Hello and good morning everyone! It is I, Angie, bringing you this excellent blog post about our first full day here in beautiful Sapporo! Spring has not yet sprung here in Hokkaido, but that is fine by me because that means cool weather, not becoming a sweaty gaijin, less laundry, and I get to wear my cute new jacket!
We're doing our best to beat jetlag using the app Timeshifter, and here's hoping it continues to work! Even though we've arrived we're doing our best to wake up and seek light or darkness, take melatonin, or have caffeine when it says to. So according to the app we were to wake up around 6 am? Easy peasy when you're jetlagged and crashed around 10pm! Seek darkness until 8am? Not as easy when the sun comes up around here at 5:00am and the bright glow of our phones and this tablet screen are on.
Now, I don't know if you know this about me, but I LOVE planning vacations, what to pack, itineraries and the like. I've found that I really enjoy planning one activity per day with the option to keep it loose and have the option to not do something or switch it with another day's activity, and then spend the rest of the day exploring or shopping or relaxing. Day one went without a hitch as our activity was:
The Makomanai Takino Cemetery!
But Angie, you're saying, why would you want to go to a cemetery? I mean, have you MET me? Also, many cemeteries are beautiful gardens or arboretums and places with beautiful nature! I'm sure you're picturing grave stones and mausoleums, but how about Easter Island heads?
Oh, ha ha! I swear I didn't even PLAN this, but we went here when it was still Easter back at home! Happy Easter y'all!
Makomanai is also a sculpture park with some fun replicas and, most importantly, The Hill of the Buddha!
This was actually just recently built in 2015 and in summer the whole hill is covered in lavender! It must look and smell wonderful! We did get to enjoy some lavender as ice cream in a little shop no one else was in.
Speaking of no one else, there were tourists here, but the parking lots were pretty empty and we were able to easily find seats on the bus. It is definitely off season right now since nothing is blooming and the snow is almost melted away (there's still some on the mountains and higher up). Jeff and I agreed though, we would much rather be on vacation and at these destinations during the off season when it's not at peak beauty to avoid all the crowds. It's so much better this way. Plus, I like the colder weather!
Speaking of weather, the WIND at Makomanai was INSANE! It was almost like being back at the Isle of Sky! It was SO WINDY! Or as the German tourists--with stupid chad-bro older sons that were climbing on the Stonehenge and should know better-- would say: "sehr windig!".
It was also so BEAUTIFUL there! I love when I get to see mountains with snow on them, especially since I'm used to seeing hilly Cincinnati or flat cornfields of Ohio. But the sun was shining, the wind was winding, and it made for some beautiful landscapes:
Getting to and from Makomanai was really easy. It took about 1.5 hours to get there but all it was was a train from Sapporo to Makomanai station, and then a bus up to the cemetery. Have we mentioned how much we love the transportation in Japan? It's great.
When we got back to Sapporo station, we decided to hit up the local Pokemon Center! This Center's official Pokemon are Alolan Vulpix and Sprigatito:
Unlike my Pokemon experience at the Shibuya Pokemon Center back in 2024, this one was not very crowded (it wasn't empty by any means, but you could easily walk around and look at the shelves and browse), and it was very cute with plenty of Swablu and Altaria merch for me to spend my hard-earned money on. Money well spent I tell ya!! There were employees going around with these newer line of plushies that have an arm that waves (or makes muscles in the case of Machamp) when you squeeze it, so they were going around saying "konnichiwa" in cute voices with the plushies. There were also puppets which I didn't buy, but if there had been a Pokemon I loved as a puppet I would have bought one in an instant! The lady at the cash register asked if I like Swablu (Chirutto) and I was like "Yes! So cute! Kawaii desu!" Points for me being able to have a simple conversation! Also, I'm looking into the Japanese name for Altaria and I am LOVING the fact that part of her name comes from Tyl, a star in the constellation Draco. That makes me love Altaria and Swablu even MORE! Overall, an adorable and pleasant Pokemon Center experience. We have the one in Sendai (Tohoku Pokemon Center) that we can go to next week!
We took our purchases back to the hotel. By now it was about 3:00, so we rested our feet a bit and made a game plan. Neither of us were hungry for dinner yet, so we decided to hit up a couple of anime stores in Odori (one stop away from Sapporo station on the subway) and then have dinner. We went to Jungle where I discovered my next creative attempt to make my own Shido merch/content: plushies. They were selling felt and embroidered applique chibi eyes and mouths (that you can custom color with marker or paint). I can sew! Let's DO THIS!!
We also hit up Animate, Lashinbang, and Book Off, and ended the night with a delicious meal at Cafe Gusto. Jeff was now able to try the Cheese on Cheese IN Hamburg, and I had a mentaiko carbanara and some roasted veggies. We both quaffed delicious melon Coca-Cola (my first soda in MONTHS and it was SO GOOD).
By now we were hobbling around with sore feet, ankles, hips, backs and joints like the 40-year-olds we are (or will be soon) and crashed in bed at the hotel after enjoying a really lovely hot bath. OMG, I love coming to Japan and enjoying a soak. They even have some bath salts, so I tried the rose-scented one. Not overwhelming and very relaxing!
Oh, we also picked up a "small" bit of sweet treats for dessert at the local Hokkaido conbini: Seicomart. And when in Hokkaido, one gets all the Hokkaido milk and butter-inspired treats! My ice cream bar with the sweetened condensed milk center and the Hokkaido cream cookie sandwich were delicious! The fuwafuwa egg pastry was decidedly mid.
And on that note, Jeff, how was your dessert? Anything you'd like to add to this blog?
I have some general observations and commentary!
The strawberry ice cream bar war lovely. A nice, simple strawberry flavor. I always forget that Japanese Peanut Butter (seen in the Legally Distinct Uncrustable in the bottom right) is just some peanut powder in actual butter. Still tasty, just not the taste sensation I was expecting.
Cafe Gusto was definitely the correct choice for dinner. It was warm and filling, with a straightforward ordering process that I can get behind.
I am uncertain if this is a Me Getting Old thing or a Me Being Persnickety thing, but the selection of goods at the local anime and games related stores so far has definitely been catering towards a different genre of weeb than I am. Historically, the focus at stores was on the last year of Seasonal Anime. Now, it's on recurring media properties (V-Tubers, eternal Idol Shows, and perpetual Shounen Nonsense). Which, to be clear, is completely reasonable. Is this because I've become more specific in my wants as an aging person? Or is this a lack of taste in The Youths of Today?
The weather here during springtime in Sapporo - apart from the wind - does seem to agree with me well. Even when it was Sunny, it wasn't Too Sunny.
Somehow, every trip, I accidentally grab a Barley Tea instead of Black Tea at a convenience store. This time, I got it out of the way on Day 0. Here's hoping I'm good from here on out.
Well, time to get ready for another day. It's raining and cool today, so we'll see what adventures await.
Be well, stay safe, and have yourself a merry little Christmas.
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