ANA to Hokkaido - Autumn Snow, Seafood and the Art of Onsen Appreciation

[yflyer]

That evening, we caught the bus from our hotel to Sapporo New Chitose Airport, CTS...



This was an airport unlike any other we had seen in Japan. From the bus drop off, you entered the terminal and found yourself not at the check-in counters, but in a huge food court and busy shopping zone.



There was Christmas decor up, and it was all very festive.



They were actually selling crabs at the airport!



There were stores here that would not look out of place in a market...



The Japanese had a tradition of gift giving when returning from holidays. Travellers would have no shortage of gift options to buy at this airport!



Other facilities at the airport included "Hello Kitty Happy Flight" (What on earth was that?) and "Doraemon Wakuwaku Sky Park" (Ditto...). Alas, we had no time to explore these places.

We headed to the check in counters. We first headed to the premium check in area, which Star Gold were eligible to use.



But it turns out that this was only for domestic flights. There was a separate check-in counter for pax with international connections. We would have to go there instead. But ANA customer service was wonderful, they actually had a staff member escort us to the correct check-in area.



At the counter, there was a warning notice which you did not see at Changi Airport...

[yflyer]

For our last lunch in Hokkaido, Mrs yflyer picked a place that served Wagyu beef Shabu shabu and Sukiyaki...



Several set menus were available. We opted for the standard course.



A beautifully presented box of appetisers...



Then the main event: beautifull marbled wagyu beef, sliced super thin, to be dipped in a choice of light, clear shabu shabu broth, or thicker, sweeter sukiyaki broth...



The set also came with a huge platter of vegetables, and udon noodles...



...and a raw egg to be used as a dip.



This was a very satisfying and delicious meal. A nice way to end our vacation in Hokkaido.

[yflyer]

We headed up the Sapporo TV Tower.



At 147m, it was half the height of Tokyo Tower (at 333m)...



...but the views from the top were still quite spectacular...



...with great views of Odori Park and mountains in the distance.



There was a restaurant on the lower level of the tower that had great views too, although we did not eat there.

[yflyer]

The sun was out, and the sky was a deep shade of blue, on our last day in Sapporo.



We took the opportunity to do some above-ground sightseeing (As opposed to using the Ekimae-dori underground walkways) and also headed up the Sapporo TV Tower.



We walked up and down the Tanuki Koji covered shopping street...



...where Mrs yflyer bought a kitchen knife from a Miyabunhamano, a well known knife shop.



We headed to Nijo market, the city's main seafood market.



...which was a maze of narrow alleyways...



By then I think I had seen enough crabs to last a lifetime.

[yflyer]

We were in Sapporo just as the annual White Illumination event began. From late Novermber to March, there were lights and illuminations at Odori Park and Ekimae-dori.



There were illuminations across different stretches of the park.



The crowds were up and about ooh'ing and ah'ing at the sights around them.



There was also a full scale Christmas market at Odori Park...



...very similar to those in Germany at this time of year...



...and just as crowded.



Lots of food...



Beer...



...and souvenirs...

[yflyer]

We had a memorable meal at Kappou-Hashi, which as the name implied, served Kappou-style dishes in a modern, casual setting inside a shopping mall in Susukino.



Beautiful chopsticks and sauces dishes were in the drawer under the table. A different colour for each diner...



Sake served in a metal carafe...



Semi cooked chicken liver...



Gratin served in a pumpkin...



Shirako tempura...



Lamb proscuitto...



Seared lamb...



Beef sushi that was just so flavourful...



The sushi here was also a sight to behold, with a freshness and intensity of flavour that one did not often get in sushi in Singapore...



Black soybean and kinako ice cream...



A very memorable lunch, with every dish executed to an amazingly high standard.

[yflyer]

We headed to Daimaru for a look around.



It was always fun to head to supermarkets and food halls in other countries to see what the locals were eating.

The supermarket at Daimaru was awe-inspiring. I was especially wowed by the seafood selection.



Mantis shrimp, a rare delicacy in Singapore, was abundant here.



Kajika or Japanese fluvial sculpin (from the Rockfish family), the main ingredient in Hokkaido's Kajika soup.



Shirako from Nemuro, on the Northeast of Hokkaido.



Shoppers here apparently took the provenance of their produce very seriously. Everything was labeled with it's place of origin.

[yflyer]

We were now in our last 2 days in Sapporo. We spent those days wandering around the city and seeing the sights.

In one of the city's parks, Mrs yflyer was approached by group of young students, accompanied by their teacher, and asked to participate in a mock interview, where the student played the role of a TV reporter (complete with cardboard microphone) and asked her some questions, in pretty decent English, about her thoughts on visiting Sapporo.



These were very young students, and some prompting from their teacher was needed, but we were very impressed by this very practical approach to learning. They never did anything like that in primary school in Singapore!

[yflyer]

Back in Sapporo that evening, we headed to an Izakaya that was recommended by Saito-san of Bar Owl&Rooster.



This was another excellent restaurant. This was a large, and very popular Izakaya. No reservations were necessary, we just walked in and were shown to table overlooking the busy Susukino crossing in Sapporo.



Crab was a speciality here...Mrs yflyer could not resist sampling some of the grilled red king crab...



We also sampled their tuna sushi (Delicious!) and some really huge oysters...



The crab porridge was also very satisfying.

[yflyer]

From Yoichi, we caught another bus for the short ride to Otaru, to have a look at their famous canal.



This was a popular spot for paintings, and of late, Instagrammers as well.



To be very frank, I was a little underwhelmed by the canal. It was not a particularly long canal -- only a short stretch was scenic. There were some nice spots for folks to do their obligatory photo or selfie, but that was it. Maybe this was just the wrong time of the year to visit the canal.

That said, the canal was especially beautiful in the evening.



While in Otaru, we passed a small casual restaurant that specialised in uni, or sea urchin.



As this was one of our favourite foods, we stepped inside for a quick meal...



..and also to sample something quite unique: uni-flavoured ice cream. This was an unexpected combination, which was also unexpectedly tasty!



The ice cream had a subtle sea urchin flavour that was not overpowering, and the cone came with a piece of raw sea urchin for good measure!

Otaru was quite a busy town for tourists, there was an old shopping street, lined with art and craft as well as eateries, as well as a glass museum and a huge music box museum.

For us it was just a day trip top Yoichi and Otaru, and we caught the bus back to Sapporo that evening.

[yflyer]

We were shown the fermentation tanks...



...and the distillation process, done in large copper stills...



...which were still directly coal-fired.



Casks of whisky being aged in barrels...



The home of the founder was originally near the distillery. The home was dismantled brick by brick and then moved and reassembled inside the distillery grounds as a historical exhibit.



The final stop on the tour was a whisky tasting.



These small tastes were quite instructive...



...but the complimentary tasting offered as part of the tour was not going to satisfy serious whisky lovers.

For that, you had to pop over to the Whisky museum and tasting room, which was a highlight of the visit.



In the museum, one could learn a lot about Nikka whisky...


...and learn about how the founder Masataka Taketsuru travelled to Scotland to learn how to make Whisky...



...and how he met and fell in love with his Scottish wife there.



We could have spent a long time in the beautiful tasting bar.



At the tasting bar, many whiskies were offered on their tasting menu (On a paid basis).



We ordered a tasting flight...



...as well as a single cask whisky...



We had to catch a bus to Otaru next, otherwise we would have spent a lot more time there sampling other whiskies as well.

[yflyer]

The next day, we caught the bus to Yoichi...



This was a very scenic bus ride...



We were headed to Nikka's Yoichi Distillery...



...where Nikka Whisky was founded.



Nikka's founder, Masataka Taketsuru, established the distillery there in 1934, after determining that the weather conditions there were similar to those of Scotland, along with other factors such as the purity of the water from the Yoichi River.



Mrs yflyer had reserved slots for the popular guided tour in advance. The tour began with a presentation (in Japanese, with written notes in English) by a smartly dressed tour guide.



The presentation covered some history, as well as the process of making whisky.



The important role of peat was discussed...



This included sniffing samples of peated vs unpeated barley. What a night and day difference the peat made to the aroma!



After that a walking tour of the distillery, which was still a fully functional and operating distillery...

[yflyer]

Continuing with the TR...we headed to Jingisukan Yukidaruma for dinner...



After climbing a narrow staircase, we emerged into a small restaurant with traditional Japanese seating.

We removed our footwear, and were seated on tatami mats on the floor around a low table into which a charcoal stove was inserted.



Onto a charcoal, a large convex hotplate was placed...



A selection of vegetables soon followed...



But this was no vegetarian meal -- quite the opposite.

On offer were many different lamb cuts, from common cuts like fillets and rib eye, to more unusual delicacies like tongues and hearts...



We ordered some of everything...



The tongue and heart were delicious, but then so was everything else...



Cooking these tender chunks of meat on a hot plate was just what we needed on a bracing cold evening.

If in Sapporo, I would highly recommend sampling this local dish. There are many jingisukan restaurants and it is probably hard to go wrong when choosing one, but I would recommend this place for its local ambience and reasonable prices, not to mention delicious meat.

[yflyer]

As I was jogging along Odori Park, I spotted what looked like a mock airline cockpit and fuselage in one of the buildings along the street.



Out of curiosity, I decided to take a closer look.



At first I thought this might just be a kid's play area, or an inaccurate mock-up for an airline-themed cafe or something...



...but I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was actually a fairly accurate mock-up cockpit and cabin scrounged up from actual aircraft parts...



While there was no-one around, the exhibit appeared open, and there were inviting sets of slippers there for guests to wear...



...so I slipped off my running shoes, put on the slippers, and stepped in.



Wow, an actual cabin and cockpit...



This looked a lot like domestic business classs on ANA...



An actual aircraft door...



This looked to be a Boeing 767 cockpit, with its 2 distinctive multifunction displays one on top of the other...



Someone really put in a lot of effort to set up this mock-up. Thumbs up!



After the run, I headed back to the hotel, showered, and headed for dinner with Mrs yflyer and Miss yflyer no.2.

Our dinner would be Hokkaido-style barbeque, with lamb/mutton grilled on a convex metal skillet, known there as Jingisukan ("Genghis Khan"?), at Jingisukan Yukidaruma.

To be continued!

[yflyer]

My go-to running route when staying at the Sapporo Grand Hotel was at Odori Park, just a short distance from the hotel.



I began my run at the hotel and headed to the western end of Odori Park, then headed towards the eastern end, where the Sapporo TV Tower was located.



This was a very popular park for residents and visitors.



The only issue with this park for runners and joggers was that there were many streets cutting across the park, which meant that every few hundred meters or so there was a traffic light to cross.



Stopping at crossings was quite disruptive to a run, so I did what other runners/joggers did, which was to do loops around the area I was in while waiting for the lights to change.



One of the buildings along the route had the temperature displayed along it's side. It was 9 degrees -- a little cold, but this was perfectly runnable weather if you had a few layers on (which I did).



There was a Christmas Fair opening a few days later, and preparations for it's opening were underway.



Total route that day was 6+ km, which included all the looping while waiting for the traffic lights to change at each intersection.



Not an ideal jogging route because of all the traffic stops, but at least it was fairly scenic.