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Published: November 7th 2007
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Quite exhausted, and not really into this entire blogging thing. This account will be written plainly, without a lot of effort. Hope that's okay.
I think, perhaps, I'm suffering from a sensory overload, it's put me into a little funk (not the disco kind). Anyway, I shall begin recording details here, as it's easier. I've also been doing a tremendous amount of walking, and am losing sloughs of weight. Hint - if you're carrying a few extra pounds, don't go on a diet, go on a backpacking holiday!
Well, anyway, please take for granted that I have somehow ended up in Hakodate, on Hokkaiddo. I had an amazing first weekend in Tokyo, but to explain all of that would take too much time. So the journal begins now ...
Hakodate is a large port town, south on the Hokkaido island. Hokkaido is a fairly unpopulated place, being the largest northern island, but only bearing 5% of the Japanese population. So, it's nice for experiencing something other than the Tokyo intensity.
I woke up without a real plan over what I was going to do with the day (remember, I mentioned the exhaustion?), left the hotel in search
of coffee, and stumbled onto the Hadokate seafood markets.
They begin their trade quite early in the morning, but close by noon. It's really quite amazing to see all of the seafood on display - live squid in tanks, massive crabs roped up for sale, salmon being sliced up before you. The best part is that many of the stalls use makeshift grills to cook samples of their wares in front of their displays. Most of it is free, but some you have to pay for.
So, in my weary state, I purchased the largest scallop I've ever seen, grilled in its shell, for $3.00. Actually, the sale price was $3.50, but the woman selling it thought I was bargaining as I fumbled through my wallet for a 50 cent piece, and lowered the price. She used a pair of scissors to divide it into large, bite-sized quarters, trimming away the hardened shell still clinging to it; she even added a large portion of grilled squid for free (the Japanese are incredibly courteous and quite generous), and smeared butter in the corner of the small cardboard tray it was handed over on. I ate it before the
Hakodate harbour, aware I was probably having one of the best breakfasts of my life. Later, walking through the markets, I sampled the crab as well.
That lifted my spirits a bit, so I found a coffee, and began walking toward the small mountain above Hadokate. I originally meant to catch a tram to the cable car which would would take me to the mountain, but it didn't seem too far to walk, and I thought it would let me walk off my mood.
At any rate, walking along, I passed a Buddhist shrine, a Russian church (apparently there was some Russian settlement here aeons ago), and then discovered that the cable car was closed for repairs until the 14th. So, I walked up the (small) mountain! It was quite a funny thing to do, I suppose, but I loved doing so. At the top I hung about, working on my laptop, watching the view, and being amused by a vending machine of soft toy pandas which was within the observatory.
Anyway, I said it would be plain writing. I'm focusing on another piece of writing, so I don't want to spend much time on this. I
suppose I'll find a little, dry style which will suit travel blogging.
Cheers,
N.
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ben Farrelly
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keep em coming- Im hooked
Yah Nipppon boy- walk that gut off, and keep up the interesting anecdotes. Yummy scallop for brekkie- whats the coffee like?