Vacation mode typically kicks off as I get off the flight and landed in my destination, but this time around the vacation started as soon as we boarded the flight because we got ourselves business class tickets baby!

With some targeted instagram posts on maximizing credit card points and a Bilt transfer bonus, I was able to secure two business class tickets on JAL to Tokyo with my Bilt points, and we’re off for Hokkaido in mid May!

I would write about the business class lounge at JFK but JAL shares the Greenwich lounge with American Airlines and British Airways that are all part of One World Alliance and honestly I expected more. The space is huge but decor seems a bit dated and the food was nothing special. Maybe the better deal would have been to redeem the returning flight from Japan so we could get the actual JAL lounge.

The business class seats on the JAL new A350 features the Safran Unity suites that almost feels like first class. You have your own enclosed space with a huge touch screen TV, a whole closet space and fully reclinable, spacious seat. We had seats in the middle that allowed me and my boyfriend to be next to each other, and man the flight was a whole experience! The 14 hours went by way too quickly when you can actually get good sleep and for the first time ever I wished the flight was longer.

Day 1 - Sapporo Black Ramen Night Cap

Our flight landed at around 4PM, we cleared customs and picked up our bags and made our way to the domestic terminal for our economy flight to Hokkaido. We had a bit of time to kill and there were no lounges so we stopped by a 7-11 to try the viral green smoothie and green tea latte, and got a bowl of udon to hold us over until our night cap in Sapporo. The flight was quick and we were able to catch the last bus from New Chitose Airport to Sapporo.

We checked into the Vessel Hotel in Susukino just before midnight and by then all the ramen shops on Ramen Alley had already closed, but we found another spot nearby that has a high rating. Isono Kazuo is known for their "Sapporo Black" ramen, and it’s a snug 7-seater shop that only opens from 10PM to 6AM. We were surprised to see locals queuing up for this at 12:45AM on a Monday, and so we joined the line and got seated around 1:30AM. We both got the Sapporo Black ramen and a pork mayo don that was a perfect pair to the ramen. The ramen broth was rich and noodles were perfect, I couldn’t ask for a better night cap. We picked up some takoyaki on the way back to the hotel and it’s time to rest up for more food adventures tomorrow.

Day 2 - Sapporo food tour begins

Sleep can wait because the food tour starts bright and early. The Vessl Hotel was lovely (it was a shame we didn’t get to use the bathhouse or had the breakfast buffet there) but we were up at 8AM after only 4 hours of sleep, partially due to jet lag. We got ready, packed up our bags, checked out of the hotel, and headed straight to Nijo Market in search of our first breakfast in Hokkaido. It was a quiet weekday morning, and the shops on Tanukikoji Shopping Street have yet to open. Nijo Market wasn’t packed with people yet, but a line formed outside Gannen, a kaisendon spot we found from an Instagram reel. We got in line at 9:30AM and ended being one of the last groups to be served that morning before they sold out by 10:30AM. A full menu only in Japanese is on display outside the restaurant, and upon getting seated we asked the staff to recommend dishes with scallops. I got the scallops and roe don, while my boyfriend got a don with octopus, salmon, tuna, scallops, ikura and crab. Both came as a full breakfast set and it was quite literally a true form of art. The scallops are more orange than the ones I’ve seen - these are female and the orange natural pigments are produced from their roe in their spawning cycle. These orange scallops are much sweeter and this was the perfect meal to start the day. We were savoring every bit of this meal and ended up being the last table to leave the restaurant.

By the time we finished at Gannen, Nijo Market has become more lively with more foot traffic. Seafood stalls have opened and there were people sampling different seafood. We headed to our next kaisendon spot Donbe in the middle of the market to get our uni fix in. Since it was our second breakfast we asked the staff if it would be ok if we share 1 dish before we put our name down. This spot was quite popular and we got seated after waiting about 20 mins. Their full uni don had already sold out for the day (we didn’t think we could finish that bowl anyway because it looked very rich for a 2nd breakfast) and we opted for the ikura, chopped tuna, uni and shrimp don with an egg on top. It was rich and delicate, and the perfect portion for two people to share.

Odori Park was not too far away from Nijo Market, and we made our way over as we learned about the Lilac Festival that takes place at the park in mid May every year. Skies got a bit gloomier and it started drizzling when we got to the park with a view of the Sapporo TV Tower, but that didn’t stop us from getting a melon milk soft serve to share. We saw banners showing the Lilac Festival kicking of tomorrow, and decided to come back later in the week. As we were taking cover from the rain we made way back to the Tanukikoji Shopping Street and ended up spending over an hour at one of the pharmacies. I had made a shopping list before the trip and came back with a bag full of items. The shopping helped a bit with the jet lag but we eventually gave in in the late afternoon after we picked up our bags and switched to another hotel, Sapporo Stream, which was even closer to the main street in Susukino. We stopped by the terrace to check out the city view, and a power nap later it was time to meet up with our friend.

Dinner was Higenoushi Jingisukan Minami-5-jo, trying the famous Genghis Khan barbecue. We ordered a selection of lamb, mutton and beef tartare and all were great. We also got some Sapporo beer and tried it with a pinch of salt (something we learned from a movie not too long ago). We ended our night at the Ramen Alley, trying the signature miso butter corn ramen at one of the spots, Ramen gantetsu yokocho. It was definitely very rich with the miso butter and while I love corn, this signature ramen didn’t really do it for me.

Day 3 - Biei and Furano

We have a Biei and Furano day trip tour booked for the day and our pickup time was 8AM in front of our hotel. I grabbed a quick breakfast from Lawson (egg sando of course) right by our hotel, and we met up with our driver for the day, Ms Leung. We left Sapporo city and headed northeast towards the countryside, and continued towards Patchwork Road in Biei, a famous scenic driving and cycling route. It gets its name from the gently rolling hills and fields planted with different crops, creating a quilt-like pattern that resembles a patchwork pattern. It’s still too early in the season for any flowers to be in bloom, but the scenery was great looking like the Windows XP wallpaper.

Our first stop in Biei was the Seven Stars Tree, a beautiful lone oak tree featured on the packaging of the “Seven Stars” cigarettes in 1976. We took photos in the middle of the road as there weren’t many cars - the fields are all still bare at the moment but in a few months they’ll be covered in colorful patches.

We then went onto the parent and child tree, a unique formation where 2 large trees stand side by side in the far distance of a rolling hill, resembling a family. We looked up a photo online for this view in the winter time when the fields are covered in snow and it’s such a different vibe.

Then it was the Hokusei-no-oka Observatory Park where you can see the Tokachi Mountain Range. We picked up some snacks and soft serves at the local shop across the street, and went up to the pyramid observatory watching tractors go along the fields.

The last set(?) of trees we saw was the Tree of Ken and Mary, another tall poplar tree that became iconic after appearing in a 1970’s Nissan Skyline car commercial. The scenery in Hokkaido is so great that trees are landmarks and sights.

Our last stop before lunch was Panoramic Flower Gardens Shikisai-no-oka. Admissions is free from October till June since flowers aren’t in full bloom, but we still got to see some tulips and nanohana or field mustard. I think I am just in love with the rolling hills here - the views are incredible with the snow cap mountains in the back despite the gardens still waiting to blossom. While we were at the flower gardens the Knicks game was on (this was still the playoffs back in May), and my boyfriend and friend were glued to the screen while we were trying to quickly snap our photos and make up time on our tour.

We got a quick udon lunch right by the gardens, and it was time to head to Shirogane Blue Pond (Aoiike). The pond is in a light blue color that looks a bit unnatural from the microscopic aluminum particles that mix with the water flowing from the Shirahige Falls and the Biei River. The aluminum is from the hot spring cliffs upstream that flows into the Biei River, and the white rocks on the river bed are bleached from the sulfur and lime in the water, which intensifies the blue color. The season will change the color of which the bond appears to be - from milky like blue to deep turquoise and emerald green in the summer.

After a photo op we hopped back into the car and drove to Shirahige Waterfall to see water traveling 30m down to the Biei River from a bridge. The multiple water streams trickle down over the rocky cliffs, resembling a long, flowing white beard. This is actually where the name Shirahige came from - it means ‘white beard’.

Our next stop was Farm Tomita, most known for their lavender fields. Stepping into the garden I realized I had visited when I came with my family to Hokkaido as a teen. Since we were too early in the season, we only saw some lavender in the greenhouse. Most fields are quiet bare with baby flowers yet to bloom, but sections of the fields were filled with shibazakura (moss phlox) and pretty Iceland poppies. The plus was that we got to try the lavender soft serve and see the snow cap mountains in the background!

There’s also a melon farm next door but melons don’t go into season until June so what we’re seeing in the markets are melons from last season. We still managed to get a melon bun to try from the bakery and it was delicious.

Our last stop before returning to Sapporo was the Ningle Terrace, a craft village with 15 log cabins featuring local crafts. There were artists specializing in kaleidoscopes, delicate wooden figurines, leather goods and jewelry. I picked up some postcards and for the first time ever my boyfriend purchased knick knacks! All of us knocked off on the car ride back to Sapporo and we made it back just before 6PM.

For dinner part 1, we headed to a 100 yen oyster spot near Tanukikoji Shopping Street. The spot has no English name (カキ小屋ルンゴカーニバル) and I actually found this spot on an Instagram reel. For a spot located in such a central location our wait was surprisingly short - perhaps it was still earlier in the evening? We ordered our drinks and got 6 regular oysters each to start, along with other dishes. Since the staff says they have regular size and a larger size oysters, and they were only 100 yen each we were expecting normal size oysters, but we were so wrong. These regular oysters are rock oysters and they are huge! No wonder the staff looked surprised when we ordered 18 at once. The larger ones are slightly bigger than the regular ones (see hand below for reference) but honestly there wasn’t really a need to go for the larger size.

The second highlight of the evening was dinner part 2 - the one that I made a reservation for a couple weeks before. Utari yakizakana is a robatayaki restaurant that has been around since the 1950’s. The restaurant is in an older building on a block that has more modern mid rises, almost like the block was redeveloped but this building stayed the way it was. The interior of the restaurant was also very cool, with the focus on the action by the charcoal grill in the center. Reviews online recommended preordering a few items like the kinki rockfish and the hairy crab, so that’s exactly what I did. We also got hot sake, veggies and venison, and later added the prawns, asparagus (they’re in season!) and the ‘May Queen’ potato with butter after eyeing what was cooking on the charcoal grill. It was such a unique dining experience with our chef grilling the dishes in front of us, cooking everything to perfection. My favorites was the rockfish, venison and ‘May Queen’ potato and the thought of the potato is making my mouth water. I know the photo looks like a regular potato but I think that was the best potato I’ve ever had.

Our night cap was at Songbird, a jazz bar with live music close by. It was very intimate and homey, with Esmie and Luna on the mic. They were super friendly and got us snacks while we chatted up the other table. Luna did 真夜中のドア〜stay with me and we were having a great time. I also tried a cassis (grape liqueur) with oolong for the first time and it was delicious!

Day 4 - Lake Toya

We have a little excursion planned outside of Sapporo for 2 days and will be staying overnight at Lake Toya, so we packed up our bags and stored them with the hotel we’re staying at in Susukino. We had booked our train to Toya online and it was departing at 9:45AM from Sapporo JR Station, and we had just enough time to pick up some breakfast sandos at Lawson and walked over to the train station. We picked up our reserved tickets from the ticketing machine, got cash from the ATM (since we’re going to the burbs), and queued up for some Sandria Sando. There was a long line for the vending machine sandwiches - apparently they sell 5,000 sandwiches a day and there is a schedule posted on the vending machines on when the restocking happens. We got in line as the restocking was taking place and there was a pretty decent selection. We picked up a salmon tartare and an egg and terriyaki (teri-tama) sandwich and enjoyed our breakfast on the train. Our train took about 2 hours and as we got into Toya, we realized the station doesn’t take electronic payments for the base fare tickets (you need a base fare ticket plus a limited express ticket for the ride), so we settled the fare with case and reset our IC cards. It took a little longer to sort out our ticket issue and we missed the bus to town, and because the bus runs on a very limited schedule we decided to take a taxi to our hotel.

We I decided to splurge a little for our stay, and I picked BOUROU LAKE TOYA which opened at the end of 2024. It features 20 guest rooms all with views of Lake Toya, and it’s a proper ryokan. The entrance from the south side through driveway features a long corridor and a floor to ceiling window at the end highlighting the views. The staff took our bags and directed us to the guest lounge on the lower floor as our room won’t be ready until 3PM. The staircase leading to the guest lounge was beautifully designed and we helped ourselves to some pre-lunch snacks and drinks, while looking out to the terrace area with a fire bit and the views of the lake. The entire north facing side of the hotel features large windows looking out to Lake Toya, and you could see Mount Yotei visible but slightly blurry due to the haze in the background. The staff helped us out with lunch recommendations in town and gave us instructions for the Lake Toya cruise, and we’re off to explore the town.

We picked Soup Curry mog mog for lunch, and ordered ordered the scallops and seaweed soup curry and the recommended soup curry with Hokkaido maki sausage at level 2 spice. This is my first time trying soup curry and I enjoyed it a lot. I loved the seasoning on the broth and the broth, the mains and the various veggies were very flavorful. It was the perfect portion (and spice level) for us. We also happened to be the last customers served for the day as they were sold out and closed early!

After lunch we made our way towards the pier for the Lake Toya cruise. The town of Toya is not too big, and because it was still early in the summer season the streets seemed pretty quiet. The Lake Toya cruise is a slightly dated, castle-styled sightseeing ship that takes you to Nakajima, the four islands in the middle of Lake Toya. The cruise runs regularly on this route to Oshima Island, the largest of the four islands, and in the summer evenings the same cruise offers fireworks viewing from the lake. The sun was in hiding before our cruise but slowly started coming out during our ride and made Mount Yotei a little bit more visible throughout our journey.

We got off the cruise onto the island and made it just in time for the hike - they take attendance to enter the mountain at the museum to make sure they account for all guests, and there are no departures of hikes after 2:30PM as the last cruise departing from the island is at 4:30PM. The island is known as one of Hokkaido’s “power spots,” which are places considered to have spiritual energy. We decided to do the shortest trail of 1.3km, which takes us through the Larch forest. We also visited the Lake Toya Forest museum and the shrine before hopping back on the cruise back to the main Toyako Onsen area. From the island and on our return trip we could see Mount Usu, an active stratovolcano within the Shikotsu-Toya National Park.

After disembarking from the cruise we took a little walk along the pier, exploring the lake front Toyako Onsen town. We walked east towards the Lakebed Railway and all the way to the playground then back towards our ryokan, soaking in the views. There was a feeding spot at the pier too and you can look down for the huge fish in the lake.

We got back to the ryokan at around 4:30PM and were shown to our room. There was a spread waiting for us in the room, with welcome drinks and snacks highlighting the local apples and oranges, apple juice from Hokkaido, and fridge full of treats. The space features a full bar table longer than a normal dining table, couch, large beds, dressing room, tatami room, and the best of all, the onsen right on the balcony overlooking the lake (room tour link here and here!). We changed into the clothes provided, and explored the other hotel amenities before dinner at 6PM.

The rooftop terrace was very nice at sunset - there was outwear provided to use while outside. The gym and laundry room are on the 3rd floor, and the gym features a whole mini fridge of protein milk! We did a quick workout (to prepare us for the meal) and it was time for our multi course dinner!

Ryohan bookings include dinner and breakfast and the meals were served on the 2nd floor. We arrived at 6PM and were brought to our spacious, private dining room. The 7-course dinner features seasonal ingredients and local specialities that “have been cherished for generations”. We added a 5 glass pairing since the price was quite reasonable. All the courses were great and so was the service. The staff asked if we were celebrating anything and we said it was our 2 year dating anniversary in May and she helped us take a photo. Our favorite dish from the summer menu was the shrimp dish with trout tartare and a blue jelly inspired by Funka Bay. The ingredients felt very fresh and I also really enjoyed the wine pairings - the one portion was perfect for the both of us.

We finished dinner at around 8PM and waited in our room for the fireworks at 8:45PM. The show starts from the left side of the lake and moves to the right so all the lake front ryokans get a direct view. It was such a nice view right from our large balcony. We enjoyed the onsen over a beer, soaked in the amazing night view, and snacked on the complimentary ice cream and drinks to close out the day.

Day 5 - Noboribetsu

We slept so well last night on our (own) giant beds, and woke up early at 7AM so we can hit the gym and enjoy the onsen in the morning before breakfast at 9. We worked out for 30 mins and had one of the Japanese protein milk (if protein milk taste like this back home I would have a lot more of them) and got into the onsen for 20 mins before getting dressed in our robes for breakfast on the 2nd floor. The dining room this morning is different from the one yesterday and has a table facing the lake! Mount Yotei was shy today despite it being sunny out - we only got to see the peak for a little bit before it fully went behind clouds. Breakfast was Japanese and Western style, served on a large tray and bento box that opened up to more small dishes. We enjoyed sampling a little bit of everything and the chef and the team really put a lot of thought into the whole experience, taking into account the dining space and the placement of all the dishes in front of you.

We finished our meal around 10AM, had time to pack up our bags and enjoy the last bit of our amazing stay. We checked out at 11 and the staff prepared a little gift for us - it was a photo from our dinner yesterday on a BOUROU photo frame! We’re taking the bus back to the Toya station and had a little bit of time to kill, so we finished the last ice cream from our room and a beer from the lounge before saying goodbye to the ryokan.

The bus to the train station was right outside the hotel, and you pick up a ticket when you board and pay the bus driver as you get off. We had to get our base fare tickets again at the machine and boarded our short 40-min train to Noboribetsu. The train station had lockers so we stored our overnight bags and checked out the tourist center to figure out our route to explore the Noboribetsu Onsea area. Noboribetsu is one of Japan’s most famous volcanic spa towns, with natural hot springs, craters and steam plumes that create a “Hell Valley”. As a result, the town is decorated with demon statues large and small. It was actually the demon figures that jogged my memory - I had been to this town before on my last Hokkaido trip with my family in the early 2000’s.

We decided to take the bus all the way to the last stop and work our way back from the furthest part of area, the Oyunuma Scenic Pathway.

We were greeted with the Parent and Child Demon Statue as we made our way from the bus stop to the start of the Oyunuma Scenic Pathway. We started our mini hike, following the path upstream with hot spring water flowing on our right. The smell of sulfur was subtle and not overpowering. We passed by the footbath and dipped our hands in but didn’t stay for a foot bath. They have mats available inside a box if you’d like to take a seat and have a soak.

At the top of the pathway we made a left turn on the main road and continued a little bit downhill to Oyunuma and Mt Hiyori, a 377m smoking active volcano and a 1km gourd shaped pond of a volcanic crater. A former Ms Thailand offered to take a photo for us and we continued the walk towards Oku-no-yu, a dusty black sulfur spring.

From there we took a little hike down towards a lookout and to Jigokudani, or Hell Valley. Our first stop was Tessen-Ike, a geyser located at the center of Jigoku-Dani. The broadwalk takes us through Hell Valley, where you’re quite literally in the middle of a crater surrounded by steam plumes. It reminded me a little bit of Yellowstone but this feels more dramatic because you’re in the middle of the valley. On our way out we passed by the status of the demons (oni) of Hell Valley, who are said to be the guards of the medicinal baths. There’s also a shrine up the stairs and we checked it out briefly.

Back closer to the main town, we passed by Sengen Park, which has Oni clubs, a mini Oni, and a geyser that erupts every 3 hours. We didn’t catch an eruption at first so we headed down the main shopping street for some souvenirs. To time our bus ride from the onsen area back to the train station, we did some shopping, grabbed a quick bite from 7-11 (we skipped lunch somehow after our huge meal in the morning), and went back up to Sengen Park to see the geyser erupt right when we passed by and caught the Enma Shrine automated judgement show where the status shifts its expression to an angry red face at 5PM.

The bus took us back to the Noboribetsu train station and we picked up our bags from the locker. Our original plan was to have an early dinner while we wait for our train at 6:38PM, but all the restaurants nearby were closed so instead we walked around the neighborhood, saw some cute cats outside the homes and looped around a closed aquarium. The outside of the aquarium looked like a dated castle/ amusement park but according to Google it’s operating and quite highly rated. We made a loop and headed back to towards the station and walked into the visitor center. There was a large display of legos featuring of all the sights we saw in Noboribetsu. As lego lovers I think we spent a good 20 mins there admiring the display before we took the evening train back to Sapporo.

For a late-ish dinner we met up with our friend and got soup curry at Ramai Sapporo Chuo and then to Bar Owl & Rooster for drinks. I am learning that it’s always a good idea to add seasonal veggies to your soup curry (I got extra fried broccoli and tofu). Ramai Sapporo Chuo is slightly on the west side of town and we took a nice stroll back to the main area. The bar is located in a building full of bars and small restaurants right in the middle of Susukino. It’s almost a whole building of speakeasies and hidden restaurants because the outside looks like any normal non-descriptive building. We each got a drink and I enjoyed people watching by the window.

Day 6 - Otaru

Today is the first fully sunny day and we couldn’t pick a better day to do a day trip to Otaru, a charming port town known for it’s canal, seafood, handcrafted glassware and music boxes. It’s a short 30 - 40 min train ride from Sapporo and it makes for a perfect day trip. We got up just before 8AM and headed to the Sapporo station, picked up some Sandria Sando again (this time there was a limited selection as the restocking is at 10AM), and we’re on our way.

The train traveled west and the right side of the train was the sea view. We got to Otaru station right before 10AM and the first order of business was breakfast at Sankafu Market right near the train station. We had our minds set on Takinami Donburi Restaurant, a compact eatery known for their donburi as we have seen so many reels on this spot. It was quite easy to find as not only does it have a big sign out front, it’s one of the only spots in the market that have chairs lined up against the wall for people waiting in line and 2 separate seating areas to accommodate the crowds it draws. We picked up a ticket at the kiosk and the staff showed us the menu as we queue up. We pre-ordered our items while in line - we selected the most expensive market donburi that had everything and a pick 4 donburi - with scallops, crab, salmon and mantis shrimp which was the fresh catch of the day. We also added a seasonal sailfin poacher sashimi that the staff recommended, along with a crab soup. We were seated in about 15-20 mins, and our food came pretty quickly. The market donburi was amazing, and so was the fresh catch sashimi. The scallops we had were a different texture than the scallops we tried at Gannen, these ones were more chewy, but we really enjoyed the sweetness of the uni and the large sweet shrimp with the meaty crab meat. The crab soup was also excellent despite us taking all the effort to get the meat out of the legs. We took our sweet time with our meal and by the time we were leaving the line for the restaurant had tripled in size. I was really glad we decided to get up earlier and beat the crowd for breakfast.

Once we finished at the fish market we made our way over towards the Otaru Canal, stopping at a Lawson to pick up a matcha latte and an energy drink to keep us awake. On the way we stumbled upon the oldest train track in Hokkaido, and stopped by a LeTAO to sample their famouse double fromage cheesecake and picked up some souvenirs.

The views by the canal was great on this sunny day, and we made our stroll down the canal and towards the main shopping area. Along the way there was the Fire Watchtower (Otaru Denuki Koji) which is a street corner housing a number of eateries, and a whole section of glassware stores.

It turns out they were all part of the same larger company, Taisho Glass Tonbo-dama Kan, and one of them offered glass bead making experience. We decided to do it on a whim since it takes little time and there was a very short wait. The staff gave us a time slot and we picked our designs - I chose the rainbow and my boyfriend chose the stone. We stopped by the souvenir store next door while we waited and came back at our specific time slot. You select the specific colors based on the design, and the staff is there to guide you step by step. The whole process took about 5 mins and it takes about 40 mins to cool down, so you get a slip with a time to return.

While we waited for our glass beads, we took a trip down the main street, tried out the matcha sweets shop SAWAWA for an ice cream, picked up a drink and then back to pick up our glass beads. We decided on a charm and added our own customizations - definitely a great souvenir!

We continued down the main street for some shopping, picking up some postcards, a pair of house slippers from the Miffy Port Town store, spent way too much time at a glass studio purchasing a no drip soy sauce bottle (that glass studio had like 3 storefronts each with multiple floors). We also checked out the Snoopy Store and picked up some snacks from Kitakaro who’s famous for their rolled cakes.

There was a dessert shop called Un délice that was a bit further away from the main street area that closes at 5PM, and we got there 10 mins before it closed to pick up their pudding and pudding daifuku (it was delicious and worth the run to catch before they close for the day).

We finished off the day at Otaru at the Music Box Museum that has a total of 3 floors and an overwhelming amount of music boxes, and waited for the steam clock to go off every 15 mins. Since we were closer to the other Otaru station, we made our way to the Uniqlo store (they have the summer sale going on!), and then to Minami Otaru station to head back to Sapporo for dinner.

Back in Sapporo it was an ordeal trying to get dinner. We dropped off our bags at the hotel and headed to Ramen Alley, and the first spot we waited to try, Haruka, had over an hour wait. We were too hungry to wait so we left the line for Shrimp Ramen ICCAC, known for their shrimp ramen. This turns out delicious (and no wait!) and is one of our top ramen spots on this trip. We then went to a bar nearby called es craft sapporo that has all the Hokkaido beers on a flight. I was fighting demons to stay awake with the beers and my favorites were the Sapporo and the Asahi Black, and the rest of the IPAs tasted a bit bitter for me. When we left the bar we got back in line for Haruka for dinner round 2 but the line still long and not wasn’t moving fast enough, and we again exited the line to go to the Mega Donki store nearby. After some browsing we got back in line for Haruka for the 3rd time and this time we finally made it. We pre-ordered the items on mobile while waiting in line and got the miso cheese ramen and the scallop one. The scallop ramen was clean and flavorful, while the cheese one wasn’t too overpowering. I can see why this spot has a long line all the time!

Day 7 - Lilac Festival, Pokemon Exhibit and Sapporo Beer Museum

Today was the first morning we got to sleep in a little. On this slow morning we tried the snacks we got yesterday - the pudding from Un delice as well as the melon jelly and rolled cake from Kitakaro. Since the weather forecast says it would rain in the afternoon, our first stop of the day was Odori Park for the Lilac Festival. We made our way across the park, first starting with the experience booths, then to the Spring stage and food stalls. The park was lively with lots of people, and we’re excited to be able to experience a little bit of the local Hokkaido festivities. We ordered the grilled wagyu, deep fried offal, and potato croquette from a food stall and watched the performances a bit.

The next section of the festival features more food and wine, with a whole wine tasting setup. There was a booth with a long line and we decided to join, and got grilled fish and the sweet soy glaze mochi. They give you pencils that have the items you ordered marked to keep track while you’re in line. Both items delicious and worth the wait.

We continued towards the east side of the park thinking there was more to see for the Lilac Festival but it turns out to be the Sapporo Ramen Show, an annual food fest featuring ramen shops from all over Hokkaido. The event goes on for 2 weeks and we happened to catch the last day of the first week. There were a lot of people in line in front of the different shops and since we were already there we decided give it a try. You purchase tickets from the ticketing and each ticket, at 1000 yen, can be used to redeem a bowl of ramen. We ended up trying the cuttlefish and squid based ramen since it looked interesting and had a relatively short line. What a random find and a great way to sample ramen!

After the Ramen Show headed towards the end of the park towards our next stop and stumbled upon the former courts of appeals. Admissions was free and we saw some art exhibits and the former court room. The staff was very nice and told us that this year is the 100th anniversary of the building, even giving us a mini tour of the court room.

The highlight of the day is the Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art for the Pokémon exhibit, “POKÉMON × KOGEI”. My boyfriend saw a poster earlier on the trip and got tickets for the afternoon, which ended up being perfect rainy day activity. The exhibit features the works of 20 contemporary Japanese artists, realizing kogei, or craft, on the theme of Pokémon in a wide variety of materials and techniques. The pieces are all very intricate, leveraging different materials and hardware but tying back to the universally recognizable Pokémon brand. I was never big on Pokémon and can probably only name a handful of them, but I thoroughly enjoy the exhibit. We spent a good 2 hours in the afternoon there, and then another 30 mins at the gift shop.

Rain was still coming down pretty hard after we were done at the exhibit so we decided to uber to our next destination, the Sapporo Beer Museum. We did the self guided tour which takes you through the history of the Sapporo brand, and at the end of the tour we rewarded ourselves with a beer flight. Our favorite was the black label, which is Sapporo’s best selling product since its release in 1977. We liked the balanced barley flavor and the crisp aftertaste.

Once we were done at the beer museum, we headed back near Sapporo Station to check out the Pokemon Center for the Alolan Vulpix, and exclusive Hokkaido Pokemon and the regional ice-type variant of Vulpix (I feel like my knowledge on Pokemon doubled this trip 😅). We also did some shopping in the shopping street area before we decided to try to get a late dinner at Garaku. This shop had a queue before it opened when we were at the fish market and we decided to try our luck at 8PM when they close at 8:30PM. Luckily there was no wait and we were able to get seated right away. We ordered the Garaku special soup curry and the grilled crab shell soup curry with cheese, along with a yuzu lassi. These two soup curries turned out to be our favorites on this trip so far! The house special comes with rice with cheese, and everything was just so flavorful. I contemplated buying the curry kit so I could make more at home, but decided against it because I have limited space in my suitcase. On our way back to the hotel we stumbled upon a set at the fish market and watched from across the street before taking our stroll back to the hotel.

Day 8 - Last breakfast in Hokkaido and side quests begins

It’s our last morning in Hokkaido and we have been thinking about those scallops from Gannen ever since. We wanted to try it one last time before we leave so we had our earliest morning call on the whole trip at 6:30AM, got ready and checked out of the hotel by 7:10AM, and made it in line for Gannen before 7:30AM. They open at 7:50AM and there were 4 guests ahead of us already. We were seated promptly at 7:50AM, ordered our kaisendon sets and we both got scallops as the mains this time. The scallops were more orange than I remembered and they were just as good as the last. The couple next to us had ordered a grilled fish and we decided to add it on for us as well. It turned out to the Okhotsk Atka Mackerel, which was the perfect balance of oily, rich, juicy and tender. We had such a great time at Gannen that I got a tengui towel as a souvenir.

We finished our meal by 8:45AM, stopped by the post office to drop off my postcard, and picked up our bags to catch the 9:30AM special rapid train to CTS Airport. The CTS Airport is like a full mall with lots of shops - we checked out the exclusive items at the Pokemon Center at the airport, and bought a little bit more Hokkaido snacks for our 12PM flight to HND.

Side quest: Tokyo for 2 days

We have 2 short days in Tokyo before the next part of the trip, and we’re all about Tokyo maxxing. It’s not our first time in Tokyo - my boyfriend visited in 2024 but my last time in Tokyo was 2012! Our stay is in Asakusa at Section L so after settling in at our hotel we walked to Ichinoya to try their wagyu beef ribs rare steak rice box. You can enjoy it 3 ways - first on its own, then mixed in with an egg yolk, and lastly with a beef broth. We came at an odd meal hour so there was no wait as well - perfect for our first meal in Tokyo!

We spent the rest of the afternoon in Asakusa, to Kaminarimon Gate, down Nakamise Shopping Street to Senso-ji. It was quite a departure from Hokkaido as it was very busy and crowded everywhere. We spent sunset hour walking around taking photos, before ending at Uniqlo to do our shopping. They have quite a bit of exclusive items and can do custom embroidery and printing. It’s also their spring sale so we did a bit of damage there.

Dinner was at Gyutan no Lemon, a yakiniku spot that specializes in beef tongue. We ordered the beef tongue sets - one was the premium Moto cut, which is the extra thick cuts of the rarest and most tender part of the beef tongue, and another was Atsugiri grill, which uses thickly slice beef tongue and marinate it overnight for the savory flavors. Both sets were delicious and we enjoyed our meal with a lemon soda.

Post dinner we did an evening stroll around a Donki (of course there’s a Donki nearby) and the shopping streets before heading back to our hotel and calling it a night.

Day 9 - Tokyo Maxxing

We have a late start today at 10:30AM since our first stop is ramen. Usagi Ramen is located in Shibuya and it opens at 11:30AM only for 3 hours on the weekdays. and it’s opened by the little brother of Nujabes. We were the 2nd group in line, and got seated right away when they opened. We ordered the special ramen which has truffle, and the spicy special ramen. The Nujabes music playing in the background adds to the vibe!

My boyfriend is getting a haircut in the area at 12:30PM so we walked around the area a bit before splitting up. I made my way to Shinjuku to a tea store to stock up on matcha, which turns out to be a whole journey as there are massive shortages. I ended up going to another Ippodo store to pick up more, but the stock was very limited as well. My next stop was some solo sightseeing at Meji Jingu since I don’t remember visiting the last time I was in Tokyo. I entered from the Torii Gate on the north side, going down a long forest walk. It was surprisingly serene given its location in the middle of the city, and that was intentionally built this way - over 234 varieties of trees were carefully picked to create this man-made forest back in 1920. Within the dense, sacred forest, you’re removed from the hustling and bustling of Harajuku. I made my way to the main shrine, Meoto Kusu (the sacred Husband and Wife Camphor Trees), toured the Inner Garden, and eventually to the consecrated sake barrels and wine barrels. The Inner Garden features small trails that take you through the Teahouse, the South Pond which is filled with water lilies, the Iris Garden (Irises had just started to bloom so I was a bit too early), and to Kiyomasa’s well which has spring water flowing through. The Inner Garden was a great mini tour within Meji Jingu!

I made another stop at Onibus Coffee in Naka-Meguro, which is popular for its location right by the train track. The coffee itself was alright - I think the main draw is the corner seat on the top floor that looks out to the Tokyo metro tracks as well as a cherry blossom tree in the small park next door (it must look gorgeous when the cherry blossoms are in bloom). That seat was of course occupied but you get the same view of the tracks by the stairs, and again at the metro station.

At around 4PM I met back up with my boyfriend and we made our way to Diver City to check out the Unicorn Gundam. A nice little walk from the metro stop takes us to the Gundam right outside the Diver City mall and we watched the light show at 5PM which runs every 30 mins. We visited the Gundam store and saw that they have the stamp challenge which requires you to walk around the whole Diver City and surrounding area to collect all the stamps to complete the image. It took us over 2 hours to cover all the grounds but the views of the river at sunset overlooking Rainbow Bridge and the beach was great.

I finished collecting more stamps while my boyfriend did some shopping, stumbled upon a footpath that was filled with hydrangeas, and finally met back up at the mall at GU and JINs to finish more shopping. We watched the Gundam show at 8PM, went deep into the park to look for the final stamp to complete our stamp card, and took the metro back to our hotel. We grabbed a quick meal nearby and a dessert from Family Mart to end our night.

Day 10 - Last Dash and Onigiri Lunch

It’s our last morning in Tokyo before we fly to Hong Kong for the last leg of our trip. The plan is to finish any last minute shopping in Asakusa, get an early lunch, and head to the airport. We packed up our bags and checked out of our stay Section L, took a scenic route to pick up more matcha for a friend from a shop nearby (thankfully they were open early enough and still had stock). I also stopped by 3coins to try to find the viral scrunchies with zipper pockets but they were sold out everywhere, and by Muji to pick up some pens and the viral Aseop dupe hand cream (I can confirm they do smell so good!)

We were looking for any onigiri spot for lunch and with a quick Google search my boyfriend found a local spot near our hotel called Mame Musubi Onigiri Shop. It’s tucked on a quiet street in the neighborhood, and just as we were entering, an older couple had just finished their onigiri shopping. We opted for dine in and each got the 2 piece onigiri set, which comes with 2 onigiris, 2 side dishes, a miso soup and a small dessert. It was a great homey meal and I was quite full!

We picked up our bags from the hotel, and made our trip to Narita airport. The train took quite a little longer but thankfully no transfers needed from our station. We checked in our bags (I was so proud to have gotten my check in luggage at exactly 20kg which was the max weight allowed - this took a lot of repacking). I must say Asian lounges are superior because the Kococo lounge fed us very well. The lounge is a game concept lounge with game consoles as tables. We samples a little bit of everything, desserts and beers and sakes and all, before we boarded our flight to Hong Kong.

Thank you Japan for treating us (and our stomaches) so well. I’m sure we’ll be back in no time.

Hokkaido. May 2026