Sapporo's Brilliant Beer Museum

We currently have some friends up visiting us from Osaka and it's been wonderful! Having people come and visit always makes me get out and do the fun touristy stuff that I rarely get around to doing otherwise! One of these was visiting the Sapporo Beer Museum, located in the old, beautiful, red-brick building that was once a sugar factory (and later part of the Kitaku-shi Brewery). This is also the only, and I repeat, the only beer museum in all of Japan! How lucky are we:

The inside displays are full of old documents, photos, brewing equipment, and beer bottles, advertisements, and the like! A lot of the stuff is pre-WWII and is actually pretty interesting whether or not you have an appreciation for beer:

After walking through the museum, you are then shot out into a large, colorful bar serving what they consider "the freshest beer in Hokkaido." As we learned, it's actually the cheapest beer in Hokkaido as well, making us wonder why we hadn't stumbled upon this place a lot sooner!

I have to say that the Sapporo Beer Museum is a brilliant way to start the day (or afternoon, if you prefer)...here's to hoping for some more visitors to accompany us back there soon!

札幌雪祭り The Sapporo Snow Festival

The whirlwind month that is February is in full speed and that means time for the annual Sapporo Snow Festival, our largest and most recognized international event. While not as majestic as last year's 60th Anniversary celebration, it was still a nice time of amazing sculptures, a showcase of delicious Hokkaido foods, and a huge downfall of the ironically annoying white stuff itself (snow at a snow festival...meh!):

You haven't lived until you've eaten crab out of a crab head...delish!

As usual, coinciding with the Snow Festival is Susukino's Ice Festival just a few blocks away. It's amazing what can result from chain-saws, chisels, and ice:

The Snow Festival is especially fun because it usually seems to kick-off all the other crazy winter festivals that spring up here during February and March. There's definitely no shortage of fun distractions here to keep your mind off of the bitter, bitter cold, wind, and snow!

Just Another 誕生日 (Birthday) In Japan

This past Saturday I turned 29...the beginning of the last year of such a fun decade for me:

In true birthday bash style, I teamed up with my buddies, Rob and Ikuya, for a joint party in downtown Sapporo as our b-days are just days apart!  Hanging out with the people closest to you (both emotionally and geographically, I suppose) is one of the best ways I know of to spend a birthday, no matter where you are in this 'ol world:

My sweet present from Jacob:  a Fuji Instax Camera (like an old-school Polaroid with smaller card-like prints):

Our Japanese teacher, Akiko, made us one of the most delicious cakes I've had since coming to Japan...seriously, just look at it!

And so I would like to thank everyone who sent cards, packages, presents, and wishes my way.  I'm truly looking forward to this year and hope that it'll be as much fun as the rest of my 20s were!