It's winter now here in Sapporo and everyone seems to be uploading pictures of the frosty scenery on social media. Yet I will be the odd one out here and share about my experiences in Summer instead! Don't get me wrong; I love the cold and all but now that I'm doing a part-time job along with my studies, I really have much less time to explore and travel around Hokkaido than before. While I also mentioned I enjoy the simple life, on top of that, it doesn't hurt to reminescence about warmer times: It makes me feel warmer and I can save on my rising electricity bill by not using the stove so often hehe!
Back in summer, a friend of mine from Singapore who was exchanging in Tokyo bunked over at my place and we did a little exploring. While I did not venture with him to further places like Furano or Hakodate ( he was with his girlfriend, who wants to be a lightbulb all the time?) we did manage to explore most of Central Sapporo as well as make a short trip to Otaru.
Following the recommendations compiled by students of JLI, we tried many things ranging from revolving belt sushi to Hokkaido's famous soup curry. We even managed to find a Singaporean "kopitiam" (Singaporean term for coffee shop/ cheap food center) in Tanukikoji, though I didn't try it personally. (I just left Singapore back then for a couple of weeks tops, why would I miss Singaporean food so soon? However, now that I've been here for about half a year, I definitely should get to trying it someday soon!)
For Otaru, to sum it up succintly, it's basically the "music box" place. Well it does have a short canal to walk along/ take a short boat ride, as well as parks, the thing that caught our eyes was the sheer number of shops selling music boxes. And even though we visited on a weekend, most shops outside of the tourist ones were closed =S At least we didn't leave empty handed and got a custom made music box with the OST of Star Wars (which my friend is crazy of). Another thing was that we visited in summer, so we couldn't get to see the snow light path that is recommended in most travel guides but just the summer version of the canal. Perhaps it's time to make a return to Otaru soon now that it's winter! (The great thing about having four seasons, something hot, humid Singapore desperately needs, is that the same place can provide different experiences year round. What a treat!)
今は冬の季節から、皆雪景色の写真をアップしてばかりだが、私は逆で夏の経験をシェアする。冬が嫌いというわけではない(冬、雪、冬の寒さが大好きので、北海道に来た)。ただバイトを始めたから、旅行の時間が全然無くなるんだ。そして、地味な生活が好き上、温かい経験を思い出すと、温めくなり、ストーブを使う必要がない。(ちょっと電気代も下がるために、笑)
夏の時、シンガポール人の友達(その時東京で留学している)が私のアパートに泊まって来た。一緒に遠い所(富良野、函館とか)まで行かなかったが、札幌中央区と小樽は結構旅行した。
JLIの学生が集めたお勧め書で、色々な料理屋を食べてみに行った、回転寿司も、北海道有名なスープカレーも。その上、狸小路でシンガポールの料理屋も見つけた。その時まだ北海道に来たばかりから、シンガポール料理はあまり恋しくなくて、食べなっかった。でも半年が立って、一回食べてみたほうがいいんでしょう?
小樽なら、簡単に説明すれば、「ミュージックボックス」の所だった。確かに運河があって、パークもあるけど、一番目に触れるのはミュージックボックスの店だった。週末に行ったけど、旅行者のための以外の店がほとんど閉めてある。でも、手ぶらで帰ったことではなく、スター・ウォーズ のミュージックボックスを買った(その友達がすごくスター・ウォーズに熱狂している)。も一つは夏に行ったから、小樽雪あかりの路を見えなっかた。そろそろ又小樽に行く時間かな。(季節がある国は、良いことが同じ所が違う経験をあげられることだ。熱いより、蒸し暑いシンガポールもあれば、いいんなあ~)