Golden Week: Sapporo Part 1

The second leg of our journey took us further north to Sapporo, the home of a beer whose name you will have to cleverly guess. After some shopping around, we were able to get a fantastic deal on a rental car, which saved us the trouble of expensive train tickets. In the further interest of thrift, we avoided the toll roads (about $50 each way) and enjoyed the views afforded by the back roads.

We were fortunate enough to have clear weather for the vast majority of the trip and able to get this beauty which would have been blocked by clouds another day.
The camera was precariously balanced via a crushed cigarette box (because Adam smokes now) on top of the car. I'm shocked I didn't break it.

Cat's don't understand public manners, but people do.

Epic photography at the Sapporo Brewery.

Epic Polo in the tasting room.

Epic eyebrow... well, it's pretty ubiquitous.

Do you know what salt & blackpepper ice cream tastes like?
Like salt & blackpepper ice cream; that's what.

Japan:
Missing the point since 1952.

We took a day trip to Otaru, a port city famous for it's sushi.
Incidentally, the sushi of which we partook in Otaru was better than any sushi you will ever have outside of Japan.

Also in Otaru: mythical beasts of yore.
This was a shortly before it made a valiant lunge for my friend's fingers.

Really, Japan? You couldn't do a quick Google search?

More forthcoming.

JetSetArnett Out.

Well you can come on to my place if you want to

Golden Week: Hakodate

Every spring, Japan has a travel season called Golden Week, a series of occasionally inconveniently spaced days in April and May. This is the time most Japanese people use vacation days and travel about Japan or abroad. Last year my sister flew further than most people do in a lifetime to get here, and we went south to Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hiroshima on bullet trains! It was a fantastic trip, but there were far, far too many tourists in some spots.

So this year, a few of my friends and I made the relatively short trip to the far less busy Hokkaido. The first stop on our trip: romantic Hakodate.

When you exit the Hakodate train station, you're greeted by this... Oh, Japan.

The guest house where we stayed was up a long slope.

And had an absolutely fantastic view. Often we would lazily wake up late and sit at the window to read or play DS (we're still in Japan after all).

Historical!

The night view from Mt. Hakodate was quite impressive.

Oh, is there a city behind me? I didn't even notice.

Sakura is nice
That word means cherry blossom
Viewing required

Photo composition!

Bridges are nice.

Look at the sign in the middle.

Unbelievable...
I kid you not, people came to take pictures of this historical treasure; sometimes from their cars as they drove by it. One man with his family lightly touched it in an up and down motion while appreciating it's significance; there's a word for that, but it escapes me.

Faced with such an impressive artifact, there was only one appropriate course of action:
Jump and hang.

On the way out of town we hopped on a street car; luckily this was the historic one that dates back to the early 1900s.

I leave you with the Governator.

Oh, it was "stroke".

JetSetArnett Out.
In a second you'll be wrapped around my finger.

Golden Week: Hokkaido

Galavanting in Hakodate and Sapporo; back next week.