October 11 - Otaru

Visited Otaru located on the West coast of Hokkaido and not far from Sapporo.
Once a herring-fishing town and the financial center of Hokkaido.
Now its main business is tourism and it still has small port with fishing boats, similar to our Steveston's Village but larger.
It's advertised as a historic and romantic city.


About 20mins ride on the local train from Sapporo to Otaru.


Boarded the train from Sapporo station which is also a shopping mall.


Local train.
As this train belongs to Japan Rail, my 21-day unlimited ride pass is covered.


Famous Otaru canal.
Former warehouses on the right which used to store caught herrings.
Now they're restaurants and souvenir shops.
In the evening, this area is lid up which gives it a romantic ambiance.


Although it looks sunny, it actually was raining briefly.
As it was windy, the rain was blown into the area.


Had lunch in one of those converted warehouses.
Meal costs around CAD16.
Looks nice and yummy but the meal is light.
Snacked on other things around the area later.


A souvenir shop selling mostly items made of glass.






Rice crackers store.


Various kinds of rice crackers.


Here is Otaru Orgel Emporium selling musical boxes.
Right in front of it is a steam clock which was made by the same person who made our Gastown's steam clock.
There's a plaque at the base of the clock that mentioned the maker and Vancouver.
I'm so proud now.


Here's the steam clock.
Too bad one of its whistle was defective so the chimes were out of tune.


Mr and Mrs Neko (cat in Japanese).


Neko family.


Colorful Japanese carbonated drinks.


Grocery store selling vegetables, fruits and seafood.


Grilled scallop selling for around CAD1.


Grilling scallops and conchs.
Grilled conch costs around CAD6.


My grilled scallop. Yummy!


Glass wind chimes.



Souvenir shop selling glass things.


Cake shop.


Cute Halloween pumpkins.


Chocolate store and the lady standing there giving out samples.
Notice at the side of the cliff, those wooden overhangs are for trapping snow.
Snow season starts next month but the temperature in the day around this area and Sapporo has been hovering just above 20C.


Below the clock tower is a chocolate factory and a restaurant.


A converted storehouse. Now a patisserie.


Otaru is famous for making glass objects like figurines, cups, jewelleries, etc.


Cute glass figurines.


Colorful pendants.
They're not cheap and can cost anywhere from CAD5 to 50 or more depending on how intricate they are.


For around CAD5, one can have tea in Hello Kitty's mug and take it home afterward.


A musical toy.


One can ride around a few blocks on this horse-drawn carriage.
Notice the carriage has many bicycle wheels.


Or one can ride on this rickshaw.
The runners look very fit and they don't look tired at all.


This shop sells ball-shaped yakitori with various fillings.
They're similar to takoyaki but instead of filling them with octopus bits, they fill them with fruits and other things.