Otaru

We are off to Otaru with our guide Mr. Aoki. With heavy snow, its a crappy day to be a tour guide. That said, "Roy" is in good spirits, is quite knowledgeable, and quite willing to tailor the day to our desires; as best he can given the ever-increasing snow. The more we drive, the heavier the snow.

He decides to begin with a seafood market. He selects a local market near his home instead of the one likely overrun with tourists. On the first pass we have difficulty parking. The snow has knocked down a powerline and repairs have the parking lot blocked.

We find a space on the second pass. This is a small market with several vendors.

Snow is accumulating quickly. Mr. Aoki's wife reports Otaru is nearing a one-day record snowfall. How marvelous for us. NOT!

Our next stop is indoors at the local museum. From a tapestry, Roy explains the how the wealth of Otaru was created through mackerel fishing. The tapestry shows the entire process from catching the fish, to processing, through shipping overseas.

The museum is housed in one of the old warehouses along the canal. It is a wooden building covered with a stone looking exterior. There is a great model of the ships that distributed goods around Japan.

We have a sushi lunch after the museum

A dream come true for CJ: a bowl of uni!

Here we have tuna, uni, salmon roe, that ugly black skinny fish from the market shown above, salmon, mackerel, yellowtail, and three others. The ginger here is to die for.

This plate is two raw prawns, scallops, and uni.

Mostly we have sake, that is, after CJ samples a local beer.

Following lunch, Mr. Aoki's agenda goes south. He wants to show us the canal, but the snow has obliterated the parking and views of the canal from the road. He tries to drive us up to the observatory but a car that has slid off the road blocks our progress, and the road becomes too slippery to pass.

We get to see the place where the town is dumping snow into the sea.

We offered to take the train back to Sapporo, but we suspect Mr. Aoki is embarrassed and insists on driving us back. The snow is seriously accumulating. Somewhere behind this snowbank is a person shoveling.

Back in Sapporo we go in search of an electrical adapter. We don't find it but do get a nice five by one block square walk about the downtown. There is a small tram here.

We are bummed out. We are going to miss the Sapporo Snow Festival by a couple of days. Preparations are underway for it. From the size of this snow mound, the snow sculptures are going to be huge.

What do you have to drink after a long walk in the snow and cold. A frozen daiquiri, what else?

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