Slow Life Hokkaido VII: Shopping at Sapporo

Sapporo was just a short drive from Otaru, under an hour. Like most of the cities in Japan, very block-ish in design, hence contains a barrage of traffic lights and cross-junctions. Parked our car at one of many public parking spots (the one we parked at had a clamp at the bottom that only released after paying the bill) and went on foot. Spent most of our time there shopping really. So many drug stores with Chinese-speaking staff. However, with the Payke app, you can get most English product information just by scanning the barcode. In addition to drug stores, we also went treasure hunting at Donki (amazing selection of sex toys), Daiso, Book-off, etc.



We had our lunch at Ginza Lion beer hall. Great place for Western food. At around 3:00 PM, we left Sapporo for Chitose. Dropped mum and Sis off at the AirBnB, while Bro and I went to pump petrol and return the rental. FYI, some petrol stations in Japan have the service and self-service pumps. Unknowingly, I stopped at the self-service section and wondering why nobody came up to me. Haha. And it's actually cheaper per litre if you can figure out the instructions by yourself.





The process to return the car was quite painless and quick. Once done, they shuttled us back to New Chitose Airport. Spent quite a long time there trying to secure a taxi booking for the next morning. The two customer service representatives at the information counter tried very hard to get things right for us. Spent the whole time miming the size of our luggage. In the end, they booked two taxis for us because there were worried that we couldn't fit everything into one cab.



Our dinner was just a short walk away. A self-service ramen shop called Yamakoya with booths and a manga shelf. I struggled at the kiosk although they had an English option. Managed to screw it up and ordered one less bowl. Very thick broth, not really to my liking. And the noodles were yellow and thick, also not to my liking. Good thing I screwed up.







Ideally, one should should stay the last night at the airport hotel due to super early flight time. Unfortunately, we were unable to secure a booking and ended up at the AirBnB. The description for the AirBnB listing turned out to be a little misleading. Bro and I had to sleep on the couch, but luckily it had adequate padding. Early the next morning, we hopped onto the cab and got to the airport..... For more shopping! The airport is really the perfect place to get snacks and chocolates. No point lugging Royce and frozen cheesecake around your whole trip with risk of it melting or spoiling. Surely buy it right before you board. That marks the end of our Hokkaido trip!