Last night I'd planned out the day, and this morning I dashed out of the hotel and down the street to the bus stop only to have the driver shut the door and drive off when I was close enough to look him in the eye! (Other bus and tram drivers all day today have been picking up everyone, so I won't let this first one spoil my impression of the whole bunch, at least.)
I suddenly had an extra 45 minutes on my hands until the next bus was scheduled, so I walked back to the lot next to my hotel to see Hakodate's famous Asaichi morning market, offering all kinds of sea food as well as fresh produce.
It's a big tourist attraction, which is kind of funny because overseas tourists can't leave the country with anything fresh or frozen, but I guess most people were there to eat prepared foods.
 |
| Haggling over large crabs |
 |
| The packaged food section. At the market you could get sashimi or have your seafood steamed or grilled, but if you wanted to take it home you could also buy it dried, frozen, canned, or otherwise preserved. |
I turned down a few offers for barbecued squid (!) and eventually made my way back to the bus stop. My first destination was the local botanical garden which also has Japanese macaques bathing in hot springs. Truthfully, it wasn't quite as nice as my January trip to Jigokudani-yaenkoen in Nagano, but I got a few laughs out of these monkeys anyways.
The ticket window also sells monkey biscuits that visitors can throw into their enclosure, and those monkeys have learned to put on a show when they're hungry. One of them clapped his hands to get attention, and another spun around in circles. Although I prefer to save my money for fish food, it was fun to watch other people toss them treats.
The greenhouse was a bit small, but I admired their collection of cacti and some of the other exotic plants. There was also a lovely view of the sea out behind the building.
 |
| This cactus wins the prize for "most unfortunate name". |
 |
| Hibiscus |
 |
| Looking out at the Tsugaru Straight, behind the greenhouse |
Next, I headed to another part of town to see the former Goryōkaku fort, a star-shaped 19th-century fortress. I'll admit that I don't know much about the history of this city, but the museum inside the tower overlooking the fort has an interesting overview of the site's past, along with miniature models of important events.
 |
| Another view of the Straight as well as western Hakodate from the observation tower |
Lunch was next on the agenda. Ramen is a must-eat when visiting Hokkaido--especially Hakodate's shio (salt) ramen--but the eatery where I stopped also had spicy curry ramen and I went for that instead.
I followed up the ramen with some pear-flavored annin-dofu (a white, jellied dessert), and then had to walk off some of those calories!
I went to the nearby Hakodate Museum of Art, where my buss pass got me a discount on admission to a *fantastic* Hideki Seto retrospective. He's a local artist I'd never heard of--unfortunately I can't even find much about him online either--but his art was amazing! Huge canvases of near-mural-size proportions. Lots of coastal-themed semi-Surrealist paintings, super-saturated color schemes, and mesmerizing details, right down to the grain of wood on the panel of a door or painstakingly painted stalks of rice. (Here's an article in Japanese...) I wanted to buy postcards of so many of the paintings I saw, but they only had printed postcards of one of his pictures available in the gift shop.
The next destination on my list is best seen after dark, so I took a late-afternoon break in my hotel room before going out again. A little before 5pm, I headed up the slope and over to the ropeway entrance at the base of Mt. Hakodate.
 |
| The narrowest point of the peninsula--with all the bright lights--is the city center. It would take about 15 minutes to walk from one side to the other. |
The view from the top of the mountain is one of the best in the country, and I've even heard that some consider it to be among the best in the world. Luckily I went on a clear night, which made for some beautiful photos.
I also timed my visit to coincide with the nightly 6pm fireworks for the tree lighting...and I think they turned out pretty well:
 |
| The tree itself (from yesterday's post) is that spot of bright, white light along the waterfront, to the right of the fireworks. |
With frozen fingers, I made my way back down the ropeway. Stopped near the Christmas tree to pick up a hot soy latte and a sandwich before returning to my room.
 |
| The tree is lit with LED lights that change from green to red to blue to white... |
Now, to plan for tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for me: I'm hoping tomorrow's forecast of showers is wrong!
No comments:
Post a Comment