Sapporo Day Four

My cold is out in full force today! Seeing as it is our last full day I didn’t want to stay in bed even though my body was telling me to.

*We headed out to the former Satoland – a playground of ice and snow just outside the city. One of the main reasons we went was to make our very own snowman. Every year thousands of people make a snowman and attach their own message card. It’s like leaving a little reminder you were there even though you know it will melt away in a few days.

*Dawn is taking full advantage of her first snow adventure; I had to queue with her for an hour so she could go on the snow slides! Yes it was fun but no I would not spend that long queuing again.

*I used to love roast lamb and mint sauce at home but they don’t eat much of it in Japan, except in the north. After getting lost a few times we found the famous Genghis Kahn restaurant. I had not enjoyed the bus ride back from Satoland as it had been crowded and we had to stand all the way so by the time we found the restaurant I was tired, hungry, sick and grumpy.

*Ten minutes later I wanted to kill somebody – Carrie, David and Dawn were being very indecisive and it was driving me mad. I had ordered everyone the simple all-you-can-eat-and-drink package (as it worked out the cheapest) but they had all protested and told the waitress we needed more time. After ten more minutes they called the waitress back over and ordered the all-you-can-eat-and-drink package for everyone! ARGH!!

*After eating lots of delicious lamb and washing it down with a glass of wine or four I was fine! We headed back downtown for a final walk along the sculptures. We actually walked the full 13 blocks and I have all the pictures to prove it. As we finished the last block someone decided it was time for one last snowball fight and it was a big one. Cold and wet we took one last trip to the convenience store for warm drinks and more medicine before heading back to the hotel.

*As depressing as it sounds I knew it was better to start packing tonight than leave it to the next morning. By midnight I was exhausted; my supply of tissues was rapidly declining and I could hardly talk but hey – at least the packing was done!