Today we, almost all the student in university visited Hakodate.
Our buses stopped near Goryokaku Park. Goryokaku Park is one of the newest castle that was built in Edo period, so there are traditional but Westernized Japanese scenery. Their autumn leaves were quite beautiful, so we, ten boys in my cluster walked there for a while.
Some of them wanted to visit the Goryokaku Tower — modern giant tower opened in April 2006, and others didn't. Personally I a little bit disappointed this tower since it breaks their beautiful scenery. Others and I left there by streetcar.
It was about 11 o'clock, but we were getting hungry. So we went to Asaichi (Morning Market) near Hakodate Station, and sought a seafood restaurant. Some friends chose noodles restaurant, and we three chose kaisendon, a bowl of seafood and rice restaurant. Their bowl was about 20cm (8'') across while it was about 2,300 JPY (20 USD,) so first we thought this restaurant was something fraud. But it was VERY TASTY. We really enjoyed our lunch very much.
WHALE MEAT! Hakodate is one of the famous Japanese place for foreigners, so I really surprised that whale meat was sold as usual! Some people, especially German, criticize eating whale. They insist that eating whale can cause the extinction of whales, though it was scientifically proved that the number of whales are increasing too much, and as a result whales eat too many fish. That's why Japanese people describe them as uneducated, and ignore their criticism. I don't know eating whale is good or bad, but at least complainers should be rational and insult it scientifically.
So I'd like to eat whale meat. But it was expensive, and all of them were fresh and raw, therefore I couldn't eat whale meat.
RECOMMENDATION: WHALE — Japanese Food Culture
- Sliced Bacon Whale: 3,500 JPY / 150g (30 USD / 5.3 oz.)
- Frozen Minke Whale: 350 JPY / 100g (3 USD / 3½ oz.)
- Salted Whale: 580 JPY / 100g (5 USD / 3½ oz.)
Finally all the students gathered at the bus terminal at 4:30 PM, and went to the top of the mountain to see the night scenery of Hakodate. Hakodate is very famous for their night scenery and our main purpose of visiting Hakodate is viewing it. We were waiting for getting dark. The night scenery was exactly beautiful. Some friends took their digital camera for me to take night scenery, as they believed I was good at taking a picture.
Anyway the thing most incredible is, its cost! University took us to Hakodate in only 1,500 JPY (13 USD) including several pack of snacks, four bottle of juice, and two cup noodles for dinner!
What a great combination of toppings on the Donburi! Salon Eggs, Sea Urchin and Crab! How was the taste? Is that famous for Hakodate?
Posted by: Hatopoppo | October 31, 2006 at 08:15 AM
Your night picture of Otaru is excellent as are you photos of your dinners. Your pictures remind me of my visit to Hakodate in 2004. Facinating history and I have a friend who lives in Alexandria, VA, who is the great-great-great grand daughter of the first governor of Hokkaido. His statue is in the Sapporo city hall. Best Regards, Tom, from Hatopoppo connection.
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