In Sapporo

This was definitely a very productive day. Woke up in Tokyo, took care of business and finished some stuff related to the upcoming trip to Indonesia, worked intensively until 3:30 pm, departed to Haneda airport. Next thing we know come 7 pm, the five of us were already landing in Shin-Chitose airport, 58 km off Sapporo.

My first impression of Hokkaido was the smell. It smelled as if you were walking into a big farm. Strange that I didn't see any cows anywhere, but then realized that we were at one of the largest airports in Japan.

Second impression: the roads were huge, like in midwest US. When the bus from Nippon Rent-A-Car picked us up, we were driving through the darkness (yes it was pitched dark already in Hokkaido at 7 pm).

Third impression: it was chilly. FINALLY! I brought my fleece jacket - I was good. My colleague didn't realize it was going to be somewhat cooler in weather - the city girl that she is - she was shivering and suffered from some hiccups accordingly.

Fourth impression: people in Hokkaido are very friendly and pleasant. They seemed to be very pleasantly surprised once me or my Australian colleague opened our mouth and started speaking in Japanese. They liked to chat, too, and picked up conversation left-right-front-and-back. Very un-Tokyo like.

Fifth impression: the food. Ah... the food was EXCELLENT!!!! We had the best first meal in Sapporo comprising Hokkaido king crab legs, scallops, salmon roe, sea urchin, potato, asparagus, etc. We ate until we felt like exploding. Brilliant food!

First 5 hours in Sapporo had been great. I am looking forward to the coming 2 days.

Must get up early tomorrow morning. I salute you good night!