North Vs South

As many people in the states well know, Thanksgiving will be upon us in a mmater of mere hours. Folks will be travelling and getting together with friends and family as this is thee biggest holiday for people to share with one another.

Things are a little different half a world away. A border skirmish has erupted between the Koreas with people hurt and killed on an island situated between the hemispheric opposites. Kim Jung Il really knows how to push the uttons of the global community. Earlier, his regime had put on display facilities for enriching uranium. They claim its for energy but so much of their resources are used for military ambitions that his line is a bit hard to swallow. Since no one has even raised to any of his antics, including the sinking of a South Korean warship, he probably feels like he is unopposed.

I hope things dont escalate and get out of hand. The US is still very involved in the middle east. Plus, I dont want this to ruin my travel plans for early next year(shakes fist at North Korea)

The Coca Cola Store In Las Vegas-Taste Of The World

A few years back when the store originally opened, friends of mine were able to visit it and remarked how you could freely sample the various beverages that the Coca Cola company had to offer in far and distant lands. These friends told of exotic flavors and taste combinations that were unheard of domestically. Sadly, upon my first visit many years past, that feature of the store no longer existed. In its place was a soda fountain that harkens back to the 60's and 70's when diners were the place to hang out.

Recently, I found myself back in Vegas and back at the store. Aside from the usual offerings, a variation on the worldwide samples was on offer for $7. With this, you get 2 trays of 8 sodas to sample. 16 in total and most at least 4 ounces added up to over 64 ounces of global thirst quenchers. Many of these flavors, though they may sound strange, taste very sweet and not unlike alot of soft drink varieties currently available. One drink of particular note was number 7 on the second tray. Mysteriously labeled as Beverly from Italy, this one made itself known right away. It was not sweet like all the others but a brick wall of bitter that coats your tongue. The only way to get the sensation off your tongue was to either sand paper it off or just cut it off for a faster result. Of course, knowing this dastardly tidbit of knowledge, I espied others as they drank ever closer to the beverage from hell. I delighted in their reactions, the same as mine, to have put something so foul into their mouths.

The samples below have sheets that tell you what where its from. Number 1 starts at the top right and works down to number 4 before number 5 starts at the top left. This holds for both trays

After sampling all 16, I was amazed to see that I had hardly even imbibed half the quantity afforded me. Having hit the sugar wall, I gave up without a complaint and returned the remainder to the counter, defeated.

Sapporo Snow Festival 2006-Third site

At the ever changing third site, there was much more to offer than previously seen. Along with slides and a maze constructed from the surrounding snow and ice, a hot air balloon gave visitors a chance to overlook the area from upon high. On the previous visit, a short train ride was easy access to the military base. At this iteration, it was a bit more complicated was we had to find one of a number of bus stations with special buses that ferry people to the new site. It lookes like 2011 will also be easily accessible by subway.

Feel like a rat in a maze being put through your paces? The building at the far end on the left is one place people could fuel up on warm liquids and hot foods. To the left were blocks of snow that, I assume, were left for local groups to carve in competition with other groups
It seems they always build a slide for the little kiddies to freeze their butts off on while traversing the length of the amusemement. The structure is different each year and usually free as well. Parents wait at the bottom to either retrieve their tykes or get bowled over by them when they have gained excessive speed on their way down.

An ice bar was erected, to provide those who were inclined, a small breather from the goings on. In the background, local sellers had also come out to offer the specialities of the region to those who would partake.
And, of course, there were plenty of opportunities to keep one well fed and warm through various options setup for the event be it food trucks in the crisp open air or local groups raising funds by selling food inside the large hall. An item that friends had picked up before was a bag of dried corn useful for pouring into soup stock and other applications

Sapporo Snow Festival 2006-Susukino

Susukino is the downtown area of Sapporo thats within a close walking distance to Odori Park. At the entrance to the second of three areas of the festival is a gate made with blocks of ice encasing several types of seafood. I am assuming that these are products of the local area. This stretches for several blocks and is open only to pedestrian foot traffic during the festivals run.

Being the downtown area, there are a number of shops and restaurants. At a few crab restaurants in Japan, they want you to know that they serve crab by placing a huge replica outside their entrance. Some places animate said gigantor crustacean by having the legs and claws move further attracting attention.

Sapporo has a certain style of miso ramen made with the opaque tonkotsu broth. This is a milky white broth made from boing pork and sometimes chicken bones for hours. Then miso is added to enhance the flavors. In this same area, Ramen Alley caters to those wishing for a nice steaming bowl of soup and noodles. And, maybe a side order of gyoza and fried rice as well.

The narrow passageway is further constrict by lines outside of the restaurants that line this pathway between city blocks. Another favorite of the area is the butter corn ramen. Admittedly, it sounded wierd to me at first but we are all accustomed to having butter on an ear of corn. Butter is another specialty of the region as well as other diary products. Back to the butter corn ramen, it is quite tasty and the little pockets of sweetness from the corn cuts the heaviness of the butter.

The main attraction are the creations carved from stacked blocks of ice. Some are small pieces approximately 1 meter(3 ft) wide by 2 meters(6 ft) high. the more impressive displays tend to be longer and somewhat higher, but not higher by much.

During this years event, Baileys had set a up bar where you can purhcase various drinks that contain their Irish creme product. Very comforting is the Bailey's coffee. A steaming cup of coffee augmented by their silky concoction thats more viscous than normal cream. Our stay in 2011 will be at the Toyoko Inn location thats footsteps from here.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame...NOT!!

At 11am today, the San Francisco Giants will be paraded and feted through downtown in celebration of their World Series win in Texas on Monday. They had to take it in game 5 as they had dropped game 3. Game 3 was the home opener for the Rangers. I am happy for the Giants but Im a bit bummed too.

I was gifted a ticket to the 6th game of the series. This would have been the first game back home after the 3-game stand away. I had been to one Giants game during their Candlestick days. I even went to one Giants game at AT&T Park, back when it was called Pac Bell?? or SBC?? Anyway, though I am not a big baseball fan, I was excited at the opportunity to experience the pinnacle the sport had to offer. I had never been to any championship game/series for any sport. My sports of choice are more football and basketball. I was truly thankful and did not wish ill will on the home team but I wanted them to drop enough games so I could see this thing through. The first 2 games past with them taking the early lead. As they headed to Texas, I thought things might change in the Ranger's favor with homefield advantage. Slight joy and glee on my part as a glimmer of hope for game 6 shone as I was 1 game closer. Alas, the orange and black steamrolled the next two games and the rest is history.

Sapporo Snow Festival 2006-Odori

It was coincidence at first that our second trip was 5 years after our first. Now, its become a regular schedule as the third trip is in 2011 and a possible fourth trip will occur in 2016. By 2006, my travel equipment has been upgraded to include a laptop and digital camera. Thus, making it much easier to post pictures for all to see and much faster as well. For now, I can upload images at the end of the day to those who like to follow along with me on my adventures. This second outing to this familiar locale has us residing at one of two Toyoko Inn locations in the Susukino area. This one is a bit further out than the one located right in the downtown area. However, it did not pose much of an inconvenience. This was our first stay in this chain of business hotels. We had already planned the trip but unable to secure accommodations in Sapporo. While reading through the travel section of the hometown sunday paper, I espied a letter written by a traveller who recommended this franchise. Since the location was good and there was availability, we booked our rooms. Since we were in the Susukino area, there were a number of restaurants and stores within walking distance. The sculptures carved from blocks of ice were an everyday sight that we would walk past during sightseeing. Being known for their seafood and crab, eating establishements that cater to these needs were many and not very hard to spot. They are also known for their style of ramen which uses miso in their broth. There is an alley nearby where ramen shops line either side of the narrow passage ways. We had a full on crab buffet that cost 5000 yen, around $40 at that time. Along with sushi, soup, and side dishes, it was all you can eat king, snow, and hairy crab.


Crab is readily available during this festive time. At the main drag, Odori Park, crab sellers are hawking their wares at the base of the TV tower that anchors one end of the sttrip. They offer samples of crab broth to entice buyers. The briney smell of crab being boiled to death wafts throughout the one square block they have set up at.

This was inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia if my memory serves me right

This is a depiction of a scene from the stop-motion animated feature The WereRabbit starring Wallace and Grommet