November 17th was my birthday! This year, my birthday fell on a Sunday, so I initially had plans to hang out in Sapporo and claim all the birthday freebies. My friend’s birthday is a few days before, so we celebrated together at her family’s place and all weekend!
November 15th: After work, we arrived at her home around 7:30, and her grandma had already finished preparing the food. It was a huge feast! Most notably, a chirashi bowl…but with sweet fruits mixed in with savory elements over vinegar rice. Surprisingly, it actually tasted really good, and the flavors weirdly worked together. Afterward, we had a strawberry shortcake with both our names on it!
November 16th: Time to head to Sapporo, hang out at the fall Mono Village, and then meet up with my boyfriend for dinner! He came over from his Tokyo trip that had just ended :).
Before leaving my friend’s house, her grandma made me breakfast. Very sweet and kind, and it was also very yummy. The miso soup had a ton of clams, and she offered different sauces for my egg. The pickled squid thing reminded me of a side dish, but significantly less salty and with a bit of a sweet chili twist.
We drove over to Sapporo to drop off my friend’s sister at school for a couple hours, and then pick up my friend’s boyfriend. Originally, we planned to get lunch at this New York-style pizza place, but they seemed to be closed. We ended up driving around for a couple hours, until it was time to pick up her sister. Then we headed over to Sapporo Dome for the Mono Village, where small vendors were selling handmade wares. I thought this was a once a year event, but I guess it’s twice a year. Time to spend more money…
We stayed from around 1pm to 5pm when the event closed for the day. I ended up eating a bread from one of the bread vendors, a single takoyaki, and bought a small tea.
After we left the venue, we quickly checked into our hotel for the night (see end of the post!). I made a reservation for yakiniku, and we headed over for an all-you-can-eat dinner. This place also does single item orders, but we figured this was the better deal. It was 5000 yen for 90 minute all you can eat from a choice of 120 items.
Mikakuen is apparently a chain in the style of Kitami (a city in Hokkaido) yakiniku. The ordering is all done on a tablet (non-Japanese friendly), and the meats were nice quallity and came out quickly.
To finish off the day, I went to try out the hotel’s public bath. It’s not huge by any means, but it was a very nice bath with a very pristine area. There were many shampoos and conditioners to choose from, similar to an onsen hotel I’ve been previously. I’m not sure if it was just me (my friend agreed the morning after), but the bath was extremely hot. Probably good for people that like it hot, but it seemed hotter than the onsen at my Jozankei hotel.
November 17th:
After taking a bath in the morning, we chilled until our checkout at 11.
Sapporo Birthday Freebie 1: If you go to Rokkatei’s main store’s cafe, you can get a cake and drink set for free (with ID). However, there are some limits. No strawberry milk for the drink, and the cake (the menu is seasonal) was limited to the premium 25, and a souffle cheesecake off the menu. The cake comes with a candle, and a happy birthday white chocolate sign. There’s even the option to have them sing Happy Birthday for you.
Normally I would opt out out of embarassment, but my friend wanted to try it. They’ll even personalize it to you, asking for your first name. Moments later, our main waitress with a xylophone, another one, and a chef came out, lit the candle, and not only did they sing Happy Birthday, they harmonized. My friend opted for the thin apple pie because I was interested in it (it wasn’t included in the free cake, boo), and my boyfriend ordered the hot chocolate and signature Marusei ice cream sandwich.
Apparently it takes 2.5 hours to make this cake, and the seasonal flavor just happened to be pumpkin with red bean. It’s topped with whipped cream and a chocolate macaron and a coffee macaron. It was surprisingly good. I liked the added bean texture, and the pumpkin was subtle throughout the soft cake. The cream was really yummy, and the macarons were on the crispy side. The apple pie was more like hot thin slices of fresh apple were layered on top of a thin pie biscuit cookie. Yummy, but seemingly basic. The tea had a depth of flavor that was different than basic tea here. The cafe opensat 10:30, and I’d recommend preparing yourself for a line.
Sapporo Freebie 2: JR Tower Observatory 38. On the day of your birthday, you can go to the 38th floor observatory for free (with ID). It’s pretty high up, but comparatively to other towers (there’s a comparison wall), maybe not so much. There’s a cafe and a small gift shop as well.
Unfortunately, the weather decided it should rain on the day of my birthday, so the view wasn’t the best. It was still cool to see the far stretches of the city, and around the floor they have art pointing out mountains and other landmarks.
As a Chinese person, I need to eat noodles on my birthday to live a long life (or so says the superstition). The weather has been chilly lately, and is a great occasion for ramen! I chose a ramen place I’ve had in mind for a while now, a little bit northeast of Sapporo station. What attracted me to this place was the scallop paste they put on their tori paitan ramen!
The ramen was so good! The scallop paste indeed was very scallopy that I almost felt it probably was best not to eat it on its own. The soup isn’t as white as other tori paitans, but it was very soothing, like a warm bowl of slightly oily chicken soup. The bowl came with one breast chashu and one thigh, and I have to say, I liked the breast one better. The pieces of fried burdock root were a unique touch, and the noodles were bouncy and chewy.
Not particular to Sapporo, but Japan freebie: If you register on the Japanese Baskin Robbins app, you get a free regular single scoop throughout your birthday month. We made our way to the Baskin Robbins in Pole Town, and I opted for a cone over a cup. After sampling some of the current seasonal flavors, I went with the hojicha brulee.
The ice cream was very yummy! The hojicha is not strong, but pairs well with the creaminess of the custard ribbons. The sample I had didn’t have too much caramel which I liked, but the actual scoop contained more than I thought there would be. It was still good, just very sweet.
Sapporo Freebie 3: On the day of your birthday, you can ride the Norbesa ferris wheel once or twice for free. However, this does not include the karaoke car, which apparently exists. How it works, I wouldn’t know. Some of the cars were painted different colors, including a freaky one with red handprints that comes with a skeleton and a fake arm inside. One round takes 10 minutes apparently, and the ride is pretty slow and relaxing. The cars never stop moving, so watch out when getting on and off! Our seats were heated, which seems to be a winter exclusive thing.
Before we left central Sapporo, I wanted to get boba. Obviously if it’s going to be my birthday, there has to be boba, and we didn’t have time for boba the day prior. We headed back up North to The Alley, because I had a coupon for purchasing 5 drinks. Their old app used to have a birthday thing, but for some reason the new one has a birthday registration, but no reward. Boo. Read about my boba here!
Sapporo Freebie 4: On the day before, of, or after, you can go into the paid area of Shiroi Koibito Park for free. It also happens that from November to Christmas, the park has illuminations from 4pm for the festive holiday season (they were playing classic Christmas music too).
The lights were super pretty and there were a ton of spots to take photos! It seems like half the park is free, including the illumination area, a small food booth, and a souvenir shop indoors. Apparently, all of the activity areas are behind the paid ticket paywall, like the chocolate factory tour and other experiences. Unfortunately, most of these close around 5, and we arrived at the park at 5. I wasn’t able to use my birthday priviledge, and not sure when I’d go again…Why go to the park when you can get in for free?
Bonus Japan Birthday Freebie: If you go to any Pokemon Center during your birthday month, you can get a Pokemon Happy Birthday card, along with a Pokemon sticker to put on it. You can also bring your device with the latest Pokemon game (right now it’s Scarlet and Violet), and get a code for a free Pokemon in game. If you happen to live in Japan, if you order from the online Pokemon Store, your package will come in a Pikachu Happy Birthday Box, and both of the aforementioned items will come with it.
If you just happen to live in Sapporo, you get a bonus freebie: Sapporo residents can go up the TV Tower for free on their birthday and possibly receive a gift from the souvenir shop. I wouldn’t know, because I’m not a resident. Boo.
This time we stayed in Mitsui Garden Sapporo West. Like I mentioned, we specifically stayed here for the Pom Pom Purin collaboration room. Although this time we were in the Sweets room, the hotel also has another Pom Pom Purin room. In total there are these two in Sapporo, and 3 rooms in Tokyo. Along with an adorably cute room, you also receive some souvenirs for you to take home, including a sticker sheet, a hand towel, a plushie keychain, socks, a tote bag, a pin, and a water bottle. However, you can only stay in this room for one night. If you tell the hotel it’s your birthday the hotel will give you a small bear plushie and put Happy Birthday on the TV for you.
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