北海道自転車旅行：Jul, 1st: Preperation

This is the day that we look around Sapporo and see if there is anything we need to buy before getting on the road. We went to look for supermarkets, drugstores and 100\ stores to get all our stuff. We went to the area around Otori part (大通公園), and a political party (公明党) has a election campaign car going around town, broadcasting all sorts of stuff about the party. We didn't understand much of the content, just the party of the name...bla, bla, bla...; and their people are ...bla, bla, bla...(公明党は..., 公明党の人は). We thought it was fun, and read along, 公明党は..., 公明党は.... Then, as we were walking in the park, an old lady asked us: "How much do you know about politics?" We answered: "Nothing, we're not Japanese." Then she muttered sarcasticly: "公明党万歳、公明党万歳！" (Long live koume party!)

We also went to the big clock(時計台), which was previously a part of the agricultural school that would come to be Hokkaido university. It was a beautiful old European style mansion with a clock on a tower. It is now a historical exibition place, with tickets so high in price that we considered it not worth it. So we didn't go in.

We also went to the Sapporo beer garden, which is an old beer factory turned museum, built beautifuly of brick. They also have a little garden of wheat and a pile of wooden beer barrels out side to add to the feeling. There is an exibition of how beer is brewed, with cute little models of the procedures, step by step; and even wheat samples to taste. Although the admission is free, with beautiful tasting bars and the aroma of beer, you just can't help but buy a cup of beer. Sapporo beer is thick and sweet, yet I prefer the light flaver of Asahi. The beer also comes with a snack of choice: cheese, onion cheese, or
buscuits.

We meet friends from the Hokkaido university cycling club in the afternoon, who so kindly lent us 2 tents of great quality. They also took us around town looking for stuff we didn't know where to find, such as fuel for cooking while camping. I also got a "bear bell", to keep bears away in the mountains. One important advice they gave us is that riding on the road or sidewalk are both OK.

This night, we went to the train station to get our 4th member, who came one day late, and took a train from the airport. With yesterday's experiance, we got her bike assembled in no time.

We went to Ramen alley, which our british room mate recomendened. Although in downtown, and clearly marked on the map, it's really hard to find. Yet, once we found the enterence, we saw a large panal of all shops in the alley, complete with photos of the most popular ramen and a taste meter(thick/clear or salty soop) of each shop. Yet, many shops are on vacation or closed, others packed. We ended up choosing the shop that has the least people, yet not empty.

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