the cold bitter north

I heard it's snowing again in Sapporo, and though I started to write something about spring sidling in, here we are under another bout of sleet and other shittiness.

We went to our sister city a few weeks ago in time for the beginning of the festival, and spent some quality time dallying in kissaten, and bonding with snow, ice, crampons, hokkairo, hot beverages, and, most importantly, parfaits.

Penguin was, sadly, closed, so we had to hit up another spot recommended by my friend Prince. We traipsed around in flurries for a good long while, enlisting the help of a friendly koban policeman, and passed it twice before finally finding this spot, unassuming in the middle of a quiet block. Look for the pie-cake block letters on pressed aluminum, as the shop's name, People Peape, doesn't stand out. Cozy, grotty, indie, spectacular.

We went to Otaru on Sarah's recommendation, and while it was a pretty place, I think the best part may have been the algae boner photo op.

Though the music box emporium, recommended by Ben, was pretty magical. I love that this entire place is dedicated to increasingly esoteric analog technology. It reminded me of one of my favorite places, the Museé Mecanique in San Francisco.

We also stumbled on this cool café with Sarah, Sophia, and Nomu while freezing our booties off in downtown Sapps: The Cinema Café. It's underground (B1F!), with woody booths and lots of movie posters and trailers projected onto the wall. I don't know if they ever show full length movies, but it was a chill hangout. 

Sapporo, you do not disappoint. Though your weather is frigid, your people are hip and friendly and I really enjoy visiting. I hear Hokkaido is beautiful in the summer and I promise to visit in warmer weather, someday.

yesterday

with B at Lion
(apologies for my crappy photoshop skillz. i don't get how you can scan something on the same machine, on the same setting, within one minute of the other, and get two different shades like this. pros?)

meow baby

When you think of Shimokitazawa, you think of hipsters, right?

Hipsters and music clubs and funky shops and vintage clothing. And cat cafés.

Oh, you don't? My bad. Well, Jen suggested that we check one out, so one sunny day, we did. JB's sister came out too, and Beth joined us. Oh yeah, and she already wrote about it. Look at us, bunch of lazy ass bloggers.

The Cateriam is open from 10 to 9, closed Mondays.

It's 1,000 yen for an hour and a drink; they also provide toys and cat munchies to help you interact with the kitties. There are about ten cats in residence, and some of them even have their own mixi pages.