September 28-30 (Sat-Mon) - Our paths crossed in the white north

Well, it’s not snowing yet.

Saturday: I woke at 6, and 10 hours later I was in Hokkaido and reunited with Mia-tachi, whose adventures you have been reading about. They are more exciting than mine, but for this short time, we shine together. (So, since they’ve covered it, I’ll be brief.)

The station is pretty!

After I arrived and they presented me with many presents, we walked to the Sapporo Autumn Festival, held at Odori Park. The park covers several blocks, and thus did the stalls of food. Lots of offerings, lots of people. We stuck around long enough to see Sapporo Tower light up, 

then we went to dinner at a Hokkaido speciality — Ganges Khan cook-it-yourself lamb. Yum.

The day ended with some games and chocolate (how could we eat more??). 

The hotel they chose was super cute! Old-fashioned telephones, 

elevators, 

statues,

carpeting colors cupboards and all.

A note on flying in Japan: It’s easy. The ticket has a barcode. You scan this barcode (yourself) at security and to get on the plane. Security is fast. Pull out computers and water bottles, everything else as is. For my water bottles, they put them on a scale (or machine of some sort, I couldn’t tell), then had me open the bottles so they could briefly smell the contents. That’s it. 5 minutes, tops, to go through security — counting the line. 

Since I flew through United, it took much longer to check in than anything else. The rest was fast. The airports are (as I’ve seen) nice, clean, and comfortable. Some areas lack a place to sit and eat, but at least there are trash bins.

And sometimes, you see something funny like this:

Sunday: Back to our shared adventures. After a leisurely morning, we beheld the Tower of Sauron, 

then we went to Kaitaku no Mura, the Historic Village of Hokkaido, an open-air museum of early settlement in Hokkaido. Settlement by the southern Japanese, that is, so we’re talking late 1800s to early 1900s. It doesn’t have to be in Japan to be cool, but this place was special because a) it’s in Japan b) the weather was nice and there were hardly any people and c) inside many of the buildings you are allowed mostly-free-reign (provided you take off your shoes!!). 

My favorite was the newspaper building, where we saw the letters,

and got to stamp our own postcards.

Here’s Mia at the Post Office,

and Rich at the barber’s. 

Also, Mia delivers a short sermon.

This is a ranma.

Here are a few sandals.

And a couple boats.

I took care of the well,

then worked the pump, while Mia and Rich played with stilts. 

Sheesh. :)

Japanese doors (and some walls) are made with paper. When they get holes, they mend it like this:

Mia and I took a turn at the photography studio.

Observe, Eastern and Western-style toilets.

Western-style has upgraded... quite a bit. They even need instructions.

Here’s a classroom:

We returned to the festival for food and entertainment.

I found this building. It’s like pools of sky have been captured in red sands.

Then the day rounded off with a visit to our first ever CAT CAFE!!!

I miss my fluffies.

After an unexpected visit to an old government building,

we retired for the evening.

Monday: Following a relaxed morning, we went to Shiroi Koibito Park. It is the cutest park I have ever seen. Shiroi Koibito means literally ‘white sweetheart’ (or beloved), but I was amused to discover this does not stem from a romantic location, rather a man referred to snowflakes as ‘shiroi koibito’ and that’s what they then called... their cookies.

And from this the park is named. 

The park features bunches of flowers, mirrors,

roses, 

bubbles,

moving litter bins, small caravans,

and a clock parade.

If you have seen The 10th Kingdom — JUST like that.

Mia and Mom made some new friends.

Mysterious swimming thing here.
And we saw candy being made.

Visiting the cookie factory was not quite as cute (although it was) but just as entertaining. After some artifacts such as chocolate labels and cups,

we were introduced to the entire production process:

And (at last) got to see a real part of the factory, with the assembly of the cookies, checking for defects, and the packing.

We spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out why one of the girls watching for defects would take off 3 of about every 9 cookies. We learned the cookies are packaged in sets of 3, and that the ones she took off were probably being taken for chemical (and sensory) testing, but we’re still not sure. After all, it was only her, and she took off so many. Mystery!!

Rich met Astro Boy.

After the factory it was time to PANIC!

Well, we had to return and finish everything before our flights anyway. We ate really good sushi — here is my tray:

The creepy thing in the soup is probably crab. It was good (first time I’ve tried it). ‘Dessert’ was a soup-tasting pudding that Rich liked anyway. Tenpura was eggplant, sweet potato, green pepper, shrimp, and maybe halibut. The sushi was salmon, fish eggs, squid, shrimp, and unknown. 

I have determined that, whether it’s cheap squid or decent squid, I still hate it.

But the rest was really good! Mia even tried one of the fish eggs :)

There were 3 kinds of salt at the table: 

Yuzu (citrus), ume (plume), and plain salt.

Following, we caught the 3:40 train to the airport, where we bid farewell and went a-flying again. By 11pm, I was back in Sabae.

Recent Japanese:
noritsugi (乗り継ぎ) = connecting flight
toujouken = boarding pass
hitoshii = like, similar
shuchou (主張) = claim, insistence, request
tsune (常) = usual
tesuri = handrail
kaiteki = comfortable, pleasant