LeTAO

LeTAO was one of the places that I wanted to visit in Otaru and I'm so glad that we got the chance to check it out when we were there.  


We were given a variety of sample pieces to try and they were all so good.


I asked one of the girls if there was any way we could bring something home to Hawaii.  She apologized profusely and said that she didn't think it was possible, but she recommended that we go upstairs to their cafe where we could order some of their pastry to eat right then.



We thought it was a good idea so we went upstairs to the second floor and got a nice window seat where we could relax and enjoy the view.  This is the Double Fromage Cheesecake. Soooo good.

This Strawberry Shortcake was also very ono.


This Egg Salad Sandwich might be the best I've ever had.


Didi ordered this tea and used the word "comforting" to describe it, so I bought two tins to bring home.


When we went downstairs again, it had gotten really busy, no doubt a testament to its popularity. 


More Otaru stuff next.

Okurayama Ski Jump

After visiting the Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival we boarded the bus and headed to the Okurayama Ski Jump.

This is Ikuko, our local Japanese guide.  She was awesome . . . very informative and very entertaining.




This is the escalator to the ski lift area . . . a bit of an icy walk from the parking lot to get there.  One member from our group . . . a guy . . . slipped and fell in the parking lot.










Melon/vanilla soft serve . . . totally yummy.


View of Sapporo City.


We arrived at our hotel in Sapporo, the Century Royal Hotel, in the late afternoon.  After a quick tour of the JR Station and a rather disappointing conveyor belt sushi snack we picked this up from the Daimaru Department Store basement level and took it back to our rooms for a leisurely dinner.


Next:  Overnight stay in Otaru

Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival

We spent our first night in Japan at ANA Crown Plaza Chitose. 

The restaurant where we were to have breakfast opened at 5:40 am, but me and Geri were wide awake at 4:30 so we decided to go wait in the lobby and take advantage of the free wifi while waiting.


I was expecting to get something like miso soup and toast for our free breakfast so I was surprised at the full-on buffet spread.








Our tour group met up at 8:30 am in the lobby.  We were headed to Sapporo with a visit to the Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival and Okurayama Ski Jump both of which were on our way. Our first stop was Aeon Mall where we bought ice cleats for our shoes.


These worked great, but some people still fell.  I think they need to put more of the grippy things on it.


After about an hour bus ride we arrived at Lake Shikotsu.


The wind coming from across the lake made it super, super cold there.












Ramen was the perfect thing to have for lunch.


This is my miso ramen.  Oishiiiiii!!!!


This is Sweetie's Seafood Ramen.  She raved and raved and raved about this ramen for days.  I can guarantee you that she is missing it right now.


Next stop . . . Okurayama Ski Jump.

A Few Highlight Photos from Hokkaido

(more to come later)

Entrance to Nikka Whiskey Distillery.  So pretty yah!


Seafood Ramen from the Anthony Bourdain-recommended restaurant Hokkaido Raumen Yokocho.


We saw these bikes on our walk to the Snow Festival.


Snow sculpture at the Sapporo Snow Festival.


Food vendors were everywhere at the festival.


Snow angels made in a blizzard by my three crazy sisters as seen from our hotel room in Otaru.


Street vendor grilling scallops in Otaru.


My sisters laden with bags was pretty much a daily sight.


Double Fromage Cheesecake from LeTao in Otaru. OMG ono.


Luckily, we always had a choice.


Lake Shikotsu Ice Festival


Grilled corn from the above festival.


I went outside of Aeon Mall in Chitose to take this shot and show you that I was eating a chocolate/vanilla soft serve ice cream cone in the freezing cold weather.  My ice cream got dotted with snowflakes and all I could think of was how cool it looked, and how neat it was that I didn't have to eat it fast before it melted.  It was very, very good BTW.


Sapporo City as viewed from atop Okurayama Ski Jump.


View from our hotel room in Otaru.

We're Baaaaack!

We had choke good fun.  It was cold cold cold, but I actually loved it and am already missing the snow.  I'll be slowly posting pictures as I get to um.   In the meantime here's a story that I wrote on my sister's iPad while in Japan. I thought that maybe I could post it while there but  I ended up not being able to.  It involves slick ice.  You can see what's coming already, right?



One funny thing happened today. We decided to break from the tour group and go out on our own.  We had a busy day planned for ourselves.  Right after breakfast we walked to the Sapporo Snow Festival which is a few blocks south of our hotel. After catching all the haps at the Festival, we walked a few more blocks further south to Tokyu Hands store to do some shopping. Then we went to Tanukikoji Shopping Arcade which is about 8 blocks long. After more shopping we took a break and had a HUGE lunch there. Our final destination was Nijo Fish Market, an open market with about 60 venders.  We walked the whole way and when we were finally ready to go home about seven hours later we were really tired and loaded with plenty packages. 

We hailed a cab. He stopped for us but we were on the wrong side of the street. When the light turned for us we rushed to cross the street. That's when it happened. 

Geri slipped and fell right in front of the cab. She managed to hold on to all of her packages but her $30 can of uni came flying out of one of her bags and slid across the street ala hockey puck style.  Didi bent to help Geri up while I went to retrieve the uni. I slipped a little, but managed to stay upright.  Then I heard a gasp.  I turned in time to see Sweetie fall too.  Geri said that she glanced up at the taxi driver and saw that he was stretching his neck waaaay over the steering wheel trying to see what had happened to his four passengers. She said that his eyes and mouth were opened really wide. I'm sure that the many onlookers held similar expressions.

It took us awhile, but after dusting off all the snow from our coats, we squeezed ourselves and all of our packages into the taxi.  The ride back to the hotel took around 15 minutes. We laughed and laughed the whole drive back, recounting what had just happened. We couldn't stop talking about it. We went on and on until we were practically crying.  Sweetie sat in the front seat. I don't know if the driver could understand what we were saying, but she said that he was desperately struggling not to laugh himself. She said that she could hear his muffled chuckles. Poor guy. It musta been torture for him to remain properly behaved. 

When we got to our destination, we gave him a good tip and some chocolate-covered macadamia nuts but I think that the entertainment that we provided probably would've sufficed. 

Live Camera - Odori Park

Live video from a camera atop the Sapporo TV Tower.  This is where a lot of the sculptures will be.  Look for us!



Live streaming video by Ustream

Sayonara

We're on our way!  I won't be blogging from Japan.  I no more da kine laptop to do that.  Even this post was prescheduled ahead of time.

I wanted to share this photo of an ice cream cone from Kacha Ice Cream Factory. I found the picture online. Doesn't it look yummy?!  Not only is Hokkaido known for great ramen, fruit and seafood, but dairy also.  Kacha Ice Cream Factory is in Chitose.  Unfortunately, we'll be in Chitose only overnight after we arrive, so we won't get a chance to visit the factory.  We'd probably be fuh-reezing anyway.