Off to the Land of the Rising Sun! (Part 3)

From our 5th day on, we set off to the northernmost region in Japan - Hokkaido. I've heard so much about the beauty of Hokkaido from people whom have visited this place. I could never imagined it until spending almost a week here - I fell in love with its unspoiled nature, it's breathtaking panoramic views and the people were just amazing. We met many wonderful people along the way - they were well mannered, polite, always willing to help despite speaking 0 english. I'm truly amazed! Our first stop in Hokkaido was its capital - Sapporo.

1 August 2013: Journey to Hokkaido, Sapporo

The journey from Hakone to Sapporo was quite a long one. I think it took us all in all, 12 hours from door to door. We literally went on the entire Hakone Round Course again (bus, ropeway, cable car, train) to get to the main train station in Hakone. And to head back to Tokyo, we went on the Shinkansen (high speed railway). Going at 320kmh, it only took us 40 minutes from Hakone to Tokyo (using the normal train lines would take 2 hours)

We we arrived Sapporo Hotel, it was already 10pm. We went to hunt for food as soon as we've checked in. Eating in Sapporo was much cheaper than in Tokyo. We had some BBQ fish, squid and meat, all for Y3900 (RM100)

2 August 2013: Exploring Sapporo

On our way to Nijo Market, we passed by another tower with much resemblance to Paris' Eiffel Tower - the Sapporo TV Tower.  It's 150M high and is also illuminated at night

We thought the marketplace would be a good place to start the day given it was still early and many other tourist attraction don't open until 10am. So we went to Nijo Market, which is one of the main market in Sapporo famous for its  fresh seafood

This was indeed heaven for Peter. Being a crab lover, he was fascinated with the different types of crabs, in all shapes and sizes. I've never seen such glow in his face at the sight of the Hokkaido crabs. Haha! Cooked King Crab (top left), Cooked Hairy Crab (top right), Live King Crab (bottom left, this exact fella ended in our tummies), Hanasaki Crab (bottom right, this one also ended in our tummies).

You can taste the cooked ones on the spot before purchasing

We had the King Crab (served BBQ), Hairy Crab (served broiled) and Hanasaki Crab (served broiled). Several passerby were amused how just the both of us could eat so much crabs at 9am (and very large ones too!). There was a Hong-ky family who said aloud "Wahh.. tit hai hou leng wo". And Peter immediately replied "Hai-ah.. hou sek ah" and he invited them to join us, but they politely declined. The verdict - tasted very good but you must have it broiled so you can taste the sweetness of the flesh. All 3 crabs for Y7400 (RM250). Worth it!

You can choose your own crabs in this shop and they will prepare it for you. All crabs are live.

Straight out from the kitchen. I'm holding the BBQ King Crab. Peter has the broiled ones, hairy and hanasaki. We could not finish it (of course =.=), and had to "ta bao"

Next up, Shiroi Koibito Park - a theme park by local chocolate company, Ishiya.  They are famous for their Shiroi Koibito Cookie, which is essentially 2 thin butter cookies and a layer of white chocolate in between. Inside the park is the chocolate factory where you can observe the process of making those cookies. On the outside, it's a nice park to sit around and enjoy the beautiful flowers. Thanks, JL for recommending this place :)

The factory processing the Koibito cookies

Some yummy-licious dessert you will find in the cafe.
Pretty to look at, but I'm sure it will be too sweet to my liking

Perfect weather for the day :)

Hokkaido is the birthplace of beer in Japan. Plus Sapporo Beer is one of the oldest and most popular beer brands in the country. Surely then we would not want to miss visiting the Sapporo beer museum. The museum introduces the history of beer in Japan and the process of beer making. Explanations are mainly in Japanese though. Beer tastings are also available, but we didn't go for it since we had to pay

Not sure what the significance is with this bottle on a special display, but I'm sure it's one very important bottle!

Some of the (amongst hundreds) Sapporo Beer Ads. All the faces used in their ads are either local celebrities or iconic people of some sort.

Next stop - Mount Moiwa, a popular sightseeing spot known for its spectacular view over the city

It's beautiful because you've got the city view on one side and on the other, you've got the serene mountain views.

Our last stop for the day was Susukino, Sapporo's largest entertainment district, packed with restaurants,  shopping stores and bars.

Night comes to life with neon lighted billboards on many buildings

On the very night when we were here, the locals were having Summer Festival celebration too. Many people were dressed in kimonos, eating and drinking by the streets.

Hokkaido is also famous for ramen. So we were in search for the oldest ramen place, located near Susukino. It's called the Ramen Youkocho where it is a very narrow lane, with many tiny restaurants serving ramen.

We settled for this shop, as there were seats available at the time. This man was the cook, the cleaner, the cashier - one man show! There were no english menu and he could not speak english. So we just asked for his "number 1 ramen".  

And this was what we got! Nice :)