Chapter 251 – #60_Hokkaido(2)
#252
One.
Traveling requires some preparation.
In particular, this trip should be the most special trip in Eugene’s life his.
So, the destination we decided on was Hokkaido.
The scheduled itinerary is 4 nights and 5 days.
Since the land is so large, it is not possible to look around all of it, so I planned to visit only Sapporo and Otaru, which are close to the airport.
There were many reasons why she went to Japan, but it was because she was greedy for mixed bathing in a snowy hot spring.
So it took about a day to prepare.
The first thing to do is to savvyly collect information on travel destinations by browsing cafes and blogs.
The second is to memorize the boilerplate and words to be used in the local area.
It was not difficult for Yoo-chan, who could recite even the dinner menu she ate a month ago.
In particular, perhaps because of the similarities between Japanese and Korean, Yuchan was able to memorize much more than expected.
You don’t have to be very skillful anyway.
All you have to do is catch a few words from the other person’s words and infer them.
So, I arrived at Incheon Airport with Eugene in the early evening.
After exchanging money to catch a flight to New Chitose Airport, which departs in 30 minutes, Yuchan pointed to a nearby sandwich booth and asked.
“Do you want something to eat?”
“No, it’s fine.”
Next to her is Eugene, dressed up in flowers.
She said it was okay to just dress comfortably, but I delayed 30 minutes trying to put something on her face her so hard.
It is a mystery that, from Yuchan’s point of view, not much has changed.
Lee Yu-jin checked out of the hotel she was staying at and packed her personal belongings to her.
Yu-chan stopped him from dragging three suitcases, as if he were going to move, and Yu-chan packed them together.
Yujin’s remaining luggage will be temporarily stored in Yoochan’s officetel.
It was annoying and cumbersome for her to come and go twice, but Lee Yu-jin hansako refused to set foot in her penthouse where she originally lived, so she couldn’t help it.
When she arrives at the airport, she feels oddly happy.
Is it because of the expectation of her that after a while she will leave for an unknown world?
Eugene would strongly agree with this statement.
She looks around restlessly, dragging her carrier around and following Yu-chan.
“Are you missing anything?”
“If there is, you can go and buy it.”
Eugene put his hand on her waist and let out an ahem.
She speaks confidently, but due to Lee Yu-jin’s personality of her, she must have left out one thing.
Besides, it is hard to expect that she, who was excited about going on a trip alone with her teacher her, thoroughly packed her things her.
It’s not that she’s short of money, so she’ll just buy it as she says.
Eugene and Yuchan climb into the business class seats without visiting the duty free shop.
Eugene, who had a habit of always sleeping late and waking up late, yawned and was tired.
“If you’re tired, close your eyes. It takes about three hours.”
“No, it’s fun when the plane takes off. I’ll wait for that.”
“Have you ever been to Hokkaido?”
“No, I’ve been to Osaka, Tokyo, and Fukuoka with my mom, but Hokkaido is the first time.”
Lee Yu-jin added that even when she was in high school, she went abroad two or three times every vacation.
Lee Yu-jin, who chattered for a while, seemed to give up after hearing her captain’s announcement that she had a delayed departure due to operational problems.
She soon fell asleep as she leaned her head on Yu-chan’s shoulder.
It is lovely to hold Yuchan’s sleeve tight even while sleeping.
Yoo-chan, who arranged her hair her once, also took a short break.
2.
She seemed to have closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them, but they were already there.
Yoo-chan woke up to the vibration and noise of the plane landing, but Lee Yu-jin was still lost in her dreamland.
“Wake up, Eugene.”
After lightly shaking her shoulder, Yujin squeezed Yuchan’s sleeve and opened her eyes.
Her eyes were rabbit eyes because she had just woken up.
“Bur, are you here already? Did you drool?”
Eugene, who put on her puzzled expression and wiped her mouth with her sleeve, was quite cute, so she teased her a little.
“Yes, it was a flood, a flood. I cleaned it all up.”
“Really? Hey~ Don’t lie.”
Seeing Yoo-chan’s smiling face and realizing that it was her prank her, Yoo-jin throws her gaze out the window at her.
It was snowing very lightly from the sky overgrown with gray clouds.
“I will spend my first snow overseas this year. Ah, is this the life of a successful business woman?”
“Rise up quickly. We’re the last ones to get off.”
Suddenly, I pulled Yujin Lee, who was holding form by crossing his legs her, pulling her wrist to stand up, and took out the bag from the storage compartment and tied it.
I put most of my luggage in the suitcase, but today’s clothes and cash are all in this.
“Have a happy trip.”
After being greeted by a polite flight attendant, Yoo-chan took a deep breath as he came out to the airport.
It didn’t mean much, and it was something Yu-chan did every time he went abroad.
“You’re stuffy inside? What are you doing?”
Watching Yoo-chan exhale unusually, Yu-jin asks with curious eyes.
“The air smells different when you go abroad. The best time to feel this is when you breathe right after getting off the plane. Try it too.”
“Wow, really? I never thought about it!”
Yoo-jin stands side by side with Yu-chan, flapping her arms and taking a deep breath.
Looking at it like this, they look like an idiot, but they look like a happy couple.
Well, I don’t know what the actual situation is.
“The air really smells different! Should I say it’s a bit salty? Wow, you’ve been traveling a lot.”
“It’s not like that.”
Looking at Eugene, who shows her admiration with just this amount of action, is like listening to her daughter’s blind praise for her father.
Anyway, I didn’t want to delay any longer.
The current time is 7 o’clock.
Today’s schedule is like this.
Take the liner and move to downtown Sapporo.
After taking a quick look around Susukino Street, which is a specialty of Sapporo, get a car from the rental car company you reserved and move to your lodging in Jozankei Onsen Village.
Originally, it was a schedule that I wanted to be tight, but the flight was delayed for more than 40 minutes out of nowhere, so it became a little tighter.
On the way out after packing my suitcase, I saw a large Lloyd’s Chocolate World.
Yujin, who likes sweet things, can’t just pass by.
“Wow! Sir, I really like Royce’s chocolate potato chips. Are you locked up for watching?”
“Okay, buy a bunch and I’ll buy them for you.”
Like a sparrow that found a mill, Eugene ran to the mill and screamed with happiness as she saw the chocolates on the shelves.
In addition, as it is not just a store but a propaganda store, you can directly observe the patissier making chocolate through the glass wall.
Eugene gulped down her saliva at the sweet scent of chocolate and started putting everything she liked into the shopping cart.
I didn’t even eat dinner properly, but I’m on an empty stomach. Will something like that go over?
It was incomprehensible to Yu-chan, who doesn’t enjoy desserts and who gets sick from eating sweets on an empty stomach.
“It’s super cheap. It looks like it’s almost half the price.”
“Because there is a tariff. Royce chocolate is a Hokkaido brand.”
“Eh? That’s ridiculous.”
It is easy to misunderstand that it was founded in Europe because of its name and logo, but it is the result of Japan’s unique envy of Europe and Western countries, and it is definitely an original Hokkaido brand.
Although he explained it to the best of his ability, Eugene didn’t seem to be very interested in the example of Royce’s chocolate.
Without asking any questions, he took 5 bags of chocolate potato chips, which he sang, as well as raw chocolate in plate form, matcha chocolate, and chocolate advertised as a limited sale in Hokkaido.
By the way, it was written that Hokkaido limited edition chocolate was corn flavored, but I was about to tell you about it, but I stopped.
I take Eugene’s shopping cart and head to the checkout.
“21000 yen desu.”
“Hmm…”
200,000 won wasted on chocolate.
Unexpected expenses arose.
Even if Yu-chan’s dessert spending for a year was combined, it wouldn’t come out better than this.
“Is this for presentation?”
The clerk asks Yoo-chan with a smile on his face as he withdraws cash from his wallet.
There is a saying that Japanese people are kind, but when I see the clerk who speaks softly with a friendly tone, I can understand why such a word is floating around.
“Iye, it’s for your own use.”
“Hai, arigatougozaimasu.
Yoo-jin seems surprised to see Yu-chan, who manages to exchange words even though it is a normal conversation.
I look up at Yoo-chan with round eyes.
Yu-jin approaches Yu-chan with a curious look in her eyes as she turns around holding a paper bag.
“What did you say?”
“Eugene is pretty.”
“Really? Arigato Gozaimasu~”
In fact, she declined to ask if she wanted to wrap her presents, but Eugene seemed satisfied that her own beauty could be used in Japan as well.
She dragged Eugene, who nodded at the clerk, who looked puzzled at the situation, and moved to the liner platform.
3.
It would be best to drop off your luggage and travel, but the lodging Yoo-chan booked was about 30 km southwest of the city.
It means that it will be too late to put it down and go back to town.
Therefore, Yu-chan dragged the suitcase to Yu-jin’s share her and took the bag.
Eugene cherished the paper bag full of Royce chocolates.
It took 40 minutes to get from New Chitose Airport to JR Sapporo Station.
As she leaves the station, she finally starts to realize that she has come to Japan in earnest.
Perhaps it was time for work, the station was crowded with citizens leaving work.
Hokkaido, where the humid sea breeze blows from the Sea of Okhotsk, boasts tremendous rainfall even when the weather is not cold.
Snow falling from November does not seem to be a special scene here.
However, the harmony of falling snowflakes and the neon sign in front of the station was enough to excite Eugene.
“A photo, I have to take a photo!”
A selfie wrapped around the shoulders of Yujin, who is running around and making a fuss.
I caught a passer-by and asked for a cut with the train station in the background.
“Because it shouldn’t be too late. Let’s move.”
“Yes, sir. Please give me one of my luggage now. Teacher, it’s hard.”
“Hold the chocolate. Don’t drop it.”
Yu-chan, who had known the route beforehand, took the southern exit.
Passing by Daimaru Department Store and the towering JR Tower surrounded by colorful neon lights, we headed towards Susukino.
If Osaka has Dotonbori and Tokyo has Shinjuku, Sapporo has Susukino.
Of course, there is a difference in scale, but it is a bustling entertainment district.
It was snowing continuously, and I didn’t want to delay too much because I didn’t know when it would rain more.
Compared to domestic travel, foreign landscapes are mysterious.
In modern society, even though the characteristics of traditional architectural styles have been destroyed and standardized as reinforced concrete buildings, the unique landscape of a country or region is bound to be distinguished.
For example…
Eugene, who was looking around with a few snowflakes on her head, suddenly pointed her finger at them.
“Wow! Sir! Look at that!”
What Eugene looked at curiously was a streetcar moving slowly on the rails on the road.
In Korea, automobiles are progressing and streetcars are completely abandoned, so it is an object that can only be seen in dramas set during the Japanese colonial period.
Are streetcars really useful in Hokkaido, where there is already a lot of snow? I had a question about it, but I can feel quite a retro sensibility from the tram running on rails in the sophisticated city lights.
Well, if it’s a tourist factor, it’s a tourist factor.
As I kept going straight, it wasn’t long before a wide park appeared on both sides.
Odori Park is famous in Sapporo, but I don’t have time to look around the park right now, so I’m going straight.
“Oh, there’s a Starbucks here too. Wow! There’s a KFC too!”
“He said he often traveled abroad.”
“Nevertheless! It’s amazing every time I see it!”
“Yes, yes.”
Eugene spits out admiration whenever a franchise he knows comes out.
In less than 5 minutes, a huge shopping street appeared that crossed the straight path.
Tanukikoji Arcade is the oldest arcade in Hokkaido.
Perhaps because of the heavy snow or rain, the shopping street with a dome-shaped roof is 900m long and has over 200 stores, so even to Eugene, who doesn’t know anything about it, the place looks exciting.
The inside is full of people, and a rustic Japanese song is playing through the store speakers.
“Sir, can’t we go and look around here?”
“Today, I’ll unpack and rest first. I’ll be back tomorrow, so see you then.”
“Huh~ I want to see you.”
“Let’s hurry up a little bit because we can’t be late. You have to eat.”
“Yes.”
Yoo-jin also seems uncomfortable with Yoo-chan shouldering the burden alone.
Without further insistence, he nodded his head obediently.
Although Yu-chan had traveled to Japan before, the city of Japan seemed to be more attractive at night.
Is it because even signboards and letter shapes that look tacky during the day are worth looking at when covered in neon lighting?
Soon after, it became a specialty of Susukino.
A NIKKA sign announcing the beginning of the downtown area greeted Yuchan and Yujin.
