2023 Hokkaido Trip Day 10: Shopping Day at Sapporo Station

You must always reserve 1 day just do your shopping. As short as it may be, you can dedicate this time to do your shopping haul, you can also do it towards the end of the trip to save you the trouble of having to carry bulk items whenever you transfer cities or hotels. Normally, i would just put shopping spree on the weekend. (Most tourist sites will also be filled with locals, so kinda double whammy) and japan is typically the place where you can definitely fill up your luggage and MORE! 

Breakfast was at Komeda Coffee. we scouted our place and saw a nearby Komeda Coffee (friends had been recommending it so we just need to get them, cheapest breakfast too as they will give you free taost, red bean and jam when you order coffee!) 

Note: Self service water is available in case you are not getting their coffee. 

Dishes ordered: 

1. Komeda coffee , Toast, red bean, and jam (free if you order coffee, until 11am,daily)

2. Katsu sandwich

Then it was time to go to Sapporo Station to start shopping ( You really need a day just to tackle shopping)  before we get to Sapporo station, you need to at least walk the whole lot of Tanukikoji. Right at downtown Sapporo are a bevy of shopping mall. Every corner and junction are filled with shopping malls (some are under construction)  , and it did not help that our hotel is right smack at Tanukikoji Shopping Street ( even if you go underground passageway there are still shops and malls.So there is no escape) 

One of the stores that sell souvenirs is Kobushiya (mostly what you can see at the airport as well).Anything that sells, rokatei, shiroikoibito, royce is good in my books (they were also the ones who sell the Lavender Lip cream, lip balm and hand cream) 

and then there is this whole stretch of shopping malls,shotengai,  (from Tanukoji Street 1 till Street 8, so far I've only reached until Street 8) and then we saw a queue that stretch from corner to corner until Daimaru ...  

and from the line at Daimaru.. was another line forming  at 3-5 lines deep.  It was for a cream puff.

We proceeded to go to soup curry tenma for lunch in Esta. Ordered 

1. Seafood soup curry

2. Half keema, half beef curry

They do provide free water (albeit need to call the staff for refill).  

2023 Year will see  Esta be demolished to make way for a new building in the coming years (will missed the place).

Off to do shopping, first we visited  g.u, 

and then to global work, uniqlo at  stellar place before visiting Stellar Place's rooftop garden. 

We were surprised that we didn't buy the whole mall , and as we did not want to spend any more cents ...  we opted to visit 1 nearby site  (This was totally unplanned as we went straight from the shopping mall). 

We chose Sapporo Fushimi Inari (and yes, it is related to Kyoto's Fushimi Inari). The place was walking distance to Ropeway Iriguchi (to go Mt Moiwa Ropeway, so you can do those things at the same time). No one was around so we had the place to ourselves. there were signs that say, don't take photos (oh well). On hindsight, it was a bad idea to go around fushimi inari while carrying all the things you just bought. 

After the visit, it was time to call it a day ... going back to the hotel,  we came across a festival (which is common sight during summer)  at Tanukikoji where stalls of beers were lined up (it was like Octoberfest!)

The food look appetizing and was contemplating having it for dinner but since it was the last night, it was better to settle for a nice dinner. 

Dinner was at  Ebiten Bunten, and we ordered tendon

 

 1. 上天ぷら定食
 2. 天ぷら定食

the facade of the shop. (You just let yourself in and an ahjumma will usher you to your seat) 

Needing to walk off the calories, it was off to Sapporo Square (daiso) and  the newly opened (Jul 2023) moyuk sky garden for the night view of Susukino before calling it a day.