I had been saving for the trip for quite some time as days off, bus tickets, flights and accommodation all had to be booked well before we set off. The journey there was quite a mission as we had a 10am flight to catch from Osaka taking us into Sapporo by noon. Unfortunately this meant that we needed to leave Tokushima City at 7am - which meant that we needed to get out of bed to travel to the city by 5am! Naturally, I overslept and already missing a few members of my crew, I legged it to Liz's place to pick her up and race to the bus depot. We made it with just enough time to spare (as well as having enough time to procure a drink or two from a conbini along the way) and hopped on the bus at 6.58am.
The ride was fairly uneventful though checking in at the airport was a little stressful, as we were still waiting for Tadgh and Bec to arrive (they had waaaaaaaaaaay overslept and had to drive to Kansai Airport instead!). Luckily they rocked up at the last possible moment and we all boarded the plane to Sapporo.
Todd (USA) and Mike (USA) hamming it up at Kansai International Airport
The flight only took 2 hours and we landed in snowy Sapporo for the long weekend. The temperature was noticeably colder as we exited the plane and the fogged up windows on the train ride to the city proved this as well. When we made it to the city, a number of my friends stocked up on drinks and we all bought our first Sapporo Beer of the trip, cracking it open and drinking during the walk to the hotel (street drinking isn't illegal in Japan). After checking in - and having our pictures taken for our membership cards - we set out in search of lunch, which ended up being some fairly delicious Hokkaido ramen (noodles with roasted pork).
After lunch we regrouped and got ready for skiing that evening! Before arriving in Hokkaido I had had a look for a place to ski pretty close to the city and one of my teachers at Elementary School had recommended we try going to Teine Ski Field. Turns out Teine Town was a 20-minute train ride from Sapporo Station and from there we commandeered 3 taxis to take us up to the slopes.
Teine Ski Field
It was my first time skiing and I was nervous as hell. The slopes were pretty small but by no means an easy feat and after spending some time awkwardly looking (and certainly feeling) like Bambi, I managed to hop on the ski lift and ride with Danielle to the top. Apparently you have to stand up and ski away as your chairlift approaches the top however, and not knowing at all how to ski, I ended up flat on my arse before I had even begun! This brought a round of cheers from my compatriots and so began the embarrassing ski experience of a first-timer. I pretty much "pizza-ed" my whole way down the slope about 4 times, only once completely stacking it in spectacular style in a move also known as a "yardsale" (i.e. everything must go). While my friends went up and down the slope as much as possible (with Liz even choosing to snowboard instead of ski), I decided to camp out in the lodge and enjoy a beer or two.
From L-R: Dinah, Liz, me, Alex and Mike
Jamo, Mike and Todd trying to teach me how to ski...
Giving up and parking myself in the Lodge to drink beers instead.
I didn't really do much after skiing that night, preferring instead to entertain myself in my room (cheap wine and tele-movies FTW) while the others hit up an izakaya for some food and drinks. I woke up feeling rather fresh in the morning and joined the pack for a day trip to the zoo, which was a short taxi ride away.
The zoo was really interesting but rather appalling too. Animals lived in cages reminiscent of Australian zoos in the old days - bears in small concrete caves, large cats in a small glass walled room, polar bears in a tight space and a menagerie of African animals all housed together in one smelly shed... I even saw some kangaroos!
The gang at the zoo: (L-R) Todd, Liz, LaVan, Mike, Danielle, Alex, Dinah, myself and Jamo.
The kangaroos at the zoo!
The tiger pacing back and forth in its tiny glass enclosure.
For dinner that night we visited an All You Can Eat Crab Restaurant, where for about 80AUD you could smash down as much crab as humanly possible in 2 hours. It was delicious, but truthfully I got a little drunk during the meal and the rest of Night 2 passed in a bit of a blur... We did manage to see a few snow and ice sculptures though. I think.
Funky looking Japanese craaaaaaaaaaaab!
Snow Castle (one of the few ice sculpture pictures I have!)
On Saturday I hung out with Sarah, Brandon and Mark (all from the US) and we went to the famous Ramen Alley for lunch. We had to wait outside a tiny restaurant for AGES, but when we finally got inside, ordered and received our meal it was scrumptiously worth the wait. Thick savoury soup coated the perfectly cooked ramen (Japanese style egg noodles) and on top sat a juicy few pieces of slow-roasted pork slices. Amazing!
On Saturday night (our last in Sapporo) we had a booking at Sapporo Beer Factory for an All You Can Eat Lamb dinner. This time the gorging-period was a full three hours and included as many beers as you could drink too! Danielle and I shared a grill and between us managed to down 8 whole trays of lamb! We also had the good fortune of spotting one of the hottest looking Japanese men I have ever seen, working as a waiter at some nearby tables and I think we made his night by asking for a photo.
Dani and I cooking up a storm at All You Can Eat Lamb @ Sapporo Beer Factory
Danielle and I posing for a photo with the cute Japanese waiter!
Group photo with the Hokkaido Bear after dinner.
After the sumo-wrestling but before the snowball fight, on the way back to the hotel post-lamb.
Waking up at 7am on a Sunday morning to begin the 12-hour relay home was no picnic, especially after all that lamb I tell ya. Though despite rocking home at about 7pm, stinking of barbecued meat and positively sweltering in the comparatively mild weather conditions of Tokushima, I had an amazing weekend. I just wished I'd had the forethought to take Monday off work!
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