Otaru This & That

SawanoTsuyu is the name of candy that has been made by a small shop in Otaru since 1911.

The unique characteristic of Swanotsuyu is that it is made by sugar only. No other ingredients and additives are used except for a little flavor of citrus. Therefore, it is neither too sweet nor having a strong aftertaste.

There are many nice sweets from Otaru. Sawanotsuyu is a low-key, but has been a popular candy for such a long time.

The shop is also located　on a modest scale near Sushiya-dori street.

The candy comes in plastic bag and in the can.

Soba or buckwheat noodles are a popular food for lunch in Japan.

There are many Soba restaurants in Otaru, and 一福 (Ichifuku) is one of my favorite　Soba restaurants.

I had a bowl of Soba at Ichifuku after enjoying Seiji Kaneko's exhibition at Otaru Museum of Art last Sunday.

The Soba I chose then was 'Kake', a basic bowl of Soba in the hot soup.

You can tell the quality of a Soba restaurant by eating Kake　or Mori,a cold Soba, as it consists of simplest combination of boiled Soba and soup.

kake is eaten with a little condiment; chopped Japanese leek and red pepper.

I wrote about low-malt beer with chocolate flavor on 21 January. Today, I would like to tell you how it tastes like.

First, I tried 'bitter' one. It was just like a dark beer with a hint of chocolate flavor.

The other one, 'sweet' tastes chocolate more than bitter.　I felt that the taste was somewhat similar to the coffee flavor liqueur 'KAHLUA'.

I love both beer and chocolate, but after all, I prefer to enjoy them individually, not the composition.

However, they are due to be made for a limited time only.

Seiji Kaneko(1914-1994)is a representative woodblock printer of Hokkaido.

He spent most of his life and produced his works in Otaru.

Otaru Aquarium that is usually closed in winter opens temporarily from January 29(Sat.)-February 13(Sun.) coinciding with the dates of Sapporo Snow Festival and Otaru Snow Gleaming Festival.

The performance by seals and dolphins take place at the Dolphin Stadium at 11:00, 13:00, 15:00 respectively, and Penguins' Walk can be seen at the place in front of Dolphin Stadium at 11:30 and 13:30 during the opening period.

You can also see Pelicans' Walk in the Aquarium building at noon and 14:00.

If you are interested in Backyard Tour, you can apply for it at the Aquarium shop on the 1F.

I wrote about a strange drink "CHOCOLATE SPARKLING" on my blog on March 8 last year.

I found another interesting drink named "Chocolat Brewery" yesterday. It is an alcohol drink categorized as low-malt beer in Japan.

The drink is made by collaboration between Sapporo Beer Co., a major beer brewer in Japan and ROYCE', a popular chocolate company in Hokkaido. You might have seen ROYCE' products at many gift shops if you have visited Hokkaido.

There are two kinds for Chocolat Brewery, sweet and bitter.

It was the spell of snowy weather again after my latest blog post about the first sunny day in a while.

We have had an extraordinary heavy snow on the Sea of Japan side in Hokkaido.

I heard that no bus services were available yesterday in Iwamizawa city located　in the distance of 32km from Sapporo.

Heavy snowfall since last week in Otaru has finally let up, and the blue sky came back!

However, it is the second coldest period of the year according to the calendar in Japan, and Otaru's highest daytime temperatures have been -7℃～-8℃ for the past few days.

It is still warmer here comparing the inland areas of Hokkaido.

It has been snowy and sometimes stormy in Otaru since yesterday.

It has been very cold, too.
The weather forecast says that today's highest temperature in Otaru is -8℃.

People are busy with clearing the snow.
Shoveling the snow away is really a hard job for the seniors, but it can be a good exercise for some people who stayed home and kept eating and drinking during the New Year's holiday.

It has been snowing in Otaru since yesterday.

People are a little tired to clear away a lot of snow today.

It is about four thirty, still snowing.

I wonder how much the amount of the snowfall for today will be when it has stopped.