The Japanese Adventure - Day 58-59, Hakodate-Sapporo

OK, just about calmed down from Shizuoka now. XD And there is much to report on! The day before yesterday we made the 6 hour journey from Tokyo to Hakodate, right at the bottom of Hokkaido. Hakodate is a sleepy little place, but has an interesting museum about the Ainu people, and it's also notable for its European influences - there's the old British Consulate, which now has a sweet little British-style tearoom and shop where they sell scones and rose oil and, um, golf equipment and the like. We pottered around the town a bit, and went to see the place where Hijikata Toshizou had his little republic for 6 months before they came from the mainland and crushed him when it stopped being so cold (NB: historical accuracy not included).

Then today we came to Sapporo! We got here about 3, having made a successful phone reservation (the lady spoke so slowly and claearly and was so nice, it was wonderful!). We wanted to look at the Botanical gardens and museum, but of course, it's Monday, so they were both distinctly closed (curse you, Monday!!!). But never mind, cos we shopped instead! :D It's beautiful weather up here - sunny but not too hot, and not humid at all - and the beer festival is out in force. XD Thing was, it all looked a bit complicated, not to mention full of tipsy Japanese people, the scariest of which would no doubt have approached us, so we ended up buying beer at the combini instead. *cough* But Sapporo is an awesome city! Seems nice and compact, but there's, like, a million department stores, a Mandarake, an Animate (somewhere...) and a nic clean atmosphere about the place, so we kept ourselves well entertained!

Ahh, it feels good to have shopped~! I bought a hat, finally! It's black, strawlike but Trilby-shaped in nature, with a black band with white skulls on it. It was half price! Probably cost me about £5. (I'm totally wearing it to one of the Dome dates, with my skull-print shirt. :D) I also got a wonderful surprise when this provincial Mandarake had a big stash of K8 doujinshi!! Including the first Subaru/Yasu dj I've ever seen!! I had to buy it, and luckily it's so tooth-rottingly cute I consider it one of the best Y210 purchases I've ever made! I also got a little Ryo/Subaru one, and a gag okan one too. XD There were more too! I was so thrilled! I should've bought the YOhkura one too... Makes up for the K8 playing cards I saw the other day that I didn't buy cos I thought it was too silly. >.<;;; Regretted it immediately, and have since checked every branch I've seen of Gyokodo (I think it's called that!), but to no avail. ;_; Also bought volume 3 of Gaiden as well. *_* So unbelievably pretty.

I've had an interesting fannish few days, actually! For anyone who cares about pop Japanese culture, if you want to know (that'll be, um, you, then, whited_79!), Katori Shingo has to be the most exposed entertainer in Japan atm. The new Saiyuki movie came out the other day (we think we're going to go see it - will try on Wednesday! ;), and he's been on *so* much TV lately, including Fuji TV's 27hour TV over the weekend. I went to sleep on Saturday and he was on TV... Woke up on Sunday and he was still on TV... Went out, came back and he was *still* on TV... (I kept thinking of you, aicha! ;D) Bless him, he seems like such a good sport, he was still so smiley and working so hard, even at the end. And on SMAPxSMAP he and Goro kissed. Well, it caught *my* attention anyway! XD (I've since seen the clip repeated in slow motion twice, at the end of 27hour TV and on tonight's SMAPxSMAP. XD Ahh, Johnny's, it's the same all the way up the ranks! Why did I take so long to get into JE again?!)

After that and Tetsuwan Dash, though, there was nothing else on cos of the election. :/ Damn, I really want to catch Shige's drama at least once before I go home! And Yamaguchi's too! And I'm a couple of eps behind on Yamada Tarou, too... I'll get that one subbed when I get home. ^_~

Oh, and by the way, my computer's wireless spontaneously stopped working. *rolls eyes* If I'd been by myself I would've thrown an absolute fit, but somehow, having Liz here kept me calm. XD Plus, we have a cable here. ^_~ My mp3 player, on the other hand, I'm not so calm about. It also stopped working - the battery ran out a few days ago, and, while it works when it's plugged into my laptop, it always starts by saying "Rebuilding music library" then won't switch on when I disconnect it. And there's no way to get the battery out that doesn't involve a screwdriver. o.O I've even tried pressing the tiny reset button (with one of Liz's earrings!) but still nothing. I've only had it 6 months too! Wonder if it's guaranteed? And, even if it is, will I still have the necessary documents... *sigh*

Oh well, it's sunny and pleasant and there's less than a week till I see K8 again, so I can get by! ;D