Sapporo

Went to Sapporo not so much for sightseeing as socialising. Stayed with Jackie, in the apartment I stayed in when I was training.

Got the night bus from Sapporo, arriving at 6am. Made my way to the apartment on the subway. Jackie had made the futon up for me in my old room and after letting me in, we both crashed out immediately.

We set off late morning and had a walk round Sapporo, in and out of Department Stores. Downtown is packed with them. We also had a walk round the University grounds. We ate a late lunch in a Mexican style place located in the fairly vast network of underground arcades, incorporating around 150 boutiques and restaurants, with direct access to the subway stations and many of the department stores above. Jackie took me to an import food store where I got a few things but no hp sauce or Baxters cream of tomato soup :(

We went back to Jackie's apartment and got a bottle of wine. Had time for a quick chill out and a glass while Jackie customised a photo album for a wedding she had been invited to that weekend. We headed back out at 6pm, this time getting the subway straight to Susikino, the entertainment district. The first place was called Jersey bar - kinda of an English pub/Irish Bar mish mash. While in the toilets I saw a flyer for Primal Scream...they had been touring Japan, and played in Sapporo like a month before....aaahhh! Can't believe I missed the chance to see the Scream in Japan! The local baseball team (Nippon Ham Fighters) were playing for the championship and won, so the place was mobbed and a great atmosphere. We acquired a couple of Japanese guys and went to meet one of the other foreign teachers who was out with his Japanese friends. We went to a new bar run by a couple of Aussie guys with a Dutch chef. Most of the punters were foreign English teachers. By 11pm was pretty drunk..Jackie suggested making our escape and saying we were going to bed then going to one last bar...

We went to Rad brothers, a typical 'gaijin bar' for backpackers and teachers. We got talking to a couple of backpackers from Israel and France. jackie went home but I didn't want the night to end so stayed on with the guys and we went to a hiphop club. Was pretty empty...a handful of Japanese and Russian. Pretty random really but I had a great time and befriended a couple of Japanese girls. By the time we left it was gone 5am and getting light. I made my way back to the apartment and by the time I climbed over the balcony to get through the back door it was 6am. I had about 4 hours sleep before getting up to make my way back downtown for the 12pm bus.

The first part of the journey was pretty rough, and not too interesting, but after a bit of a doze felt not too bad. The route was pretty breathtaking. The road threads its way quite literally through the mountains, using a combination of stilts and tunnels which cut a line between, then straight through the centre of, the thickly forested peaks. Emerging from the mountain ranges, the landscape altered dramatically forming wide plains that looked more like America than Japan. This was agricultural land with tractors out gathering in the hay as the sun set....