Day 2 - Sapporo and walking

Day 2 - Sapporo and walking #Japan2019

Is this me waking up at 6:30am? Why yes. Since the nights start relatively early I'm being a good boy and trying to start the day early too to maximize sunlight... First up is breakfast at the hotel then some Sapporo exploring

Yesterday I got to the hotel, took a shower, kept looking at the bath in it and did the Japanese thing and took a bath after which just made me melt as soon as hit the bed after. Sleep was good.

All I need to go to the breakfast is my phone and my meal voucher right? Wrong. I need my wallet with my room key... Haha, will have to deal with that after food

Breakfast, I'll post the buffet itself after

Addendum, those potato mochi were so good

Huh, they just gave me a new card for the room with my name and room number and nothing else, I guess it's not meant to be super secure but still

Buffet with tags

Buffet 2

Ok, checked out and was able to leave my bags at the hotel, will pick them up later to take to capsule one

It's a but chilly for just a hoodie (sorry, Mom, I didn't bring my jacket) but manageable, at night I'll probably put on a sweater too, but Tokyo was like 10 deg warmer so I didn't want to bring a full coat

All you can drink beer for like $10, som people would be terrifying with this

Idly wandering through Hokkaido University now bet this be real pretty if the leaves were still there

In case you doubted Hokkaido is close to Russia

I was just thinking even though my body is actually not that cold anymore my hands are getting pretty cold, but then a convenience store selling hot drinks just appeared in front of me God bless Japan

Can't believe it's only 8: 30am, is this what seizing the day feels like

You've heard of the 3Rs but

Cute schedule

A lot of people know this but for such a clean country they really don't have garbage bins anywhere, haven't been able to throw out the bottle I got a while back

Ah so the play is to get rid of it when you go to another convenience store and buy another hot drink cause your hands are cold again

Fancy umbrella holder

Museum of modern art I while walking around, I'll probably check it out in like 12 minutes when it opens

My phone started to have a shutter sound and I'm losing my mind, hate this. I could swear yesterday was ok.

There's a calligraphy exhibition

It's actually hard to overstate how much I hate the camera making noise

Some more calligraphy

More traditional modern art stuff, you're encouraged to touch these to feel the texture

This is why people give you shit, modern art, this is why

As a cleanser some pieces I actually liked from their collection

"Watch out for crows" they are no joke, they are huge

Ran into this again and it's open so why not

😱

Hm.

I thought these were like for earthquake things because I saw them in a lot of rooms and at the other museum but I guess they are for humidity measurements

I really liked this Photosynthesis series

Some other pieces I enjoyed

And

Now I'm walking along Odori Park to get to the TV tower

Do I know what this is or why it's here? No.

I'm still a sucker for this hallway effect on walkways

Old government office

Finally, time for a traditional Japanese lunch

Sapporo Clock Tower

Apparently it's 138 years old with no parts changed and it's only off by 5 seconds as of this morning

Hanging out with my pal

Sapporo tv tower

From the observatory

Some others from up here

Time for food, I'll be back here at night to see the night views!

I'd you take the stairs to the observation room elevator instead of another elevator you get this increasingly smarmy cartoon every other set bit stairs

Food 🤤

The madman!

Mushroom and crab curry soup

This soundtrack feels weird tho

I got suckered in by buzzwords and got this anaerobic Costa Rican coffee, the lady said it was like "apple pie", I got to say she's not entirely wrong

Some shrine, I did the money and now and clap thing

I feel like I've done so much today already but it's still to early to even check into my next hotel

Nervous laughter emoji...

It's time for that scene by the river with stairs

This wasn't que the "this is it" I was hoping for but it's ok, walk by the river is still nice

As creepy as some find Google getting this for free is neat

This is the second mini golf course by the river I've seen while walking

Riverside

More river

"Ohh, I like those arch bridges" "It has stairs?"

Nakajima park and some shrine therein

More shrine and park

Local time and temperature

Concert hall

Can actually see Deneb from the summer triangle even though the sun is still out... That star will always remind me of the song Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari

Even more park

Park and zen

This reflection is so cool

Hey, it's me

I caved and bought this, I got tired of having to put my hands into the sleeves of my hoodie every now and then to keep them warm. It's not even that cold but it adds up when I'm walking for a long while

I can see the sunlight fading this is so sad

Looks like I'm in the shopping area

There's so many karaoke places here what the hell

I keep forgetting I should walk on the left to not run into people

Also while I miss the fingerprint unlock on the pixel 2, I have to say face unlock is best in slot when wearing gloves

Random gacha store

Sunlight come back

These covered malls are fun to walk through

Random thought but I'm a genius for not wearing a heavier coat, being slightly cold means I burn more calories which means I get to try more foods

Spent some time figuring out what to do tomorrow and after, think I'll day trip to Otaru

I wouldn't be surprised if Canada Goose is cheaper here than it is there

I really want to know how good those grapes are that they're worth $30

I got to say these gloves from Lawson's are actually pretty good, the grippy surface is very nice for not feeling like my phone's going to fall out of my hands at any moment like I thought might happen with fabric gloves

TV tower at night, time to see the views again

Both times I've been in the lobby of the TV tower the radio's been playing Under the Sea in Japanese, I guess they were advertising some stage show

This unfocused pic looks neat

Some more tower shots of the city

Checked in at next hotel, still need to get luggage and move it but maybe after eating

Time for ramen

Butter corn ramen @ ramen sora

Hmmmmmm

Did they just cop the name like this, lol

The compass feature on phones is asking for navigating these giant station/mall complexes

Cheese tart

It was good but I have to say it wasn't categorically different from something like Pablo's in Toronto, it had a decently high review so I wanted to try it

The sameness of the other one was bothering me so I tried this, the sesame ones were great the caramel and cream not as much so I only ate the sesame ones

Now I shower and then sleep since I'll wake up early to catch the first train

The bathroom is pretty nice for a shared one, shower was good except for having to repress for water every like 15s, but it has solid amenities

Do pillows normally make this noise? 🤔🤔🤔

I'll try these earplugs, not sure I need them even but I haven't had a reason to use them yet and am curious

Ok see you all in 7 hours for day 3