We spent the night in Tokyo, then Ryan had to wake up super early to get his glasses back from Haneda airport. We met up in Ueno and decided to eat at nearby street that sells amazing food. We shared a kebab wrap/pita thingie that was actually pretty spicy! It brought me back to San Diego for a brief moment...I really miss Layla's Jamaican food! I really miss many foods from America... ; _ ;
After the brief 懐かしい moment, we started our long journey aboard the day bus to Aomori. Because they have tourist visas, Raina and Ryan's mom were able to get a really good deal on the train system, and thus, opted to take the much faster Shinkansen to Aomori at a later time. Soooo jealous...the Shinkansen is so nice and has so much leg room...
When we got to Aomori, we didn't have much time to rest, because the very next morning, we took a ferry to Hakodate, Hokkaido! Hakodate has been voted as one of the best cities with the best night view quite a few times, so we started off the trip by taking the Hakodate Ropeway to the top of the mountain overlooking the city. Although it was freezing (-10C when we landed), it was an absolutely beautiful view.
Later, we visited a shrine (sidenote: I am convinced that shrines look a ton prettier in really shitty weather conditions) and then decided to have dinner. If that were just it, I would've been warm and happy, but Pumpkin had other things on his mind as he decided to judo-throw me into a pile of snow. That bastard. =___= So, of course, I had to throw him into the snow too! Or rather, since I can't throw him (curse my lack of martial arts knowledge), I had to at least bring him down with me...
Sopping wet and cold after our snow fight, we went to a famous burger joint chain in Hakodate called The Lucky Pierrot. Each restaurant supposedly has a different interior theme. The first one we went to had a Santa theme. There were Santas. Everywhere. o.o;;
 |
| Kinda reminds me of my grandparents' house during Christmas... |
 |
| You heard me right. And yes, that IS Mother Mary holding a hamburger plate... |
The next day, we went to the morning markets. Hakodate is very famous for their seafood, especially ika (squid). In fact, a few shops served a type of squid that appeared to be live! They take the brains out, put it on a bowl of rice, and then serve it to you raw. Just when you thought it was dead, they drizzle some soy sauce over it, and it starts writhing!!! It still has some reflexes even though it has no brains, so it does its best to escape from the pain-inducing soy sauce. We watched a video of a man trying to eat this runaway squid. It didn't look fun at all...the poor man worked so hard, but the suction cups hurt his throat and kept gripping at his tongue. Needless to say, all of us were repulsed by this video, but somehow, we couldn't stop watching it! I think, in the end, he said 「あぁ...無理 （impossible)だな」...or something to that extent... Yeah. There was NO WAY any of us were gonna try that haha
Yeah...imagine trying to eat this buddy...
Anyways, we looked at many menus outside of the shops at the morning market...this is what some of the "menus" looked like (picture taken from the internet...^^;). Japan often has many visual aids for their menus...which is often a delightful sign for foreigners! I'm getting better at reading kanji, but these visuals are always super helpful.
It was super difficult trying to find a happy medium between Raina's extreme dislike of many sea foods and Ryan's need for the food to be decently cheap (although, I really don't blame him...he was pretty much paying for everyone the entire trip). If the food was cheap, it was usually a seafood that Raina didn't want to try...and if Raina or Ryan's mom wanted it, it was usually kinda expensive. Their mom also doesn't eat very meaty stuff, so our dietary restrictions were pretty restrictive ^^;
We ended up eating many different types of seafood over the course of the trip in Hakodate, like uni (sea urchin), hotate (scallop), crab (by itself and in the form of soup, kani-shiru), shrimp, squid tempura, delicious dried squid, and many other foods like ramen (all of the cold places in Japan really know how to make ramen right lol)! Japan really does its seafood well...it's so fresh and it literally melts in your mouth. ...I honestly don't know if I'll be able to eat Japanese food back in America after I come back from Japan. :/
Well, after the morning market, we took the cable cars to Goryoukaku, a star-shaped fort in Hakodate. There is a really tall tower at that fort too!
 |
| Goryoukaku Tower |
The fort was built just before the Meiji Restoration period to protect from Russian invasion. It was also once a battleground for one of Japan's civil wars. Today, the Magistrate's office in the fort has been restored and it's available for public viewing! We went inside and saw a video about its rebuilding...it was truly amazing to see all the effort and craftsmanship that went into rebuilding it and making it as close to the original as possible.
After warming up inside the Magistrate's office, we ventured outside into the snow once more. My warmth, however, was short-lived once again, as Ryan decided to judo-throw me (yet again) into another pile of snow. All the Japanese people didn't really need to know English to understand that my shouting "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" and subsequent Pumpkin-chasing, meant war! A snowball fight ensued...but we called a truce :P After the snowball fight had ceased, I was really happy. Not just because that ceasefire meant that my frozen hands could begin to thaw, but also because this was another reminder that I could be anywhere with him, even outside in less-than-ideal weather conditions, and still have lots of fun just being with him. I'm really lucky to have this guy :)
Later that night, we went to an onsen to warm up in that freezing cold weather. After showering off, I went into the pools, which were super hot compared to any other pool I've been in! Anyways, I noticed a sign with 4 temperatures and kanji next to all of them. I only noticed 3 pools inside the onsen and didn't think twice about it. After I came out, Ryan asked me how the rotenburo (open-air bath) was...and became really disappointed after all of us didn't notice that bath. Turns out that he had specifically chosen to go to this onsen because of this open-air bath...so, after a bit of moping, I decided to zip back in and try the rotenburo out. It was one of the most relaxing places that I've been to in Japan. Something about being outside in the beautiful winter wonderland, watching the snow fall, and feeling the mixture of the hot and cold was so breathtaking! I'm so glad that I chose to go back in...because I definitely wouldn't be able to experience that back in Komagane. Thanks Pumpkin! <3
The last day, after returning to the morning market, we tried to get a close-up view to the harbor, but were unable to get very close to it...so we ended up going to a place with some pretty amazing views...
We had wanted to go visit another onsen district, but we had no time left due to various reasons...so we went back to another Lucky Pierrot (mirror-themed? European painting-themed? We couldn't really tell what the theme was this time) one last time before going on the ferry back to Aomori. Ryan decided to get the biggest burger on the menu...the conversation/situation went a bit like this:
After already ordering one burger for himself to eat at the restaurant, while still trying to figure out what Raina and their mom wanted to order, he decided to ask about a certain burger...:
Cashier: Oh, that burger? It's about this tall. *she holds her hands about a foot apart* It's a huge burger.
Ryan, without hesitation: I'll take it. To Go.
That's my Pumpkin hahaha
Anyways, to be continued next time! :)
