Sapporo is the capital of Hokkaido and Japan's fifth largest city. We didn't really spend much time at Sapporo but I remembered visiting some of the memorable places such as Tanukikoji shopping street and the Sapporo TV Tower right in the middle of the city.
1. Tanukikoji Shopping Street
My first impression of this place is that it's a much bigger version of Bugis Street in Singapore. Tanukikoji is conveniently running East to West in the Odori Area in Central Sapporo. It is a ten block long outdoor shopping arcade with everything ranging from clothing, jewlry and souvenirs to nightclubs, cafes and restaurants. If you are looking for some shopping items and don't have much time to explore the intricacies of Sapporo Station/JR Tower, Tanukikoji is a great place to do some quick and easy level shopping.
It was here that we had the best ramen at this restaurant called "Tan Tan Tei". The space at this restaurant is tiny, not so crowded (during our visit) and minimalistic. The cooks stand right in front feverishly working to churn out hot, piping bowls of ramen, Although there is no "Irrashaimase!" when your first enter the restaurant, the staff is friendly enough and quick to take your order.
The ramen broth is deep, rich and flavorful, a result of bones simmering for hours over a low flame. There's a variety of broth for us to choose from: Soy based broth, Miso-based broth and even sesame version, which has a super deep sesame flavor.
My hubby choose the spicy ramen flavor while I choose the sesames-based broth. The texture of the ramen was really smooth and tangy and goes so well with our thick broth. It was simply so yummilicious for I've never tried ramen that tasted so good.
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| look at the thick broth |
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| look at the springy texture of the noodle |
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| We ordered some dumplings too |
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| complimentary dessert from the host |
2. Sapporo TV Tower
You will not miss this tower the moment you came out from Odori Station. Built in the 1957, Sappoto TV Tower is a 147m high structure with an observation deck. The tower is open to visitors all year round and from the top of the tower, you can enjoy the panoramic views of Sapporo and see the dramatic view westward over Odori Park out to Okura mountain.
I would say that the tower is quite a prominent structure in Sapporo (something like the effiel tower in Paris). At night, the tower lights up and looks like a huge magnificent Christmas cone.
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| The iconic clock house at Sapporo |
3. Otaru
Located 25mins by train to the West Sapporo, Otaru is a pleasant port city and an idea choice for a day trip. Most of the attractions can be found in the vicinity of the canal which runs through the bayside area and is adorned by Victorian-style street lamps. Otaru is also well known for its Otaru beer and there is a popular restaurant with a medieval Germanic theme just next to the canal.
A cluster of Edo period style buildings called Denuki Kouji is located across the street from the canal on the main road and offers a host of Japanese restaurants and bistros to cater to every taste.
The entire scenery of the canal and the Edo period style buildings is really perfect for photo-taking. We spent quite some time walking alone the canal despite the harsh cold weather before we decided to have our seafood dinner at one of the restaurant along the canal.
The restaurant offered grilled seafood and each of us had a seafood platter consisting of the huge Hokkaido scallops, Hokkaido crabs, and fish. We had to self grilled these seafood ourselves, which was a fun thing to do especially during such a cold weather. The seafood was great!
Beside the Otaru canal, another landmark place to visit is the Otaru Musical Museum located in Sakaimachi Street . Sakaimachi Street (境町通り, Sakaimachi Dōri) is an attractive, preserved merchant street in central Otaru, a short walk from the city's canal area. During the development of Hokkaido in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Otaru thrived as a port city, and many trading and shipping companies constructed impressive Western style buildings in the city center to house their offices and shops.
Many of the buildings along Sakaimachi Street have since been converted into restaurants, cafes, souvenir shops, boutiques and museums. There are also a few glass workshops for tourists to enjoy a hands-on experience in creating the local Otaru Glass.
The Music Box Museum consists of multiple buildings scattered around the southern end of Sakaimachi Street, one of which houses a small museum about music boxes. The most prominent building, however, is a large shop with a wide variety of music boxes on sale. In front of the building stands a steam clock, a present by the city of Vancouver.
Once you stepped inside the museum, one seems to be in a fantasy land surrounded by soothing music from the various musical boxes. I would say there was a huge variety of musical boxes to choose from and these boxes were carefully handcrafted and of high quality workmanship. We both spent quite some time browsing through these musical boxes.
Do not miss the street food or the many seafood restaurants or cafes along Sakaimachi Street, especially the Hokkaido ice-cream. I personally find the ice-cream to be very milky and really enjoys it.
4. Chitose Premier Outlet
I'm not really a shopping fanatic but nonetheless, I've got to visit Japan's premier outlet since many Singaporeans who have been to Japan highly recommended shopping at the premier outlets for branded goods at reasonable prices.
The Chitose Premier Outlet, Rera is just 3 min walk from JR Minami-Chitose Station. Rera is a large-scale open mall that encompasses a large area and includes a parking space which can accommodate up to 4,000 cars. There are over 400 brand outlets in this mall and to be honest, I didn't cover all of the retail stores. The mall also has a variety of restaurants, including Japanese, western and Chinese cuisine, sweet speciality stores and the "Chitose Ramen Noodles Exposition", where you can eat at the many popular ramen noodle shops.
The Coach retail store at Chitose Premier Outlet has a huge collection of designs that were not available in Singapore. I really had a difficult choice over which designs I want due to my budget for the trip.
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| Snowing heavily...Yeah! |
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| Bought a gift for myself :) |
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