Japan Diaries 4: Weekend 3


Weekend 3: November 20-21, 2021

Day 19: November 20, 2021

Saturday - MBA 303

As scheduled, I have my MBA 303 class today and was assigned to report on Chapter 5: The Political Economy of International Trade. 

Going to Rumoi Post Office

Rumoi Post Office

That afternoon, after my MBA 303 class, I headed to the Rumoi Post Office to pick up an important mail from the Japanese government. I took this opportunity to bike as well as the post office was about 2.1 kilometers away from my place. Upon arrival, I presented the post office notification letter that I got in my mailbox yesterday to the postmaster. After a few minutes, the postmaster handed me an envelope containing the Individual Number Card application form and instructions on how to apply for the マイナンバーカード (My Number Card). 

Rumoi MaxValu and Seria

Before heading back home, I biked to MaxValu to buy groceries and some personal stuff. From there, I returned home just when it was about to get dark. 

Meat and seafood section of MaxValu Rumoi

Other grocery items in MaxValu Rumoi

After resting for a bit, I accomplished the online application for the マイナンバーカード (My Number Card) before spending most of my night talking to my wife and daughter via video call. 

Can you guess what I'm planning to cook today?

Mushroom soup? Nope!

My wife encouraged me to cook sukiyaki since I bought the ingredients for it. Since it was my first time cooking sukiyaki, my wife helped me out albeit online. I kinda cooked more than I can eat which only meant it was going to be sukiyaki for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. 

It does taste like Sukiyaki so I declare that it is. 

I didn't stay up late today as I need to wake up early for my out-of-town travel plans tomorrow to Asahikawa City. 

Day 20: November 21, 2021

Sunday - Asahikawa Road Trip

Good morning everyone! It's a wet and cold day today. Regardless, that won't stop me from pursuing my plan to go to Asahikawa today. I left home at around 7:40AM to catch the 8:08AM Engan bus to Asahikawa City. 

Here's my bus to Asahikawa

I rode the Rapid Asahikawa Engan Bus from the Motokawacho-1 platform going to Asahikawa Station.  The trip was 2 hours long and cost 1680 yen. What I enjoyed about the trip was the beautiful scenery along the way. There were places with snow already which made me hopeful to see if Asahikawa City is also covered in snow. Sadly, it was not. Like Rumoi City, it was wet and cold.

Asahikawa Station

I boarded down at the final stop which is Asahikawa Station. From there, I went inside to station to check out the Asahikawa Tourism and Local Products Information Center. They offer free brochures to different places in the region. Aside from that, I also got a free pen for answering the quick tourism survey. I also didn't miss out on the chance to get the Asahikawa stamp for my travel diary.

From there, I explored Asahikawa City. Here are the places I visited:

Asahikawa Central Library
Hokkaido Asahikawa Museum of Art 

Since it was past lunchtime, I decided that it was time to head back to Asahikawa Station. On the way to the station, I tried out Hachiya Ramen at Furarito which is an alley full of restaurants. I ordered the Shoyu Ramen which was said to be the best seller. It costs 800 yen. 

I returned to Asahikawa Station at around 3PM proceeded to Platform 8 and waited for my bus. I rode an Engan Bus to Rumoi City and the one-way fare costs 1680 yen. I got back home at 5:15PM officially wrapping up my Asahikawa Road Trip. You can read more about this trip by clicking this 👉LINK👈.

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Location: Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan

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