JAPANEXILE

So it turns out the previous post was actually the penultimate post of year, however if I think about it as this final post will actually concern the early hours of the 1^st also I didn�t lie entirely. As previously mentioned It was decided to spend New Year in true British fashion (partying and blind drunk) socialising with friends enjoying a festive drink. Consequently we were up bright and early to catch the bus to Sapporo around midday. I don�t remember the exact order of events on the day. We did some obligatory sightseeing, something I have been intending to do for a while just have never got around to it. We rode the Ferris wheel on top of Norbesa, giving a nice view of the cityscape as you�d expect of a Ferris wheel on top of the building. Something that characterized much of our time in Sapporo, and was very much true for the Ferris wheel ride, was how incredibly quiet the place was. Empty streets, tumble weeds blowing down the highway, and just the general feel of cold emptiness. Not its normal bustling self, which Mike and Ben in their Tokyo arrogance would not believe. After the Ferris wheel we went to see the famous Sapporo clock tower, which is SO much smaller than I thought. Literally just a clock on top of a small wooden house. In my opinion a curious thing to choose as your city�s icon, there are far more impressive places. Its unique at least I suppose, and I won�t forget it plainly due to the shock I received when first seeing. I didn�t even believe we were at the right place until the sign informed me as such.

The search for food�is the subtitle I will give the next paragraph. You�d think it�d be easy but not on New Year�s Eve. My big plan had been to go to the Sapporo Beer Factory and enjoy all you can eat lamb and beer at the Genghis Khan. This was very irritatingly foiled after we searched on foot in the cold and dark for 40mins only to find the bleeping place was closed. I was upset to say the least. Especially as I really want to go there, but can�t think of a time when I can now, except alone, as Craig doesn�t seem so keen. If I do it�ll be by taxi that�s for sure. My spirits were lifted when I remembered that we had the buffet by the station to try yet, but again, after the journey back to the centre of town we arrived to find them putting the closed sign up outside. Truly gutting. Having exhausted my restaurant ideas we wandered back toward to Norbesa hoping to spot somewhere. Mercifully finding the completely un-descript named restaurant of �Potato Circus!� I noticed no specialist potato dished despite the name. I forgave them however due to the extreme rapid service of their Nomihoudai system, (All you can drink system) to the point that things were getting blurry by the end of the meal. It also has the advantage of being damn cheap for food as a plus, even has a Karaoke section, it looked pretty budget however.

Filled with liquid cheer it was off to Karaoke, and after a difficult registration process we managed to get our song on for a good hour, busting out some Limp Bizkit classics. I can do the voice for �Hot Dog� really well I think. Karaoke was designated the �cool off� period where we have juice only. (Actually, having just remembered the NDA mentioned in previous posts, let me tell you we drank only coke at Potato circus, and the blurred vision was due only to an irritation in my eyes)

Booti had a 3000Yen entry for the night which included all drinks desired from then on. Which is good value by anyone�s standards. So the rest of night was spent doing the usual things you do when under the influence of copious amounts of softdrink, dancing, singing, womanizing. A great deal of effort was spent trying to get Ben into the clubbing spirit, our attempts were met with resistance. And defeat confirmed when we found out the best part of his night was talking to his mum at night. We were forced to accept he was telling the truth that he really doesn�t like clubs. Mike made his own way back to the Manga Kisa, I�m not entirely sure when, Ben dragged an inebriated (strike) tired Craig back with me later on. We breakfasted as you do at a Curry House before getting the bus back, on which I left my wallet. Which begers belief as all of us looked for it on the bus for about 20mins before we got off. Finally it was back to Toya for a rest, all softdrinked out.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 at 10:17 pm and is filed under Japan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.