Day 15 (May 21) Homeward bound:
Up at 5am. UGH! A quick snack and off to the airport. Mama Uchida surprised us and rented a mini-van to lug all our gear. She's so kind!
Flying home... we were awake for almost 30 hours straight, and very tired. The Johnson's (Cathy, Fred and Kennith) met us at the Halifax airport to greet us on arrival. They offered to drive us home, but I managed the drive home no problem. The first stop before home was Timmies for a bagel. So nice to be home in our ol' hood. Tomorrow we'll pick up Star and all will be back to normal... or as normal as our house gets.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Day 14
Day 14 (May 20) Chilling:
Today was a day to relax before our long trip home tomorrow.
We went to the mall again to pick up for more stuff for the trip home. Mel and I hit the arcade again... I had to use up all that pocket change!
That evening for dinner we went to Kongo-en. You cook your meal on a central grill, we had a lot of meats that I never tried before (chicken intestines, beef tongue, beer diaphragm). We actually snuck the bill from mama Uchida and treated them. Papa Uchida couldn't join us because he worked late that day and early the next morning. The dinner was exquisite complete with tatami mats and Japanese beer. I must admin, by this point in our trip my legs were getting a bit sore from sitting on the ground so much, the western style tables and chairs are looking really nice right now.
Back to the Uchida's for some dessert (Snaffles cheese cake) and packing.
The Uchida's presented us with some gifts to bring home. A beautiful tea set, a fan, socks for Karen and some glassware (that Hedimi is shipping ground with some of her stuff). They are such great hosts, we were overwhelmed by them generosity.
It hit us tonight on how quickly this trip has gone by. We've seen so much, but want to see so much more. The Uchidas welcomed us back any time to stay with them. They are such generous and kind people, I'll really miss them. I extended the welcome to our home if/when they ever come to Nova Scotia. I hope they do.
Today was a day to relax before our long trip home tomorrow.
We went to the mall again to pick up for more stuff for the trip home. Mel and I hit the arcade again... I had to use up all that pocket change!
That evening for dinner we went to Kongo-en. You cook your meal on a central grill, we had a lot of meats that I never tried before (chicken intestines, beef tongue, beer diaphragm). We actually snuck the bill from mama Uchida and treated them. Papa Uchida couldn't join us because he worked late that day and early the next morning. The dinner was exquisite complete with tatami mats and Japanese beer. I must admin, by this point in our trip my legs were getting a bit sore from sitting on the ground so much, the western style tables and chairs are looking really nice right now.
Back to the Uchida's for some dessert (Snaffles cheese cake) and packing.
The Uchida's presented us with some gifts to bring home. A beautiful tea set, a fan, socks for Karen and some glassware (that Hedimi is shipping ground with some of her stuff). They are such great hosts, we were overwhelmed by them generosity.
It hit us tonight on how quickly this trip has gone by. We've seen so much, but want to see so much more. The Uchidas welcomed us back any time to stay with them. They are such generous and kind people, I'll really miss them. I extended the welcome to our home if/when they ever come to Nova Scotia. I hope they do.
Day 13
Day 13 (May 19th) Sapporo:
Today we took the bus into the city of Sapporo. The bus ride was about 1 1/2 hours. It was nice to see the "country side" of Japan. I was surprised at the wide open areas and all the farms.
When we arrived in Sapporo we did the typical tourist sites, the radio town, the clock tower and the Sapporo beer factory. The beer factory was the original factory, but not the one with the tour unfortunately. We still got to see the history of the beer and some old artifacts from the original brewery.
We didn't get to spend a long time in Sapporo unfortunately, but from what we saw the city was beautiful and clean. Mel and I went to a curie shop while Karen and Hidemi ate Oyako Don (Sapporo has a specialty version of this dish with salmon roe and salmon on rice). Karen likes the eggs on chicken on rice version better.
Then we took the bus home and ate with the Uchida's. Mama Uchida decided it would be funny to serve me beer in a 1 litre mug... so I had 2 :-)
Today we took the bus into the city of Sapporo. The bus ride was about 1 1/2 hours. It was nice to see the "country side" of Japan. I was surprised at the wide open areas and all the farms.
When we arrived in Sapporo we did the typical tourist sites, the radio town, the clock tower and the Sapporo beer factory. The beer factory was the original factory, but not the one with the tour unfortunately. We still got to see the history of the beer and some old artifacts from the original brewery.
We didn't get to spend a long time in Sapporo unfortunately, but from what we saw the city was beautiful and clean. Mel and I went to a curie shop while Karen and Hidemi ate Oyako Don (Sapporo has a specialty version of this dish with salmon roe and salmon on rice). Karen likes the eggs on chicken on rice version better.
Then we took the bus home and ate with the Uchida's. Mama Uchida decided it would be funny to serve me beer in a 1 litre mug... so I had 2 :-)
Day 12
Day 12 (May 18): Sopporo Beer Factory
Today papa-Uchida took us to the main Sapporo beer factory in Hokkaido today. We unfortunately couldn't take video, I guess they were afraid we would steal all their secrets!
The factory was not working because it was a Sunday, but there were videos of the working factory at most observation windows. The place is huge and so clean. They can produce over 900 cans a minute and 500 (500ml) bottles a minute. Now that's a lot of beer!
At the end of the tour we got a sample (3 glasses each!) the beer and browse the souvenir shop.
Then we went discount shopping at the "cheap" mall. We socked up on our souvenirs and headed to an izakaya (Japanese pub) for dinner.
Hidemi's friends Mari and Miharu (spelling could be off) met up with us at the izakaya and we ordered tons of food to share and several pitchers of beer. It was a great time, lots of laughs and jokes. Mari and Miharu both speak good English and were very eager to practice on us.
After the food & beer we went to Karaoke. We piled into the room and sang our hearts out, I even did a couple Michael Jackson songs... yes I had a lot of beer that day.
Back to the Uchida's and to bed, we were up late so mama and papa Uchida were already in bed.
Today papa-Uchida took us to the main Sapporo beer factory in Hokkaido today. We unfortunately couldn't take video, I guess they were afraid we would steal all their secrets!
The factory was not working because it was a Sunday, but there were videos of the working factory at most observation windows. The place is huge and so clean. They can produce over 900 cans a minute and 500 (500ml) bottles a minute. Now that's a lot of beer!
At the end of the tour we got a sample (3 glasses each!) the beer and browse the souvenir shop.
Then we went discount shopping at the "cheap" mall. We socked up on our souvenirs and headed to an izakaya (Japanese pub) for dinner.
Hidemi's friends Mari and Miharu (spelling could be off) met up with us at the izakaya and we ordered tons of food to share and several pitchers of beer. It was a great time, lots of laughs and jokes. Mari and Miharu both speak good English and were very eager to practice on us.
After the food & beer we went to Karaoke. We piled into the room and sang our hearts out, I even did a couple Michael Jackson songs... yes I had a lot of beer that day.
Back to the Uchida's and to bed, we were up late so mama and papa Uchida were already in bed.
Day 11
Day 11 (May 17) Home from Hakodate:
Today we came home (to the Uchida's) from Hakodate. We ate a huge buffet breakfast and walked to the tram (trolley car) station. At the station nearest to our hotel there is a public hot spring foot bath. Mel, Hidemi and Karen all took off their shoes for a hot soak. This would have been soooo nice on our 12 hour Tokyo day!
We hopped on the train for a 3 hour train ride back to Tomakomai (Uchida's home town). I caught up on some of my blogging, but we didn't have internet on the train so I have to upload it when I find a wi-fi signal.
Mama-Uchida picked us up at the train station and had a HUGE feed of Japanese curie waiting for us. It was a great feast, even Karen liked it, she doesn't usually like curie, but this is quite different and less spicy then the Indian version.
After dinner, we sat with the Uchida's and watched a bit of Japanese baseball and had some Sapporo beer. The Uchida's are so kind and giving. They even gave Karen a stack of toe-socks. She was thrilled, I imagine Karen will have a suite-case full of socks after this trip!
Today we came home (to the Uchida's) from Hakodate. We ate a huge buffet breakfast and walked to the tram (trolley car) station. At the station nearest to our hotel there is a public hot spring foot bath. Mel, Hidemi and Karen all took off their shoes for a hot soak. This would have been soooo nice on our 12 hour Tokyo day!
We hopped on the train for a 3 hour train ride back to Tomakomai (Uchida's home town). I caught up on some of my blogging, but we didn't have internet on the train so I have to upload it when I find a wi-fi signal.
Mama-Uchida picked us up at the train station and had a HUGE feed of Japanese curie waiting for us. It was a great feast, even Karen liked it, she doesn't usually like curie, but this is quite different and less spicy then the Indian version.
After dinner, we sat with the Uchida's and watched a bit of Japanese baseball and had some Sapporo beer. The Uchida's are so kind and giving. They even gave Karen a stack of toe-socks. She was thrilled, I imagine Karen will have a suite-case full of socks after this trip!
Day 10
Day 10 (May 16) Hakodate city:
The day was spent exploring the city. We re-visited some of the sights we saw the previous night on our cab-tour.
We took the tram in and explored the Motomachi district at the foot of mount Hakodate. We passed on the gondola ride, Karen and Hidemi are not fond of heights. The first place we visited were the 3 churches. There is a catholic, roman and greek churches within the same city block. They were all great, but we didn't go into any of them. We found a local artist who was drawing a ink drawing of the greet church. We chatted with him for awhile about the local art and gave him a pin. Very friendly man.
A short distance down the road we came across a road we were at the previous evening. It's a famous street in the city that you can look straight down the hill to the water. Yesterday evening Karen took an amazing picture at street level, so we got the same shot but in the day time. Here we met a older couple with tri-pods and cameras. They were thrilled with Karen's photo being taken from street level (she actually put the camera on the pavement for the shot) and we talked with them for a bit. Very nice couple, they got a pin too! People here are SO friendly!
A little ways down the road we got some soft icecream. I had soy-bean flavour which is almost black, and Karen for mattcha (green tea powder). The shop owner explained that they make the ice cream from their own cows. Talk about fresh!
The old city hall was the next stop. From here there were some great shots on the hall and the harbour below. I even got a couple animal statue shots for my "personal" collection.
Then we snaked our way down through the waterfront plazas to the Hakodate beer brewery. We ate lunch here, and with lunch had ox tongue, adamame (soy bean pods often served in bars with beer), potato croquettes and garlic bread. Oh... did I mention the 4 beer sample pack of their 4 popular types of beer? They were all good, my favorite was the ale, as was Mel's. Karen liked the sweet bitter and Hidemi likes the clear. There was a fruity beer that no one really liked, but we drank it anyhow... waste not want not. We ordered a big glass of our favorite beer and headed out exploring again, full and a little buzzed.
The squid statue will take a little explaining. Yesterday Mel claimed to have seen a 15 foot squid statue 5 minutes down the street from our hotel. We walked for 1/2 an hour only to find out this statue was another 1/2 hours down the road. Note: 5 minutes Mel time is actually 1 hour. So we went questing for this statue. Before we got to the squid we took a little break in a hotel lobby and the front desk guy let us use the Internet for free! What a nice guy... he got a pin.
After we got to the statue and took our pictures we hopped on the bus for a 5 minute (real time) ride to our hotel. Mel was right,it was 5 minutes... BY BUS.
Supper was great again, this time Mel had the meat selection instead of the fish. Karen and Hidemi said it was a lot better than the previous nights, mine was the same... yummy.
Now it was onsen time. Karen and Hidemi took the 1st turn while Mel and I looked after Chisa, then we went down after. It was a great experience. There are a lot of things to remember when going to one of these baths when it comes to etiquette... and we all know how kooth I am, so I was a bit worried. Mel and I luckily had it to ourselves, so Mel got to show me how to do it all properly. The bath was over looking the ocean, you could hear the waves crashing on the beach, very relaxing. The main rule is to ensure you are VERY clean before entering and never let your towel (which you use to bath with) touch the hot springs water. We soaked for a log while and returned to the room warm and "mineralized". My skin is so soft.
From our room we can see the ocean, and hear it as well with the windows open. Both nights we slept with the windows wide open with the sound of the waves lulling us to sleep. So relaxing, if I could sleep like that every night I would never be tired again.
The day was spent exploring the city. We re-visited some of the sights we saw the previous night on our cab-tour.
We took the tram in and explored the Motomachi district at the foot of mount Hakodate. We passed on the gondola ride, Karen and Hidemi are not fond of heights. The first place we visited were the 3 churches. There is a catholic, roman and greek churches within the same city block. They were all great, but we didn't go into any of them. We found a local artist who was drawing a ink drawing of the greet church. We chatted with him for awhile about the local art and gave him a pin. Very friendly man.
A short distance down the road we came across a road we were at the previous evening. It's a famous street in the city that you can look straight down the hill to the water. Yesterday evening Karen took an amazing picture at street level, so we got the same shot but in the day time. Here we met a older couple with tri-pods and cameras. They were thrilled with Karen's photo being taken from street level (she actually put the camera on the pavement for the shot) and we talked with them for a bit. Very nice couple, they got a pin too! People here are SO friendly!
A little ways down the road we got some soft icecream. I had soy-bean flavour which is almost black, and Karen for mattcha (green tea powder). The shop owner explained that they make the ice cream from their own cows. Talk about fresh!
The old city hall was the next stop. From here there were some great shots on the hall and the harbour below. I even got a couple animal statue shots for my "personal" collection.
Then we snaked our way down through the waterfront plazas to the Hakodate beer brewery. We ate lunch here, and with lunch had ox tongue, adamame (soy bean pods often served in bars with beer), potato croquettes and garlic bread. Oh... did I mention the 4 beer sample pack of their 4 popular types of beer? They were all good, my favorite was the ale, as was Mel's. Karen liked the sweet bitter and Hidemi likes the clear. There was a fruity beer that no one really liked, but we drank it anyhow... waste not want not. We ordered a big glass of our favorite beer and headed out exploring again, full and a little buzzed.
The squid statue will take a little explaining. Yesterday Mel claimed to have seen a 15 foot squid statue 5 minutes down the street from our hotel. We walked for 1/2 an hour only to find out this statue was another 1/2 hours down the road. Note: 5 minutes Mel time is actually 1 hour. So we went questing for this statue. Before we got to the squid we took a little break in a hotel lobby and the front desk guy let us use the Internet for free! What a nice guy... he got a pin.
After we got to the statue and took our pictures we hopped on the bus for a 5 minute (real time) ride to our hotel. Mel was right,it was 5 minutes... BY BUS.
Supper was great again, this time Mel had the meat selection instead of the fish. Karen and Hidemi said it was a lot better than the previous nights, mine was the same... yummy.
Now it was onsen time. Karen and Hidemi took the 1st turn while Mel and I looked after Chisa, then we went down after. It was a great experience. There are a lot of things to remember when going to one of these baths when it comes to etiquette... and we all know how kooth I am, so I was a bit worried. Mel and I luckily had it to ourselves, so Mel got to show me how to do it all properly. The bath was over looking the ocean, you could hear the waves crashing on the beach, very relaxing. The main rule is to ensure you are VERY clean before entering and never let your towel (which you use to bath with) touch the hot springs water. We soaked for a log while and returned to the room warm and "mineralized". My skin is so soft.
From our room we can see the ocean, and hear it as well with the windows open. Both nights we slept with the windows wide open with the sound of the waves lulling us to sleep. So relaxing, if I could sleep like that every night I would never be tired again.
Day 9
Day 9 (May 15) Hakodate ryokan:
An early train ride for 3 hours took us to Hakodate, the sister city for Halifax. Every year they get a Christmas tree from us, probably from Lunenburg. Before we left Halifax Karen scored 50 HRM pins from the mayors office, so we gaev them out a lot during our trip here (basically to anyone who was friendly... and there are a lot of friendly people!).
We then took a quick bus ride to the ryokan we stayed at called Yumakawa. It's famous in this city and is found on most tourist maps. Our rooms come with breakfast and dinner for 2 nights.
The room is a traditional Japanese ryokan with tatami mat floors and small bathroom. There was no bed in the room when we arrived. The staff come in while you are out and re-arrange the room to accommodate futon beds (we put extra mats on ours to make them more padded).
We then checked out the fort Goryo-kaku. It's a star shaped fort very similar to Halifax's citadel hill fort. We went up in the observation tower that over-looked the fort. What a view! There was even a glass floor that you could look right down to the street.
For lunch we went to a small noodle shop and Mel and I had a great feed of curry and rice while Karen & Hidemi had egg/chicken on rice (translated to parents and children on rice!).
Dinner that night was served in the Johnson's room, the rest of them had a seafood spread, while mine was not (meat and veggies for me). It was an excellent opportunity to try food that we would never get anywhere else. Most was good, some not so much... it' probably an acquired taste to eat a fish whole. Not my cup-o-tea, but cool to experience none the less.
After dinner we took a taxi up to mount Hakodate. It was dark out so we got to see the whole city lit up. It was breathtaking. Even more surprising was our cab driver, who after taking us to the mountain observatory, took us for a small city tour. We didn't expect this. It was fantastic to see the city at night with our own local guide. Did I mention how nice people are here? He got a pin :-)
After the night sight-seeing we settled in for an evening of beer tasting. Mel and I have made a point of buying all different types and brands of beer to sample. We've probably already tasted over a dozen, more than Mel had in his 2 years here... what can I say... I like my biru (beer).
Karen and Hidemi went to the onsen (natural hot spring bath) while I read for a bit and passed out of fatigue (and maybe a bit too much beer sampling).
An early train ride for 3 hours took us to Hakodate, the sister city for Halifax. Every year they get a Christmas tree from us, probably from Lunenburg. Before we left Halifax Karen scored 50 HRM pins from the mayors office, so we gaev them out a lot during our trip here (basically to anyone who was friendly... and there are a lot of friendly people!).
We then took a quick bus ride to the ryokan we stayed at called Yumakawa. It's famous in this city and is found on most tourist maps. Our rooms come with breakfast and dinner for 2 nights.
The room is a traditional Japanese ryokan with tatami mat floors and small bathroom. There was no bed in the room when we arrived. The staff come in while you are out and re-arrange the room to accommodate futon beds (we put extra mats on ours to make them more padded).
We then checked out the fort Goryo-kaku. It's a star shaped fort very similar to Halifax's citadel hill fort. We went up in the observation tower that over-looked the fort. What a view! There was even a glass floor that you could look right down to the street.
For lunch we went to a small noodle shop and Mel and I had a great feed of curry and rice while Karen & Hidemi had egg/chicken on rice (translated to parents and children on rice!).
Dinner that night was served in the Johnson's room, the rest of them had a seafood spread, while mine was not (meat and veggies for me). It was an excellent opportunity to try food that we would never get anywhere else. Most was good, some not so much... it' probably an acquired taste to eat a fish whole. Not my cup-o-tea, but cool to experience none the less.
After dinner we took a taxi up to mount Hakodate. It was dark out so we got to see the whole city lit up. It was breathtaking. Even more surprising was our cab driver, who after taking us to the mountain observatory, took us for a small city tour. We didn't expect this. It was fantastic to see the city at night with our own local guide. Did I mention how nice people are here? He got a pin :-)
After the night sight-seeing we settled in for an evening of beer tasting. Mel and I have made a point of buying all different types and brands of beer to sample. We've probably already tasted over a dozen, more than Mel had in his 2 years here... what can I say... I like my biru (beer).
Karen and Hidemi went to the onsen (natural hot spring bath) while I read for a bit and passed out of fatigue (and maybe a bit too much beer sampling).
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