Solo Trip to Sapporo

I came to Sapporo for work.
Since I had night work at the client's site, I slept soundly until around noon to recover.

I have free time after this.
Since I'm here, I decided to go sightseeing in Sapporo.

It's 1:00 PM. First, time for a meal.
I came to "Matsuo Genghis Khan".
It's right near Odori Station, so it's easy to access.
I thought, is it a high hurdle to eat Genghis Khan alone...
but it felt like a normal restaurant in a good way, and it was very easy to enter!
I ordered the "3-Kind Tasting Lunch Set".

I'm full, so I'm heading to today's main event,
"Shiroi Koibito Park".
It's helpful that it's easy to get to, 15 minutes by train from Odori and a 7-minute walk from the station.
It's 2:30 PM at this point.

After looking at the courtyard and souvenir shops in the free area, I went to the paid area.
For an admission fee of 800 yen, you can tour the factory and learn about the history of chocolate.
Also, you get one Shiroi Koibito cookie.

After learning about the history of chocolate while watching an animation, there was a display of hard porcelain that was likely used for drinking chocolate (past me, please read the explanations properly...).

The factory tour on the 3rd floor was under renovation.
It's a bit of a shame, but the exhibits were cute, so it's fine.

There was a Shiroi Koibito quiz rally, so I tried it.
Apparently, if you get all the questions right, you get a milk chocolate Shiroi Koibito, so I had to do it. lol
The answers are in the concisely summarized exhibits, so you can learn about Shiroi Koibito without having to read difficult, small text. It was more fun than I imagined!

When I went up to the 4th floor, I found a shop selling the "Shiroi Koibito Nama Chocolate Sandwich" I wanted to eat!

This was so delicious 😋
The combination of crispy cookies and melting nama chocolate is the best!
The staff told me to be careful because the cookies break easily, and it really does crumble and spill easily when you eat it, so be careful about that... lol

I was thirsty, so I took a break at the other cafe, "Chocolate Lounge Oxford".
I ordered the "Shiroi Koibito Park Original Chocolate Drink".

The moment I opened the lid, a lovely chocolate aroma spread, making me feel so happy.
It's strange that even though it smells so sweet, it doesn't taste too sweet as I drink it.
The cup was lovely too, so I took my time to savor it. It was delicious...

At the end of the paid area, I looked at the history of Ishiya Seika, the company that manufactures and sells Shiroi Koibito.
Influenced by everyone on Note who visits museums and exhibitions and reads the explanations carefully (lol), I read the explanations thoroughly and found them very interesting.
I felt that the origin of Shiroi Koibito was very romantic, or rather, that it was a name born from someone who regularly reads and uses beautiful words.
I thought I would like to use beautiful words myself and share them with everyone.

I left the paid area, bought some pudding as a souvenir, and left the building.
It was past 5:00 PM by this time.
It was getting a little dark outside, and the illuminations were starting to look beautiful.


I took the train back to Odori.
It was about 6:00 PM, so I went to have dinner a little early.
Since I had Jingisukan for lunch, I decided on seafood for dinner.
I arrived at 'Shihachi Fish Market'.
I was surprised to see it was already quite crowded.
After waiting a few minutes, I was guided to a counter seat.
I ordered the 'Today's 13-Kind Seafood Bowl that lets you feel the ocean'.

Wow, it was delicious 😋
Each piece of seafood was so big that I couldn't help but wonder if it was okay to have so many of such large pieces!
And yet, it only cost 1,958 yen.
Hokkaido, as expected...!
Following 'Matsuo Jingisukan' at lunch, this 'Shihachi Fish Market' has also become a place I want to visit again.

It was only 7:00 PM when I returned to the hotel.
Since the hotel has a large public bath, I took a relaxing soak.
After getting out of the bath, I ate the 'Shihachi Smooth Chocolate Pudding' I bought at Shiroi Koibito Park.
Actually, when I was buying them, I asked for both white and black, and then heard that the expiration date was today, which made me go, 'Oh...'
But I ended up buying them anyway. Lol
Since I'm here, I'll luxuriously enjoy both 😊

When I tried it, it was truly smooth.
It had such a strong chocolate flavor that, honestly, I couldn't tell if it was pudding. Lol
The taste was delicious, but the white one was too sweet for me.
In the end, I left half of the black one and ate it the next morning.
(Sorry, Ishiya Seika)

Even though it was only half a day, I really enjoyed my solo trip to Sapporo!
This was my first time traveling alone.
I was worried about whether I could enjoy sightseeing spots by myself, but that worry was unnecessary.
It was great to be able to go around freely as I liked without worrying about those around me.

I really do love Hokkaido!
The scenery is beautiful, the food is delicious, it's the best ✨️

The next day, I went to Otaru.
I plan to write about my solo trip to Otaru in future Notes, so I would be happy if you look forward to that too 😊
Thank you for reading until the end ♪