Tag: hakodate

The Adventure of Hakodate, Monkeys, and Squid! (Part 2)

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!

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Nakata Yasutaka performs at Club Riviera in Sapporo, Japan.

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!

The Adventure of Hakodate, Monkeys, and Squid! (Part 1)

Over the weekend I went on a two day trip to the charming city of Hakodate in Hokkaido, Japan!  This town has been on my travel list for a while because of its famous dancing squid dish and gorgeous views from the top of Mt. Hakodate.  Why I chose to go this weekend is because Nakata Yasutaka played a show at Riviera (in Sapporo), so I figured it would be the perfect combination of sightseeing and listening to my favorite music.

The first place on my list was Yunokawa Onsen to see the hot-tubbing monkeys!  This was very close to the airport and inexpensive to travel to by taxi.  I was happy to skip town for this scenic view:

Seeing monkeys bathe was definitely an experience.  Though you can’t bathe with them, there are a number of hotels that are part of Yunokawa where you can use onsen!  Here is a comprehensive list, including those that are available to day trippers.  I took a very relaxing bath at Hotel Banso which had an amazing aroma sauna, then took the tram to Mt. Hakodate to see this glistening view of the city:

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A lot of people say that the city lights of Hakodate glisten like a jewelry box, and it’s very true!  You can take a cable car to the top of the mountain from 10am to 10pm to witness this breathtaking view.  The sensation that I got from being up here was truly amazing–I felt like I could finally clear my head after being in Tokyo for so long.

This town is very peaceful and is probably the closest place that I’ve been to in Japan that resembles the countryside where I grew up in America (minus the squid, monkeys, and mountains).  It’s very quiet, the people are friendly, and there are a lot of parks and rivers.  However, I think Hakodate is definitely more fun!  A lot of towns in America are suburbs, but Hakodate has a lot of nature so it is better for sightseeing.

After my wonderful experience on the mountain, I went to Bar Jey’s in central Hakodate and was whipped up an impressive cocktail:

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There is not a lot of nightlife in Hakodate, but there are a number of fantastic bars!  Because I am a budget traveler, I stayed at Hakodate’s only net cafe called Eye Cafe.  It is cheap and close to Fort Goryokaku and is very convenient.  I will cover the rest of my adventures in my next post!  Please look forward to it.