MP3 track of the day:
nice ice baby – Vanilla Ice
Weather: A beautiful
crisp winters day with the sun out and a little breeze.
Today was my final day
within Sapporo. Even so, an early start was not needed. During the
previous two days I had hit all of my objectives for this weekend
however, an early start still occurred due to my hotels 'check-out'
time being 10am. I was therefore down at reception, handing over my
'key card', at around 9:30am with a large smile hiding my
displeasure. I handed over my bags and, at around 10am, I headed out
into the world.
For the next two hours
'my world' consisted of McDonald’s. There I ate a 'pancake
breakfast' writing the first draft of yesterday's blog. A part from
the occasional tannoy announcement, and American voice, I was never
disturbed. After two hours I had written, and read through, the 9th
February's blog entry. I was content that, while a little editing was
still needed, the main content was all there and in a logical order.
I left McDonald's and headed out.
Yesterday I had
discovered a labyrinth of underground passageways, some with shops
and some without. As I was off to Otaru I had little time to explore
the area but now, with a full day to fill I headed down into this
underworld of retail and, more importantly, this underworld of
warmth. Still wanting to look around the 'ice festival park', I
explored the area always making sure that I was heading north.
Characterless, is the
best way I would describe the underground shopping precinct. It had
the usual line of clothe, food, phone and beauty shops that you could
find anywhere in Japan. In fact, it was as if someone had highlighted
the above shops, pressed 'copy', and pasted this format of shops
throughout every passageway within the complex. I'm sure it comes as
no surprise to find out that this endless boredom of modern branding
did not keep my interest for long and I soon resurfaced into a world
of light, music, cold but above all, a world of countless people. I
had arrived at the snow festival park.
Being the weekend the
park was packed with people. On Friday, I pretty much had the park to
myself but now, I had to battle my way through crowds ten ranks deep,
resulting in my feet only shuffling an inch at a time. As I moved I
kept one eye on whatever snow sculpture was in front of me and one
eye on the ground. Having so many people walking within the park was
exacerbating the walkways. The authorities continually poured grit
onto the surface however, no amount of grit could cope with the tens
of thousands of feet trampling the snow into ice. It was at this
point that I realised something; I wasn't really enjoying myself. I
still looked up at these impressive snow sculptures in wonder
however, I had already seen them six or seven times and with the
thousands of people all around me, walking through the park felt like
a chore. It felt as though I was there because I thought I should be;
because I knew my trip was coming to an end and I would never see
these sculptures again. To use a British expression, I felt as though
I was there to 'get my monies worth', not for enjoyment. I soon
realised this was stupid; I turned around and went back to the ski
slope where I saw even more 'youths' throwing themselves down a snowy
'man-made' ramp with little care for themselves. After this I went
away from the park looking for lunch and a place to think.
As I didn't have any
particular restaurant in mind I decided to do a bit more 'bottom
following' however, this time, I went to 'pro level'. 'Pro level' has
the same rules as regular 'bottom following' however, you follow the
best bottom wherever it takes you (again changing 'rear'
periodically so you don't look weird). It's a great way to see a
place and you end up seeing spots which aren't on the usual tourist
route.
As luck would have it,
my final 'rear' walked past a 'Moss Burger'. I went in and ordered a
'spicy burger with onion rings', whereas the 'rear' walked on by (it
didn't look like a 'rear' which would eat burgers). As I finished
my meal I sat their, gazing outside at the world but taking nothing
in. I was struggling to think of things to do; add to this that
Sapporo had taken its toll on me (I was shattered) and the
list of possible activities was getting shorter and shorter. In the
end I opted to have a walk around the east of the city, hopefully
ending up at Sapporo's train station.
The walk was uneventful
however, it wasn't too cold and there weren't too many people. A part
from an old stone church nothing stood out and soon I was at
Sapporo's train station. I found an underground entrance and went
into another underground shopping centre.
This one was just as
characterless as the last however, it was much more confusing. I
remembered entering this underground labyrinth of retail outlets, but
I could not find an exit. I looked around.
Seeing people of
different ages gave me hope that there was a way out (if everyone
was old and depressed I would have been worried); however, no
matter how hard I tried, I could not find an exit. Maybe I had
actually spent my whole life down here; maybe this 'entrance' I had
used was just an image my brain kept as a strain of hope that one day
I would surface into the outside world. Finally, heroically I made it
to the surface. Had the world changed? Was the air breathable? Had
man found a way to eradicate wasps from the earth? The answers to
these questions I did not know. As my eyes adjusted to the light I
took my first cautious steps into the 'outside world'.
I had resurfaced only
meters from where I'd descended. I left the area and went back to the
festival one final time. Again I wasn't enjoying myself. The time was
6pm and I was tired, cold and hungry. Even though I still had four
hours until my train departed I left the park bound for my hotel.
Once inside my hotel I picked up my bags, thanked the staff for the
final time, checked my emails and left heading towards the train
station.
Sapporo is Japan's 5th
largest city and yet, once you go through the train stations ticket
barriers there is no waiting room. What there is are benches, dotted
around sporadically, with little heat. One area did have two
temporary heaters however, the 'size of the area to heat: size of
heater' ratio meant that the heaters had already lost the battle
before they were even switched on. Besides, the area was packed with
people trying to keep warm. With every item of clothing I possessed
on, I decided to 'go it alone' and sit on a bench, near a clock,
where I read until twenty minutes before my trains departure time. As
I read I tried not to let the Japanese person, frozen within a block
of ice to my left, concern me.
With twenty minutes
until departure time I boarded my train bound south for Aomori.
Unfortunately I was not alone and every seat within my carriage was
taken. I sat next to a young Japanese girl who sat in a position
facing the seats adjacent to her (her friend was in one of those
seats) presenting me with her back. I filled out my diary and
tried to go to sleep as soon as possible. It had been a long day and,
I feared with this amount of passengers, it would be a long night
too.
Toodle Pip!
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