Riding the Sapporo Subway. Orange shirt from Uniqlo. 1000 yen.


Here finally is a long overdue photo essay on my nice trip to Sapporo last month with the lovely Kate. I should thank Kate for acting as my own private paparazzo on this trip, as well as everywhere else we go. It's because of her tireless efforts that you all can enjoy the many wonderful photos of me on this website. Now I invite you to vicariously experience my journey to the Northern Japanese metropolis of Sapporo...

Follow up:

Kate and I trained it from Noheji to Hakodate in Hokkaido, and then to Sapporo on one of those tilt-trains that lean through corners so that they can go faster than the tracks normally allow.


First stop upon arrival was the travel office, where we were promptly laughed at for not having a hotel reservation and then directed to what must be the cheapest and stinkiest hotel in town. Our second stop was Don Quijote, or "Donki" as people seem to call it. Why the store was ever named after a fictional Spanish explorer and then given a blue pengiun as a mascot is just one of the many intriguing mysteries of Japan. For me, Donki is possibly the best Japanese store chain, if for no other reason than the awesome cosplay outfits in their adult goods section:





HQ Hair Salon after hours




Kate reads about a Pop-Art exhibit inside the unbelievably bad smelling Asakura Hotel. With the help of some incense and the passage of time, we eventually got more or less used to the powerful funk. Still the hotel room was probably the biggest low-point of our trip.



This Sapporo night club's exterior decor is somewhat more elaborate than Hirosaki's Mag-Net.




America's two biggest female icons stand side by side in Sapporo's infamous red light district Susukino. After the trip, whenever I mentioned to other teachers that I went to Sapporo on vacation, the first question from their lips was always "Did you go to Susukino?". Susukino really is something else, so I understand their curiosity. It seemed even greater in size and quantity of debauchery than Tokyo's Kabuki-cho, with plenty of fancy love hotels and mysterious soap lands for people to enjoy.



Checking out the aforementioned love hotels, in the hopes of perhaps escaping our funkified hotel room for a night.


Some of the love hotels had really beautiful lobbies, and one even had a great big fish tank that completely surrounds you as you walk in. The tank however was kind of scary as it seemed to be leaking water all over the floor from a big crack in the middle. Neither Kate nor I wanted to be found drowned in a love hotel lobby, and got out of there real tout suit like.




Country music line dancers... a common site in many Japanese parks.



In a strange cosmic coincidence, Kate and I bumped into Darren who you might remember as the guy who interviewed me several months ago for the Hokkaido JET publication The PoleStar.




No trip out of Aomori is complete without many visits to Starbucks. Aomori Prefecture has got to be one of the last places on the face of the Earth that still doesn't have one.






We spent a lot of time walking around on this trip, so thank God for Yodobashi Camera's massage chair section.




Sapporo has some nifty subway cars that almost look like they popped out of a Jules Verne novel. The train's interior is also adorned with drawings of famous Sapporo landmarks. By the door you can see this warning sign, likely put up as a response to the recent events in London. The trains don't run on rails but have rubber tires, similar to the system used in Montreal's Metro.



While on the subject of transit, here's a Peko-Chan street car, which in addition to Sapporo's square shaped city blocks, wide streets and tall, but not ridiculously tall buildings reminded me quite a bit of Toronto.




Now let's take a look at one of Sapporo's best tourist traps, the Shiroi Koibito Chocolate Factory.



Please enter the sphincter of chocolate to begin our journey.




Two tiny ghost children explore a big diorama explaining traditional methods of making chocolate.



The place had a very Willy Wonka-esque feel to it, however its fountains sadly didn't flow with chocolate, nor were there any Umpa-Lumpas or Everlasting Gobstoppers to be found.




The climactic moment where you can watch the factory workers in action. For some reason Kate didn't seem to become as entranced by the cookie assembly line as she had been earlier that day by the automated cookie making machine at the train station...



I can understand why Kate became so enthralled as the Tiny Tom mini-donut machine at the CNE has always had the same effect on me.




The chocolate factory was also home to a toy museum packed with a very random assortment of items, including for some reason these old Toronto Blue Jay's buttons.



The clock tower is home to a robot trumpet show that plays every hour on the hour, however it was cancelled the day we visited due to high winds.




The factory also makes these cute little ice cream packed snowmen. Why so angry coffee flavoured snowman?



...and why so glum Kate? There's no looking sad on the Happy Stone!




We stumbled upon a great Cajun restaurant that served Zima mixed with various fruits.



Can't go to Sapporo without taking at least one photo of the amazing clock tower.




Just to be safe, I took two.



While Kate was shopping in this surprisingly cheap used clothing store, I decided to relax on a bench outside and wait. What a mistake that was. Not long after I sat down, this drunken lunatic decided to keep me company. After what felt like an eternity, he finally went off on his merry way, leaving me alone with the guy who likes to endlessly stare at slot machines. Kate, what took you so long???




The next day we walked to the botanical gardens where I saw this poor little cactus experiencing some kind of erectile dysfunction.



I got this little dung beetle toy from a bottle of Aquarius Active Diet. Here he's chillin' on the table at a Mexican restaurant. It seemed like the main purpose for this place was as a spot for cheap nomihodai as the only servesas to be found were Sapporo Beers. The soft tacos however were really good, so thumbs up from me.




Kate and I were 2 of only 5 customers checking out this cover band at a British pub we found in Susukino. Luckily we got the gaijin discount and had our cover charge reduced by half. It seemed like everywhere we went in Sapporo we came across Japanese people who spoke English, something that rarely ever happens in Aomori.



No more photos!




Okay, let's go home.