June 27th, Friday was a happy day for my brother who does enjoy sake.
I really did like the Japanese breakfasts.
I liked the Japanese style rooms too. It was fun sleeping on the floors on futons.
We would be moving on to Sapporo. Our trip was already coming to a close.
At the sake factory we got to learn all about sake production and history. Water is very important as well as the rice. Sake is brewed by the fermentation of rice.
There were free samples of different types of sake.
For $2.00, you could buy a glass of their premium sake, Daiginjo.
You bet we did. I was surprised at how smooth it was. It's nothing like the sake that Mom uses for cooking.
Who knew sake could actually taste good?
I believe Dennis tried every kind of free sake that was offered without wobbling once. Mom says he gets that gene from her side of the family.
We were then given vouchers to buy ramen for lunch. There must have been a dozen restaurants to choose from. We ate and enjoyed the noodles at Saijo.
We stopped in Otaru to see their canal and visit some shops.
We were given these Hello Kitty mugs to bring home for souvenirs. Our granddaughter, KC loved the one we gave her.
This glassware store was pretty amazing.
We bought dripless shoyu (soy sauce) bottles in another Otaru store.
Would you believe there was this SEVEN layer ice cream cone and we were too full to try it? Darn!
Then came another cable car ride from Mt. Tengu to see see the town of Otaru.
I know that Tengu are often pictured with these long noses. We were told that rubbing the nose would bring us luck.... or was it good health?
Tengu ("heavenly dog") are a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion and are also considered a type of Shinto god (kami) or yokai (supernatural beings).
-- Wikipedia
I enjoyed seeing this pretty columbine close by.
The Tengu Museum had a lot of artifacts, but we didn't get to spend much time there to learn more about it.
There was a lovely dinner and then it was on to our Novotel Hotel in Sapporo.
Mom was excited because the following day, her sister and brother-in-law would be picking her up to spend the day together.
I liked the Japanese style rooms too. It was fun sleeping on the floors on futons.
We would be moving on to Sapporo. Our trip was already coming to a close.
At the sake factory we got to learn all about sake production and history. Water is very important as well as the rice. Sake is brewed by the fermentation of rice.
There were free samples of different types of sake.
For $2.00, you could buy a glass of their premium sake, Daiginjo.
You bet we did. I was surprised at how smooth it was. It's nothing like the sake that Mom uses for cooking.
Who knew sake could actually taste good?
I believe Dennis tried every kind of free sake that was offered without wobbling once. Mom says he gets that gene from her side of the family.
We were then given vouchers to buy ramen for lunch. There must have been a dozen restaurants to choose from. We ate and enjoyed the noodles at Saijo.
We stopped in Otaru to see their canal and visit some shops.
We were given these Hello Kitty mugs to bring home for souvenirs. Our granddaughter, KC loved the one we gave her.
This glassware store was pretty amazing.
We bought dripless shoyu (soy sauce) bottles in another Otaru store.
Then came another cable car ride from Mt. Tengu to see see the town of Otaru.
I know that Tengu are often pictured with these long noses. We were told that rubbing the nose would bring us luck.... or was it good health?
Tengu ("heavenly dog") are a type of legendary creature found in Japanese folk religion and are also considered a type of Shinto god (kami) or yokai (supernatural beings).
-- Wikipedia
There was a lovely dinner and then it was on to our Novotel Hotel in Sapporo.
Mom was excited because the following day, her sister and brother-in-law would be picking her up to spend the day together.
Looks like you are feasting your way on your trip....but I think I'd find room for that ice cream. It looked wonderful. So enjoying your pictures of your trip.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Linda: you are definitely feasting your way through Japan! And your pictures are wonderful. I have never tasted sake that was smooth. It thought it was always bitter. :-)
ReplyDeleteLost my comment, so going anon again. Dianne. Enjoyed your post.
ReplyDeleteI need one of those dripless soy sauce bottles! The food looks amazing on this trip and you all look so relaxed,enjoying it. I wouldn't want to be the one washing all those serving dishes! What a variety at each meal.
ReplyDeleteJapan is an interesting country.Worth visiting but the most interesting for me is sake. I would like to try it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great trip -- as always!! And, as always, thank you so much for sharing it with us, Kay! I love your photos and the happy, smiling faces!!!
ReplyDeleteWell then, may you have good health AND good luck. The nose knows.
ReplyDeleteThose wooden utensils for making sake are beautiful.
I don't know how Dennis managed the sake samples without wobbling. I can go to a wine tasting and think I am being very cautious in the amount I drink, but get wobbly anyway. Something was in the news recently about ramen noodles being bad for us. Can't remember why. Guess I better look it up before starting a rumor.
ReplyDeleteGlad I checked. The noodle warning was circulated on social media and is FALSE. It pertained to those noodles that come in Styrofoam containers anyway.
DeleteBlessings...
ReplyDeleteI see you are on the move again.
the breakfast looks fabulous
Yes, your mom is looking a little tired now. The rest of you are looking delighted tho Dennis is thinner. :)
ReplyDeleteSomeday we will get to go too. Now I have two questions: Breakfast...what is in it? And are there Onsens in HI? I'm sure there must be somewhere. Thanks so much for sharing this amazing trip with all of us.
what a fabulous time you had, the food looks amazing and the hotel room looks so clean, I really enjoyed this trip lol,
ReplyDeleteI visited Sapporo so many many years ago. I have traveled to Japan at least twice? maybe thrice and the one thing I loved most was the FOOD! Fabulous food.
ReplyDeleteanother lovely day! Can I paint that columbine? Never seen anything like it.
ReplyDeleteChristine, you can paint ANY photo I post on my blog. :- )
DeleteThanks Kay!
DeleteThat columbine is spectacular. Wow. I was doing fine till the cable car. I'd have to pass on that. I too am amazed at all the dishes used for a meal.
ReplyDeleteMMMM. Soft serve ice cream. I wish we had a place here that served that kind of ice cream (and in those luscious flavors that they have in Japan, like melon, peach . . .). Did any one of you at least have one order of soft serve ice cream? I'm glad that you all, and Aunty, had a great trip!
ReplyDeleteAre you asking if anybody had that 7 flavor soft serve? Yes, one person on our tour did and we were all jealous, but it was melting like crazy. I still wish I had it though.
DeleteToo funny! If you look back at all my other Hokkaido posts, you'll find we had soft serve cones almost everywhere we went. In fact, in Furano we actually had TWO cones. We were trying to figure out what lavender soft serve tasted like and couldn't find the flavor in the first one so had to try again.
DeleteWhat a fun day that was. I laughed when you said Dennis tried every kind of free sake that was offered without wobbling and you Mom's remark about getting that gene from her side of the family. Lovely post, I've been really enjoying hearing about your travels in Japan, and how lovely that your Mom got to visit with her sister and brother-in-law.
ReplyDeleteOh I am enjoying this!
ReplyDeleteALOHA from town side
ComfortSpiral
=^..^= . <3 . >< } } (°>
Kay: No, I meant did you, Art, Dennis or Aunty, have ANY soft serve at all on this last trip. Because if you didn't, ai sos! You're going to dream about it if you didn't.
ReplyDeleteThe food looks like great stuff. It's good for us to try something very different.
ReplyDeleteAnother enjoyable read!
ReplyDeleteI always thought Tengu was one of the most creepiest looking characters of Japanese mythology.
ReplyDeleteNice trip report! I've only made it as far north as Misawa, but one day hope to make it to Sapporo with family in tow for the Ice Festival.
ReplyDeletewhat a feast you guys had.
ReplyDeleteSake? my face would turn as red as a lobster if i drink that. Will be woozy.
too bad about the ice cream .
Lovely trip, Kay
I love cable car rides! And ice cream! But a I can skip the sake and I would not have the slightest idea of how to eat that dinner.
ReplyDeleteThese are all amazing, interesting photos and information. So, Mom didn't buy a gallon of sake to last through a few months of cooking? The 7 layer cone is quite an idea. Almost seems like the area is the ice cream capital of the world. DrumMajor
ReplyDeleteI love being taken on that trip with you by reading all about it and seeing all the amazing pictures. Thank you so much for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteeating your way around the world...lol!
ReplyDeleteThese are some of the best photos you've ever posted, and you've done many good ones. Wonderful illustrations of an interesting trip.
ReplyDeletehow did i miss all of these posts? i don't know why but your posts do not show up on my sidebar in a timely fashion. i need to figure this out. i wondered why you quit posting about your trip! it's fun catching up with all of them. and btw...that layered ice cream cone had your name all over it!
ReplyDeleteFood looks really good. Too bad no room for the ice cream. Now I want to go to Hokkaido!
ReplyDeleteThat fish looks challenging. I had fish like that in Japan. It did taste very good,though. They sure gave you a lot of food !
ReplyDelete