Father and Daughter in Sapporo

Scarlett took me up the Sapporo Tower. What a set of views from up there! Like this boulevard, and the mountains in the background.

The Sapporo TV Tower was modelled a little on the Eiffel Tower. Not so proud that everything has to be indigenous.

The Sushi Train restaurant was a new experience for me. Pick your plate off the track as it goes past your eyes. Pay according to the stack of plates.

Food is definitely big in Japan. So many places to eat. And boy - are they prepared to pay for what they want. Take these grapes. 1,980 yen is equivalent to around $30NZ - and that's with our high dollar!

...and water melon. Plain old water melon - and these were small ones - a little bigger than "D" cup I'd say. At 1,380 yen that's over $20NZ apiece...

Beautiful parks and shrines abound. These are very peaceful places. Scarlett ties her prayer along with hundreds of others. Drawn from a box of thousands. It contains a wish and advice - not a fortune cookie. Drawn from a box labelled: "divinity by lot". I like that. Very Buddhist it seemed to me. Buddha was not, nor did he claim to be, a god. He was a man who taught a path to enlightenment from his own experience. I found Japan to be a place of peace and quiet. So hard to reconcile with a nation that declared war on the USA and surprise bombed Pearl Harbour. Some reading to do....

Scarlett and Aravin hard at work on their shiney new Apple laptops. And boy - was broadband a powerful service in Japan - running at 5 to 10 mega bits per second.

Great subway services. Using a loadable card. Even prints on the back how much you have left...

And here it's my turn to pray. Checking out Buddhism later I find his main teachings for the Buddhist path can be summed up as: (1) to lead a moral life, (2) to be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions, and (3) to develop wisdom and understanding.

...and before I get too serious, let's not forget karaoke and nightlife Japan style. Remembering that night where you pay 3,000 Yen for all you can eat and drink.

...or a little bit of shop till you drop. Scarlett likes a little retail therapy from time to time and so do the locals here in Sapporo.

... and so much on offer in the shops. Intricate detail and diversity. Choices you could not conceive of. Here Scarlett is caught Paparazzi style...

...my daughter did lead me astray in Sapporo. Scarlett blogged about these times much more amusingly than I ever could.They do like their fun the Japanese.