A few snaps from the robata restaurant where we feasted on hokke, pork sirloin, green onion, and grilled potato.





[1-3. c. lynn]

I had to post about this amazing tempura (天ぷら) restaurant that was recommended to us on our first night in Sapporo. Ebi-ten serves up the most delicious tempura that I've had—just as amazing as the tempura that we once had in Kyoto at Ten-ichi (a high-end tempura restaurant that Clinton visited during a presidential trip to Japan).

At Ebi-ten, we enjoyed the Hokkaido tempura set meal, which included the most delicate squid tempura, as well as tempura kabocha (カボチャ) or winter melon, succulent hotate (ほたて) or scallop, potato, salmon, Hokkaido surf clam or hokkigai (ほっきがい), and shungiku (春菊) or garland chrysanthemum. We also had to order the kuruma ebi (くるまえび) or Japanese imperial prawn, which is served as a piece of tempura prawn accompanied by a tiny popcorn-sized tempura prawn head (atama, あたま). I firmly believe that I could eat these by the bowlful, which makes me wonder about how potentially delicious crickets and grasshoppers could be served in the tempura style. 

(Below: The ultimate onion ring: a tempura pearl onion)




[1-4. c. lynn]

This afternoon we decided to check out Otaru (小樽市), a neighboring city of Sapporo, known for their snow candle-lit path alongside a canal (yukiakarinomichi). The canal is draped in strands of globular glass lights and the path is adorned with snow structures that house little tea lights producing a magical winter wonderland effect.

I loved the little pressed flower ice votives and the warm glow from the candles buried in pockets of snow. What a romantic way to spend an evening just before Valentine's Day!





[1-4. c. lynn]

Hokkaido is famous for their hairy crab, king crab, and queen crab. We tried this delicacy from the Sea of Okhotsk in several preparations: vinegared crab (served cold with sweet vinegar), grilled crab legs, and finally in a delicious shabu-shabu preparation.

Shabu-shabu (しゃぶしゃぶ, ), meaning "swish-swish" in Japanese, is a hot pot preparation where you cook raw meat in a broth of water and sake. You also add vegetables to help build the broth like cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, and finally glass noodles. At the end of the meal, when all of the main protein is devoured, you can ask for zōsui (雑炊) or leftover rice/noodle, which are then added to the broth to soak up all of the remaining liquid.



[1. Bryan Chan, 2-3. c. lynn]

After the briefest introduction to Shanghai (where I think that I'd like to spend more time) we left China for Japan, settling in at a hotel in Sapporo (札幌市), on the northern island of Hokkaido (北海道) Japan.

One big bowl of Ippudo ramen (ラーメン) to warm our bellies later, we set out to photograph the enormous snow sculptures that have made the Sapporo Snow Festival or Sapporo Yuki-matsuri (さっぽろ雪まつり) a main attraction for both domestic and international tourists alike.

I loved the architecture of these two snow sculptures, first, the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests at the Temple of Heaven (rendered in snow at half-size) and second, the Kiunkaku of Hongwanji (rendered in snow at almost full-size).




I was also enamored with several of the smaller snow sculptures of favorite cartoon characters and their cute friends. Contrasted against the buildings, the rabbits look almost sinister, as if they plan to take over the city with their rabbit mischief.



[1-5. c. lynn]