Otaru, Hokkaido Trip (Day 13)

23th May 2019, Thursday

Today, we woke up early and got ready to drive ourselves to Otaru which is quite nearby to Sapporo. We ate maki and strawberries which we bought yesterday before we headed out. It  was about 1 hour drive and we had driven onto route 5 expressway. We stopped at a games store (didn't see any game stores throughout our holidays) and had a toilet break. And, of course to shop around the games stores to see if there are any console games which i could buy back. There are plenty of games for different consoles, anime and movies VCDs/DVDs plus music soundtracks. There are some recent games selling at quite cheap prices as compared to buying in Singapore. I spent quite a long time trying to pick the games to buy and buying for my brother some ps4 games.

PS4 Games

Nintendo Switch Games

After buying the games, we finally left the game store and looked for our lunch. My friend googled a popular seafood restaurant named Aotsuka Shokudo which was located near to the Otaru Aquarium. So we decided to drive there to have some seafood as Otaru is located near the sea too (Seafood must be fresh and good.. ^_^). The restaurant was quite towards the end of the town but it was accessible by car. We parked the car at some empty lot beside the restaurant and went to the restaurant. There was another seafood restaurant beside the one we wanted to go and we got a bit confused as the restaurant's name was in Japanese. We were guessing if which one was the one we were looking. So my friend went and asked some guys standing in front of the second restaurant to confirm the restaurant's name.

Correct Restaurant

There wasn't much customers dining there as it was already 3 plus in the afternoon. Luckily the menu had English translation on it, so we were able to order. Of course, we also asked for recommendation from the staff. She was able to understand slightly and able to recommend us some of their popular dishes. We ordered raw salmon, seafood don, grilled fish and grilled scallops. The seafood was really fresh and yummy and while we were eating, it suddenly to rain heavily. So we took our time to enjoy our yummy lunch. There were a few customers who came to have their lunch too, an elderly couple came and ordered their giant crabs. It looked so great. We were lucky that the rain stopped by the time we had finished our lunch. So we thanked and paid for our lunch and went out for a walk.

Raw Salmon

Seafood Don

Grilled Fish

Grilled Scallops

We walked up a hill behind to see the Hiyoriyama lighthouse above but it was not operational. But from the height we climbed up to, we could see the coast of Otaru port and the sea animals in Otaru Aquarium. There was a house located up the hill when we climbed up but we didn't went in the house to visit as it looked closed and required some entrance fee to enter. However, there were some antique equipment outside the yard.

Antique House

Otaru Aquarium

Coast of Otaru

Hiyoriyama lighthouse

After that, we drove down to the town centre and walked past Otaru Canal. And of course, we walked around the area which passed by some of their historic buildings in Otaru Historic Scenic District. Some of the shops were still in operational since they were built in the 1900s. There were many shops along the street and a lot of goodies to buy, be it snacks, anime stuffs, gifts, chocolate. The famous LeTao shop was also located there and with a mini cafe in it. A lot of people were packed inside the shop to grab their famous cookies to bring home. We are not any exception too, my friend had been thinking to grab their cookies on the whole trip and she was already busy grabbing what she had already planned to buy. For me, i don't know about this brand but still, i bought a box back for sharing too (not cheap leh)...hehee...then we went and kaypo what desserts they are selling in their cafe. I saw they were selling their milk pudding as their limited item and wanted to get one to try. So my friend went and bought an ice-cream and pudding. Their pudding was really smooth and yummy!! i finished it in no time before my friend even knew it (She only managed to have one bite to try...i ate the whole pudding while she was busy talking...hahahaa! We should have bought more back). However, we did bought a slide of their cheesecake and tart back. There was a chocolate shop owned by LeTao opposite the main shop.

Otaru Canal

The Former Takasaburo Natori Store

The Former Motosaburo Kaneko Store

Desserts available in LeTao

Ice-cream & Pudding

Otaru Beer

After that, we walked a bit longer on the alley but we could see there were some shops preparing to close as it was already past 5 pm and their closing hours was at 6 pm. As it was also getting dark soon, we made our way slower to our car. But it was a pity we can't stay long in Otaru, there are still so many food to try and places to see. Next time, we will definitely come back again. With that, we drove back to Sapporo and went back to the hotel to put our goodies. We went back to Meshiba Ookami to take away some chicken wings but this time, the staffs told us they do not allow for take-aways which was so weird. But we did not bother to pursue further, so we just left.

After that, we went to have some sushi at a restaurant (Sai Kaku) instead as recommended by the hotel staff. We ordered a sushi platter with 11 different kinds of sushi as my friend wasn't hungry. The sushi chief saw us trying to cut the sushi into half so that we each can have a bite on the different sushi. He took our plate and helped us to cut each of the sushi into half and passed it back to us. We were taken by surprise that he actually helped us to cut...hahaha. However, the sushi were nice and we thanked the chief for the food. Then, we went to a nearby shopping building mall to see what shops do they have. I was happy when i saw the shops were all selling anime toys, game cards and video games but the shops were closing as it was late. So we decided to come back again tomorrow and headed back to the hotel to rest for the day.

Sai Kaku

Sushi Platter

Places visited:
Aotsuka Shokudo (Address: 3 Chome-210 Shukutsu, Otaru, Hokkaido 047-0047, Japan)
Hiyoriyama Lighthouse
Otaru Canal
Otaru Historic Scenic District
Sai Kaku (Address: Japan, 〒060-0063 Hokkaido, Sapporo, Chuo Ward, 南3条西4丁目 ＴＯＳＨＯ３．４ Ｂ．Ｌ．Ｄ)

Hotel Stayed:
Hotel Vista Sapporo Odori