Sapporo Beer Hall
We were feeling rather bleary eyed after the 12 hour journey so in an effort to stay awake we chose one of the more lively places in town to grab a couple of beers and a bite to eat, the Lion beer hall. This is the flagship of the Sapporo brewery and is a German style beer hall complete with a Mosaic behind the bar, dark wood paneling and cozy lighting.
We queued briefly outside as the place was bustling with locals, I couldn’t see any other foreigners though. Once inside we were shown to our table. There was a rather chaotic atmosphere as waiters rushed back and forth shouting at each other and delivering giant tankards of beer and steaming plates of food to tables. Ordering didn’t turn out to be difficult at all. As seems to be the norm here the window was complete with intricate plastic models of all the dishes served and the menu had an attempt at an english translation (well I say that but they managed to make some of the dishes sound pretty unappetizing…..like the Mexican noodles with chorizo salt flavour). As a tourist all is expected of you is to point to the picture of what you want and indicate how many you want…..easy! My next challenge was to eat the noodles we ordered with chopsticks without looking like a complete idiot and depositing most of it on the table…..I have been in training for the last month or so but I am sad to say my technique still leaves a lot to be desired. Whilst sipping at my lager I look around at the locals and see to my relief that a good amount of slurping and shoveling seems to be an acceptable technique. When the food arrived it was delicious and we polished it off quickly. After another beer we decide that we can’t manage to stay awake much longer, David’s eyes look as big as saucers and I think he might actually fall asleep and drown if he orders another beer. We pay up and wander back to hotel, only momentarily distracted by the corner shop where we buy a haagan dazs icecream for dessert. Then it is off to bed for a well deserved night sleep!
