Not Tokyo not Osaka: Sapporo and Noboribetsu

We went to Sapporo in early November, 2005.

We flew into Kansai, stayed overnight at the airport, then flew to Sapporo. The flight time to Sapporo from Kansai is about 1 hour 50 minutes.

Sapporo has a population of 1.9 million people.

SAPPORO

The city has a cable car !

There are trams in the city too. It was my first experience of catching a tram or bus in Japan, so I didn't grab a ticket from the machine just inside the centre door. The fun that followed. I did not know the word for ticket, and it was just one time of many that my attempted hand communication with other travellers failed miserably. When I went to alight, I offered the driver a thousand Yen note which he could not accept without a valid ticket. So after a minute of me apologising profusely, I left the tram not paying.

There's a river with walkways along one side.

Pretty gardens and sculptures.

Undercover shopping arcades.

Colourful temples and shrines.

A tower for sight seeing, in the middle of a park, near city centre.

Having an interest in cars, I naturally wanted to take a closer look at a bright yellow sports car that was parked near Sapporo Railway Station. The windows were apparently darkened, but at night, I didn't notice. As I put my head down to peer in at the instrument panel, the window wound down and an angry man said something in Japanese, which the tone suggested, was not "can I help you ?" Umm, I almost wet myself !

OBIHIRO and towards LAKE NUKABIRA

We went on an almost three hour train trip to Obihiro in the centre of Hokkaido to meet a friend. He drove us around the area to see the autumn leaves.

This tree was even prettier in real life. Had to stop, get out of the car, and release all those "wows" !

Street flowers in Obihiro.

OTARU

Ah, getting to Otaru should be easy ? Unless you are a bit of a dill. See, on the tourist map of Sapporo, there was a box on the top left hand corner, with a picture of Otaru Canal. So I thought the canal was at the north west of Sapporo. Off we walked one day, walked ! one day, did we walk ~ ~ ~. At the north-western outskirts of Sapporo we found a half a metre wide water drain/canal, and I thought, "ummm, I wonder if this becomes the canal ?".

So we walked back towards the city centre, along the drain. Then it disappeared under a road. Exhausted, we trundled into the tourist info centre, and asked the whereabouts of Otaru canal ~ ~ ~

It is north west of Sapporo, a 30 minute train trip north west.

The train trip to Otaru is secenic, with the sea, at times disappearing under the train.

Ah, at Otaru ! A thing to remember is not only NOT to tip in Japan, but also NOT to walk away and leave your change. We went into a lolly shop to buy some special Hokkaido sweets to bring back for friends. We gave the shop assistant a Yen note, and required 3 yen change. That is like 3 cents. As it was near closing time, the small change had been bagged up, so I said to the Japanese lady, in English, "don't worry" and started to walk off. Aaagh. She became quite agitated and anxious, and loudly insisted that I stop. I couldn't leave until she rushed next door to borrow the 3 yen to make sure the world was as it should be.

NOBORIBETSU

Noboribetsu is a spa resort about 120 km south of Sapporo. The train trip there takes about 70 minutes. We stayed in a Japanese Ryokan style room in a large hotel.

I didn't know I had any grass allergies, but soon realised I did when I laid upon my futon, which was but an inch or two above the surrounding tatami mats. The grass tatami mats inflamed my sinuses in a few minutes, making sleep almost impossible. I ended up trying to sleep on the chair.

The wee performance by this animated character had all the children screaming with fear !

Statues of the devil abound.

Hell Valley is impacted by the sulphurous gas that seeps to the surface.

Other to Hell Valley, there are lovely walking trails.

A display of plastic food in the window of a restaurant.

Outside a gift shop.

There is a ropeway there.

Up the top you can see a lake in a volcano.

There is an Ainu Indigenous village up the top.

And a bear zoo.

At the shops near the railway station, we went into a small restaurant. It sat 4 at a table by the window, and about 6, 7 at the counter. I ordered a ramon with egg. There was no discernable change in the facial expressions of the chef. Although, she bowed, then came out from behind the counter, and exited the shop. Then, I could see she began to run. I got up to look out of the window. Gee that 60 - 70 year could run ! She disappeared around the corner. I sat down, and as often is the case in Japan, it is pleasant just to absorb the ambience. Five to ten minutes later, the chef returned, walked in the door, and slowly, carrying her packet of 4 eggs, went behind the counter and began to prepare my ramen.

Whilst eating, another customer started to talk to us enquiring about our holiday. After we had finished, he said, that he was a travelling salesman, and was not busy, so would we like a tour. He drove us all around the coast, and returned us safely to our hotel at sunset.

OSAKA

We again had some spare time in Osaka. The buildings are different ! This one has, on the eight floor, a small church from Belgium that obviously been stone by stone rebuilt here. On the eight floor.