich bin längst club-mitglied... die lage ist meist sehr zentral gleich in fussdistanz vom bahnhof und sie sind kurzfristig, am gleichen tag übers internet buchbar. für 40 fr. bis 70 fr. gibt's ein zwar kleines einzelzimmer mit breitem bett, einem tisch mit internetanschluss, kühlschrank, wasserkocher und eigener dusche/wc in einer höchst platzeffizient organisierten in eine zimmerecke gestellten plasik-box. inklusive ist auch ein kleines japanisches frühstück - was will man mehr... ok, es hat keine tatami-matten, aber man kann ja ein bisschen abwechseln mit den unterkünften. jedenfalls bleibe ich in nagoya zwei nächte in meinem toyoko-hotel und mache am samstag ein bisschen gemütliches sightseeing in der stadt. viel historisches gibt es nicht zu sehen - neben vielen anderen japanischen städten wurde nagoya im ... read more