The Frozen North, part 3

Day three saw the group divided. Ben and Angela were intent on skiing that day, and so they departed early for the ski resort near Otaru (which I think is famous for something) and the rest of us headed for the aquarium. After discovering a few kilometers down the road that it was NOT in walking distance, we bused down the remainder and arrived.

It's been a long time since I've been to an aquarium, so I may be overreacting to what is pretty standard fare, but wow is Otaru Aquarium awesome!



Highlights (and I'm only doing highlights 'cos we're, again, a bit pressed for time) included an Edinburgh Zoo-style penguin walk, dolphins, noisy otters and Doctor Fish in a tank that you could put your hand in. One of the strangest sensations you can experience, having tiny fish eat the dirt and dead skin cells off your hand, and it was hilarious!



We moved swiftly on at around 2.30 to Sapporo, leaving Sara and Harry to sort some stuff out back in Otaru, where we waltzed over to Freshness Burger for lunch. Those meticulously earnt respect points quickly drifted away on the breeze when it became apparent that they were out of tofu, but I thought the fish burger* was amazing as well. From there we took a roundabout route back the way we came to a huge BookOff just south of the Sapporo Tower, and spent a long time there browing through manga and cheap CDs. Spend 200 yen on 2 manga to keep me busy during the boat trip home: one Shin Megami Tensei manga starring a guy with a nose you could skewer cocktail sausages on and hair that belonged on one of those long-haired rabbits, and also a Persona manga following some of the events of Persona 2 but with different characters. First impressions make them look pretty good, we'll just have to wait and see.

At around 7 we moved on to the shopping area next to the station, and one of my prime visit targets: the Sapporo Pokemon Center. According to Ben that place had changed location about five times in the last few years, but I thought this place was a really nice location. The layout and decorations were all top-notch, and it was right opposite and arcade which was a stroke of genius. Just as planned, I got myself something to celebrate the trip: the first four Pokemon movies... on DS! Like, a little DS video player with the 4 movies on a mini-SD card! The sound quality is top-notch, and though the video quality isn't perfect it still does a stellar job. And now I can finally watch the Japanese versions of the films, and some of the best at that. On testing it out on the opening sequence of the first film, it is clear that 4Kids made some pretty massive changes to the plot. They neglected to mention, for example, that the scientist in charge of the Mewtwo Project was actually using it as a test to see if he could resurrect his dead daughter. Pretty incredible stuff for a kids' movie.


Anyway, dinner at Capricosa, Starbucks, and then the train home just before midnight, where we spent a few hours in the room watching the winter olympics.Then sleep.

Today's plan is to defeat the Champion (that guy and his Dragons... so annoying!!) and just take it easy. Plan is to go drinking tonight, provided we can find somewhere in sleepy Otaru. Really hungry right now, though, so that takes first priority. I'm also pretty annoyed, as the internet appears to not exist anymore, and the computer is insistant that it never existed at all. This little guy is great, but wow can it be a pain when it comes to the internet. I think there's some program on here slowing the poor guy down, need to find what. So for now I am typing the rest up on WordPad and will copy/paste it back on at a later time.

Shall write more later.

Thanks for reading.

*I am well aware of the irony of enjoying a fish burger right after visiting an aquarium.