Japan Vacation Summer '17

You always hear about Japan being a country of "remarkable excellence" or being "magnificently different", in all aspects: cuisine, culture, art, etc. Even the great, Anthony Bourdain claims that: "Japan is endlessly, endlessly interesting to me. Even after traveling to ninety different countries in the last twenty years, Japan will always be my favorite." Well, I myself believe in this phenomenon, as I have also been basically obsessed with Japan and Japanese culture ever since I was in the fifth grade. In the past five years, I've traveled to Japan every spring to see the Sakura, or Cherry Blossoms, bloom. However, this year, I decided to experience Japan in the summer time.

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HOKKAIDO

In the past, I've only traveled throughout Japan's main island, Honshu. But this year, I wanted to make this trip to Japan different, not only by visiting in the summer by traveling to the city of Sapporo on Japan's northern island, Hokkaido.

Japan is known for its amazing sunrises and was once referred to as the first country to see the sun, hence the red sun on its flag .In all my past trips to Japan, I had never actually seen the sunrise due to being jet lag. On my first day in Sapporo, I was blessed to have awaken to a spectacular view of the sunrise sky going against Sapporo's city-skyline.

I visited Hokkaido's beautiful, Shiragane Aoi Ike, or Blue Pond. The Blue Pond is located just thirty minutes outside of Sapporo and is a breath-taking pond to look at. The pond reflects a deep, thalo blue color due to minerals in its water.

Hokkaido is also known for their large and spectacular flower fields in the town of Biei. Thankfully, Hokkaido is more towards the north so the weather stayed in the mid 70s and made for an enjoyable time at both the Blue Pond and the flower fields.

Before I left for Tokyo, I just had to try some of Hokkaido's iconic Shio (salt) ramen. I can't remember the name of the store, but ate this ramen in Sapporo's infamous Ramen Alley, where you can find over ten different ramen shops.

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TOKYO

Ah Tokyo, you never fail to impress me. Typically I stay near the Ginza area, but this time I decided to explore more of Shinjuku and Harajuku.

I stayed at the Park Hyatt Hotel Shinjuku, a.k.a the hotel where they filmed Lost in Translation. The view from the hotel room reminded me oddly enough of New York. Nonetheless, I was still so ecstatic to be back in Tokyo.

Back in April, some friends of mine had visited Japan and told me about this Owl Cafe in Tokyo. After settling in at the hotel, I made reservations for the Owl Cafe. The Owl Cafe was definitely an experience. Some owls were friendly and some were mean! Guests are also allowed to pet the owls, feed them, and you can even have an owl fly onto your arm. Haha but hands down, my two favorite were Haku and Canon (pictured on the right). With all of Japan's animal cafes, I'd have to say the Owl Cafe would probably be the most memorable.

In Tokyo, there is this popular restaurant called Maisen that specializes in the fried pork dish, tonkatsu. I had always seen traveling food bloggers post about this place when they go to Japan and initially, I thought it was just hype. But now that I tried it, all I can say is that the hype is real! The tonkatsu was just wonderful and the cabbage accompanying it made for a refreshing and delightful meal.

One thing I just absolutely had to try in Tokyo was the infamous Dominique Ansel Bakery! The owner, Dominique Ansel, is the original creator of the Cronut. He has bakeries in New York, London, and Tokyo. I got the Paris Tokyo pastry which was basically the Paris Brest pastry but instead had a matcha creme in the middle, as well as some mango filling inside. I loved this dessert and the name just suits it so well!

On my last day in Japan, I decided to visit the Tokyo Skytree. Standing at 2,080 feet tall, Tokyo Skytree is today's tallest tower in the world. The views were just magnificent; it was so high up that you can even see Mt. Fuji!

Well Japan, as always, it's been fun. See you later! さよなら〜(๑･̑◡･̑๑)