As expected, I did not feel 100% this morning. After rooting around my suitcase I could only fine one clean shirt so decided it was time to do laundry.

Remember all the bad things I was saying about this faux fancy hotel? They have the all-in-one washer/dryers that never wash nor dry properly. Note how the laundry room also has a dehumidifier in it to boost the effectiveness of the dryer? I decided to just go to a coin laundry.

It was a bit of a walk to the first decent coin laundry according to teh Googs but the front desk told me about a much closer capsule hotel that lets anyone use the washing machines. Not only do capsule hotels cater to the younger budget-minded travelers, but they also have the down-and-out who can’t afford real apartments. So I spent a couple of hours in the corner of the capsule hotel guarding my clothes while they washed and dried. Not that anyone would want them but better safe than sorry.

I figured this would be my “down day” and I needed to get my train tickets for this half of my trip. I found lunch at Mos Burger and got the tickets (plus the ticket to the airport for my side-trip to Wakkanai).

I figured this might be a good day to wander around the downtown area and maybe Hokkaido University. I made it to the Hokkaido University campus and had to use the bathroom. I wandered into the first inviting building and it turned out to be the school museum. I found out that they do a lot here and even have a Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (organoborate chemistry).

I even had a soft ice cream on the way out.

On the way back to the hotel I checked out the three buildings I was told were “must see.” The former municipal building was having a pet/human fair and I didn’t really check that out.

The clock tower, while historic, wasn’t much to look at.

And of course I was at the tower yesterday for the beer garden (but not today).

I even found the Benson bubbler donated by Portand to Sapporo (out of service right now).

OK, now it’s time to find dinner. I think I’m going to look for this restaurant my sister sent me on Instagram that has omurice. Will update later. (Well, I figure both of you who might see this are probably asleep right now anyway.)

Update:
That was disappointing. I took a half-hour walk down dark streets to the Sapporo Factory, only to find it a mishmash of buildings that were hard to navigate.

When I did finally find the food area, there was no obvious store with omurice. I made a pest of myself asking restaurants if they made the omurice that was shown on instagram.

After striking out and being told that it was probably the previous restaurant at a particular spot (the tables looked the same) I decided to have some Indian food.

It was unremarkable at best as it was kind of bland. The naan was great, though. It was probably better than my second choice.

I made several poor decisions today. First, I thought I should leave the onsen early because WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING? I missed the mochi-making at 9AM because I had to get in a taxi at 8AM to catch my train. That means I had to get up at 6AM, start packing (the electronics take some time to pack), take another onsen bath, eat breakfast, and andiamo. Breakfast wasn’t inconsequential and I was a few minute late for the taxi. The driver was kinda surly so screw that guy.

I slept most of the way on the train because I was tired. I got to Sapporo with not much difficulty but my hotel isn’t close to the train station, it’s on a shopping arcade near the drinking area of Susukino. There’s a row of hotels down here. Somehow I got screwed by booking.com because I have never paid so much for a hotel in Japan (outside of onsens that include dinner and breakfast). $1000 for five nights! And the room isn’t really that fancy! I was so pissed that I called my sister to complain.

I think my reasoning was that if I paid that much, I’d get a nice big relaxing room. Nope.

Here’s what they think a desk is:

Nice Ikea furniture. No sofa like some of the cheaper places I stayed in earlier.

And here’s my view from my non-opening window:

I was mad, but I figured there must be SOMETHING going on making the hotels scarce. There’s a month-long Oktoberfest fairly close by in Odori park and the first thing I did was order a plate of meat and a Sapporo beer.

Can you see what time it is? It’s not even 11AM and I’m drinking. Well, I get chatty when I drink and I went into the information booth where the woman was a beer fan. She told me there was a beer garden at one end of the festival, and I could drink a special Sapporo beer IN A GLASS at the opposite end. Oh, and North Island Beer had a booth and she’d met Tagaya-san, the North Island brewer who came to Portland for OBF. I called the factory to see if he was going to be around but it turns out there’s a beer festival in Saitama and he was there!

Anyway, here’s the special festival Peach Weizen.

I can’t get away from Portland beer: Migration is pouring here!

I had the festival lager and now I’m three beers in.

I walked the length of the festival to have the Sapporo beer that’s made with hops that were developed here but grow better in the US, so they grow them in Washington and ship them back. (That’s four.)

Now it was time to get back to the North Island booth so I could talk to the president’s wife and ask her about Tagaya-san, etc. But on the way back, in the section that has booths from different Japanese cities, an older woman from Asahikawa said, “Drink our Asahikawa beer!” I also had a pork and cheese (I think) bun. (That’s five.)

So I made it to North Island’s booth and had their sampler: a Pilsner, a Weizen, a Brown ale, and a Stout. At this point I didn’t have the sense to take a picture before I drank them.

And also, at this point, about seven to nine beers in (the samplers were smaller), I had a brilliant idea! (OK, not so brilliant.) But I wasn’t so drunk that I don’t remember installing the Japan Taxi app to make this happen:

The next tour was at 4:30 (in 40 minutes) but since I was alone, they stuck me in an earlier tour at 4PM.

The original recipe beer, on the left, still had yeast left and tasted more like a craft beer. (I had another of those after this. Is that 11?)

I never felt THAT drunk. I knew I’d pay for the all-day drinking but I didn’t know where to get dinner except for the North Island taproom two blocks away.

I had their IPA, and a beer from the guest tap from an old brewer from North Island. (I had the sense to have small pours of 12 & 13).

The salmon fish and chips were very tasty there.

After that, I made it back to the hotel (it wasn’t that late) and took a shower in the room. There’s a big bath downstairs but I didn’t have the energy. I hit the hay at 9PM. I’ll probably feel it tomorrow.

It was time to pack my bags in Hakodate and take the train to my first onsen of the trip in Noboribetsu. But first it was breakfast in the hotel. Yesterday I had the ramen. Today I went to the omelet bar.

The trains in Hokkaido aren’t electric trains. They’re diesel. OK, technically they’re probably diesel-electric. In any case it does make it feel like we’re in the middle of nowhere.

The train from Hakodate to Noboribetsu only took a couple of hours so I arrived around noon. I had to take a bus from the train station up into the mountains to get to the onsen. I think Google told me it would take an hour and a half to walk up there? There really wasn’t much to see on the way up.

As soon as I arrived, I noticed the area was full of Chinese tourists and smelled like farts. Truthfully “FULL” isn’t quite right: there weren’t the gangs of tourists in northern Japan that are all over Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, etc. I had misgivings about the ryokan, but it was great. I gave them my bags and then asked about the local beer. I guess the 7-Eleven was remodeling so it didn’t have the Onidensetsu Beer from Noboribetsu even though it’s just down the hill a bit. I decided to go to the source, a brewery halfway down the hill back towards the train station. It was suggested to me by the woman at the tourism bureau that I take a taxi back. She said there’s no crosswalk and people in Hokkaido drive FAST. I figured I would be in a much better mood after a couple of beers anyway. The fart smell and the small groupings of Asian tourists were getting to me.

Onidensetsu Beer is made by a confectionary shop and they have a restaurant upstairs. Luckily, I made it in before the blackhole between lunch and dinner when restaurants in Japan inevitably close.

The brewery is right next to the gift shop where they sell Japanese sweets.

Amazingly they had a taster flight. Most places just have pints and nothing else. I had the tasters of their three beers and then a couple more of the Kin-Oni (Gold Devil) because when else am I going to find this? (Turns out they have it at the Watering Hole in Tokyo, a place I go to every trip to Japan.)

 

Here’s the first of two Kin Oni.

After that it was back to the onsen to check in. They told me that dinner would be busy and asked if I could have dinner at 5PM. I’m OK with early dinner but I asked if I’d have time to see Jigokudani, one of the many places named Jigokudani (Hell Valley) in Japan. They said it’s only a 10 minute walk. So once again, off I went. The room was a nice onsen room.

The first thing I saw was a 15′ tall animatronic devil that was just about to do his thing. He said he was the king of the devils and was pretty placid until it hit 3PM and the music started.

His face changes and he waves his arms around a bit. I can’t remember what all he said, but there’s a speech in Japanese.

Then it was onto Hell Valley. There’s lots more than the couple of pictures here. Surprisingly, I think I saw my first group of Korean tourists here.

There’s also a nice (hilly) walk through the woods to get from the valley to the hot lake.

There’s even a continuously bubbling geyser next to a hotel in town.

I didn’t make it back in time to take a bath before dinner. The food was pretty good, but I picked the fish instead of pork. My cousin told me later that the fish, hokke, is supposed to be tough, dry, and difficult to eat. I guess I picked an early dinnertime because I was the first one down there.

After that it was a trip to the onsen bath (no shower in the room) and I spent the rest of the evening using up the data on my SIM card watching Rick and Morty. Ah the joys of Japanese Netflix.

Oh, and my Bose Sleepbuds are broken.