May 2018

I had never heard of Muroran before we signed on to do a trans Pacific cruise that stopped in Muroran(population: 88,000). The ship stopped there as a gateway to Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido island. Sapporo was basically a winter playground, and, no matter how hard they wanted me to believe there are other things to do year around, I never got tempted. So we decided to stay in town.

I give a huge point to the efforts of towns people for trying to welcome us. There were bands playing music by the dock, and some high school girls came out to invite the cruise passengers to their school where they would introduce us to the culture and language of Japan. The shuttle bus was not free(about $10 for the day), but there were English speaking volunteers at most of the bus stops to guide the visitors. There was supposed to be free Wifi at the dock, but it did not work well.

 I suspect they chartered some buses to create the shuttle service(hence the $10 fee), and then printed out a flyer for people to take with. We stayed on the bus for the entire route to see what it was like. It didn’t seem like an old city, but it was not really modern either. I guess I could call it an ordinary town where nothing much happened. We took the bus back to downtown and ate at a small restaurant. It turned out to be a lunch counter where workers took their quick lunch break, and nothing special to note about it. We walked around a bit and got back on the bus. We tried some of the scenic spots mentioned on the flyer but were not too impressed. We tried hard, though, because the people of Muroran tried hard.

Back on the ship, we ran into some of the people who followed the school girls, and they said they had a real great time. They were served a Japanese meal and learned some Japanese words. If we ever go back, we may try that.

 

April 2018

A major port city on the northern island of Hokkaido, Hakodate(population: 265,000) meant fresh sea food to me. I was ready to march in and have the freshest uni(sea urchin) bowl I’ve ever had in my life.

Celebrity Millennium docked at a wharf a bit away from the center, and a free shuttle service was provided by the City to Hakodate Station. This city was ready for foreign tourists, and they had all sorts of maps and brochures to give away at the tourist information center at the station.

 

Right next to the Station is Hakodate Morning Market, a sea food market filled with stalls of right-off-the-boat fish and crabs and oysters. And restaurants. Almost all the restaurants had at least one form of uni bowl on their menu, but they were, like, $15-$50 per bowl. These bowls were not big, and, there were lines at the popular ones. (Who wants to go to an unpopular restaurant!) Pat asked me, “Do you really want it that badly?” I thought about it and said no. It was before 10 AM, and we had a good breakfast on the ship. The word ‘cheap’ never entered my mind as we looked at the price tags attached to fresh sea food items displayed at this market.

Hakodate was the first port opened in Japan to foreign traders in 1854, thus, this city has historic significance in Japanese history. The City zeros in on this fact in tourist development effort, and they have well marked signs all over the city to let the visitors know. Hakodate has basically 5 different areas to visit, and these are well connected by public transportation. We bought a day pass(about $6) for the tram system at the tourist information center and went to 4 of the 5 areas.

The first off after the morning market: more cherry blossom trees. Every brochure about Hakodate shows a star shaped park filled with pink cherry blossoms, and this is Giryokaku Park. The park was about a 15-20 minute walk from the tram stop, and many people from the tram were heading that way. So we just followed. The park was free to enter (pay to get up to the tower), and there were lots of families and groups picnicking on the ground. Quite nice, but we thought Hirosaki was much more impressive.

 

We got back on the tram and went to Yunokawa hot springs area. Getting off at the second to the last stop, Yunokawa Onsen, we found the free outdoor foot bath where we soaked our feet that were tired by cherry blossom chasing. From there, we strolled along the small river to reach the ocean passing by several different hot springs resorts.

Turning left when we reached the ocean, we got to Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden where monkeys were swimming in the hot springs water. We were not clear why a tropical garden happened to be there, but it was mildly interesting. We were not too sure about the monkeys, though. They looked bored and lethargic.

I had missed a shrimp soba noodle in Aomori the day before, and I had to pass on the uni bowl earlier in the day. I deserve a good sushi lunch, I declared. My careful research had directed me to a restaurant called “Sushi Tokoro Kihara” not far from the Tropical Garden right on the ocean’s edge. I know that link takes you to their website which is all in Japanese. We couldn’t eat there because we had no reservation, and a lady said in very polite English, “can you come back in 2 hours?” If you want to go there with a reservation and want the contact information, well, here it is.

Fortunately, there was another restaurant next to it that seemed popular. We stepped in, and they were able to find two stools for us at the counter. It was a ramen place. We were not huge fans of ramen noodles, but what could we do. We were ready to eat anything. Well, it was the best bowl of ramen we ever had. In fact, we may not have another one like that unless we go back to that area of Japan. The broth had complex, deep taste, and the noodle was cooked just right. We only know ramen as a convenient instant food, but people of Hokkaido take ramen very seriously. Yum! I want it right now!

We took the tram back to the Bay Area where old warehouses were converted into hipster shopping/eating/drinking halls. We could also walk to the historic Motomachi area with early western influenced churches and buildings, but we were happy to have just a little glimpse of it. We skipped the Hakodate Mountain and cable car area entirely. No energy.

 

 

April 2018

Aomori I knew was where the tragic lovers ran away to and frolicked in the snow in numerous Korean dramas. But our trans-Pacific cruise ship was to dock there at the end of April, and what would we do, I thought. (Aomori climate)

Cherry blossoms. We were extremely lucky to be there in the middle of the Cherry Blossom Festival at Hirosaki Castle not fat from there. Celebrity Millennium ship was docked at the spot right in front of the triangle building where the Aomori(population: 287,000) tourist information center is located. There was not much service at the dock, but we could get a map of the city and the directions to get to Hirosaki from the information center, which was about a 5-10 minute walk. Yes, free Wifi was provided.

There was not much distraction on the way to the train station(another 10-15 min. walk), and we got the tickets($5 – $8) and hopped on the train. It was a commuter train(every 20-30 minutes during the day) and jam-packed with local tourists all going to Hirosaki. The 45 minute ride was not comfortable as I was barely hanging on to stand on my two feet. As we got closer, there simply was no room for more people to get on.

Once arrived at Hirosaki Station, we just followed the crowd. They all went downstairs, walked out of the station, then got on the “100 Yen(about$1) Loop Bus” which connects the station to the City Hall, which is pretty much in front of the south entrance to Hirosaki Castle Park.

As soon as we got off the shuttle bus, we could see why everyone came here! Pat and I had seen cherry blossoms before: in Washington, D.C., Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and the Ueno Park in Tokyo. You hadn’t seen nothing till you came to Hirosaki Castle!

By this time we were hungry. I had picked a very famous shrimp soba noodle restaurant, Takasago, just several blocks from the park for lunch. Luckily, there was a tourist information center in the municipal building right across from the shuttle stop, and they directed us to the restaurant with enthusiasm. Finding the place was not too hard, an easy 5-10 minute walk. Getting in was another story: a line was already formed out front not long after 11 AM. We thought our chance was good and waited for about 15-20 minutes. The line was getting longer but not many people came out. Finally we were led inside, and, surprise! You were to sit in the waiting area there to wait for another 20-30 minutes for a table. Pat said, “forget it. We have no time.”

We went back to the municipal building area where some kind of outdoor food court was set up. We picked up a few different items and ate. The world’s biggest apple pie was there, too. We had to have a piece. Delicious!

 

We hurried back to the park  and bought the basic entrance ticket(about $3) because it did not seem necessary to go into the buildings and the garden where people were packed in like canned sardines.

There were more than 2,600 trees of 52 different varieties of cherry blossom at the park, we were told. Lots of people, young and old, enjoying the gorgeous setting: we were happy to be part of that. But, now, we knew we were spoiled forever: we won’t be easily impressed by other cherry blossoms.

On the way back to the train station, we got off the shuttle bus a bit sooner and tried to find a restaurant to eat. It happened to be a Sunday, and many businesses were closed. Those that were open were packed with people. We gave up and went to the station. Now there was a long line formed to get on the train. We did make the first train that got in and came back to Aomori. We finally ate at a restaurant near the train station in Aomori.

Well known for its summer time Nebuta(float) Festival, Aomori may have more to offer than a train station to go to Hirosaki, but we did not have much energy left to look hard. I did wonder, though, what it would be like there in winter time. It is one of the most snowed cities in the world, and there might be wonderful food to go with that!