Early April (or was it late March?) our friend Ruky came to visit us from the U.S. She came along with one of her friends that was stopping over on his way to return home to Taiwan. Their visit consisted mostly of traveling around the main island of Honshu, but they managed to trek up North for a weekend.
Arriving late on a Friday night, we assumed that they'd be some combination of jet-lagged, hungry, and shocked by the still frigid weather of Hokkaido. So, it was only natural that we feed them our city's comfort food: Soup Curry!
Jane has mentioned this once before but let me give you a little more in depth description. Soup curry is an Indian influenced spicy soup usually made from a tomato or beef stock. Though, we've seen other varieties including coconut and seafood. Curry houses and Indian food in general are very popular dining options in Sapporo and there seems to be quite a large population of Indian immigrants on our island. We're not really sure why that is in a country as homogeneous as Japan, but we're quite happy with it seeing as Indian food tops our list of favorites. Digressing, you can have pretty much anything you want with your soup curry. Jane and I prefer mame chizu which is a vegetable option with two large pieces of mochi smothered in cheese. Delicious!
The next day, we took them to all of the popular tourist attractions in Sapporo. Unfortunately, Sapporo isn't terribly interesting unless you're planning it as a hub on your winter sports excursion. And frankly, I'm having a hard time even remembering exactly what it was we did this day, so let's just skip to the next day shall we!
Besides skiing/snowboarding, Hokkaido's other main attraction are onsen. We had already visited a very famous set of onsen in Noboribetsu when we first arrived. This time we opted for something a little closer in the towns of Hohekyo and Jyozankei. Our good friend Midori also decided to join us for our little excursion. A short bus ride later, the five of us were in the town exploring the many nooks and crannies it had to offer.
First stop, a foot bath!
I'm probably breaking every rule there is, but I'm relaxing the only way I know how!
Afterward, we walked to an interesting local shrine.
Built into the ground below is a narrow tunnel housing many Buddhist statues. It was kind of a tight fit for me but a very fun adventure nonetheless.
There were several other hot spring attractions, such as this little waterfall.
The water is actually hot enough to boil eggs!
For the last part of the day, we took our friends to the onsen for the full Hokkaido experience.
Coming up next: Jane's naginata training, our experiences at a Filipino Pub, and more!
-Ryan
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