Travellers

Selasa, 04 Februari 2020

Sapporo: The Food Journal

Let me share my Sapporo food diary with you all. Actually, I'm not really ambitious with food when I'm on a trip. I do look for references but I don't always stick to them. Care to follow my Sapporo food journey? Let's!

The top three food you must try in Sapporo are: Sapporo style miso ramen, soup curry, and jingisukan (grilled mutton). Initially I wanna try all of them, but I gotta miss Jingisukan on this trip. Restaurants those are selling these dishes could be easily found all around the city, especially around Susukino area.

There's quite a list for the best miso ramen in Sapporo, and it's impossible to try all of them. So the first one on my Sapporo food diary will be this place.

1. Ramen Shingen (らーめん信玄)

Located within walking distance from Susukino Station, Ramen Shingen is one of the most mentioned ramen place when you search on 'ramen + sapporo'. Just follow your Google Maps direction and you will easilly spot this place.

It was odd hour when I came to this place so there was no queue at the time. I think most queue happens at popular Japanese because there are only a few seats available at the place. Ramen Shingen catered only 8-10 people at a time, so it won't be strange to have queue at this place around lunch/dinner time.

I think this place is popular both with locals and tourists. At the time, I spotted more locals slurping into their bowl of ramen. I ordered their Shinshu (tasty miso) Ramen for JPY 800. The portion was adequate.

I'm not really familiar with this Sapporo style ramen, the broth got a strong miso hint and was not as thick and savory as my favorite tonkotsu broth, but it was still enjoyable. For the noodle, they used the curly and springy noodle. To my surprise, the egg was fully boiled, for I thought half boiled egg is a must for ramen, but I was wrong. Well anyway, this bowl would be nicer if they use half boiled egg.

2. Kinotoya Bake (ポールタウン店)

Location: Sapporo Station

Hokkaido baked cheese tart is quite common since there are a few brands those sell this yummy tart in Jakarta, so I need to try this cheese tart from its origin place. From what I found, Kinotoya is one of the most famous brand for this cheese tart, and since I stayed nearby Sapporo Station, I just had to walk for a short distance to get my cheese tarts.

We bought half dozen of these tarts for JPY 1,080. These tarts are best enjoyed when they are still warm. The tart itself was sweet and crispy, the cheese cream was gooey, creamy, and cheestastic!

3. Tokachi-butadon Ippin (十勝豚丼いっぴん)

Location: Sapporo Stellar Place - Sapporo Station

Since we did some day trips from Sapporo, we usually went back to Sapporo around the afternoon and since we were tired, we just looked from some dining option around the Station. Thank God the malls around the stations are filled with great and interesting restaurants. This time we visited Tokachi-butadon Ippin at Stellar Place. We need to wait for a while to get seated since the place was quite packed.

How they grilled the pork was an interesting sight. They use hairdryer instead of a fan. You could order your Butadon with lotsa options: small portion of rice, normal portion of rice with extra meat, small portion of rice with half meat and so on. I ordered Butadon Special (more meat) for JPY 1,210.

I thought the meat would be the fatty one, but it wasn't. The meat was thick and almost fat free - well I like the fatty one better - very well grilled with strong smoky aroma. And why do Japanese rice taste that good!

4. Sapporo Ramen Kyowakoku (札幌らーめん共和国)

Location: Esta - Sapporo Station

This one was a random pick after another day trip. We headed to the 10th floor of Esta and found this ramen theme park. We really didn't know which ramen place to pick and we just picked the one with the longest queue.

Can somebody translate the name of this place?

I tried their Miso Ramen with Flavoured Egg (JPY 960). It was a hearty bowl of ramen, and the broh was a bit gingery.

5. Gyoza Ohsho (餃子の王将)

Location: Susukino

We had dinner quite late that day, it was Saturday Night, and Susukino was filled with people. We entered this restaurant after looking at their food models on the display.

This place is called Gyoza Ohsho and it turned to be a famous Chinese food chains in Japan. No wonder we were tempted by the food models, for Chinese food is hard to resist.

Some of the menu came in package, so when we ordered the Fried Rice, it came with Gyoza and Egg Soup as a set. We also ordered a small portion of stir fried Vegetables and Sweet and Sour Pork as extras. What's good about this place is that, they do serve in small portion. So it won't matter if you come alone and crave for a few dishes, since usually Chinese dish comes in a huge portion.

The food here was also affordable, we did not spend more than JPY 1,000 (or maybe just a bit more) for the food above.

6. Soup Curry King (セントラル)

Location: Nearby Susukino

I did not expect much from Soup Curry though it is a must-try food in Sapporo, people said. It was my last night in Sapporo and finally I gave this dish a try. There are many Soup Curry restaurants in town, but I picked Soup Curry King for it was one of the closest one from where I spent my afternoon that day.

I ordered Beef Vegetable one (JPY 1,450). It came with a plate of yellowish rice which was fragrant and a bit savory and a bowl of colorful vegetables and meat in yellow curry soup. How good this dish would be? I thought...

It was so good! The meat was tender, the veggies were well cooked, and the curry was amazing! I never tried this kind of taste before. It wasn't like the ordinary curry, it was rich, savory, a bit spicy and addictive. It was around 5°C outside the building and this bowl of Soup Curry warmed me from the inside out. My favorite dish in Sapporo so far!

7. Ebiten Bunten (蛯天分店)

Around 10 minutes from the heart of Susukino and you'll find this place. The place was a bit hidden that we were confused at first, we have arrived according to the map but we found no restaurant around. After a while we managed to find this tempura place.

Just across this place is Baristart, a popular coffee shop in Sapporo.

If you see this orange cloth sign across Baristart, then you're at the right place.

The restaurant itself was humble and homey yet convincing.

Got myself a set of Tempura Rice Bowl (JPY 800) that came with a bowl of miso soup and yellow radish pickle. What confused us was, our meal came quite a while after we order, and came alongside with other tables order (they came much later after we arrived).

The tempura batter was awesome, it was not that thick and that oily, and the crunchiness was just right. The rice was also so good and the seasoning was just right, sweet, but not too much. The prawn was plump and chewy, overall this dish was just right.

8. Seicomart

Location: All over Hokkaido

I've been to 7-Eleven, Lawson, Family Mart, Daily Yamazaki plenty of time,but Seicomart was new to me. It turned out that Seicomart was a Hokkaido-born convenience store, no wonder I came across this konbini for the first time here.

What's so special about Seicomart is, you could find fresh and unique Hokkaido specialties here. Cheese, salmon jerky, Hokkaido cheese/melon ice cream are a few items you could find here.

Got myself these Snow Brand cheese products - the string cheese was addictive.

And where else could I get this Hokkaido Cheese Ice Cream. It was cold in Hokkaido but it won't stop me from having this cheese ice cream.

Their ready to go food selections were also great. I tried a few and I gotta approve them. They were comparable to restaurant dishes.

So when in Hokkaido, you gotta stop at Secoma!

Bonus: Ishiya Hokkaido Chocolate Drink

You won't find this drink at konbini, but you could find this drink at some souvenir shops.
Verdict: it is for those, who love their chocolate drink super creamy and sweet.

Next on the blog: Furano-Biei, Otaru, and Hakodate.

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JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2019
Otaru: The Serene and Charming City of Hokkaido
Furano-Biei Day Trip: Farm Tomita, Shikisai No Oka, Blue Pond
Sapporo: The Food Journal
Sapporo: The Vibrant City of Hokkaido (And Where to Stay)
Falling in Love with Yokohama's Charm
Starbucks Reserve® Roastery Tokyo
Reasons to Stay Around Asakusa (or not)
My Third Japan Trip - The Intro

JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2017
Konnichiwa! I'm back!
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Preparation and Cost
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Back to Dotonbori
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Fall Foliage at Minoo Park and Quick Visit to Kuromon Market
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: Autumn in Kyoto
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: A Day In Takayama
JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: November Snow at Shirakawa-Go

JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2015

Hello JAPAN!

JAPAN TRIP: Preparation and Cost (Visa, Accommodation, Transportation, etc)

JAPAN TRIP: 20 Random Facts about Japan
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 1 Welcome to Osaka - Umeda!
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 2 Universal Studios Japan
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 3 Kaiyukan (Osaka Aquarium) & Osaka Castle
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 4 Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, Shibuya, Tokyo Tower, Shinjuku
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 5 Sensoji, Meiji Shrine, Yoyogi Park, Harajuku
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 6 Gotemba Premium Outlet
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 7 Tokyo Disneyland
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 8 Tokyo DisneySea
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 9 Fujio F. Fujio Museum & Yanaka Ginza
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 10 Kyoto - Kiyomizu Dera, Nishiki Market, Tsujiri Honten, Gion
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 11 Half Day Trip to Nara, Smile Burger - Kyoto
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 12 Fushimi Inari Taisha & Ichiran Ramen - Kyoto
JAPAN TRIP: DAY 13 & 14 Osaka Shopping Heaven - Shinsaibashi Suji & Dotonbori

Senin, 30 Desember 2019

Sapporo: The Vibrant City of Hokkaido (And Where to Stay)

Now, let's head to Hokkaido. First stop: Sapporo.

My last trip to Japan mainly focused on Hokkaido. Actually the only reason I went to Tokyo was because my Japan first-timer friend. I've been looking for Jakarta-Tokyo and Sapporo-Jakarta airplane tickets months prior to this trip. From my previous visits to Japan, I found that arriving and departing from different cities could be the most efficient way to save on the transportation fee. After weeks and months of ticket hunting, I found that PAL got the best deal for this route. I got my return tickets for around IDR 4,8mio, and sometimes cheap bargain came with a risk - in my case was 6 hours transit at NAIA airport (which was quite dull) on our flight back home.

Meanwhile, I purchased another flight ticket from Tokyo to Sapporo for around IDR 1mio (Jetstar with extra 20kg baggage). You could fly for one and a half hour or if you have JR Pass, you could actually ride shinkansen from Tokyo to Shin Hakodate then change to limited express local train from Shin Hakodate to Sapporo for a total 9 hours trip.

There are two parts of Sapporo which I recommended you to stay, and these two areas located quite near to each other. The first area is the Sapporo Station area. Sapporo Station is the main transportation hub of this city both for train and bus.

The other great things about staying in this area is its shopping malls! Sapporo Station is connected to few shopping malls and department stores (Esta, Daimaru, Paseo, Apia) with good restaurants and variety of shops.

Just a few steps from Sapporo Station is Odori Park, one of Sapporo Snow Festival main sites. Talking about snow, Hokkaido is known being colder since it is located in the northern part of Japan. It was early October when I went there, and it was around 25°-30°C in Tokyo but the temperature started to drop to 15°-20°C in Sapporo. It was even colder on the last few days of my trip.

I found a very good deal at Hotel Keihan Sapporo on my date of visit. It was a quite decent hotel, and I stayed there for a cheaper price than my stay at a hostel in Tokyo. Plus point: They have free bathhouse inside the hotel.

The next part of Sapporo you should consider to stay at is Susukino. Susukino is comparable to Namba or Shinjuku. Susukino is filled with lines of shops, eateries, and pubs decorated fascinating neon lights and signboards. Do stay in this area if you prefer a lively neighbourhood with late night eateries.

I stayed at The B Hotel Sapporo Susukino which was quite a good place to stay. Extra point for the free coffee machine at the lobby. Actually I got some video footages of the hotels I stayed in, but I was just to lazy to edit them. Let me add them later.

And of course, the store I headed back and forth in Susukino was Mega Don Quijote. I bought all kind of food and stuff here! I think I need to make another post about this place later.

Transport modes you can use in Sapporo are buses, trams, and trains. But I mainly moved around Sapporo Station and Susukino, so I just walked. I did walk with my 28" luggage from Keihan Hotel to the B Sapporo Susukino for around 30 minutes. Well, quite a good exercise before dinner.

Talking about this city won't be complete without talking about its food scene. But let's talk about it on my next post since I found that this post will be too long if I summarize all of it here. Meanwhile, let's enjoy a cup of coffee!

A friend said that Sapporo is not really her kind of city - she likes Tokyo better. But after my visit to Sapporo, I thought that it might be the vice versa for me. Sapporo is a vibrant and lively city with less crowd and hustle bustle that Tokyo which is perfect for me.

JAPAN TRIP SERIES 2015

Hello JAPAN!

JAPAN TRIP: Preparation and Cost (Visa, Accommodation, Transportation, etc)

Selasa, 19 November 2019

Falling in Love with Yokohama's Charm

I've been hesitating to visit Yokohama since my first visit to Japan though it is conveniently close to Tokyo. I thought that this city was not special, until I finally visited Yokohama last month. I fell in love with this city!

It took us around an hour and a few minutes from Asakusa to Yokohama and our first destination was Yokohama Chinatown which is Japan's largest Chinatown. Yokohama itself is the second largest city in Japan by population.

Entering Yokohama Chinatown will make you forget that you are actually in Japan for a moment. with all the traditional Chinese architecture buildings, bright red lanterns, and board signages in Han Zi.

It was Sunday afternoon, and the Chinatown was packed with people. Mostly tourists like us, I guess. Chinese restaurants and street snack stalls filled the area with their bright colored shop signs - I felt like I was in Mong Kok for a while since it got pretty similar vibes. Since we already had lunch before we went to Yokohama, we gave up to have a feast here.

Other than Chinese restaurants, I could easily spotted boba place here and there. Well, the boba craze was no different here in Yokohama.

From the Chinatown, we headed to our next destination - Yamashita Park on foot.

Yamashita Park is located along the waterfront which made me instantly fell in love! A combination of park + sea/lake works best for me.

You'll easily spot Hikawa Maru (the ship above) once you arrive here. This ocean liner is 90 years old and permanently berthed as a ship museum since 1961. On the other side, you'll spot Osanbashi Pier (below) which runs as an International Passenger Terminal.

It was quite windy in Yokohama that day, but I thanked God that it was not rainy. It was pouring in Tokyo since early in the morning.

Since it was not raining, I was able to have a picnic in a park. We bought snacks and picnic mat at a nearby supermarket on our way from Chinatown to this place. What a moment to just sit back, relax, and enjoying our snacks, drinks, while people and dog-watching from where we sit. Many locals brought their dogs for an afternoon walk here.

Other than enjoying the sea breeze and spending a lovely time at the park, watching acrobatics show from a local performer is one thing you could also do here.

From Yamashita Park, we walked around 10-15 minutes to our next destination: Osanbashi Pier which I have mentioned before. I enjoyed the harbor and sea view which was quite tranquilizing for me.

Osanbashi Pier itself was stunning. I don't know how to describe it in the right term, but the design was bold, modern, and unique.

It was a perfect place for an afternoon stroll and photoshoots. I got to witness Japan's aircraft carrier on my visit too.

After a brief visit to Osanbashi Pier, we headed to the Aka-Renga Soko aka Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse.

Apparently, Yokohama Ockoberbest was being held right next to the Red Brick Warehouse. Actually I was tempted to visit but since our time was a bit packed, we decided just to pass by.

So Red Brick Warehouse was formerly a Custom Inspection House in the early 20's and now turned into a shopping center. We just visited this place for a brief moment and decided to go back to Tokyo since the sky is getting darker already.

From across the street, I could spot the icon of Minato Mirai, the Cosmo World Ferris Wheel. Actually Minato Mirai is the central business district of Yokohama. But I haven't got the chance to visit the area. I will surely visit Yokohama on my next Tokyo trip.