It was starting to get pretty warm by the time I left the pension house. I spoke with the owner for a while about Hokkaido since I really didn’t know much about it besides the fact that dairy and seafood is really good here. Also, that it’s a good ski resort destination. He told me that in Hokkaido, the seasons change quickly and it's rather short.
Along the way I stopped at a café that was open called Santana for breakfast. It looked like it would belong on the strand at Hermosa nicely with its bar and grill themed decoration. I had an om-rice, omlette with ketchup rice in the middle, along with my now routine morning coffee boost as well. Just as I was leaving the restaurant, I realized that I still had the keys to the pension house I stayed at last night. I had forgotten to give it back to the owner when I checked out this morning. Luckily the lady at restaurant said she’ll hold it for me until he came to pick it up. I called up the guest house I was planning to stay at in Otaru, to reserve a room.
I went on my way and rode the main highway towards the coast, unfortunately it was up and over more hills. It was actually starting to get pretty warm, maybe in the high 70’s. The rivers and creeks were gushing with snowmelt...only if Los Angeles could get some of that! There weren’t any towns for a long stretch so I had to tough it out until I finally arrived to a small roadside restaurant. Most of these roadside restaurants serve the same thing: ramen, udon, soba, curry, or rice bowls. They are run by a family, one doing the cooking while the other serves. This was run by a mom and daughter duo...I was the only one inside. I ordered negi miso ramen and gyoza.
After lunch the road headed downhills finally towards the coast and I could finally see the northern coastline of Hokkaido. Unfortunately, after I rode a little more towards Otaru there was one steady long climb all the way up and over a hill before finally reaching the outskirts of Otaru. The area around Otaru reminds me of San Francisco, very hilly with steep roads. The guest house was up on the hills a bit, so there was another long gradual climb to get there. Since yesterday I’ve been doing a lot of climbing and I was sick of it.
I checked in with the lady at the guest house and cleaned myself up. Then I cooked some spaghetti while I talked to the owner of guest house, a very nice lady with 2 kids. The youngest baby girl was just a year old and very cute. She was really energetic and causing lot of havoc. Her son was much older, talking about wanting to watch Pokemon on TV. We talked for a bit and then I decided that I want to check out this place known for their soft serve ice cream. Apparently they were the first shop to serve soft serve since early 1900’s. Unfortunately, it was closed already when I got there…30 minutes earlier than what it said on the sign. Since I walked this far down the hill I decided to head down to the canal area near the port. The canal area is like the old warehouse district but very trendy with lots of hip restaurants and shops. I walked around for a bit down there and then up the hill again to a MOS burger I found. I ate there and then walked back up the hill to the guest house. It was unusually warm tonight, I didn’t even need my jacket. I stopped at the 7-11 next door to the guest house to get an ice cream before retiring for the night. I got back to the room and pondered about my route ahead, I think I will try to finish before golden week hits to avoid the tourist rush. Then again, I don’t want to extend my trip too much because the lodging and the infinite amount of food I'm consuming is killing me…I just can’t stay within my daily budget.