Fake Zero Project

I headed to the airport early in the morning. I was taken back by the totally logical Japanese customs warnings.

I got my ticket and made it through the FZP just fine. I guess I am genuine after all. I also got my last taste of delicious Japanese food.

I am glad I did because on the plane I got a shitty dinner.

And a shitty window.

But the terminal we landed in was neat.

Customs was a breeze and I was on my way. I quickly found out that Koreans are behind on segway technology.

The subway goes right into the airport so transitioning into the city was very easy.

The station next to my hostel was a little crazy. Food and clothing stands all over the place. No street signs and no clue where to go. I had a map but it did not help, I could not locate the hostel.

Although no sign was visible I was able to track down what I thought was my building.

I walked up the lightless stairs until I could not go any further. It was pitch black and all I felt was a door. I actually took this next photo so that I could look on my camera screen to see if there was any door bell. I felt my way to the left wall and pressed the button.

Luckily a very friendly Korean gentleman opened the door and I was in the right place. It only took about an hour of mindless wandering. I had arranged to have a private room because I hate other people and was surprised to find out he had overbooked the private rooms so I had the 6 bed dorm to myself.

I talked with the owner a bit and asked him where was a good place to catch dinner. He suggested a place a few blocks away on the 7th story of a building. I would have never thought to look there for a restaurant. It just made me think of all of the places I was missing that were hidden in the clouds.

On the way I witnessed one of the great culinary achievements of this country. The Maxx Double Down. I had to have one but tonight was not the time.

I manged to find the building and hiked up the stairs. I arrived in a very pleasant restaurant. The staff did not speak English but I had the hostel owner write down his favorite dish on a piece of paper and I handed it to the server. This is what she came back with.

I am not sure what everything was but the soup was a fish soup and most of the veggies were pickled, as expected. It was alright. I am not a huge fan of Korean food so I am not the best barometer for quality.

After dinner I headed to the N Seoul Tower. Like all the towers in Japan it is tall and functional and blah blah blah. Getting up the mountain was pretty interesting. The first step is a rail car on a diagonal track.

Then its to a giant sky car for the rest of the journey.

As I rounded the corner after exiting the gondola the bright blue tower shot up out of the distance.

Lining all of the chain linked fence around the towers were thousands of padlocks that resembled love or something. I was alone and I guess that was weird for some people.

The view was great though. I didn't even end up going to the top of the tower because the view from the base was so fulfilling.

On the way back I stopped in a shopping mall for a final birthday treat. I found a lady selling these weird balls. Being a huge fan of balls I bought one.

I didn't really know what it was but it looked interesting. It turned out to be a bunch of deep fried noodles covered in white chocolate. She had a huge mallet that she offered to smash the ball with but I declined.

It ended up being a poor choice because the thing was impossible to eat. I ended up putting it in a paper bag and smashing it against the floor. It was delicious but a lot of work. I am use to other people cutting my cake.

To The South

It was time to head back to Tokyo. I said a somber goodbye to my room which had been my only companion for the last 5 days.

I had a little time to kill so I did a few things. I took a walk in the park (yes that is a coke machine in the middle of the park);

Enjoyed some informative Japanese signs;

Played a weird Japanese game where you win a questionable prize;

And ate another fantastic hot meal.

The trip back was much like the trip before it. Neat scenery;

Long rides;

Snack food;

Frantic train change;

Bad bento;

Another train change;

Better bento;

Train change;

And arrival in Tokyo.

I was to fly out the next morning so I chose an area close to the main train station. This turned out to be a seedy part of Tokyo. It basically is the area where Japanese businessmen go to get shitfaced and procure women of the night.

The area features  number of capsule hotels. They are basically a coffin you sleep in when you miss the last train home. I decided to stay in such a place because of the low low price. It was interesting. Each floor was lined with capsules.

In your capsule you have a bed, a light, a TV, and a radio. Luxury!

Feeling that I needed a little something to help me sleep I went to the bar down the street and ordered a highball. This is a popular Japanese cocktail which is essentially whiskey and soda water. It was ok but the nuts were great. Do with that what you want.

I finished my drink and dodged skeevy businessmen and hookers on my way back to my tubular lodging.

In a move that was most flattering, my gameboy remembered it was now my birthday! Oh the Joy!

I celebrated with a weird melon flavored frozen penis thing from the vending machine in the lobby.

Happy Birthday to me!

Jump

For my last day in Sapporo I decided to visit the ski jump from the 72 winter games. Having skiied the slalom course the day before it only seemed appropriate. The instructions to get there were a little pretty clear other than the "get off the bus and walk 10 minutes" (see above). I made my way to the bus station alright and found the platform but as to where to go once I exited the bus was still a mystery. Just follow the squiggly line. 

While I was figuring things out I found this nice little bakery that made these delicious pastries with fried chicken in them. Chick-Fil-A needs to take some notes from these gals who ran the bus station bakery.

After eating I ended up finding a picture guide in broken English that laid out the directions to take once you have exited the bus. Even with the pictures it was a bit confusing. 

I took a picture of the directions and hopped on the bus.

As I exited at the stop I realized I didn't have much help as the photos on the guide were taken during the spring and everything was now covered in snow.  

I made a few educated guesses and followed a path that looked promising. My shoes were soaked by this point.

While I was walking down the path a Japanese couple rushed towards me and were very interested to talk to me (they had a thing for porcelain skin I guess). They ended up following me for the majority of my time at the jump and we conversed back and forth in English and Japanese. They were rather nice and even more enthusiastic about just about everything. Our conversation stayed pretty basic as my Japanese has suffered through the years.

When I finally rounded the corner the ski lift was staring right down at me. It was much larger than I had anticipated. I suppose that is how the skiers stay in the air for so long.

As the ski lift ascended the hill, the magnitude of the jump increased ten fold. It was quite a sight at the top.

I decided to give the jump a go. My new friends were nice enough to capture the moment.

After landing safely with record scores, I decided to check out the Olympic museum that was next to the landing zone. Inside they had a lot of Olympic memorabilia. Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Jake.

They had some very educational exhibits.

Unbeknownst to me, a blizzard rolled in while I was in the museum. The walk back was not fun.

Getting back to town was fairly easy. Since it was my last day I thought I would try and find this stupid government building for the last time. Some way, some how, I finally stumbled upon it.

I have no idea how I continually missed this thing, Its huge! A little pissed off at myself for being so stupid, I finally went inside and it was rather enjoyable. I actually learned a few things I had no idea about concerning some disputed northern islands between Japan and Russia. Would see again.

The kicker to this all was they sold bear and seal meat in the gift shop! I really wanted to buy it but I did some research and found out US customs wouldn't be too happy with my souvenir. So I had to leave my delicious feast in the country in which it came.

For my last meal I did a lot of research and found a dish that Sapporo is famous for, which is soup curry. I then did way more research on the subject than a normal person would do and chose my winner based off of a proprietary matrix of data elements. The restaurant was a mile and a half from my hotel so I decided to walk. This was a poor decision as the temperature was the lowest it had been since I arrived in town. 

Oh man was this delicious. I don’t quite remember what I ordered but I did add cheese and okra. It was one of the better dishes I have had in Japan.

I stumbled home with a stomach full of hot liquid and jumped under my mountain of covers once I got home. To my surprise NFL was on the TV. I am constantly surprised at how many countries show American pro football, I would think foreign fans would hate it. Especially since they were forced to watch the Bengals an the Chargers.

There were no real winners here.