Day 5 (Part 1): Nijo Market

Day 4 can be accessed here.

Day 5 (Part 2): Hakodate can be accessed here.

Day 6 can be accessed here.

Nijo Market 二条市場

Odori Park 大通公園

Had originally wanted to visit Moerenuma Park (click here for more info) but could not get myself to wake up so early, so decided to head to Nijo market for breakfast and then just laze around Sapporo until check out. Passed by Odori Park and decided to snap some photos as it was actually my first time here in the daytime (been passing by the park either to or fro Sapporo late at night for the past few days). Apparently there are some really beautiful fountain displays over here, especially by the Nishi 3 chome area, but the weather was still too cold for it.

Odori Park sign together with the Sapporo TV Tower

Ishikawa Takuboku statue 石川啄木歌碑. Ishikawa was a well known Japanese poet.

湖風の像

Japan had yakult aunties too!~ Their carts seemed much larger than the ones in Singapore though.

Nijo Market 二条市場 - Donburi Chaya どんぶり茶屋

Finally reached Nijo market after a 10 minutes walk from Odori Park!~ The public market occupies about one city block, with both locals and tourists flocking here to shop for not just seafood but also fresh produce. However, strangely enough, the main outer areas of the market seemed to have been closed when I was there at around 8.30 am. In any case, I was not there to shop but to eat and further within the market was a narrow corridor called Noren Yokocho (のれん横丁) which housed a number of great hole-in-the-wall restaurants.

Had originally looked forward to a bustling scene like at Tsukiji ^^;

Donburi chaya's main and tiny entrance

Really liked the colourful interior and the homeliness of the place

I had probably the most awesome cooked crab-related dish of my trip here. Had been eating kaisen don for the past few days for breakfast, so decided to go for a cooked meal for a change. The crab fried rice was excellently done, with both the rice and the crab meat succulent with a hint of shoyu sauce. It struck the balance without being overly moist or dry and the thick cut piece of butter complemented both the crab and rice very well. The minced fish meat ball soup (つみれ汁) add on for only 200 yen (about 3 SGD) was a perfect way to round breakfast off.

This was really da bomb.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

The light broth was perfect with the don and the tsumire fish meat balls were huge!
Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

Tanukikoji Shopping Arcade 狸小路商店街

Decided to take a detour back along the main Susukino-Odori-Sapporo road to check out some desserts as I still had quite a bit of time left before the check out and train ride to Hakodate around noon. Was half-expecting the stores located on the Tanukikoji shopping arcade stretch to be open at around 10 am but once again, disappointed. Did saw a whole lot of people queuing up for the grand opening of a Pachinko parlour which I could never understand why. It's like queuing up to throw your money away.

First time seeing the arcade in the day too.

Did Playboy agree to this?

The queue for the new Vegas Vegas pachinko parlour

ISHIYA CAFE イシヤカフェ
Address: 北海道札幌市大通西4-6-1 札幌大通西4ビル B2F

Since I could not get enough of the lovely milk chocolate from Ishiya (the maker of Shiroi Koibito biscuits), Kanade had recommended that I go check out their basement cafe near Sapporo station. For the benefit of readers who might still get confused keying in the Japanese address above into Google maps, the cafe is located on the main underground passage linking Sapporo and Odori stations together.

At first I thought they were wall decals but actually images projected on the wall.

The thick pancakes were so inviting but was still feeling a bit full from breakfast ^^;

Hot creamy and silky milk chocolate goodness!~ Much much better than the one I had in Otaru yesterday.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

Around Sapporo station 札幌駅周辺

Felt a bit sad that I was already leaving Sapporo as it meant that the Hokkaido leg of my trip was wrapping up with just another day at Hakodate. For the first time in my Japan trips thus far, there was a serious train delay of more than an hour. The Super Hokuto 12 limited express train that was supposed to depart at around 12.20 pm was now only departing at 1.30 pm!~ So it was time for more walking around the pretty huge station to while away the time. ^^ Had a pretty strange encounter at the tourist centre in the station, the staff did not respond when I went up to them to inquire about the free Hokkaido wifi for foreigners (for more info, click here). I actually did not need it as I already had b-mobile but was asking for Jieunnie as she was also planning a trip up north. They only started replying me when I spoke in English!~ Eh, who says foreigners must speak foreign languages one ah. So racist.

Realised I didn't really post many photos of the drinks I had, and I really had a lot of unique ones. This was kinda meh-ish, though the sourness was just a bit too overpowering.

So cute!~

Liked the layout and design of this restaurant serving Latin American fare.

Saw a cooking class in action at the ABC cooking studio.

I really shouldn't be ordering more food if I wanted to get a bento on the train...
Onigiri no Arinko おにぎりのありんこ

Darn, free tea with 3 onigiri to go too appealing. This was thoughtfully arranged by the staff before they packed everything in when I told them I wanted to take a photo.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars

To wrap up the waiting with a spot of excellent mocha
Miyakoshiya Coffee 宮越屋珈琲
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

For the lovely night view of Hakodate, click here.