Farewell Frosty
Trip Start
Unknown
1
20
22
Trip End
Ongoing
Sapporo,
Japan
Thursday, February 7, 2008
We pulled out of Sapporo station into sunshine so amplified by the snow that it hurt. Sheets of the white stuff hung off angled roofs, the edges trimmed by long pointy icicles. Wouldn't like to be under those in the thaw.
Ba da bum ba da bum.. the train settled into its rhythm. I remembered a Japanese boast that the Shinkansen was on average only 36 seconds late. We flashed past industrial chimneys blasting out long plumes of vapour that condensed rapidly in the cold. Here and there a tree and house broke the industrial landscape. Must be noisy to live so close to factories.
Eventually the chimneys gave way to houses and trees. I guess the workers have to live somewhere. I closed my eyes against the blinding light. The carriage was a greenhouse in the sunshine. Was that M tap tapping on his PSP? Next thing I knew we were approaching New Chitose Airport. The Japanese woman next to me had disembarked and M had taken her place.
We waited till the carriage had emptied before suiting up. It was an attempt to avoid collateral damage with our rucksacks and it was in vain. In the 2 minutes it took to fasten my rucksack the carriage had flooded with Chinese tourists. M and I squeezed past trying not to lay waste to the surrounding grannies and small children. M said "Man these people would stand in a lion's mouth to get an edge in the queue!".
Move over Heathrow... New Chitose is now the premier airport for shopping in my books. The terminal was a consumer frenzy. In one corner a father teased his young son with an intimidating live hairy crab. Smoked fish dangled on display their powerful aroma their only necessary advertisement. Huge fresh scallops lay amongst other bivalves. All for sale. Sales people pushed free samples into my hands. The melon jelly exploded in a burst of concentrated Charentais on my tongue. The smoked sausage was rather fatty and chocolate too rich for my taste (they didn't stint on the coca butter). The far east is not known for its expertise in dairy products so one cheesecake proved a delightful surprise. It was so good I bought one.
Tokyo Haneda monorail
