The North: Day 6 - Sendai-ing to Get Some Pictures of Spider-man

 Our first full day in Sendai started like most do, with a train to Morioka. The plan for the day is to go to several different parks, see some trees, and not get soaked to the bone by unexpected rain. Let's see how many of those we can manage to accomplish!

Same selfie, two different photographers, vastly different results!

As always, the process of boarding the Shinkansen was easy and had absolutely no problems. This is not at all foreshadowing for things to come later in the day. We had some breakfast on the train, enjoyed a few more minutes of Train Time before we were already at our destination. (Angie: I had a really delicious ekiben with different foods from all over Tohoku! I think it's been my favorite meal so far this trip!) 

Onto a bus and we were off to The Oldest Sakura Tree In All Of Morioka. It's basically a Spite Tree, in that a large boulder was placed in front of a building and a tree grew there, splitting the tree into multiple chunks. There were many a tourist nearby (Edit: Remember, readers, *we* aren't tourists. That's other people. We're... uh... travelers? Something about Sovereign Citizen Nonsense? Don't worry about it.), several of whom asked to have us take their photos (mostly Angie) (I hope I took good photos for them!). 

We were mere blocks away from the first park: Morioka Castle Park. There weren't a lot of people there when we arrived (since it was like 830am), but within 30 minutes the place had many more Sakura Seekers (not to be confused with *The* Sakura Seekers, which is a Naruto Fangroup dedicated to the seventh best fighter in Hidden Leaf Village). There were some stalls setup for snacks, to be sold to various Flower Fanciers, and several easily accessible bathrooms. 

We took some photos, so enjoy those. 

----- Morioka Park Photos -----

Up next, we did *not* end up taking an incorrect bus and definitely didn't spend 30 extra minutes going around town to get to our following destination. Nope. Don't worry about it. We arrived at Takamatsu Park and noticed a few spittles of rain. But we were undeterred. We walked around the lake, taking photos as the rain increased. (Angie: But first we were even hopeful, as the sun came out and was pleasant for all of 5 minutes!) By the time we were 2/3 the way around, the rain was verging on glemmening. We persevered, though, after Angie acquired some oden (chikuwa and daikon) and I had a Calorie Mate. 

----- Takamatsu Park Photos -----

Back to the train station where I *absolutely* didn't pick the wrong option on the ticket machine, which caused us to lose another 30 minutes getting the issue resolved, before heading back to Sendai. (Angie: I had bought the tickets to Morioka ahead of time when back in the states from the website Eki-Net and it included the Reservation ticket and the Fare ticket. When we bought the tickets to get back to Sendai we used a JR shinkansen ticket machine and only made the reservations. So for future use and warning: PURCHASE BOTH RESERVATION TICKET AND FARE TICKET! They come out as two separate tickets but you stack them on top of each other and feed them through the ticket gate slot at the same time. Just FYI.)

We took about an hour to decompress and rest our tired joints (but also to compress...my ankle. It was angry and starting to swell so I put a [leaky] bag of ice on it, elevated it, and then threw on my compression socks and wore my ankle brace and took an Aleve) before we headed out back into the cold to do some more shopping. Animate, Lashinbang, Gamers. (Angie: Ah, but you forgot we hit up the Tohoku Pokemon Center which is RIGHT there outside the station and in the PARCO mall next door to our Apa Hotel! It was pretty busy so we didn't linger. It also had much the same merch, but I bought a Sendai exclusive Pikachu in Tanabata costume and the official Tohoku Center Pin, now that I know those exist! Wish they had started making those when we first started visiting these centers back in....2012? Yeah, we went to the one near the Tokyo Tower that first trip.) The cycle continues unabated. After finding a few trinkets and baubles (I found more materials for that DIY plushie! They had entire blank plushie dolls, so that's one less step for me to do! They also had the right color purple for Shido's hair!), we walked slightly too far to a Royal Host for dinner. Unlike the RH in Beppu back in 2023, this one was... fine. Think post-2014 Frisch's. Cafe Gusto still undefeated in the Family Restaurant space in 2026 (If only there was a Joyful, but I think those are only in the Kyushu region). 

Back to the hotel for a treato from the local kombini. Then off to bed, because damn. Lotta walking, again. 

And now, here's Angie for her take on the day:

It was a rainy day and colder than anticipated because who knew the weather could change so much within 180km (111 miles), and I swear the altitude was not that different! Either way, I had looked up the weather for Sendai which said small chance of rain and temps in the mid-60's. Instead we got constant drizzle and temps in the low 50's. Still, it wasn't raining more than it was, and there weren't any crowds to ruin photos or fight over spots to take photos and it was a pleasant stroll. The buses, while not easily marked, were very nice and useful and frequent enough to make getting around easy. I'm happy to have experienced so many cherry blossoms in Japan without the craziness that happens in heavily touristed areas. Needless to say, I think I overdid it on my ankle and the 1,015 steps up a mountain to Yamadera is not in our future tomorrow. But that's okay! It'll be nice to rest, wash up, and in the evening, we have a concert to go to!! I can't wait!

The North: Day 5 - The thing about Sapporo is that it eventually ends.

 Our last day in Sapporo, a flight to Sendai, and laundry. That about catches you up. 

Baby's first Zunda Shake

Okay, fine. Details. 

After some well ordered packing and re-assembling of our luggage (plus about 20 minutes of Tetris to make sure the souvenirs fit in our checked bag)(Angie: yes, we already have that many souvenirs and it is 90% my fault, sorrynotsorry), we ambled our way to Sapporo station to take the train to the airport. Overall, the transit to the station went fine, apart from foggy glasses. It takes me a lot of mental energy to focus on walking slowly and not taking paths that could cause difficult rolling for the luggage, but we made it to the train with limited issues. Security at Sapporo went quickly after checking two of our bags in, then The Waiting Game commenced. (Angie: but wait! You didn't even tell them about the cool checked luggage machine ANA has! So they have a line of large, luggage-sized capsules with cage doors. You scan your boarding pass and it prints out your luggage tag (in economy you get one free checked bag on ANA BTW). The luggage tag isn't a sticker but both sides have a not sticky but slightly gummy glue on it that will only stick to the other side of the luggage tag when you make a loop. I love it. Then you have to place your luggage a certain way that took me two tries to understand, because once you tag your bag with the tag at the top and the bag upright facing the back wall, it closes a roll-cage door, flips the luggage down and scans the tag as well as weighs your luggage and, if all is good, sends it on its way down the conveyor belt per usual. No staff needed. I really enjoyed that!) 

Like all good Americans traveling, we arrived at the airport a bit over two hours early. When we arrived at our gate, we found ourselves alone (apart from one other guy, who we assumed had already been there for hours and who mysteriously disappeared before the plane boarded) at the gate. It was probably another hour before anyone showed up and the majority of the passengers didn't arrive until about 20 minutes before boarding. (Angie: They also weirdly blocked off all entrances and exits to the waiting area to our gate, which was down some stairs and it was only two other gates there. So when I went upstairs to get food, I came back and the stairs and the elevator were roped off? So I just sat nearby and ate my salad and onigiri hoping that everything was okay but they eventually reopened the area. No idea why they did this when there was clearly 2 people down there.)

Our departure gate *wind whistles hollowly*

Our flight was via a Japanese regional carrier called IBEX and the plane we were on had livery from the Rakuten Golden Eagles baseball team. Both the exterior and interior of the plane were decorated, and two of the staff members were wearing jerseys for the team. If their colors weren't so... Kansas City, I might be tempted to pick something up. But I won't, because KC knows what it did. 

The flight was quick, descending less than 15 minutes after the drink service, and soon we found ourselves at the Sendai Airport. Another (relatively) quick train later and we found ourselves in the city proper. Our hotel is an APA owned property, which is always weird because there's so much Japanese Nationalist Propaganda. It'd be like an American hotel chain that was *obsessed* with the 1950s post-war era (not, like, the *look* of the 1950s, but the *feeling* of the 1950s) and American Ethnic Purity. An odd decision for a hotel chain that caters to foreign tourists and business-people, but that's the owner's choice. (Angie: Jeff seemed to have forgotten completely to include the fact we did our laundry. Which, to be fair, isn't very exciting, but it is in the blog title. I don't want anyone to be disappointed. Also, doing laundry at 3pm on a Friday here at the hotel seems to be a great time as no one was yet using any of the 3 coin laundry facilities. We took two of them, they are the kind that lets you wash and dry in the same unit for 500yen. You also put in a PIN so that only you can unlock the machine and take your laundry when it's done! Nice!)

We popped over to 7/11 to pick up our concert and event tickets, grab some cash from the ATM, and then head back to the hotel to decompress. I had attempted to withdraw what I thought was about $100, but somehow screwed up the math on the conversion rate and accidentally withdrew what I thought was about $1000. Thankfully, it was only about $650, but still. A lotta cash that will (probably) get used anyway. Just a very odd sensation. 

After a few hours of chilling out to recover, we went back to the train station to pick up our reserved tickets. Angie wanted to try a local sweet treat, Zunda Shake. It's made with milk and vanilla ice cream, like any other shake, but the flavor comes from Edamame soy beans. She seemed to enjoy it, which was great because I did not. 

Zunda shake pictured above so have these sprinkle sandwiches from Lawsons.

We headed back again to the room, (picked up our laundry about 2 minutes after it was finished (it took 2 hours) and there was already an impatient man waiting outside the facility, clanking his yen coins in an idle animation of impatience. Dude, there's a whole-ass laundry unit available. Shut up!) showered, and settled in for some YouTube and Japanese TV to close out the night. 

Tomorrow (well, today for us), we'll be on our way to Morioka for further adventures. (Here's hoping the sakura trees are blossoming!)

THE NORTH: Day 4 - A van, a plan, some flan in Japan

 Today's blog is gonna be a short one. Primarily because I am an eepy baby and partially because not a lot happened today. 

Eating a classic staple at a fish market: cantaloupe!

We started off early, taking a van out to a local fish market area. The primary shop/restaurant, Kitano Gurume, has a dedicated transit option from many local hotels and the main Sapporo Station. You can ride to and from for free (about a 10min ride each way), so long as you spend at least 1000 yen in their store or restaurant. A bargain, honestly, because even though the bus that goes that way from the hotel is 500 yen (a little over $3), it takes three times as long. No thanks. 

krabbynoises.wav

The restaurant had some of the freshest fish I've ever had, which means that it was mostly flavorless. Angie had a bowl of rice and about a half a dozen fresh cuts of fish on top (Angie: I even had the "mini size" with tuna, ikura, and uni (sea urchin). It was my first time eating sea urchin but it wasn't bad! I can't describe the taste, but it wasn't fishy at all. And I know people can say the texture can be gritty or sandy if not properly washed, but this was smooth and creamy!). I had some medium fattiness tuna and a very nice grilled cod (with a sweet miso glaze) (Angie: Jeff wins the prize for the best item at that meal. That grilled cod with the glaze was DELICOUS!!). 

The orange stuff on the right is uni (sea urchin)

Smile! You're on candid camera!

Not pictured: grilled cod. It was so delicious we didn't even think to take a photo and just devoured it!

We then ambled around the area for an hour, seeing the sights and picking up omiage (that's Presents For People At Home, but as a single word - what convenience!). The sellers were all very friendly, including several who basically forced us to try their wares. Sorry to the nice woman who really, really wanted me to try the sea urchin. I'm good. I promise. (Angie: Don't tell our restaurant Kitano Gurume that the free samples we got was better; it had a flavorful, salty (but still not fishy) taste and the same creamy texture. The lady at the shop was really nice! I feel bad we couldn't buy anything from her since it would all need to be refrigerated or prepared right away.)

Upon our return, we relaxed in the room for a bit before heading back out for more shopping. We headed out to Susukino again, this time with purpose and Umas to Musume (and Kids to Stray). Our first stop, though, was a PC games shop to look for some very specific 1990s PC-98 games. The shop was quaint (which is me being generous - it was about 40 square feet and all of it was filled with the most ludicrous PC games imaginable). The older man running the place was mostly distracted with a few boxes of PC games that he'd (apparently) recently got into stock. (Angie: I think he was too embarrassed or shy to try and interact with foreigners, especially a female one.)

Up next, a walk over to Sushiro - a conveyor belt sushi chain that Angie had visited before. It was improbably medium. If you looked up 5/10 Sushi Restaurant chain in the dictionary, you'd see a note saying "Americans can't properly rate anything, because they think a 3/5 is awful and a 5/5 is okay - instead of rating nearly every place they go somewhere between a 2.5 and 3.5, because that's how statistical distribution should work.". Then, when you figure out that I'm just being ridiculous for the purpose of making a point, you'll be able to move on to the next point. 

Sushiro was pretty okay. I've had better, I've definitely had worse. A definitional example of a 3/5 restaurant. (Angie: pssshhh, I still love Sushiro. The current limited edition grilled chicken sushi with the basil or mozzarella is freakin' delicious. It did seem that location was cutting corners and getting kinda lazy though. The rice was sad and falling apart and the candied imo were chilled like they had been stored in a fridge.)

A short stroll later and we found ourselves back at the Mandarake. At the Suruga-ya. At the Combination Mandarake / Suruga-ya. Angie found some more souvenirs. I thought about picking up a few rarer games, but decided against it because they would've required buying a JPN X-Box. Gross. 

After an hour or so of shopping, we made our way over to Karaoke Kan. Two hours of Angie singing (and me developing new ways to use soundwaves to inconvenience my neighbors) later and we wandered back to the hotel to get some rest.

I am now going to turn over the remainder of this to Angie, as I am falling asleep and cannot in good conscience continue. 

Barf! Now he's probably going to become an honor student or something!

Angie: I'm just going to add that our return to Surugaya was to pick up Uma Musume and Stray Kids merch for people at home. It was a very omiyage/souvenirs for others kinda shopping day. I did buy the Paprika soundtrack at Tower Records that was in the PARCO building with Sushiro. We also stopped at a Taito Station and a GiGo to play some claw machines and lose some money that way, but we did win two keychains of tiny claw machine claws, and we did some purikura! And I bought that chibi Sebastian figure at Surugaya that I passed up last time but it was still on my mind.

Now we're back at the hotel and I just got out of a nice hot bath and we're ready to snooze. In fact, Jeff is already snoring. It's my time to join him. Good night! Tomorrow we leave Sapporo and take a quick flight to Sendai. Goodbye Hokkaido. Hello Tohoku!