First impressions of Sapporo was that it felt very much like Toronto. Weather-wise it was slightly chilly, but around the same temperature. The city itself was quite nice. The main Sapporo terminal felt similar to Union Station and it wasn’t as busy as Shinjuku Station. I think there was the right amount of people to give off the ‘big city’ feeling without feeling super crowded and claustrophobic. The shops right by the station were very nice and modern. I think I would have really liked working in downtown Sapporo.

One of the best things about Sapporo Station was that it wasn’t as enormous at Shinjuku, so the prospects of me getting lost inside were very minimal. By the time we actually got to Sapporo Station from Chitose Airport, it was quite late already. Once we found our bearings, we headed straight for the hotel. It was a little difficult dragging our luggage towards the hotel, especially since it was dark and we didn”t know which street we were on. We were a little disoriented after walking for 20 minutes or so, but I managed to find Toyoko Inn. It was tucked within a hidden alleyway! After getting checked in, we called it an early night and went to bed.

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The first day out, we headed to Asahiyama Zoo, which is around 2 hours from Sapporo. The ride to the zoo wasn’t bad, although it was a little long. The zoo itself was quite nice. Reminded me of Ueno Zoo, although it was a little small.

I really enjoyed seeing the exhibits, especially since the setup of the zoo allowed visitors to get really close to the animals. I would have liked to go when they had the penguin walk, however I had a good time there. I spent way too much time at the penguin and red panda exhibits! We stopped for lunch at the restaurant that overlooked the zoo. Hokkaido soup curry was delicious!

We left the zoo around 4:00pm and we made our way back to Sapporo. I was a little exhausted by then, and I think the jetlag was catching up to me. However we made plans to meet with Daniel and Yumi at 8:00pm.

After munching on a cup noodle, we made our way to Sapporo Station to meet up with them. Luckily Daniel’s the only gaijin in Sapporo with red hair, so it was super easy to spot him out in the crowd. Daniel and Yumi took us walking in Sapporo. We toured Odori Park and saw Sapporo TV Tower from afar.

Afterwards we went inside Donki to shop for souvenirs and before going back out to buy okonomiyaki from a shop outside. Then we went to a building nearby and sang karaoke. The karaoke rooms in Japan are so nice. Nomihoudai was super cheap too. I think the bill totaled to 3,000 yen. You couldn’t even get an non-alcoholic beverage here in Canada!

Anyway, we had a good night out with them and they were super nice. Although I was incredibly exhausted afterward, I’d say it was a good first day out in Sapporo! More adventures at the Arashi concert to come in the next entries.