Day 2. Otaru 小樽

Instead of the famous tourist spots, I prefer to see the everyday life when I visit a city. I took a walk from along the Toyohira river. Along the riverbank there were a golf course, tennis courts, bicycle trails, and playgrounds. I saw people finishing, cycling, couples dating. It was a great place to relax.

My plan for the day was to drive the car to Otaru, a harbor city about 1 hour away north of Sapporo. On the way there I would stop by a place called Zenibako 銭函 because I was told there was a terrific cafe; with a panorama view of the ocean. I would spend a night in Otaru, and then make a circle to visit either Niseko, Lake Toya or Lake Shikotsu, then return the car back to Sapporo.

When I finally arrived at the station rent-a-car office, it was already 2 p.m. Sweaty and exhausted after walking half day in Sapporo, I wasn't prepared to face to ice cold attitude of the rent-a-car staff. I smiled at the first sales girl I saw but she looked away.

Back in Tokyo I made rental car reservation together with the JR ticket purchase at View Plaza in Ebisu. I was planning to travel to surrounding areas of Sapporo by car, but I didn't know how many days I would need the car so initially I asked for 3 days, thinking that I could returned it earlier if I finished. However I was told that I would need to pay for 3 full days and won't get any refund even if I return it early. On the other hand I could just reserve it for one day and extend the period. I was grateful for the suggestion, little that I knew that that was the beginning of my trouble. What I needed was a one day 24 hour reservation, car to be picked up at any time of the day; but I didn't realize, what I was given was a one day from morning till evening reservation, no matter when I picked up the car I have to return it by 8 p.m., and the price I pay is for 12 hours from 8 am to 8 p.m. One would think my interpretation is more natural because I started with 3 days, but the Ebisu sales' interpretation was natural from her background, because there is no such thing as "picking up anytime during the day" reservation. In her mind she must have thought if I want to do that they only way would be to pay for the whole day.

So Miss Ice-cold in Sapporo JR rent-a-car station looked at my reservation coupon, and told me the bad news as I explained above. NO, she said, you must return the car by 8 p.m. tonight because someone else has booked the car for tomorrow (How am I supposed to stay over in Otaru if I have to return the car tonight??!!); NO, you won't get any refund because the car has been held for you since the morning; NO there was no other cars available for you to use tomorrow (that is bullshit because JR rent-a-car is simply an interface to other companies and it is hard to believe in the whole Sapporo no single car is available); and NO don't you dare to ask for another reservation unless you make up your mind about how many days you want the car first.

Of course the mix-up was created by the travel agent in Tokyo, but since I was already came all the way to the rent-a-car office in Sapporo, I would expect she could try to find creative local solutions. After all, JR View Plaza and JR rent-a-car belong to the same company, what is this "none of my problem" attitude? I was very fed up and had to visit JR View Plaza in Sapporo station, it was their Tokyo branch that created the trouble in the first place. We ended up calling the Ebisu branch to try to clear up the confusion but the staff who sold me the ticket was off that day. The whole mess lasted for 3 hours. At the end I decided to forget about the whole rental thing, and instead go to Otaru by train and then rent a car from there. Well there went my plan to visit sit in the panorama cafe; in Zenibako to enjoy the splendid view of the ocean.

Otaru is a small harbor city, and all of the hotels inside the city are business hotel type, with small rooms and almost no service to offer. However from my guidebook I found a hotel that located in a mountain about 30 minutes by bus from the Otaru JR station, and the bus's terminal station is right in front of the hotel. Pretty good luck even without a car, I thought.

The middle-aged man at the tourist information counter wasn't exactly the kind of friendly ambassador type I usually encounter. He said he couldn't help me with the hotel outside the city. I also asked for recommendation of sushi restaurants, he gave me two but then mumbled if a foreigner would understand his Japanese. For god's sake I have level 1 proficiency and he had no problem understanding my questions.

Anyway, with the hotel reservation made and bus schedule confirmed, I took my time to tour around the city. The walk along the tunnel was wonderful. The sidewalk was lighten up with amber lights, and along the other side of the water was a long stretch of warehouse converted restaurants. I could see men and women in nice fashion drinking wine in front of candlelights, and jazz music flowing in the air.

Otaru was famous for its fresh catches, especially uni (Sea Urchin). There is even a street called sushi street because of the dozens of sushi restaurants lined up along the street. I went into one called Nihonbashi. The usual items tasted so-so, but the uni was the best I ever had in my life. It was so fresh that it tasted sweet. After having this fresh uni, I didn't think I could ever put up with the kind of smelly uni back in Tokyo. I tried to strike some conversation with the chef by asking what kind of fish was in season, but maybe he wasn't very eager to talk to a poor looking student type lone traveler. On the other hand seems like he is very friendly with many famous actor/actresses, judging from the pictures hanging on the wall.

Anyway, around 9 p.m. I went back to the JR station and got on the bus on time. What a long day, I thought. I was glad that it was almost over and a hot onsen and a cozy bed were waiting for me. With that thought of comfort I opened my palmtop computer and started writing about what had happened during the day. However, before I could write much, I suddenly realized that ever body was getting of the bus and it seemed like we arrived at some sort of terminal, but I didn't see any hotel. I asked the bus driver isn't this the right bus going to marina hotel, he said well yes this was the right route but it was too late that this bus wouldn't go that far any more. In fact the last bus that goes all the way to the hotel leaves at 7 p.m. Hey that is not fair, I have never heard of buses that change destination based on time. No one told me about this, I actually remembering hearing the name of the hotel in the destination list in the announcement when I boarded the bus, and as a matter of fact the name of the hotel was still clearly shown on the sign in front of the bus. This is ridiculous!

Anyway, I was already in the mountain, and there was no other bus, or a taxi, or even a single pedestrian. The bus was driven back to the city and I was left alone. I had no choice but to walk the rest of the distance. There I was, walking in complete darkness, with no one else in sight, no even sure if I am walking in the right direction. But the stars were beautiful, and the night in the mountain was quiet and peaceful. I had no regret.

It felt like a long time but eventually I arrived at the hotel. For all the effort that I spent, the hotel was quite a disappointment. The room is small (what else could I expected for a single traveler?), I was bitten at a couple of places by mosquitoes, and the onsen that I had been longing for was just ordinary, not even comes with a rotenburo. I finished my diary in the public area, wrapped myself up in blankets to shield the mosquitoes, and fell asleep very soon. Tomorrow would be a new day.

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