Hokkaido 2013 13-20 Dec (Day 6-final)

Today is free and easy day. As we were staying at the JR Tower Nikko Hotel Sapporo, we went up to the JR Tower Observation Deck T38 to have a scenic view of Sapporo.

Photo from http://uu-hokkaido.com/

Directly connected to JR Sapporo Station, the observation deck is located on the top floor of JR Tower's tallest building in Hokkaido. 38 floors from the ground and 160m high, the majestic skyline view of Hokkaido spreads out 360 ° in all directions. Address: JR East Tower 6F, kita 5 jo nishi 2 chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo city Hokkaido Japan.

View from up at 38th floor

The children's restroom. So cute

Nice view from men's restroom
(Photo from http://uu-hokkaido.com)

We stayed there for about an hour and then we took a taxi to Mount Moiwa ropeway.

Mount Moiwa (藻岩山, Moiwa-yama) is one of several small, forested mountains southwest of central Sapporo. The mountain is a popular sightseeing spot that is known for the spectacular view out over the city from an observation deck at its summit. The view is especially beautiful after sunset.

The Mount Moiwa Ropeway climbs from the base of the mountain three quarters up the mountain to a transfer station. From there a rather unique mini cablecar travels the rest of the way to the upper station at the summit where there is an observation deck and restaurant with nice views out over the city. The station also houses a planetarium and theater. The ropeway and building complex at the summit were reopened in 2012 after extensive renovations.

The ropeway

The ropeway with an extremely courteous staff greeting everyone

The view on the way up the ropeway

The view on the way up the ropeway

Transferring to a mini "cable car" at the transfer station
(Photo from http://moiwa.sapporo-dc.co.jp/)

The observation deck

The view of Sapporo from Mt Moiwa

The view around Mt Moiwa

The view around Mt Moiwa

A sculpture called Satellite of Lover's Sanctuary

The different mountains you can see from Mt Moiwa

After spending about 2 hours there, we descended and took a taxi back to our hotel to browse around the malls. The malls were really large by Singapore standards and of course we couldn't finish browsing.

For dinner, we went to Kani Honke (かに本家) that serves all crab dishes. It was just short walk across the road from the hotel.

Exterior of the restaurant with a large crab

Menu of Kani Honke

Below are pictures of the food we ordered. Really yummy and fresh.

Appetizer of fish, minced crab and crab pate

Appetizer of shredded crab meat with lemon dressing

Pickled sushi for the kids

Sashimi of crab leg, salmon and cuttlefish

Deep fried crab tempura

Baked crab claws

Crab hotpot

Baked crab

The hotpot was especially yummy. You are supposed to put the crab roe into the soup to make it sweet but we forgot all about it. Rice was added to the leftover soup to make a porridge and we by then the food was nearly up to our throat. I remembered about the roe and added it into the porridge. OMG, I was already so full but I finished every bit of my porridge because it was so so so sweet. Burp. I'm still missing this dish haha.

After the super duper filling dinner, we took a walk around the neighbourhood help digestion. My good friend Blanche, recommended me to look for a cafe, 雪印 Parlor, that serves good vanilla ice cream and so, armed with the address and map she sent me, we went to look for the shop.

It was very cold that night but it was so refreshing. We found the cafe, unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it. However, the pictures of the write-up with address and the map are below. Go look for it.

I must say I'm not a fan of vanilla ice cream, but I must say, this is really good. Must try. Glad we found it. 

This is the last night of my Hokkaido trip and felt so reluctant that it was ending so soon. Hokkaido is really beautiful and a place to see different things each season. Yes, I'll be back. Don't know when, but definitely I will be back!!!