Japan in winter…yes, again

[Justinf]

Also, I was today years old when I realised that in these, you don’t actually shower in the bathtub.
i was cursing having to hold the nozzle and then had an epiphany.
You put the nozzle in its holder and stand outside the tub and the drainage is such that the water just flows away.
I’ve never proclaimed to be the most observant of people nor the sharpest.

 

[Justinf]

And woke to the sight of this. I think it’s meant to let up later.

 

[VPS]

I must admit I've seen a lot of shubs in your TR and I don't like them but I would be Ok with that last set up

 

[elanshin]

Also, I was today years old when I realised that in these, you don’t actually shower in the bathtub.
i was cursing having to hold the nozzle and then had an epiphany.
You put the nozzle in its holder and stand outside the tub and the drainage is such that the water just flows away.
I’ve never proclaimed to be the most observant of people nor the sharpest.

View attachment 369604

Would it blow your mind more that you're supposed to sit on that little chair/stool and wash yourself then rinse?

The bathtub is supposed to be filled and reused - so you're supposed to wash yourself, soak get out then another family member would do thr same afterwards.

 

[elanshin]

And woke to the sight of this. I think it’s meant to let up later.

View attachment 369605View attachment 369606

Weather can change very quickly. While we were at A's factory for an hour, it went from ok to full blizzard with no visibility to then a good solid view of the horizon.

 

[Justinf]

Would it blow your mind more that you're supposed to sit on that little chair/stool and wash yourself then rinse?

The bathtub is supposed to be filled and reused - so you're supposed to wash yourself, soak get out then another family member would do thr same afterwards.

i pity the little stool if I sat on it.

 

[Justinf]

Woke up to…snow.
But it wasn’t going to stop me getting out today.

 

[Justinf]

Decided to check out the Memorial Ship Hakkoda-maru today.
Description: Well-known site spotlighting ferry history & culture exhibits in a former working ship.
It connected Aomori with Hakodate.
It cost ¥5100.

And here is some plagiarism from Japan-guide.com
Pics are my own.

Until the opening of the Seikan Tunnel in 1988, ferries were the primary means of travel between Honshu and Hokkaido, and Aomori served as the hub for travelers to transfer between train and ferry. With the opening of the railway tunnel, the ferries lost much of their importance, although car ferries continue to connect Aomori with Hakodatetoday. One of the former ferries, the Hakkodamaru (八甲田丸, Hakkōdamaru) now serves as a memorial to the bygone era.
After completing its final voyage in 1988, the Hakkodamaru retired to Aomori Port where it remains permanently moored as a museum ship.

Honestly it felt like a wartime ship.



To be honest it was a bit boring. There were some cool parts but mostly I was in and out within 30 minutes.

 

[Justinf]

I went to the A-Factory which didn’t interest me except for a kick cough burger place that looked awesome.
Should have gone there.
Hang on…what time does it close? Dinner option?

In the meantime the actual sun came out. You know that giant ball of hydrogen that our planet circles?




Well I am convinced Aomori is more notorious than Melbourne for its changeable weather.
In 20 minutes it was snowing again.

 

[Justinf]

I decided to just walk and came across a shrine.
It was Shogaku-ji and although small was quite pretty.



It was time for lunch and I went to a place that set pieces.
This was called Ootoya.
Seemed like a good idea at the time.
It was so close to my hotel that I could access the wifi from my room.
I ordered a fried chicken dish and on top of it was that kind of egg salad you get from our supermarkets.
It was horrible.
It was greasy and the chicken had so much fat on it. If left me feeling crook for a couple of hours. Couldn’t eat much of it.

 

[Justinf]

For dinner I went to the smallest most hidden away izakaya I could find.
Had lamb yakatori and some pasta as well as some whiskey soda.
It was great.
I love Japan.
Early night.
Called it quits at 8.45pm.
11am checkout tomorrow.
Off to Sapporo.

 

[Justinf]

Awake nice and early. Well 8am is early isn’t it?
Had an 11am checkout and the airport bus left at 11.30am.
It meant a couple of hours at Aomori airport but so be it.
It was snowing. No, I’m not kidding, it was snowing.
The airport bus certainly wasn’t a limousine bus as advertised.



There was some nice scenery on the 30-minute trip with the heating turned up to a thousand degrees.



One of the things that annoys me about smaller Japanese airports is you have to check in and get your luggage tag and then actually physically take your bag to be screened all before you go through security.
Another things that annoys me is that all the good shops and eateries are BEFORE you go through security as well.
Once you are through security there is a small convenience store type shop and that’s about it.

 

[Justinf]

Fortunately there was a ramen place and I finally got to try the miso curry-milk ramen that @elanshin recommended.
I don’t do pork so I had it without meat, which I totally realise would have lessened the enjoyment. Would have loved chicken, but it was pig only.
Now I’m not a huge ramen fan. I like it. I will happily eat it, but it’s not up on my favourites such as Hokkaido soup curry.
This was nice but the curry broth could have had a bit more kick.
Still, at ¥990 it really hit the spot.



After that it was up to the observation deck where an ANA Dash-8 was ready for departure to Osaka.





I was also today years old when I saw an aircraft being de-iced for the first time.

 

[Justinf]

There was a lounge before security and I worked out it was available to OneWorld sapphire members who were departing on a JAL flight that day.
That was me so I thought I would check it out.
It costs ¥1100 if you want to pay but I got in for free.
I have to say it was quite spacious and comfortable.
No food. Regular coffee machine and soft drinks and juices.
It advertised bottled beer for a price but I couldn’t see any and didn’t feel like it anyway.
I tried the apple juice. My gosh it was amazing. Aomori really does apples well.






I only stayed for 15 minutes or so and then it was past security and into the boarding area well ahead of time.

 

[Justinf]

It got really close to boarding time for the short hop up to Sapporo on an embraer 175. The jungle jets are my favourite single aisle jets to travel on so I was quite looking forward to this short flight.
But there was no movement at the gate.
Eventually I had to ask someone and it appeared my flight had been cancelled.
I couldn’t recall any announcements and if there were, they were in Japanese only which surprised me.
I was told to head back down to check in.
Unfortunately the only other JAL up to New Chitose was at 8.30pm, six hours away.
Eventually I was asked if I wanted to go on the ANA flight that left at 4.20pm.
Ummmm…yes please.
I have to hand it to JAL and the way they handled it.
I was given a ¥1000 note to pay for a meal and they did the rest and I got on the Dash 8 flight in seat 8B.
It left on time.
The reason given for the cancellation was aircraft maintenance but I suspect looking at the seat selection they just pulled the pin on the flight as it was very lightly loaded.
This Dash-8 was packed and I suspect all of us JAL customers who missed out, were on this flight.






Flight time from wheels up to wheels down was 36 minutes.

 

[Justinf]

at the baggage carousel an Australian woman grabbed my bag. Turned out we had the exact same distinctive luggage.
Lucky I was on the ball.
Onto the train for Sapporo station.


For the final four nights of my trip I was staying at JR Sapporo Inn.
I booked this ages in advance because of the snow festival.
It cost $590. A Quick Look booking search engines a few weeks before departure and you’d be lucky to get a room for less than $1000 a night.
Room was the most spacious of my trip so far except for the Air B&B.




I was here exactly four years ago and loved Beer Bar Basil Basil so I took the subway three stops for some beer.
It was exactly as I remembered it but without the super warm welcome.
I had a couple of beers and some shrimp and called it a night.




Off to see the ice sculptures tomorrow.

 

[Justinf]

And I couldn’t resist some beef tongue and another beer on the way home.

 

[elanshin]

I agree with the soup curry. We stumbled on this gem of a place last year which i really like with the vibe.

Sapporo Soup Curry BAR Dan 札幌スープカレーBAR暖 · Japan, 〒064-0806 Hokkaido, Sapporo, Chuo Ward, Minami 6 Jonishi, 4 Chome−4−1 6.4ビル 2階

★★★★★ · Japanese curry restaurant

maps.app.goo.gl

Hotels are likely expensive atm due to it being snow festival.

Im sure you already know if you've been to Sapporo in snow before, but be careful with train times, it can be massively delayed and slower if its snowing hard. I think our train took an extra 35-40mins going from Sapporo to CTS last year due to snow.

 

[Justinf]

I agree with the soup curry. We stumbled on this gem of a place last year which i really like with the vibe.

Sapporo Soup Curry BAR Dan 札幌スープカレーBAR暖 · Japan, 〒064-0806 Hokkaido, Sapporo, Chuo Ward, Minami 6 Jonishi, 4 Chome−4−1 6.4ビル 2階

★★★★★ · Japanese curry restaurant

maps.app.goo.gl

Hotels are likely expensive atm due to it being snow festival.

Im sure you already know if you've been to Sapporo in snow before, but be careful with train times, it can be massively delayed and slower if it’s snowing hard. I think our train took an extra 35-40mins going from Sapporo to CTS last year due to snow.

No doubt with the hotel prices. That’s why I booked nearly a year in advance.
I’ll happily eat soup curry every meal for the rest of my life. Got some great recommendations on here last time so I will try to check this one out.
train info good to know. It was snowing quite heavily when I got here then cleared and then started again with a vengeance.
i have a 10am flight on Thursday to Tokyo for a 4.20pm departure home via Singapore so I’ll make sure I leave plenty of time.
edit: ha, that’s the soup curry place I went to last time. It was amazing, back there I go.

 

[cjd600]

@Justinf you should start a GoFundMe page so we can keep you travelling and pumping out your awesome trip reports!
(Can lose the Spurs and Richmond gear though lol)