KFC in Japan Much Nicer?

It's a case quality in Japan. I doubt many people would come all the way to Japan and eat at KFC, but if you ever get sick of eating the local food and need a change, try the chicken at KFC. It taste much better and I put down to the quality of the chicken, they probably change the oil they deep fry it in or maybe even oven bake it. I find that it's less oily, back home the oil virtually drips off the chicken. 

Surprisingly a lot of women eat at KFC, or maybe because all the men are at work during day time. Give it a shot and leave a comment if you think nicer, or maybe it's my imagination....

Ikura (salmon roe) - Susukino

Had a great family meal at a nice izakaiya down at Susukino on the weekend. It was great atmosphere where the waiters were very vocal and great service. Their speciality is serving ikura (salmon roe) on a bowl of rice until you say stop, if you dont stop then they just pile it on. Great fun and very yummy if you like this kind of  food, of course you can also order nice grilled or deep fried stuff but Hokkaido is renown for their fresh seafood saw raw is best.

Suzuran Park - Sapporo

With the weather warming up there plenty of outdoor activities around Sapporo. Whilst most places are more touristy spots, we enjoyed a family day at Suzuran park a more local venue. Suzuran park is almost like a national park, you can catch the subway from Sapporo on Namboku line (green) to Makomanai. From Makomanai (35min) you need to catch a local bus (bus #102 - bus stop #2) for about 30 minutes to the second last stop. 

The area is very local and residential, but gets pretty crowded with traffic on the weekends especially if the weather is nice. You will see from the photos its a childrens haven with all the facilities for the children to play and clean amenities, oh and it only costs like 200 yen. Great outdoor nature environment for the kids and family..

Sakura (cherry blossom) Season - Sapporo

Sakura season is always a bit later in Hokkaido depending on where you are and of course the weather. This year the colder weather has hung around until end of May. Athough there has been pockets of warmish days in between, most locals and maybe some visitors from Tokyo, enjoyed the weekend at various parks.

Early birds get all the nice spots under the best Sakura trees with tarp set up early hours, whilst the rest of the groups will come later in the day with bentos, BBQs, alcohol etc. The day is enjoyed with a lot of food and drinking chatting among friends with some maybe outdoor games.

We headed up to Maruyama Koen (west of Odori park) and packed ourselves some lunch and had a nice picnic. It was very hard with all the nice BBQ smell around while we only had sandwiches, but it tasted extra nice as Chisa our 5 yr old daughter helped prepare them in the morning.

Enjoy the photos and feel free to comment...

Jozankei Sapporo

Jozankei known for its famous hot springs, its only an hour bus ride from Sapporo so its great for a one day trip. However, the best experience is to stay one night and take in the Japanese culture and enjoy the hot springs before and after dinner until late night.

You can get pretty decent packages online which includes accommodation, viking (buffet) dinner and breakfast.

If you time your trip un right season the mountains will be covered with red and yellow leaves.

We had a great trip despite the bad weather. Enjoy the pics feel free to comment....

Sapporo Beer Museum - Hokkaido

Internationally a lot of people recognize Sapporo for it's beer, so a trip to the Sapporo beer museum is quit good, even if you don't like beer.

It's a great day out for the family as its about a 25 min walk east of Sapporo station. There are a couple of nice beer garden grill restaurants and the popular "genghis kan" (lamb on a hot plate).

Of course if the kids get bored there is a big shopping center next door called Ario, it's fairly new and has great entertainment for kids with food courts and restaurants.

Hokkaido - Great Food

Ask anyone from Tokyo or other parts of Japan and they will always tell you that food in Hokkaido is cheap, but it's not just cheap, it's also the quality and freshness of the produce. Renowned for their fresh seafood, dairy and vegetables you know you going to get good value for your money.

We had a great meal last night at this wonderful small izakaiya just a minute north of Sapporo station and it was so yummy. We had these egg rolls stacked up on this wooden stand and the waitress came over and sprinkled all this crab meat on top, it cost only ¥690(AU$7). We also had sashimi which was so fresh, cost only ¥590(AU$6). A common thing we always encounter is we always sit next to patrons from Tokyo also enjoy their meal, all you hear from them throughout the meal is that you would have pay up to 3 times the amount in Tokyo, and not so fresh as it has to come from Hokkaido of course.

So when traveling in Hokkaido remember enjoy the great food and service from the friendly local people.