fall and winter coresiding together

the sky dumped A LOT of rain yesterday and it almost seemed to have lasted forever, though it only rained for about 9 hours.

i think i’m totally jet lagged unfortunately. i somehow kept waking up and finally gave up on sleeping at 5am.

my mom and i decided to venture out of the house in search of uniqlo since sapporo was a little colder than i had expected and i was in dire need to have some warmer clothing items in the morning. after a little shopping, it was near lunch time, and my mom suggested we go have some ramen noodle for lunch.

if you are ever in japan, and if you are ever in hokkaido, you should try ramen noodles here. people don’t take ramen lightly and some travel miles to find “hidden ramen shop” that they hear from friends and family. today, we decided to try this place my mom’s friend told her about, which, funny thing, was within 300 feet from an old apartment building i had spent when i was 2-5.

we got lost a little (japan doesn’t have street names much so its much harder to find a place than in the US) but eventually found it and arrived well before lunch time - 11:30am.
but unfortunately, the place already had a line out the door, and let me remind you that this is under pouring rain. i take that as a good sign. who would wait 20 minutes outside when it’s cold and wet out?

the place had very simple menu - salt flavor, soy flavor, or miso flavor soup and 100-yen (slightly under a buck thanks to horrid US economy) extra would get you some extra soup and noodle, and you can pay 300-yen more for additional “cha-shu” which is originated from chinese char siu.

standing in line among families and business people, we got seated quicker than expected thanks to their “get your food, eat, and get the hell out” policy. within a few minutes our noodle arrived. i ordered salt flavor, my mom, miso.

it was a very simple noodle soup. shredded bamboo, lot of green onions, and a slice of cha-shu. but noodle was plump and tasty, and soup was just amazingly rich. i personally regret getting salt flavor - not that it was bad, but after trying my mom’s miso, i definitely thought it was their best menu item, and when outside is cold, miso warms you from inside the bone.

the rain prevented us from venturing out further and we called it a day after. i watched some japanese television, which was mostly talking about novel prize winners (some japanese people won this year for physics and chemistry sections) and economy. i decided to make some milk tea since it got cold. holding a warm cup, i stared at the container in which my mom keeps bags of tea, i realized, and let out some laugh. my mom doesn’t get this. and personally i don’t think it’s that funny, but when it’s rainy and cold out, anything helps.

woke up again at 5am today - rain had stopped and i realized leaves had turned much much oranger than yesterday. the fall has arrived in hokkaido. and yet, weather channel talked of snow sticking to the mountain top nearby my parents house. autumn doesn’t last long here. maybe 3-4 weeks at most, and winter makes its presence known by blowing snow and frigid air. in a way, in some mountains in hokkaido, winter has already started.

i’m going to take a walk this morning in search of some red leaves.