Day 2:

We woke up to the sight of the falling snow at about 7am and about 8am plus, we checked out of the hotel and began our day.

We first went to 三角市场 which was just opposite the hotel to visit the seafood market which displayed a vast variety of fresh seafood. Then, we went into one of the outlet for breakfast and Emma was overjoyed as she indulged in her craving for a mix of fresh uni, fish roe, kani and salmon, while I had rice and salmon. That satisfaction made her day.

Then, we walked along the Sakaimachihondori street and it seemed different in the day, as it was from the night. There were many shops that were open. Though Otaru was famous for its glass products, both of us didn't spend too much time in those shops. Kitachi, amongst many others, was one of the more famous ones and even in there, it didn't take long for us to completely look at the products on display. Kitachi has glass blowing activity too but sensing that it wouldn't pique our interest anyway, we moved on.

The patisserie, cheese cake and chocolate shops seemed more interesting to us. I had my first cup of coffee (free of charge) at 六花亭 after we bought a piece of cream puff and biscuit to eat. A few shops down the road was LeTao which was famous for its cheesecake. We didn't try its cheesecake but had their hot chocolate, freshly concocted by the staff.

Then, as we walked back, we saw 可否茶馆 which was recommended in the book which Emma bought. And I had my second cup of coffee - Otaru classic blended coffee. The taste was certainly better than the first cup which I had. More flavorful and satisfying.

Next, we walked towards the Otaru Canal and took some pictures of it by the day. Then, we went to Otaru Beer Museum where I had my taste of Otaru beer. I couldn't imagine how my tummy would function with a mix of coffee, hot chocolate and beer, all consumed within an hour or so. But this is holiday and so, no holds barred.

It was about lunch time. We went to 小樽运河食堂 where we had ramen. It was yummy. After lunch, we walked to the Bank of Japan Otaru Museum for a visit. Its architecture was beautiful and one of the thing we saw was ¥100 million stack of notes that weighed about 10kg. These notes were locked in a glass container but it had two holes (one on the left and the other on the right) that were drilled from the top of the container. I inserted my hands into the hole to lift up the notes, just to have a taste of how heavy it felt.

We walked back to the hotel and collected out luggages and proceeded to our next destination - Sapporo. It was 340pm and the train ride took around half an hour or so. We arrived at Sapporo and checked into the hotel - Hotel Keihan. We were so tired that we actually slept for about one and half hour. It was 630pm when we woke up.

It was already dark. In fact, it was dark since 430pm plus. We made our way to Odori Park to catch the Sapporo White Illumination. It was awesome. Lights of many colours decorated the trees and other man-made construction of Christmas trees and flowers of sorts that were done piecemeal, lit up the park beautifully. Also, there was a German market festival within the park. We grabbed a bite there but as we were out in the open, the food turned cold very quickly and we literally finished up the food in a jiffy. We really enjoyed ourselves at Odori Park, admiring the decorations and clicking away to capture the Christmas mood that was displayed here at the park in such great brilliance.

Next, it was dinner time. We walked around and settled our dinner in one of the seafood restaurant. Undoubtedly, the food was delicious, and the atmosphere was so authentic to the Japanese culture, and I had my first taste of grilled crab, along with wagyu beef, croquette with sea urchin and chicken karaage. What a perfect way to end the night.

It was 1030pm plus when we returned to the hotel. We did a bit of planning for the next two days. After that, we turned in.