It wasn't six days. Day 1 and day 6 were travel days (trains + flights). So it was really four days only.
Sapporo Snow Festival: the only reason non-athletic tourists came to Sapporo in winter. The festival was cancelled for three years due to covid. This year it finally started back up. The scale was much smaller with only four giant sculptures. Some of the smaller snow sculptures looked like the teachers told the students to create one as homework, and the students dumped the snow in a pile and called it a day.
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| Sapporo Tower |
Ice sculptures: these were much better because they at least looked like they were created by professionals. They were also in Susukino section of the city, the entertainment section. We got to see pretty boys and girls billboards everywhere, and a video of a geisha trying to undress.
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| Suntory Whisky |
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| Dragon God |
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| Wrath of the Ocean |
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| Asahi Beer |
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| Sapporo Beer |
Otaru canal candlelight walk: another must-see for tourists after the snow festival. It was a very romantic walk because the canal was slippery due to icy snow, and we must hold hands to help each other balance.
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| Otaru Canal |
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| Sushi & grilled corn |
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| Candlellight |
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| Thriller Karaoke |
- Yabuhan Soba: very popular with foreigners probably because it has detailed English menu. Good soba noodles, but not good enough for 50-minute wait.
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| Yabuhan Soba |
Hokkaido University Museum: so what was one to do if one didn't
do snow activities? Museum for us because we wanted to avoid the cold. It was not a real museum. It was a school building with each department/major curating their own exhibits. Some looked like they just stuffed anything on the shelves. The building was cold; lighting wasn't too good, but at least they had several real and fake prehistoric animal bones.
Hitsujigaoka park: finally we decided it would be a waste if we came to Hokkaido and didn't do any snow activities. This park was perfect for a beginner like me because it catered to children. The skiing slope was easier than bunny slope. Lots of tube sliding opportunities. I had so much fun. I didn't trip and fall; a great personal improvement.
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| Hitsujigaoka Park: ¥530/person |
Food and drink: we were surprised to find specialty coffee shops everywhere. We had ramen, soba, udon, sushi, bento, Indian, Italian. Desserts were plenty. Everything was delicious.
- Organic+: The grilled avocado & daikon with balsamic vinegar dressing. So simple yet so good.
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| Organic+: grilled avocado & daikon |
- 茶語: a wonderful Chinese tea place on the fourth floor of Daimaru Sapporo Department Store. The desserts were delicious, but the tea was great. It was how tea was supposed to be, hot water through roasted tea leaves. We smelled and tasted simple fragrance of the tea.
This was my third time in Sapporo, all during winter. Hopefully I'll come back some time to see the city's actual ground not covered by snow.
