As the girls wanted to goto the zoo or crafts museum (whose admission fees are both too expensive for us guys...), we stayed in Asahikawa (旭川) on this day. As the girls went to their desired destinations, the 2 of us guys just rode around town, getting a feel of what the city is like. There is a big, long shopping street leading away from the train station. And most shops are around that area. There is also a nice city park on the north west corner, next to a river that flows through the side of the city. On the other side of the river, farther in the NW direction, the streets feels more uptown, and peaceful. We tried to find the "Romantic Ramen street (浪漫拉麵街)" which our map pointed out around this area. Yet this area seemed too "uptown" to have that kind of thing, doesn't seem to have enough local consumers to support this kind of "compact noodle zone" economy... Until we found it: in a huge Aeon shopping complex. OK, Ramen in a mall, we were no longer interested anymore.Our map also pointed out a camping gear shop (秀岳莊) on the edge of town. As we were running low on cooking gas, we set out to find it. At first we though (will, it's actually me, who misinterpreted the map) it was really "on the edge of town", outside of the surrounding hill of Asahikawa, more close to our camping site. Lazy to climb the hill back again, we took a tunnel through, and found our selves REALLY out of town. OK, not likely to have that kind of shop in this place where no normal guy would come shopping. Another look at the map showed it's on the other side of the tunnel. Sure enough, tracing back, we found it. It's part of the chain of the camping shop that we went to in Sapporo, yet this one is smaller. We still found our gas, though. Next to the register counter, there is a table full of discount goods, labled: "Laughing corner, you will also be laughing while buying these..." (うふふコーナ、あなたもうふふ。) Funny way to hold a clearance.
We soon meet the girls back at the train station for dinner, and went to find one of the famous ramen shops in Asahikawa, as Asahikawa soy sauce ramen (旭川正油ラーメン) is one of the food the city is famous for. Following a food map from the tourist info center, we went to a shop that's on the shopping strip in front of the station. Called Baikouken (梅光軒 本店), it's a shop located underground (B1). You could feel the enthusiasm of the cooks the moment you stepped into the shop, from the strong and energetic "welcome", and how they cook the noodles with pride, and with twinkle in their eyes. Fresh, and slightly chewy (not too soft, not to hard) noodles are standard in Japanese ramen, which we have enjoyed many times thus far. The point here is in the soup, a little sweet, a little salty, with a slight zest of soy sauce. OK, I admit I'm not good at describing flavors. Let me just say the final result is that it's so good that every one drank the soup till every bowl is empty. Also, notably, this is the first time we has ramen that no one said it's too salty. If you happen to have the chance to visit Asahikawa, this is where you must go. By the way, I found out in the end that adding a little black pepper makes the soup a different flavor, and tastes better.
We next followed the same food map to a Japanese snack shop to get some "Dango"(団子), rice balls on a stick with some sweet sauce on top. I forgot the name of the shop. Sakura, Ume (梅, plum) and green tea flavor are my favorite, yet red bean (あん) and sesame (ごま) is also great. But it sure is expansive, trice the price of that in supermarkets. Although you can only find red bean and sesame in supermarket, but I don't think it's worth the price for special flavors.
July 5th: 旭川 << | >> July 7th: 美瑛
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