I woke up early on a chilly Saturday morning so I could make my way to the famed Hakodate Asaichi seafood market conveniently located near the station. There I was greeted by many friendly vendors selling everything from freshly caught crabs to mouth-watering ice cream made from Hokkaido milk, but I already had my eyes set on the famous dancing squid dish from Tabiji:
One of the staff told me they receive fresh shipments daily, and I could definitely taste it! It was probably the freshest squid I had ever had because the fish eggs, rice, and wasabi with the slices of squid had an amazing flavor. Thought I felt bad for the squid, this was a rare dish that I definitely did not want to miss out on! Tabiji is currently the only restaurant in Japan that offers the dancing squid dish and they even have their own T-shirts available. No reservation is required.
Also worth trying are the Kaniman (hot crab buns), and the Hokkaido ice cream! After feasting on this wonderful seafood, I decided to go to Fort Goryaku, the beautiful star-shaped park:
This park is unique because it has an observation tower you can take to the top floor to see a panoramic view, and you can also stroll through it! In the center is the Former Magistrate Office (reconstructed), and the spot is extremely popular for cherry blossom viewing. Once again, I felt at peace while I was here. I think it’s amazing that they transformed a military fort into such a lovely park!
After seeing all of the sights that I wanted to see, I decided to take the bullet train to Sapporo to make the Nakata Yasutaka show at Riviera. The ride takes nearly 4 hours, but since I was exhausted from all the walking I did, it was actually quite relaxing. When I got to Sapporo, I stayed in another internet cafe called Kaikatsu Club (conveniently located in the Susukino party district). I pregamed a bit then headed to Riviera which is a very glamorous club! This was my third weekend in a row seeing Nakata perform, and I was not disappointed!
Overall my 2nd trip to Hokkaido was relaxing and filled with fond memories. I was able to reflect on my life and also do all of the things on my trip itinerary so I felt an extreme sense of accomplishment at the end of this trip. I will come back to Hokkaido in the summer to see the lavender fields and hopefully go to the beach! My aim with each trip is to combine sightseeing with nightlife, and I am sure I will be going on many more adventures!