Ice Sculptures and Meli's Hokkaido Host Family: Hokkaido Chronicles part 2

Here are some pictures of an ice village that Meli's host family took us too. The ice was made from water from the nearby lake!

An ice shrine

An ice cave. Those are actually pine boughs that have been frozen over with icicles! It smelled really good =)

Ice Sculptures from the Yuki Matsuri:

T-Rex

Gundam

Yes those are real fish!

Snow slides

In addition to all the beautiful ice sculptures, we got to experience the wonders of Hokkaido food! Tsukiyaki - a kind of dish where you cook everything right then and there in the pan in front of you (meat, veggies etc) and then dip it into raw egg! It's actually really good!! Sushi, yaki torii, these HUGE salmon rice balls...Meli's family was super nice and they also took us to an onsen, where there was a rotenburo - an outdoor hot spring. It was amazing to soak in the hot water while snow was falling on top of us and all around us was a snowy landscape...We ended up staying in there for almost 3 hrs (not just in the rotenburo, but also hopping in and out of other baths and then finally the sauna). We totally didn't realize that much time had passed...apparently you're only supposed to stay in for 2 hrs max!! oops!

Meli and her host family!

White Lovers and a Winter Wonderland: Hokkaido Chronicles Part 1

久しぶりですね (It's been a long time).

Sapporo Tower

I now can say that I've experienced Japan from top to bottom - from the glorious beaches of Okinawa to the snowy mountains of Hokkaido. This past week, Meli, Max, Adam and I traveled to Hokkaido, the northernmost part of Japan and spent two nights in Sapporo and two nights in Muroran with Meli's old host family. It was amazing. Everything from the food, to the VIP penthouse suite at our Sapporo hotel, to the widespread use of central heating was spectacular...and of course, I can't forget the main attraction: the Sapporo Yuki Matsuri (snow festival)!

Our Journey Begins...

...with a medical check up?!

Since when did airlines start handing out stethoscopes instead of headphones??

On Monday afternoon, we arrived in Sapporo, Hokkaido's main city and set up camp in the VIP suite of Clark Hotel, thanks to Max and his magical google fingers. I don't know how he did it, but he got us the penthouse for a price cheaper than regular hotel rooms! It had a balcony from which we could the whole city and the snow-covered mountains that surrounded us on all sides. The best part, though, was that it had a jacuzzi and the heater made everything nice and toasty!! In Kyoto, there's no central heating and so even though it's not as cold as Hokkaido, it always feels like you're walking around in an ice box when you're in the house (sometimes I get so cold, that at night I curl up on the floor next to the portable heater in my room and fall asleep...which actually doesn't sound like such a bad idea just about now...).

Our amazing suite

After settling in, we made our way over to the Shiroi Koibito (literally "White Lover") chocolate factory. Shiroi Koibito are these cookies that have white chocolate on the inside, and which according to my host dad aren't as good as they're made out to be. After having a sample, I guess I agree with him though. I mean, they're as tasty as cookies+chocolate can be, but not so amazing that I can understand why they are the famous food of Hokkaido which everyone has to buy when they go...

Where's the Wonka Glass Elevator???

Anyway, I was super excited to go to this chocolate factory and to eat a lot of chocolate samples, because that IS what you thinking of doing when you go to a "chocolate factory" right?? Wrong.
No chocolate samples except for one shiroi koibito cookie in the beginning and chocolate fondue (which we bought because it wasn't included) at the restaurant inside. Oh well. Even if it wasn't the Willy Wonka extravaganza that I was hoping for, we did get to see a bunch of fancy little chocolate cups from around the world. HaHa. I do have to say this place did an excellent job of getting people to buy their chocolate and food at the restaurant. I mean, after going through a chocolate cave where the walls look like melting chocolate and somewhere a scent machine is pumping the air full of chocolate-y fragrance, it's no wonder that you get a little (okay a BIG) craving for chocolate, right???

Yummmm....Delish

Also, I think the Shiroi Koibito Chocolate Factory should stop masquerading as a chocolate factory and admit that it's actually Santa's workshop. It was kind of funny, there we were in Hokkaido, Japan at a chocolate factory that looks for all the world like a Swedish village (at least, that's how I imagine a Swedish village would look like) with a snow-covered, light strewn park in the middle, complete with tiny elf cottages and a giant Christmas tree. It was adorable.

Christmas Again!!

Santa's Elves

After getting our fill of chocolate artifacts and random facts and garden gnomes that shouted at us in different languages when we got too close, the park workers started to lock up the elf-cottages and we took it as our cue that it was time to leave, so we left headed out for the real fun: the snow sculptures at Odori Park.

Mickey and Mini Mouse!
Yes, that's snow!
Look at that detailing!
The Korean Imperial Palace

As you can probably tell from the pictures, the snow sculptures were pretty crazy. And that pretty much sums up day 1.

So that I don't fall asleep on the floor next to the heater again, I think this is where I'll wrap up for now. More to come later about the ice parade, food, hot springs, food, and Meli's host family (and food)!