Category: Blog
Yoichi Diaries: Nikka Whisky Distillery
On Sunday April 14, my boyfriend and I went to visit the Nikka whisky distillery in Yoichi, where Nikka was founded. It’s one of the big hallmarks of Yoichi, just a bit away from Otaru, and probably one of the bigger tourist destinations in the area. My boyfriend is a whisky fan, so I wanted…
Shakotan Diaries: A Drive Around the Shakotan Peninsula
On April 6th, my former coworker / friend took me on a day-trip drive along the West coast along the Shakotan peninsula. It’s less “Shakotan” Diaries since we actually didn’t spend too much time in Shakotan itself (there really isn’t much else in Shakotan considering it’s a village with a dwindling population), and more “Shiribeshi”…
Japanese Work Culture: The Enkai
With the end of my second fiscal year working in Japan, I’ve just ended my second year of enkais, and luckily, for both of my schools. What’s an Enkai? Glad you asked. In a Japanese work setting or even a restaurant setting, you might hear the word Enkai thrown around. An Enkai is basically a…
How to Survive Winter in Japan
Tokyo might not be as bad, but it does snow in most parts of the country in winter. Winter preparations are especially important for me, living in Hokkaido, though I actually heard Aomori is the snowiest city in the world. With March coming around, spring is finally approaching, which also means winter is finally ending…
Sapporo Diaries: Kirby Hunting Continued
On March 2nd I went out to Sapporo (yes, two weeks in a row) to do some more seasonal eating, Kirby shopping for my sister, and hopefully some more Starbucks hunting. Part of the inital plan was to try to get one of the Round 2 Kirby Happy Meals, but 1. my sister wanted all…
Sapporo Diaries: Kirby and Starbucks Hunting
Happy birthday to the emperor! Febraruary 23rd was a holiday for the aforementioned reason, so I decided to go out to Sapporo for various reasons. Taking my normal bus in the morning, my first stop after arriving was heading to the Starbucks at Parco to grab the newest seasonal frappucino and also to do some…
Otaru Diaries: The 27th Snow Light Path
We went straight from Sapporo station to Otaru Chikko station by JR Train, because that station directly connects to Wing Bay, Otaru’s ball that had all the main event festivities for Snow Miku. Since we were arriving a bit after noon, we wanted to grab some food for lunch before heading to the main Snow…
Sapporo Diaries: The 74th Sapporo Snow Festival
This year the famous Sapporo Snow Festival was held from February 3rd-11th, and my boyfriend and I chose the second weekend to stay the weekend and hang out and check out the festivities. We decided pretty early on (learning from our lesson last year) that we wanted to stay the weekend to see the sights,…
Sapporo Diaries: A Chill-y Weekend
On the weekend of January 20th, I stayed the weekend in Sapporo, mostly because my boyfriend suggested it in case we had a long bus ride again, and to make our limited time in Sapporo worth it. I just wanted to go out that weekend to hang out after not going out after two weeks.…
Sapporo Diaries: Oden and Seasonal Drinks
For various reasons, I stayed the night in Sapporo from December 1st to the 2nd. This was my last forseeable time I would be in Sapporo before leaving to go home for the holidays, so I thought I’d make the most of it while I was there. December 1st: I got on the soonest bus…