Sapporo Dome and Trying to Stay Awake

It was a very busy day on Monday.  Today was one of the first days where we were able to get up and actually feel good.  We're still a bit under the weather from jet lag but it is slowly fading.

We had breakfast this morning at one of the many Doutour Coffee Shops spread throughout the city.  It was expensive for coffee and toast but the coffee was quite good -- Randy and Kevin -- you guys would have appreciated the coffee here (strong, just as you like it)!  Outside of the coffee shop was one of the craziest "choppers" that I have ever seen.   I did not expect to see something like this in Sapporo.  I can't imagine how the owner of this bike even drives it.

From the coffee shop we walked over to one of the historical symbols of Hokkaido -- the clock tower in the old Sapporo Agricultural College building.   This building and the clock works inside it have been in operation since 1876.  The building is all that is left of the original college (which eventually evolved into Hokkaido University).  We went on a tour of the building and received an explanation of how the clock works.  It was very interesting.  This building and the students that were educated here played a large role in the development of Hokkaido at the time.  This most northern island of Japan was not developed until the late 1800's and the techniques in agriculture, etc. that were learned here helped in the settlement and development of the island.   There is definite evidence of European and American influence in the building -- at the time of the Meiji Restoration (ie. the end of samurai feudalism in Japan in the late 1800's), Japan's new leaders looked to Europe and the U.S. for inspiration and knowledge.  Japan's society went through tremendous change almost over night at this time and the exhibits in this building helped to explain some of that.  What was interesting to note was that Sapporo was a city of about 3000 people when this building was originally constructed.  Now it is the fifth-largest city of Japan with around 2 million people! 

After leaving the clock tower, we came across a bakery with the most expensive cakes and ice-cream creations we have ever seen.  There was one behemoth sundae there that cost over 10,500 Yen (around $105)!   This thing must feed about 10 people -- I can't imagine the gut ache one would have trying to eat it alone!  

From here we went back to Odori Park and bought corn from a street vendor.  Hokkaido is an agricultural region that is known for great corn.   The corn on the cob that we bought was certainly evidence of this -- sweet and succulent.  A really enjoyable snack to eat while sitting in the park.  By the way, corn and soy sauce go together really well -- I would never have tried this back at home.

If you have never heard of Japanese professional baseball or been to a J-League game, let it be known that Japanese baseball is of VERY HIGH calibre.  While not quite as good as the Americans, Japanese baseball players are very talented.  Sapporo has a team called the Nippon-Ham Fighters who last year won the J-League championship.   They play at a fairly new facility called the Sapporo Dome.  I thought that it would be a great idea to go out to the stadium and take a tour.  We grabbed a subway train out to the suburbs and went to see the dome. We were not disappointed when we arrived -- this baseball and soccer facility was constructed back in 2001 for the Fighters and in time for the 2002 World Cup which was played in Japan and Korea.  It is an unbelievable sports facility.  The soccer field is made of natural turf -- the field sits outside for most of the time but can be brought into the stadium on wheels when needed.   The one end of the stadium opens up, hundreds of seats are moved around, the field slides in, and the stadium is converted from baseball to soccer in about 12 hours.  We saw a video of this procedure in fast-motion -- it is truly amazing.  The technology used in this stadium is very much state of the art for sports venues.  I have never seen anything like it.

We got to go out on to the baseball field -- something that neither of us has ever done.   It is quite intimidating down there.  I can't imagine what it would be like with a full house of 40,000 people!   We sat in the dugout and got to go on a tour of the bullpen and the locker rooms.  Even these facilities were state of the art.   There were quite a few kids on the tour and they loved it -- especially going down to the bullpen and being allowed to throw a few balls.  There were a few little boys there that had even come to the stadium with their baseball gloves -- they were ready to learn how to play in the big leagues. 

The last part of the stadium tour took us up two of the longest escalators that I have ever seen -- they must have been 100 yards long from bottom to top -- to the stadium observation tower.   There were great views of both the baseball field and the city of Sapporo and the surrounding mountains.  It is very high up though and I am scared of heights!  I really was feeling "vertigo" while I was up there.  Great views but I was really glad to get back down on the ground. 

We made our way back to Susikino from the stadium and went for a late lunch to a ramen noodle restaurant.  Hokkaido is well-known for its ramen -- some of the best in the world.   Normally, I'm quite satisfied with dried Sapporo-Ichiban noodles at home but I will say that the soup that we had today was 1000 times superior -- no comparison.  This took soup to a new level.  The two old folks who ran the place were also very nice.  This was a great meal. 

We returned back to our hotel room for a quick break and then decided to head out to the tramway outside of the city to go to the top of a mountain close by to see the great sights of Sapporo.  Unfortunately, we never woke up from our nap until late into the evening!  The jet lag still has a hold of us.  We woke up right around 6:30 Saskatchewan time -- the same time that we usually get up every morning to go to work!  Very disappointing.  Hopefully we'll be over this jet lag tomorrow!