kelseydo Sapporo Snow Festival

Reunited and it feels so good! Nick and I stayed in Sapporo for four glorious days with enough time to see the sights, enjoy the snow festival and even go on a bit of a bender! Sapporo is the most happening town north of Tokyo, especially during the Snow Festival (雪祭り) when thousands gather to gawk at ice sculptures bigger than an apartment complex ( get this: apartments are called mansions in Japan…lost in translation much?) , eat amazing seafood, drink hot wine and generally freeze their asses off.

Our hotel room in Sapporo was a bit of a smoker stenched 80’s closet so we went out as much as possible and took advantage of the sedative properties of red wine to fall asleep in that hole. Nick was a bit jet lagged and my sleep schedule was all out of whack from maintaining a cycle of waking up at 3:00pm, eating ramen, drinking until 5am, rinse, repeat. Needless to say we were in a bit of a funk but we managed to pull it together and have a grand ol’ time.

The Sapporo Beer Museum

Took us about a half hour to get here but we made it!

These old barrels have been out front of the brewery since it started in 1876…wood is good, right?

Nick and I posing in front of a giant beer kettle. Say BEE-RU!

A wee sampling! The Classic was my favourite.

The Sapporo Snow Festival

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nick in front of the Sapporo TV Tower at Odori Park

Welcome to my ice castle.

A very J-Pop performance in front of an illuminated ice sculpture

かわいい！ Cute!

The Eats

Nick having sashimi for breakfast at a stall in the fish market

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The famous ジンギスカン Ghengis Khan (marinated lamb), street meat style at the festival

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

スンドブ Soon Tofu, a korean spicy soup with tofu from a food stall at the festival

Giant LIVE King Crab at the fish market! We ate one just after, much smaller though.

One Night in Sapporo

 

The city lights

At 500 bar, all cocktails ¥500. Gin Gimlet, yes please.

St. John’s Wood, an international/irish bar wasn’t really doing it for me other than the name.

A nightcap at Blues Alley never hurt anybody…

The nightlife in Sapporo is great, we weren’t into clubbing but there are a few I heard might be good like alife or Booty that might be worth checking out. There are A LOT of hostess bars, a disproportionate amount really, and sometimes they are hard to tell apart from the regular ole in the wall bar. Nick decided we could find a bar just by walking around and taking our pick but that had us ended up at a a small bar on the second floor of what looked like a house, where all the patrons were men dressed in school girl uniforms. Awkward. Needless to say the bartender took one look at Nick and said “No.”We were on our way and looking for something a little more couple and casual drink friendly. Might have been an interesting/completely fucked up night if we had followed Nick’s bar finding method but we stuck to the regular watering holes and had a blast!

Nick and I are travelling through Hokkaido and Northern Honshu until the end of February! Check out our trip on the daily with Instagram.

Click here for: Kelsey’s Instagram and here for: Nick’s Instagram

kelseydo a night out in kyoto on the cheap

Things in Japan can be really cheap but they can also be really expensive. There’s something for everyone’s budget I guess. Being a student means I have to put a lot more thought into where I spend money, especially when I have literally no budget for going out.

Of course it always costs less to stay in, but that can get old pretty quickly. Plus it’s important to get out and be social. I think if we spend 1/3 of our lives sleeping, we should spend at least that much time socializing.

Owning a bicycle and not being afraid to ride it in a variety of conditions is important. Free transportation is the first key to success when it comes to going out in Kyoto on the cheap.

Bicycle to and from your evening excursion Pros: It’s free,you don’t have to worry about missing the last bus home and you don’t have to shell out for a cab Cons: Bicycle parking can be rare downtown Kyoto and if you park illegally it is highly possible your bike will be impounded. Also, if you drink too much you will either injure yourself severely, have to walk that bike home, or leave it downtown and get it the next day when you don’t want to get out of bed.

Parking spot?

Eat a deep fried snack at the izakaya There are many cheap and cheerful places to enjoy drinks and food but a couple of my favorites for a spontaneous (AND CHEAP) night out are Torikizoku and じぽんぐ (Jipongu).

Torikizoku has a couple locations in Kyoto, including Kitano Hakubaicho & Kawaramachi so depending on how far you want to get from home you can take your pick. I like Torikizoku because everything on the menu is 280 yen ($3.11) including large jugs of beer, a plate of fries or a couple skewers of delicious meat + onion…you can’t go wrong. The ambience is also good even though its a cheap chain it still has a bit of a rustic pub feel with the wooden interior.

Everything 280 yen

280 yen beers

Jipongu is great for meeting up with large groups but can be busy around 9-11pm on Friday or Saturday night. A pint of beer is only 200 yen ($2.22), which is usually all I order here but you can get small plates for under 500 yen ($5.54). The atmosphere is nice and actually seems a little upscale considering your only paying a couple bucks for beer.

Wall Art @ Jipongu

Usually I’ve had my fill of beer by now and its time to engage in some other activity beyond sitting and drinking.

Dance at Butterfly & get a free drink If you go to Butterfly on a Friday or Saturday night before 10pm there is no cover for women and only 500 yen ($5.54) cover for men, both get a complimentary drink. The music is generally top 40 club and rap anthems so after about an hour it starts to get repetitive but until then it is a total riot. If you go after 10pm the price for entry increases and it doesn’t seem desirable to me at all.

At Butterfly Club

Find a hole in the wall There are many small bars on the 3rd and 4th floor of random buildings and they are usually always interesting for at least one drink. Usually drinks at these types of places are about 600 yen ($6.65) so I like to order a Long Island Tea which is generally just 4 ounces of alcohol, you will only need to order one: money well spent! A couple smaller bars I like in Kyoto: ING , AF JAM (still searching!) and some busier drinking spots: HUB, RUB A DUB, A-Bar

ING Bar

Ooh where does this go?

I still can’t find The Dylan I

Sing your heart out If you didn’t bike downtown, and you missed the last bus, you have the choice to pay for a cab or stay out all night until the first trains start in the morning around 6am. The best thing to do at this point is to go home (if you have that kind of self-will at this drunken moment) but if you’re still in the mood to party- head to Karaoke. It’s open all night, so you and your friends can get a private booth, take turns singing and curling up to catch some zzz’s on the comfortable couches. I like to bring in a snack and a drink from the nearest convenience store (this is something you should enjoy without the karaoke staff knowing). Generally you will pay around 1000 yen ($11.08) to hang out at Karaoke for the rest of the night and the morning train will only be around 200 yen ($2.22) to get home.

Karaoke Room

Something I always forget to do when I get home: SHOWER and WASH MY CLOTHES! Smoking is allowed at most establishments in Kyoto and you are going to smell like an ashtray when you get home. Having a shower and throwing your clothes in the wash is a must. There is nothing worse than waking up hungover and having everything smell like cigarette smoke. Barf.

There are lots of 食べ放題Tabehoudai/飲み放題Nomihoudai’s (all you can eat/drink for around 2500 yen/$27.70) which are great for large 飲み会nomikai (drinking parties) but I am more interested in the hole in the wall type places at this point. Apparently Osaka has a lot more nightlife but I have yet to travel that far for bar hopping!

The tornado wiener at Chifaja tabehoudai…weird, very weird

All-you-can-eat ice cream at Chifaja tabehoudai

Cooking our Kalbi Beef at Chifaja tabehoudai

Cooking our food at Chifaja all-you-can-eat yakiniku + salad + ice cream for 2000 yen ($22.16)

I am still searching for good, cheap places to go to in Kyoto, so if you have any recommendations or you want to come find some fun spots with me  feel free to join in! かんぱい！kanpai!