Jumbo and 7: Otaru Soft-serve

Because I couldn't wait another two days until my next post for this one...here you go! :) 

My top priority in Hokkaido was to go to the Yuki Matsuri, but a close second was to try different food, and (of course), their soft-serve. There is a milk plant in Otaru, but it was closed for the winter, leaving me extremely disappointed. I might have kicked the snow like a child when I read the sign, but as my friends and I walked through various streets, we saw a sign outside an ice cream shop with the word "Jumbo" written and a picture of a HUGE ice cream cone. I positively ran inside and ordered their jumbo soft-serve in a chocolate and vanilla swirl for 980 yen. A little pricey for some, but when you consider the size of this mammoth of an ice cream, it's worth every yen :) And let me tell you, it was damn good. As expected from Hokkaido, the ice cream was smooth and creamy, but not too heavy.

Halfway through eating the jumbo soft-serve, we saw yet another sign with a seven-flavor soft-serve. Call me greedy and a fatty, but I was determined to try that one as well. My friends finished the rest of the jumbo soft-serve for me (they raved about its consistency and it was gone in no time) while I got the seven-flavor cone. The ice cream wasn't as creamy, but I was focused on the flavors so I didn't mind at all. It might not have been as tall, but it was definitely flavorful :)

From top to bottom: grape, strawberry, matcha, melon, vanilla, lavender and chocolate.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful week ^^

Otaru: Canal City

Located about half an hour from Sapporo by train, Otaru is a small harbor city known for its glassware and canal which was used to transport goods to various warehouses during the first half of the 20th century. The city was lined with many warehouses and old buildings, giving it a very nostalgic feeling for many visitors who have been to port cities and towns. Small and large shops selling fresh seafood had their doors wide open for potential customers and you could certainly smell everything that was cooking. 

Otaru is also known for it's Snow Light Path Festival which occurs from early to mid February. During this time, the small city lights up with small snow sculptures and lights. The main areas are along the canals which are lined with snow lanterns, but many shops also display their own snow lanterns. At night, it can be quite a sight to see :) 

This house reminds me of an open book with all the snow on it :)

Prepping for the festival.

We found this beautiful cafe that was absolutely ethereal. Enjoying a cup of hot coffee while gazing at the hundreds of lights is hard to beat on a cold day!

You could control the brightness of the lamps as well depending on the mood that you wanted to set ^^

Sorry for the blurry picture, but it was a little difficult to get a decent shot at that time. Standing in a puddle of muddy, cold water with people pushing and jostling around to get their picture wasn't what I had in mind, but oh well! Can't help it.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

Snow Sculptures: Hokkaido

Sorry for a delay in posts, everyone. My parents and older brother came to visit me in Japan for awhile so I've been spending lots and lots of time with them. Their flight back to Hawaii leaves tonight and while I was sad to see them go, I was immensely glad that they had a chance to come to Japan :) Today's post will feature the many snow sculptures at Odori Park for the yuki matsuri in Hokkaido that took place earlier this year.  The festival has become very popular and attracts many foreign visitors who, like me, have a strong desire to see the masterpieces made entirely from snow. I was in awe of the sculptures that lined the park-- I can barely make a snowman! Smaller ones were further towards the middle and end of the park and while they may not have been as large, they were still very impressive to look at. An amateur contest was located at the end of the park, but I would hardly call them that! 

This Star Wars themed one built by the Special Defense Forces was the star of the festival :) 

Do you wanna build a snowman~? :)

Free sand to sprinkle in front of you to prevent you from slipping.

Always interesting to see people building their sculptures. There was an area where international teams came to build their sculptures. 

A Japanese family sitting around a kotatsu and sharing a few good laughs :] 

Children sliding down ice slides--they really seemed to be having fun ^^

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful week :)

Baked Vegetable Curry

After spending the morning at Shiroi Koibito Park, my friend and I decided to grab some lunch before heading over to Odori Park which is the main site for the yuki matsuri. We ducked into a restaurant nearby and I ordered their baked vegetable curry and it was actually spicy! Usually the curry in Japan isn't very spicy despite their various levels for it, so I was pleasantly surprised when I ate this :) Perfect way to warm up before heading back out into the cold!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  :)

Chocolate Lounge: Heaven for a Chocolate Addict

When I was researching about Shiroi Koibito Park, I read about the Chocolate Lounge and immediately made a mental note to stop by. After touring around the factory, I chose one of their many desserts and sat down near large window to enjoy the view and my very chocolaty snack :) If you're a chocolate lover, this is definitely for you. It was called the W Chocolate (sort of like "double chocolate) and had numerous layers of chocolaty goodness. The top layer was a rich ganache with brownie bites, banana chips and walnuts sprinkled on top of that. A milk chocolate mousse followed by a sweet chocolate mousse was below the ganache and each of those layers had fillings inside (banana for the milk chocolate mousse and chocolate sponge cake for the sweet chocolate mousse). Finally, another layer of chocolate ganache and a sort of cookie crust completed the bottom layer. Everything was rich and velvety, so it was a good thing that the cup wasn't very large :) Definitely worth trying if you ever go there!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Shiroi Koibito Park Part 2

Sorry for the late post everyone! Currently in Kyoto with my family so I haven't had access to a computer until today. I'll try and schedule other posts to upload this week though. Here's part two of Shiroi Koibito Park :) Admission fee for the factory tour is 600 yen and you can explore the various rooms at your own pace. I really enjoyed walking through the building and reading about various exhibits--many of them were quite interesting! 

The Aurora Fountain was the first room that I walked through after entering the building. Definitely not something you would expect to see in a chocolate factory!

Next was the Stained-Glass Room and although it wasn't very large, it was still very colorful, especially the ceiling!

After that was a Chocolate Box room which displayed various chocolate boxes that were used back in the day. They had labels that informed visitors when the box was used and where it was made.

Diagram explaining the process of making chocolate :)

You could see the production line of how the famous Shiroi Koibito cookies were made through these large glass windows :) 

And there was a Chocolate Lounge towards the end of the tour! Just pick a seat and choose what dessert from the factory you wanted to eat (I'll make a post for this one)

A Gramophone Gallery! I haven't really seen them up close before, so it was very interesting to see the various types and sizes in one room. 

Downstairs was the free area (no need to pay to get in) where several shops were, including...

These large chairs!!! I wish someone was sitting in them because they were quite big! I would love to have one of these :)

Another local candy company whose shop was located on the ground floor inside Tudor House. 

Like the tour, you could watch the workers create batches of candy through large, glass windows. 

Finished product!

Really liked the packaging, but I really don't know if they intentionally spelled "camdy" like that..

Long line for the ice cream. It was Hokkaido ice cream, but made with the Shiroi Koibito white chocolate :) 

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful week! :)