Chocolate Lounge Cafe - Sweetness Overdosed @ Shiroi Koibito Park [Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan]

As i slowly creep into the late 30s, my tolerance for sweet stuff has reduced significantly and i would have likely given the chocolate lounge a miss if not for the one item that caught the attention of both Alex and I.

Hot chocolate; which we had been craving for after having a real good one from a can on our first day in Hokkaido! That explained the happy expression on Alex's face as there's the unmistakable aroma of chocolate floating in the air.

Window seating would always be a good choice if one wishes to relax and chill. For those who are unaware, that's the iconic clock tower of Shiroi Koibito Park. I guess many people might not know what' Shiroi Koibito is as for many Chinese in Singapore; we know it simply as the delicious snack called 白色恋人!

For someone who wasn't initially keen in visiting the headquarters / factory / park, i am glad i did as it's like a real-life version of a happiness-filled 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'.

Chocolate Lounge was said to be famous for its parfaits but i am fixated on having the ishiya original tea set which consisted of a range of signature desserts and two drinks; a good enough portion for the two of us.

Ishiya Original Tea Set - prettiness aside, there's one issue. Alex doesn't have a sweet tooth and those who know him well will know that once he decides a thing is overly sweet, he will presume the rest is the same and stop putting things into his mouth.

Lucky me as that's exactly what happened; he took a bite, condemned it's too sweet and left me to clear up everything! I did manage to persuade him to take the soft serve ice cream as i had a big-sized one less than  an hour before.

Mifuyu and white baumkuchen cake; literally kit kat cookie lookalike and something similar to a circular layered cake. Both failed to impress as their lookalikes (kit kat and layered cake) tasted better.

i-gateau; given my lack of knowledge about cakes and pastries, i can only draw references from what i had before in my life. After a taking a bite, i have an inkling of what it tasted like.

Kueh Bahulu; this Japanese / French version didn't disappoint. Lightly toasted, it was coated with a caramelized, slightly crunchy layer although i personally found the texture a bit too dense.

White Roll Cake; texture was almost like an impossibly soft piece of white bread and i could have forced myself to clean it up if not for the zesty passionfruit aftertaste that didn't seem to gel well with the cake.

I don't know whether there was any miscommunication here as the menu clearly stated we can pick two chocolate drinks but the person taking our order said the chocolate was limited to the felchlin chocolate milk kind. Strange to me as the other four kinds cost the same price if purchased via the ala-carte menu.

Frankly, the chocolate did appear light and Alex almost made a bet with me that it would taste weak! I would have gone ahead with the bet if not for the fact that i still have that little bit of confidence for the chocolate lounge.

Boy was he wrong; shortly after taking a whiff of the hot chocolate, he claimed that it was as if he had sneaked into willy wonka's factory! Texture wise, it wasn't the expected rich and thick hot chocolate type although as a whole, i was 100% pleased with the mild, aromatic smoothness. 

To make the hot chocolate taste better, drip a few drops of the orange liquor that accompanied the cup of hot cocoa. Maybe because i didn't put in enough, i was unable to discern the differences. 

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Location

Chocolate Lounge, Level 4, Chocolate Factory building,

Shiroi Koibito Park, Miyanosawa 2-jo 2-chome, 

Nishi-ku, Sapporo 063-0052, Hokkaido, Japan

Nearest Subway Station

Miyanosawa Subway Station

(Tozai Line)

Website

http://www.shiroikoibitopark.jp/english/

Menu

As above.

Pricing

Ishiya Original Tea Set - 2,376 yen (inclusive of tax). Do note that entrance fee for the factory tour is needed before you can access the chocolate lounge.

For my 8 days, 7 nights Hokkaido itinerary in summer, click here.

The Old Polar Bear Exhibit @ Maruyama Zoo in Sapporo [Hokkaido, Japan]

Honestly, i didn't know that Maruyama Zoo in Sapporo was known to have succeeded in breeding polar bears since 2000 although on a prouder note, our dear Inuka from Singapore Zoo was the first polar bear born in the tropics!  

Even though our beloved Inuka had passed away a month ago at an old age of 37, his spirit lived on. Anyway, coming back to polar bear enclosure at Maruyama Zoo; it was an empty enclosure that greeted us. 

Venture further to the gated enclosure where you might get lucky! At that point, i didn't know that there was a family of polar bears and was just excited to catch the sight of one. 

The metal grilles, while providing protection, was restrictive for photos and i couldn't help marveling how great our Singapore Zoo is; the use of glass enclosures had been there for decades! 

Space was much significantly larger than the Frozen Tundra in Singapore Zoo but we feel that there's too little of the water that Inuka enjoyed so much when he was alive.

Yes, that's the zookeeper washing down the polar bear's diminutive pool; in terms of scale, i guess it's more a bathtub for the largest bear in the world. p.s. guess it takes great guts to enter the lair! What if the polar bear managed to knock down the metal door?! 

Solution: keep it occupied with water and toys! 

Unlike Inuka who had a greenish tinge, the polar bear at Maruyama was in its true white fur form! By the way, the skin of polar bear is black! 

More pictures of the playful polar bear. It's quite sad for me now to write this post as i recalled how playful Inuka was when he was alive and he loved to show off his swimming prowess. Click here and there to read more. 

Was about to end the post by saying you can find the polar bears simply by looking at the crowd congregating there. However, i understand that a "new polar bear exhibit with underwater tunnel" had opened in March 2018 and what i am sharing was simply the old den! 

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Location

Maruyama Zoo, 

Miyagaoka 3 Banchi 1, Chuo-ku, 

064-0959, Hokkaido, Japan

Nearest Subway Station

Maruyama Koen (Exit 3).

Walk about 15 minutes.

Website

http://www.city.sapporo.jp/zoo/info/english1.html

Pricing

Entrance tickets to the zoo apply at 600 yen an adult.

For my 8 days, 7 nights Hokkaido itinerary in summer, click here.

Nijo Market (二条市場, Nijō Ichiba) - Seafood Galore in the Heart of Sapporo [Hokkaido, Japan]

The centralized location of Nijo Market in Sapporo means it's popular with tourists and that often translates into rumors of a tourist trap.

However, i needed to get packs of whole scallop snacks (as ordered by my mom) and its close proximity to Odori Park and Tanukikoji shopping arcade was enough reasons for me to drop by even though the market would be closing in less than two hours' time!

Crowd was pretty thin and some of the stores had already closed for the day. Nevertheless, i remained positive i would be able to get some dried scallops but i am mindful of our Singaporeans' mindset; check out the pricing before making a decision.

Offerings were somewhat comparable to Curb Market (札幌場外市場, Jōgai Ichiba) although the scale of Nijo Market is much smaller and you don't see that many live tanks around.

As we just had a massive indulgence of king crab the day before at curb market, we honestly felt that we have had enough and didn't bother to check out the pricing here.

Yubari melons! Again, our dear Alex was tempted to get one as he couldn't forget the heavenly sweetness of this expensive cantaloupe!

Pulling away wasn't an easy task; thankfully (in a way), we were nearing the end of our inaugural Japan trip and cash was running low.

Like Curb Market, you would find seafood restaurants serving the freshest procedure from the sea! I had intended to try sea urchin before the trip but i guess the intention waned when i was in Hokkaido.

You may check out the above menus for a rough gauge on the pricing.

More on the seafood on sale; even though i had been to Curb Market, i didn't feel confident in comparing the prices between Nijo Market and Curb Market as i am not an expert and i could only determine the quality and freshness by tasting the seafood, instead of just looking at them.

Taking up just one city block, it didn't take us long to run through the entire stretch!

Maybe because we were in a rush and some of the stores were already closed for the day, our visit wasn't particularly memorable. Anyway, i had made my choice on where i should get my mom's scallops.

Now, i couldn't quite remember if i got the 500 gram at 3,000 yen or 1 kilogram at 5,800 yen but these were easily the cheapest i can find in the entire market!

Look out for the store called "伊藤" which was manned by a nice, elderly gentleman with a head of white hair. Frankly, i was all prepared to pay and leave but he insisted of giving me a discount of 200 yen for one pack and 500 yen for two packs

Best of all, he even threw in two handfuls of sweets into my bag of scallop snacks! That's super unnecessary and it's no doubt he absolutely brightened up our last evening in Hokkaido. :)

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Location

Japan, 〒060-0053 Hokkaidō, Sapporo-shi, 

Chūō-ku, Minami 3 Jōhigashi, 1 Chome, 

札幌市中央区南三条東１丁目、二丁目

Location Map

As above (Near Odori Park and end of Tanukikoji shopping arcade) 

For my 8 days, 7 nights Hokkaido itinerary in summer, click here.