Golden Week Part 2: The City of Sweets

The next day we took a day trip to Otaru by train. Otaru is a port city about an hour away from Sapporo and it is famous for its canal, glassworks, and sweets! The view on the way there was really refreshing and nice as it passed by the ocean. Since Otaru was next to the ocean, it was a must to eat sushi. We went to a place that my friend recommended and oh my lord the sushi was so tasty! It was comparable to the one I ate at Tsukiji fish market a while back! Then, we walked to a street that is known for its glassworks and sweets! It is not hard to find the area since that is where most people go! This street is hands down one of the best places ever, seriously. The streets were filled with sweets shops everywhere you looked!!! The best part was that most of the places were giving out samples so we were able to try out the taste before deciding to buy it! I highly recommend going here! There’s also a cheesecake that is seriously the best. It is in a shop called LeTao and the interesting fact is that the business started right in Otaru! It is known for its double fromage cheesecake and is a must try! So light and fluffy! Oh my god. I almost forgot to mention about the ice cream. This place and all of Hokkaido has the best ice cream. It made me want to cry just eating it. It’s called milk ice cream and it’s made with Hokkaido milk. There’s no taste like this in the U.S. and I’m not even sure how to describe the taste of milk ice cream. It’s just wonderful. Seriously wonderful.

I guess I should stop talking about food haha. It made me hungry just imagining it! My friend and I also visited Noboribetsu and Muroran! Noboribetsu is known for a place called Hell Valley. Hell valley has a crater that contains boiling water at a temperature of 80° C (176° F). You can still see the steam coming out of the water and the ground! It has the smell of spoiled eggs but if you don’t mind it, it was a good sight to see! The onsens here are really famous too! We walked around the town area and everywhere is decorated with hell creatures known as oni. It was pretty cool to see the town decorated to represent Hell valley! Afterwards, my friend drove to Muroran, which is his current hometown! Muroran is an industrial city so there are a lot of factories but the night view was amazing! All of the buildings lit up and the drive was relaxing. At my friend's recommendation, we ate at a specialty Muroran yakiniku shop. It was my first time eating yakiniku in Japan and it was so good! Then, we spent my last night walking around Sapporo. I was glad my friend was there to show me around Hokkaido; I wouldn't have known what to see, do, or eat!