Tag: Sapporo

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Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 7 – Breakfast Kaisen Don at Sapporo Central Wholesale Curbside Market

Continued from post here.

After a gluttony of crab from our dinner, we were ready the next morning for even more seafood.  Hokkaido is like a haven for travelers who love seafood.  Our plan was to have a kaisen don for breakfast at one of the street side market areas.  Kaisen don is a seafood donburi (food over rice), and is basically a chirashi bowl we have here in the states.  There are two fish markets in Sapporo, Nijo market and the Curb Market in the Central Wholesale area.

Nijo market is closer to our hotel, just a few minutes walk from Odori Station.  It is a block of different booths selling mainly local produce and a variety of seafood.  However, we decided to go venture to the Curb Market (about a 30 minute train ride) as it is bigger in size with a wider selection of produce and seafood.  It is like Tsukiji Market in that they have sections reserved for bidding of the local catch of the day to stores and restaurants, and have prices closer to wholesale.  Additionally Anthony Bourdain visited one of the restaurants there which we planned to visit for our breakfast. Continue reading “Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 7 – Breakfast Kaisen Don at Sapporo Central Wholesale Curbside Market”

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Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 6 – Sapporo and Kani Honke

Continued from post here.

From Furano to Sapporo, it is about a two-hour drive by the expressway.  Through the four days so far driving in Hokkaido, we have not used the express-ways and when we got to the toll booth, that took some figuring out of how to get the ticket as we did not sign up for an ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) card, which would have automatically deducted any toll fairs and express lane usage.  Something to remember for next time if we decide to drive again as the convenience of not stopping and figuring tolls is a huge pus..  The drive itself was uneventful and we arrived at Sapporo.

Sapporo is Hokkaido’s capital and its largest city.  Overall, it’s the fifth largest population in Japan.   It is famous for its beer, skiing, and annual snow festival in the winter featuring large ice sculptures.  There is quite a bit to see and do in this city, but our itinerary included plans for a week in Tokyo at the tail end of our trip, and if you see one big city, you kind of see them all.  As such we planned on only staying 2 days in Sapporo.

The plan was to eat a big crab course, miso ramen, visit the Wholesale Curbside fish market, and do a little sight-seeing. Continue reading “Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 6 – Sapporo and Kani Honke”

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Tabemono Vacation – June/July 2016 Trip to Japan, Hokkaido and Tohoku Itinerary

 

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Hokkaido is the northern island of Japan. We flew from Haneda airport near Tokyo to Asahikawa using the ANA foreigner air tickets which is available only if you purchase before arriving to Japan.

Traveling abroad with a family with four young children is not easy, but Japan is one of the safest countries with a wide variety of attractions and  great food.  This combination makes it a popular destination in my household.  The only challenge is that a family of six is hard to accommodate by Japanese standards.  We need to plan out accommodations and what to do and where to eat carefully as Japan tends to be cater to small groups. In fact most hotels accommodate groups up to 3-4 people unless you know what to look for and book as early as possible to secure the few rooms that can accommodate a large family.

In our previous trips we travelled through the Kanto to Kansai regions of Japan, so this time we really wanted to experience other parts of this beautiful country.  Our selection narrowed down to whether we wanted to spend time in Hokkaido or Kyushu and the choice was further easier to make given that we will be taking the kids during their summer break, which meant hot and humid weather in the Honshu and Kyushu islands.  Thus, the vacation was focused on Hokkaido to avoid the muggy, hot heat the rest of Japan faces during the late June and early July months.  In fact, during our stay, the weather for the most part was great in  Hokkaido, outside of rain for a day or two during the first two days.  We even needed jackets  a couple of times in the mountain areas,  but otherwise experienced very enjoyable weather. Continue reading “Tabemono Vacation – June/July 2016 Trip to Japan, Hokkaido and Tohoku Itinerary”

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