Hodate -> Onuma -> Sapporo

From Hakodate there aren't many trains that take you to Sapporo so next stop was Onuma.

In Onuma there wasn't anything happening the man manning the station quickly said that there is a convince store and nothing else and we were welcome to hang about near the old school indoor boiler. 

I asked to borrow some umbrellas to explore the rainy city. Quickly a wild dinosaur appeared, if you know me this already makes me a happy girl. Time to climb it :) then we crossed the train tacks to take a peak at the lake that resided in this little town. An hour later it was finally time to board the train again. I like Onuma, the smell of bonfire nestled perfectly with gentle rainfall and open spaces reminded me of home. 

Seriously who just leaves a dinosaur alone in the rain all by himself?

Bare branch trees dripping in foggy rain in the brisk weather. I have stated time and time again that I love rain, it always makes me feel like everything negative is being washed away.     

Hakodate Food

Thee famous food here is squid, sashimi ika where they happily serve you one on a plate whilst it is still moving. I was wrong when I previously stated that wankosoba was intimidating. This had me stunned and squirming in my seat, the head was detached and most of all the tentacles still thriving in the normal life like way. The skin changed colours as time passed and my mind couldn't shake the humanity of it all, though when in Rome.

In the morning we headed to the fish market which was chalk full of crabs かに  being the most famous or should I say well known in Hokkaido. We ended up having a keisen don (sashimi rice bowls) for breakfast while wandering by more than enough live produce to make one appreciate sea life.

Though as I walked through this chilly place I had a momentary lapse to tsukiji in Tokyo where I had honestly believed that the ocean would be fished emptied in less than a year by the Japanese alone. 

After that, we ventured to the rope bridge. I had a suspicion that it would be closed due to the rainy and windy weather. It was. 

Well looks like next stop is Sapporo. 

Morioka -> Odate -> Hakodate

After a pretty anti climatic vegetarian breakfast it was time to brace ourselves for another full day of travel. I'm pretty good at taking local trains now since this is the like 1/4 of what you do when you live and work around Japan. I have been granted the time and money to see a lot of this country and I can't imagine that this part of the journey would be so bad until...we arrived at Morioka station for out outbound journey.  

From there one the lovely staff told us a roundabout way to Aomiri which would take more than 9 hours. The other route is paying ¥7500/each for an hour ride in the Shinkansen. 

Or we could pay ¥650 to the JR transfer point. In the end for the sake of money we went with this option. 

The mountain ranges were more than pleasant scenery. Today weather is lovely, sun shining and as we move more North we start to see the trees turning green awaiting soring as much as the south did a couple weeks ago.

A short nap later, I awoke and there was snow! Who would have guessed that Jenny would chase winter >.<

Having an hour to waste in Odate it was time to wander. here I learned the true meaning of inaka (countryside) we aimed towards the river but as we walked everything was closed even though it's lunch time on a Saturday. Where are all the people? Did the sidewalk just turn into a road? This intersection doesn't have any traffic lights...

Back on the train. 

Aomori was more desolate than I thought, the walk from the station in the middle of the sunny afternoon showed little signs of life. We didn't even cross paths with many department stores. Over a large bridge to the ferry port. 

The port itself looked uninhabited by tourists leaving me to believe that we had reached the wrong ferry terminal. The traffic pulling in was mostly semis trucks and family cars I didn't think that pedestrians were able to board. I became skeptic but we were in the right place. Phew. 

From there we bought a ticket to Hakodate. ¥2220 and an unnecessary courtesy bus which I presume is only meant for shuttling people with an abundance of luggage. The passengers were far and few between, like a dozen or so. 3.4 hours later we finally arrived. I'll let the video explain the boat atmosphere. 

Lastly, Hakodate had such an industrial vibe to it, even combinis weren't frequent. Leaving the underlying effect that I had left Japan entirely. 

Wanko Soba

I have been looking forward to this since I found out that Morioka had this thing called わんこそば, soba served in bite size wooden bowls until you're full. 

We all know that all you can eat establishments are scattered all across Japan since Japanese people love the fact that they can eat until satisfied and be able to leave a little bit of good behind on the table. This also rings true when it comes to alcohol especially sake, though the end results are quite the opposite. 

After arriving in Morioka I found two chains that serve Wankosoba. The one we went to was Azumaya which has a couple locations one being next to the station. 

(FYI: Wan = bowl ko=sounds cute soba 'buckwheat' =type of noodles) 

Since in the Nambu region it's quite mountainous making it hard to grow grains the people here adapted by making noodles. They made it a tradition to keep serving you food until you say 'matta' and even then keep serving you more. 

Served with side dishes, specifically shaved radish and mushrooms, raw tuna (sashimi) and shredded chicken. Soon it turned into a game/contest of how many bowls one could eat, it became popular among tourists. Which brings us to today :P

When we showed up at the restaurant we were given a traditional soba eating apron (that's right they exist) and settled on the normal set. ¥2700, this way you count your own bowls 3 bowls = 1 toothpick. 

(sorry I used the cheesy song for all the videos on this trip, they should really give me more options. Or you can watch all of them when I make an even cheeser after-movie ha ha) 

Although, you had the option to pay ¥3700 where you would get to stack the bowls on your table instead of them being sent back to the kitchen and of course photos of your soba success. 

This was the most intimidating meal I have ever experienced. I was nervous making me less hungry and even my hands weren't so steady when we started. You were unable to take long breaks and it had to be more or less a consistent waterfall of noodle refills. 

Goodbye Morioka and 48 bowls of soba, oh last but not least a lovely public indoor onsen :) 

I the average woman can eat 30-40 bowls and the average man is 50-60...

Sendai -> Ichinoseki -> Morioka

Sendai's specialty is Gyutan 牛たん (beef tongue) you can eat it with rice like a teshoku, in ramen and I am sure many other ways. I had it in a bowl of (jaja mein) good old Chinese style noodles, though it was far to heavy for brunch. (I should have known better) 

We didn't really explore Sendai much but I can mention the area we were staying at was between the shopping district and what seemed like a fair amount of host clubs and love hotels. It reminded me a less crowded version of kabukicho, which isn't so bad since it isn't new to me.

I figured for someone who was entirely new to this would turn their gaze away from the girls for hire and the billboards with an abundance of girls and prices deals. 

Now, the initial plan for today was to visit the cat island off the coast of Ishinomaki but we quickly realized that the frequency of the ferries out there are quite limited. Apparently departing at 8am,1pm and 3:40pm. Sadly the last return boat is at 3pm. We sadly already missed the opportunity to catch the one at 1pm, it was decided for us that our chance to visit this place has passed. 

Damn lack of planning, hindsight you win this time. 

Now we will go directly to Morioka, the weather report states that it is going to be raining but I think we should be fine to explore the city at least little bit. Our estimated time of arrival is now 3pm, even though we left this morning at about 10:30am. Taking local trains sure has shown its downside, however I am enjoying my book and will be able to write thorough blog posts. (My best ones are always when I have long commutes, I find it easy to think) 

Arriving at Ichinoseki the next train out to Morioka was an hour later. If we were taking the Shinkansen it would have been quick, also the trains seem to come at 15 minute intervals. 

From there a short walk was needed to stretch our legs. Since we have nothing else to do with out time off to the local river...

I buffered this photograph with high filters to take away the countryside gloom it held as grey skies wish to commence raining. 

The best part of this place was the library which has an old train parked out front, a very fitting moment in this journey. 

This train is dedicated to Tsukuru Tazaki, yes I am well aware a library is not a train station. 

Rainy Morioka....it time for wankosoba!!