Food,  Japan,  Otaru

Step by Step Thru Otaru

I step out of the hotel this morning and was greeted with sunshine. So nice to see blue skies for once. Despite the sun shining almost blindingly bright, there was still little flurries of snow falling from the sky. It just never stops snowing here.

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I take advantage of the nice weather to go for a walk around the canal area. All I’ve wanted to do the last couple of days has been to hibernate in the hotel room, catching up on John Oliver videos on YouTube. Occasionally, I leave my cave in search of food at the nearest grocery store that’s located in the Otaru version of Kingsgate Mall, minus the store selling stripper shoes.

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Didn’t know the Joy Luck Club got incorporated

My walk around the canal didn’t take long and I end up back at the tourist info centre pretty quickly. There was a giant display of the Hinamatsuri dolls.

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I hung out at the info centre for about an hour, taking advantage of the free wifi while listening to NKOTB Step by Step and Smashing Pumpkins. I find it really weird that Otaru has such a preference for 90s music. It’s played in restaurants, malls and tourist offices. Maybe Otaru got a wicked discount on a lot of “I ❤ 90s” compilation CDs.

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My lunch consisted of every item that jojo cannot eat. Dear jojo, I am sorry but it was very delicious so I’m not too sorry. On my way home, I notice all sorts of little Hinamatsuri displays, including special cakes at a bakery. So cute!

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I buy couple of sakuramochi to eat for later in celebration of Hinamatsuri. When in Japan…

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Another thing I notice on my way home were these poor researchers stationed on street corners counting pedestrian traffic. They must have committed some heinous crime and doing community service cuz no one would be doing it voluntarily or be paid enough to do this as a job. Shame!

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It’s snowing, windy and -4°C outside

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