My work took me on a day trip to
Sapporo, flying there and back in 14 hours. We flew by
the tsunami-ravaged area but I couldn't see anything.
The Tokyo-Sapporo route is supposedly one of the busiest
routes in the world. I wouldn't be surprised, given that
a full-size 777 is used as a flying commuter bus for the 1
hour flight. My 767 flight home was an extra flight they
added for Friday night, and it was completely full. JAL
has a new system for domestic flights, called "Touch & Go"
(that's funny to a private pilot) - they print a 2D barcode on
your receipt and you scan that at security, and that's
it. No separate boarding pass. If you have their
credit card, which has a chip in it, that's usable as well, no
paper or other device required. Pretty neat.
Kitaca is
their own stored-value card, the
PASMO and
Suica don't
work here.
This is a coffee shop, but the name makes me think of an
airshow.
It's a 45 minute train ride from the airport to the city, so I
needed a refreshment. This soft drink is made with a
berry that I associate more with South America, and had in
Brazil. Tasted like cough syrup.
We ate at a big food court at a mall at the Sapporo train
station, and had some tasty things. This is a rice ball,
flavored with soy sauce.
Hey Mikey, he likes it!
This is their local take on dan dan mien, which was spicier
and not as peanut-y as some others. Served with spicy
chicken over rice as a "set".
Kazue's pork noodle soup was also really good, but I think I
liked mine the best.
As we walked by this tv crew they started filming us filming
them. We were probably on TV.
Didn't get to see much of Sapporo since it was a short trip,
but Hokkaido island has a lot of original forests and parks
and looked pretty nice. I plan to go back one day.
Back home to a dinner of spicy noodles, Sapporo beer, Angry
Birds, and BBC. Ah, the glorious life of an expatriate.