Yuni-Cho!!!

Last Saturday, we didn't have naginata practice so we decided to take a little road trip since we finally have a car that's reliable (thanks to our friend who finally went back to America- Hi Rob!) The weather was still fine so it was our last chance to take the car out for a spin before the landscape freezes. Actually this was a pretty big road trip since it was the first time Ryan's driven outside of Sapporo. And he did great! Of course, he had a pretty great navigator at his side (his LEFT side!!!).

Ryan focusing on the road.

OMG we're on the wrong side of the road!

We decided to go to Yuni-cho, a small town about 40 minutes outside of Sapporo. It's a very rural area with a population of about 6,000. There isn't much there except lots and lots of farmland.




So why would we go there?! Farms mean cows and cows mean milk and milk means...ICE CREAM!!! Of course we couldn't really justify driving an hour and a half just for ice cream (actually, I can but Ryan can't) so we made a few stops along the way.

Our first stop was lunch at the Farm Stand, a soup curry restaurant. Well, we had no idea that it would be so busy. We had to wait for about an hour to be seated! At least there was a lot to see while we waited. The restaurant had a really nice rustic feel to it- wooden beams and lots of natural light. There was also a separate cafe area with a nice selection of cake slices.

Ryan is so happy to be out of the car!

Walkway into the restaurant

The Farm Yard!

We became very well acquainted with these two piggies.
And this cute squirrel!

The waiting room

We were able to look at the menu while we waited and decide what to order for lunch as well as what cakes we would order to bring home after our meal. I also found a really cute pair of acorn shaped glass earrings.

I kept looking for a pair that was brown with green leaves but all the brown ones had purple leaves!

I love carrot cake!! Yes, this is a picture an almost half-eaten carrot cake.
We also took home a blueberry baked cheesecake and a raspberry tart (that we gave to a friend for her birthday later that night).

We both ended up getting the vegetable soup curry but of course Ryan had to get the hottest spice setting while I opted for one between mild and hottest. The soup curry was divine! I was really impressed by it. I thought that the spices were just right and the vegetables were perfectly cooked and so fresh.

The dining area

Tea and fresh flowers

Happy to finally be seated!

I had to beg him to take a "nice" picture for once.

My salad with herb dressing

Ryan opted for tomato dressing.

Ryan's soup curry with shredded cheese topping.

My soup curry with garlic chip topping for my rice.

That's a whole potato in there! It was so luscious!

Ryan does not approve of this corn being in his soup curry.

After lunch we headed for ice cream at Ushigoya Ice Cream on the North Star Dairy Ranch. I think the ranch includes a few other facilities like a bakery and some sports stuff but we were mainly interested in the ice cream and the dog run.

I wanted to see real cows but these were the only ones I found at the ranch!

What a cute and quaint building!

But the inside is quite different!

Welcome to Rastaland! I mean Ushigoya Ice Cream!

Can you see the owner behind the counter with the Jamaican headband and dreads?

Here's a doll that looks like her!

There are many flavors to choose from and even soft serve and a maze-maze aisu (mix-mix ice cream; basically like Coldstone) option.

Actually these are suggestions for mixed ice cream combinations.
I guess I forgot to get a shot of the board with the ice cream flavors.

This is a board showing all the toppings they have.

Of course we opted for maze-maze aisu (mix-mix ice cream) mixed on a cold stone by the proprietor herself, Ya-chan!

It's a cold stone!

Ya-chan handing Ryan his ice cream.

Ryan got the 雲の中のバナナ (kumo no naka no banana) which means something like "bananas in the clouds." It had bananas, custard, whipped cream, sliced chocolate, pecans, hazelnuts, cornflakes, cocoa powder, and something called maple rock but I don't know what that means. She asked Ryan to choose more ingredients to put in and he added some kind of nut but neither of us can remember.

I got 濃厚チョコナッツチーズ (noukou choco nattsu chiizu) which means "rich chocolate, cheese and nuts." It had cream cheese, peanut butter, pistachios, almonds, hazelnuts, coconut, peanuts, chocolate flakes, chocolate slices and about 3 other chocolate flavored ingredients. I also added some chocolate crunchies. IT WAS SO GOOD!!! I am totally justified in using capital letters and three exclamation points. This was the most awesome ice cream I've ever had. Hands down. I was in heaven. How could I have lived this long without ever even thinking about mixing cream cheese into my ice cream?

This is heaven.

Ryan and his ice cream. He's so happy he forgot how to smile.

Ryan enjoying his ice cream

After we finished our ice cream, we had a long drive back to Sapporo. But first, I had to make Ryan stop at a large たまごの家 (tamago no ie), literally "egg house." I saw it on the internet and I couldn't leave Yuni-cho without visiting it and buying GOLDEN EGGS. From a vending machine.

A magical egg house in the middle of nowhere

Golden eggs! From a vending machine!

These golden eggs are all mine!

The golden eggs are some kind of smoked hard boiled eggs and are so tasty! Reminds me of the eggs you can buy from the cart sellers in Chinatown. Ryan says they taste like cheese.





Here's some pictures I snapped on the way home:

A random island of trees next to a small cemetary

I think this is the town proper. It was very small and deserted.

On the road home, sun setting.

What a great road trip! I look forward to many more (after winter, of course). I'll leave you with this photo of Ryan smiling naturally:

P.S. More updates to come soon about really really old topics like our trips in May and August and something about a Naginata tournament.

Day 2 Natto still tastes good!

Second day of eating natto and still kinda love it! Today I really tried to take in the smell and taste of the natto. There's no way around it- natto smells awful. But tastes good! Someone suggested that maybe I can try a different brand of natto to see if it's just the brand I bought. So I went and bought another pack today. Will try it tomorrow!

This morning I stirred my natto a lot to get it all sticky and stringy. Yum!

I said I would examine the flavor a bit more today and like I said yesterday besides the smell and the outer texture, natto really just tastes like beans on the inside with a little bit of an earthy taste on the outside.

Stay tuned for the new brand review tomorrow!

Skiing on Olympic ground and Day 0: Natto Experiment

We had a nice relaxing weekend here in Sapporo. On Saturday we skied Teine Highland aka site of the 1972 Olympics! Met up with some of the teachers from Ryan's office. They are AWESOME skiers...but what else can we expect from people who've grown up in Hokkaido?!


I tried the "Expert Only" course. It only took me 30 minutes to go down 1500m!! Hahaha. It was an ungroomed course through the trees and full of moguls. Next year I want to cut my time down a bit. Haha. But despite how difficult it was for me (not being able to jump turn or sometimes just get over my fear and go) I rather enjoyed that trail and hope to visit it again soon!

We ended the day with our favorite soup curry from Voyage. (More on that another time!) Skiing and soup curry on a Saturday! What more could one want?

Today, we were able to sleep in (until 10!!) and just cleaned/had a lazy day.

And tomorrow will be my first* day eating natto for breakfast!! Natto is a traditional Japanese food- everyone here always asks if we like natto. The answer is always "no." Why? Natto is fermented soy beans- which means it has a very distinct scent. Frankly, it smells like compost and tastes like it too. (Well, it tastes like how I imagine compost to taste like...) It is super sticky and extremely slimey. Read the wiki that I linked to at the beginning of the paragraph.


*My first actual day eating natto was over the summer at our hotel in Noboribetsu. However for the purposes of my experiment, tomorrow will be Day 1.

Then why am I eating natto tomorrow? Because I think I should give it a chance (again). So many people LOVE it here (even the children!) and it's SO healthy for you. I have bought a pack of 4-20g containers of natto and I will consume one pack a day with my morning rice. I wanted to take a video but mornings are a little busy in this household so I think pictures will have to do.

Well...better go to sleep so I can wake up and eat my natto! Oyasumi nasai!

Sushi on a Conveyor Belt! Finally!

So last night we FINALLY went out to eat sushi at a conveyor belt style restaurant!! Yeah, yeah, I know, you can do that in NYC. But it's special here! We went with our friends and their daughters. So here's the view from our booth next to the belt:

That faucet you see there dispenses hot water for the green tea powder that they also provide on the table. Kakkoi!!

If there's anything in particular that you want that's not going around on the conveyor belt, you can order by writing down what you want on slips of paper. Here is our friend's daughter making special orders for us:

They were having a special deal that day- 3 pairs of different types of salmon sushi for 126 yen!!!

I had already eaten one of them before taking this picture. Haha. The last pair that's wrapped in nori (seaweed) is actually called the parent-child roll because it is salmon with salmon eggs on top. Oishii!!!

How do they know how much to charge? By the number and color of your plates!!

This is our stack of plates towards the end of our sushi feast!

After you're done eating, you can make some soy sauce art, as demonstrated by our friend's other daughter here:

Ohkay, that's not really true- She just got bored and wanted to play with soy sauce.

Well, I've got to run to work!! Just wanted to make a quick post!! OH and I should also mention that I FINALLY got to have a taste of sea urchin (uni)- it is DELICIOUS! More later maybe...