Japan in winter…yes, again

[Justinf]

It was really cold today.
about -4


For lunch nothing was going to stop me from having soup curry.
i had no wait to get into this place, but i was lucky as i arrived just in time.
there will be a prize (not sure of said prize) for guessing what level of hotness i had.


gotta say it was good without being mind blowing. There was only one chicken piece that was mostly fat, but it was good all the same. That rice portion was the smallest you could get.

 

[Justinf]

After that I decided to visit the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters baseball team shop to get gifts and buy a cap, although I’m not sure I’ll wear this much.
i saw some tees and hoodies that i liked but there’s nothing like Japanese sizes to bring your ego back down to earth.

 

[Justinf]

It was time for a beer and I went to a grill that was pretty underwhelming.
But then went to Brewing Miredo which was terrific.
got chatting a an awesome Californian couple who had been to Antarctica and their pics were just incredible.


had a small fish dish that hit the spot.

 

[Justinf]

After that I searched for a proper meal and eventually turned up at a place that required you to take your shoes off and sit on a mat.
no english menu was pointed out to me but that was ok. In fact it was perfect.


I settled on a lamb dish and while it was good, and I hate to be that cough who says everything is better at home, it makes you appreciate our lamb in Australia.
still very enjoyable.


tomorrow is my last sleep in.
got back to my room after stocking up at Lawsons around 9.15pm.

 

[Justinf]

My last full day and all I wanted from when i woke up was soup curry.
I remembered my last trip to Sapporo four years ago and a place that was recommended to me was the Suage chain. I remembered I really like it and there was a Suage4 only about 400 metres from where I was staying.
It opened at 11.30am so I went there and arrived about 11.35am.
It was already full with a waiting line of at least two dozen.



I had absolutely nothing else to do so by good I was going to wait…and wait…and wait.
There was a perfectly good burger joint right opposite that also looked decent.

 

[Justinf]

After a 45-minute wait I finally got in.
I ordered a Coke, the fried chicken with the regular Suage soup at a hotness level of one higher than what was recommended.
Also had rice with cheese on top.
To be honest I could have gone one level more up on the spice factor, but it was still good.
Not as good as what I thought I had last time.
There were only three pieces of chicken.
Still, I’m glad I waited and had it.

 

[Justinf]

I went for a walk to buy some last minute gifts and it started snowing.
Forecast was for snow for about an hour.
Top temperature of 1 degree today which does feel ‘warmer’.
If you look closely there is a snowflake at my nostril. I promise it’s a snowflake.

 

[Quickstatus]

Thanks for the TR very interesting. Dont have to go skiing lots of other things to do

For every pill of iboprofen it’s less than half of what you get at home

.
There is a brand called Ringl
Ringl 200 = 200mg ibuprofen
Ringl 150 = 150mg ibuprofen
But in Japan the max reccomended dose is 600mg (200mg theee times a day) - half of the Australian max dose which is 400mg three times a day. Even if dosage based on weight is used, the Japanese must use a much lower dosing regime. We say 10mg/kg three times a day up to max 400mg three times a day. Maybe they halve it.

i have never had a problem getting it in Japan though. No questions asked.

However if you ask for morphine they think you are a drug seeking drug addict especially the gaijin version. Mrs QS once broke her tibia in Madarao (near Nagano). They only gave her panadol at the hospital and I had to go to the street pharmac_ the next morning to get ibuprofen. I asked for morphine before discharge from emergency and they look at me weird.
She eventually got morphine but only after arriving back in AU

hotness level

These soup curries look intriguing. Are they similar to laksa - which has coconut.
How hot is hot?

 

[zig]

These soup curries look intriguing. Are they similar to laksa - which has coconut.
How hot is hot?

Thanks for your TR which I have been enjoying.

I'm also interested in the soup curry. Is the rice eaten separately or added to the soup?

 

[Justinf]

Thanks for the TR very interesting. Dont have to go skiing lots of other things to do


.
There is a brand called Ringl
Ringl 200 = 200mg ibuprofen
Ringl 150 = 150mg ibuprofen
But in Japan the max reccomended dose is 600mg (200mg theee times a day) - half of the Australian max dose which is 400mg three times a day. Even if dosage based on weight is used, the Japanese must use a much lower dosing regime. We say 10mg/kg three times a day up to max 400mg three times a day. Maybe they halve it.


However if you ask for morphine they think you are a drug seeking drug addict especially the gaijin version. Mrs QS once broke her tibia in Madarao (near Nagano). They only gave her panadol at the hospital and I had to go to the street pharmac_ the next morning to get ibuprofen. I asked for morphine before discharge from emergency and they look at me weird.
She eventually got morphine but only after arriving back in AU


These soup curries look intriguing. Are they similar to laksa - which has coconut.
How hot is hot?

Interesting question to answer and I suspect others are more qualified.
I like spice but don’t tolerate hot as well as most.
The soup curry hot at the first place was about perfect.
The second place today could easily have gone up a notch or even two.

 

[Justinf]

Thanks for your TR which I have been enjoying.

I'm also interested in the soup curry. Is the rice eaten separately or added to the soup?

You can do whatever you like.
It’s eaten with a fork and a spoon.
I like to alternate and spoon some rice and dip it into the soup.
I also like to put some rice in my gob and then spoon some soup in as well.
Lots just slurp it both at the same time.

 

[Justinf]

I was really tired tonight so went back to the brew bar for a pint and that fish dish I had last night.



I wanted a huge meal for my last night but I don’t think I can do it.
Ironically there is no wait at soup curry place upstairs.
Tomorrow it’s a 10am flight down to Tokyo.
Then a long wait until my flight to Singapore at 4.20pm.
I’m not ruling out a memorable meal to finish of with: just need a moment to think.

 

[Justinf]

Went upstairs to see if the soup curry place had a line-up and it was longer than this morning.
i opted for take away from the burger shop next door.
why? Why would I spend my final meal on takeaway burgers?
I was spent, friends.
absolutely done.
up early tomorrow for a 10am flight to Haneda and was back at my room by 7.45pm.


I intend on following through this trip report right through until landing in Melbourne.
managed to snag a seat at the bulkhead for the Singapore to Melbourne flight, which apparently doesn’t have the angled footwells.
we shall see.

 

[Justinf]

Woke up at 5am and had a coffee and got ready.
walked out of the hotel at 7am and it was snowing so I got some last minute snow pics.


onto the 7.21am rapid train to New Chitose. It was packed. Took 41 minutes and managed to check and through security quite quickly.
into the Sakura lounge.


flight delayed from 10am to 10.15am.
i applied for an upgrade to first class for ¥11,000 but this A350 is chockers and I won’t get it, which is fine with me.

 

[Justinf]

Flight was absolutely packed. A full A350 and they board with 10 minutes to spare and still depart on time.

 

[Justinf]

I’d booked an emergency row seat for extra legroom but I got shunted to the very last row in J.
Row 61.

 

[Justinf]

All you will get on JAL or ANA is a small drink. Even in what they call J Class. For J you get seat a better seat.
There is no selling of any food or drink onboard.
Drink choices are limited to juice or water or tea.


But i had come prepared and was pretty damn happy about it.
Behold my self serve offering.



It’s perfectly ok to drink your own booze on flights. If you buy it airside, they put a little sticker on it, presumably to say that it’s been purchased legitimately. I’ve never had anyone ask. it’s a little green sticker.




Flight time from wheels up to wheels down was 1 hour and 15 minutes.

 

[Justinf]

bag came out as priority and it was a quick trip to terminal 3.
unfortunately check in wasn’t open until 1.40pm and it was around 12.15pm.
i went upstairs for some lunch and had omelette rice with a rissole and gravy and a Coke.
it cost ¥2800 and it was awful.



after that diabolical and expensive mistake, it was 1.15pm and I took my place as second in line at the business class check in.
they opened right on time and it was very quick through security and passport control.
i had access to the ANA Lounge and immediately had a shower, which was a godsend. I felt yuck.


it was into the lounge itself and it is fairly roomy.
not hungry in the slightest either


the food in the lounge looks really good. Why did I not just sit on the floor for an hour?

 

[Justinf]

If you can show me a better view during take off, then please let me know.

 

[Justinf]

So before that I settled in.


and settled in for some 2020 Dandelion Barossa Shiraz and some satay sticks.