Sapporo in Bloom [Japan]
Our first stop in Japan was a bit of an unconventional one: Sapporo, in the Hokkaido region! Northern Japan is known for Ja-POW in the winter (read: exceptional skiing) and for bountiful gardens in the summer (random aside: "Charmaine" means "bountiful gardens" with a French etymology). I was also adamant about seeing Sapporo's blue pond, which became famous as an Apple wallpaper long ago.
Supposedly, the best way to see the sights of Sapporo is to rent a car and do a bit of a road trip. Alas, renting a car in Japan seemed a little complicated — at least, they seemed to be much greater sticklers for International Drivers Licenses than we'd seen in Vietnam or Taiwan. Instead, we decided to book a day trip with a company called Chuo Bus Tours.
BUT FIRST... we landed in the evening and proceeded to exchange cash. Here's where we ran into a bit of a problem. Turns out that the CAD-JPY rate is abysmal, ESPECIALLY in northern Japan. In hindsight, we should've exchanged cash in Singapore Changi airport, where they miraculously exchange money at spot rate (likely thanks to all the foot traffic). Jenny quickly realized it made more sense to withdraw money from an ATM, which led to problem #2. I DON'T HAVE A DEBIT CARD. Or like, I guess I kinda do, except it doesn't have a chip and is just a glorified number holder...? This is the struggle of starting a bank account at 7 years old — the childproofing mechanisms failed me in a foreign country several years down the line! Moreover, Japan is an extremely cash-based society. What happened next? You'll just have to wait for the story to continue in Tokyo...
The cash debacle summed up one of the most shocking themes about Japan — it's is so forward in some ways (just look at those toilets), but also backwards in a few unexpected places. For example, there were no automatic sensor-based doors anywhere. Instead, you always have to push a button for the automatic doors to slide open (which I suppose... doesn't really make them automatic).
Culturally, I also felt like I had to do a bit of adjusting in Japan after spending a few weeks in chaotic parts of southeast Asia and Taiwan. I became cognizant of cultural norms like using two hands to give and receive money with shopkeepers. And surprisingly, women seem to prefer clip-on earrings (are piercings taboo?) and never show their bare legs — they always wear stockings! I felt like a bit of a heathen. It was decently chilly though, so I don't blame them. Sapporo felt a lot like Canada does during the first few warm days of spring. The air was super fresh, the buildings felt like suburban Mississauga, and the weather was a perfect 20-ish degrees Celsius.
Hello Kitty construction signs? Only in Japan!
That evening, we walked for ~20 minutes to get to our Airbnb. It was super nice and big, but I kinda got a weird feeling that it could've been some Yakuza-run front-business. Then again, Airbnb did a MASSIVE crackdown on permits right before we arrived in Japan, and this place made the cut. It was our replacement Airbnb because every single one of our original Airbnbs vanished overnight. Luckily, Airbnb compensated us for this by giving us booking vouchers for double the value of our booking (to account for the last-minute struggle) PLUS $100 Airbnb experience vouchers, which led to some of the highlights of the whole trip. I'll call those out later.
Then we made our way to downtown Sapporo and indulged in our first bites of authentic Japanese food. We got takoyaki and $1 oysters from a street vendor. These oysters were such a highlight because there were both fresh and barbecued ones. The vendor even gave us an extra one for free! Also... there was a whole squad of drunk salarymen hanging around the oyster stand alongside us! They honestly made the night — standing around sloppily enjoying the oysters and each others' company in their black suits and wooden clogs.
The (muddy) hills of Biei
The next day, we embarked on a guided Chuo bus tour to the hills of Biei. We stopped at extremely clean rest stops that sold cantaloupe pocky and buns. It was the first tour of the season, and I should've realized the implications of that. I had vivid images in my mind of beautiful, colourful rolling hills. Instead, the hills were mostly muddy with the tiniest blooms. We arrived too early in the season!
I believe this is what people call "Instagram vs. reality."
Nevertheless, I still had a great day! Farm Tomita was a highlight, known for its rolling lavender fields and lavender ice cream. They even had a lavender-and-yubari king cantaloupe soft serve swirl! Don't worry, we had a balanced diet with a slice of real Yubari king melon. It was only... $8. For a SINGLE SLICE OF CANTALOUPE. It was good, but like, not that good, you know?
The first cone dripped almost immediately from the humidity, so I switched to a cup for the second serving. ;)
We ate onigiri for lunch and took copious pictures (where we could find flowers). I also bought my mom some lavender soap, which came in the cutest lavender plastic bag. You might be sensing a theme here.
Is it blue enough?
After the somewhat disappointing flower patches (emphasis on the patches, honestly), we made our way to the other destination that brought us all the way to Hokkaido, Japan in June: the blue pond! Turns out the place was so blue because of the chemicals. There was a little loop around the pond, and our bus tour kind of... lined up to walk along it. Those are the cons of joining a guided tour, I suppose. I can imagine the place feeling peaceful on your own. On the other hand, the pro of a guided tour was the safety and convenience of it all: our tour guide warned us that 1-3 people fall into the pond every year and told us to "mind the gap"!
Big thanks to Jenny for humouring me on this excursion. She kept jokingly asking me if it was blue enough yet, and yes — it was. 😌
We ended off our guided tour by visiting a super clean rest stop that had BUCKWHEAT AND CREAM CHEESE ice cream. I need this to exist everywhere. They also had the most adorable photo frames among the buckwheat crops. While the fields weren't quite as I envisioned, the whole day gave off major Harvest Moon vibes (and I say that as a compliment).
To cap off our time in Sapporo and Furano-Biei, we ate some "Ghengis Khan" meat. It's a specialty dish in the Hokkaido region where grilled mutton is prepared on a convex metal skillet. Jenny also got her first fill of Coco Curry. Overall, the vibes were splendid. The northern part of Japan is definitely less touristy, and I enjoyed people-watching all the drunk salarymen in their black uniforms dancing in the street, classically dressed bell hops, and school kids in their uniforms. Onwards to the "Golden Triangle" route of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka!