Directly upon arriving in Sapporo and meeting Mrs. Suginome at the same spot - in front of Mister Doughnut - that we met at six years ago, we were off to great dinner at Mr. Suginome's new Jeingus Kan restaurant in Sasakino for my Birthday. (Jeinguns Kan is a style of cooking developed by Genghis Khan's troops that is famous in Hokkaido.) I had dearly wanted to come to Sapporo and meet our old family friends, the Suginome's, for my birthday. While birthdays in the Birdsell house are not particularly large, they are normally spent with family. My desire to travel to Sapporo was easily planned with typical Japanese efficiency (with thanks to Yuki and Mrs. Suginome).
The image to the left is me standing in front of Mr. Suginome's restaurant. It is in the Susukino district of Sapporo, the night life area, and leads to a funny story that is very insightful of the humble character of the Suginome's. They had both mentioned their desire for me tell my friends about the restaurant because it was very new. However, having now visited the establishment, this statement has me scratching my head. The restaurant is narrow and small; tastefully decorated in old think wood beams that the Japanese are so fond of. The restaurant servers very traditional barbecue. The restaurant was very busy the entire time I was there, signifying its popularity. Furthermore, and the funny thing, people in Shikaoi had already heard of this restaurant because the operator, a very young gentleman, had already appeared on national television in some sort of capacity representation the restaurant (like on Oprah or Letterman or something). It hardly needs any advertising, I can only see myself doing more harm than good. Needless to say, the dinner was excellent, and I have no doubts the restaurant will become a complete success because of its excellent food. Every scrap put before anyone was quickly eaten, leaving no leftovers (representing the quality of cuisine). The location is perfect, in a very high traffic area; though out of the way, in a style that is hard to explain if one has not visited to Japan. 
We were actually served by the guy that had been on T.V.! He wished me a happy birthday. 11/10. The extra point is awarded because of the excellent atmosphere just off the busy thoroughfare of Sasakino. At home later, after a walk with Mrs. Suginome, the three of us sat around eating birthday cake and while I showed off pictures of my students (a good activity that breaks the language barrier every time). I didn't get to bed until midnight. 
I had never heard of the Susukino night district because the last time I had been in Sapporo - six years ago - I had been too young to enjoy the community's more worldly pleasures (of eating, drinking, merrymaking and general chaos). Many people in Shikaoi, prior to my departure, had suggested a trip to Susukino. I had assured them I would probably not be going there; Susukino is hardly a place that the Suginome's would be visiting. I had to eat my words. It was hard for me to avoid Sasakino this trip because three of Mr. Suginome's restaurants are all within 100 meters of each other there.
My first evening putzing around Sapporo was a bit overwhelming. Sapporo station is larger that all of Shikaoi proper (with 100 times the people). I love big cities and feel more comfortable than most in the high-density hustle and bustle of cities, so much so that I really don't count Calgary's downtown as nearly busy enough. But upon arriving that warm Friday evening and seeing the multitudes of people going here and there that could careless about some foreigner... well... it kind of made my heart skip a beat. I won't leave this detail until the end though; I can't wait to go back.
I had meant to do a lot of shopping. However, upon arriving back downtown in the morning I kind of lost my exuberance. There was too much choice. I just kind of thought; "I want it, but I don't need it". I won't detail all the places I went because it would probably bore you. I did go to the large bookstore by Sapporo Station that had an English section as large as some bookstores in Calgary (it had lots of text books for some reason). I picked up some Japanese language study guides. A trip to the ubiquitous gigantic Japanese electronic store was in order as well. Near the station the electronic stores are kind of on steroids and people suspects to migraines, seizures or general lethargy should be well prepared to pick yourselves off the floor. Myself, being a child of the post-modern, hyper-stimulus generation, felt quite at home and I'm sure my brother would too. It is here I picked up an extra Mac Powerbook power supply. It was a fun day; there sure is a lot of things going on in that area on weekends. Sunday is supposedly busier so go on Mondays.
Since this blog has the work 'Architecture' in the title I should probably touch on that subject from time to time; but today, only as a segue into a funny story: I had noticed near the Suginome home in the Fushimi district a beautiful gigantic modern-style home. On Sunday morning Mrs. Suginome, her friend, and I went for a walk around the neighborhood, I brought my camera to snap some pictures like the dutiful tourist. We stopped in front of the house, which, it should be noted, must have an absolutely amazing view of all of downtown Sapporo. As I was taking pictures, I bumped into the owner, a one Mr. Odenara, just going inside from doing something. I said, in Japanese, "I think you have a beautiful house. Thank you." He said thank-you and Mrs. Suginome decided to put in a word about what I was doing. He was looking a bit apprehensive at the whole situation until Mrs. Suginome politely introduced herself as "Suginome desu". It was quickly obvious the Doctor was familiar with the fine establishments known by this name. The light came on. He came down and introduced himself; it turns out that he spent four years in Philadelphia going to medical school, and spoke fluent English (if your going to medical school in America one needs more than conversational English). He was interested that I took architectural history in university and thanked us for saying hi. Mrs. Suginome later thanked me for being so brazen as to say hi because now she had a new neighborhood friend. That's me: making the world smaller!
Such a fun weekend, filled with good food and new friends. However, rain this morning kept a planned trip to a park to see the fall leaves from fruition. Instead, Mr. Suginome and I, went to the old Hokkaido government building (oddly built in 1880 in an American-Neo-Baroque style). Mr. Suginome surprised Mrs. Suginome and I by proudly stating that he had an official Sapporo tour guide's license. Something to fall back on if the whole restaurant thing falls through I'm sure.
I have also include an image (above) taken from Thursday night's birthday activities. On the right side are three English teachers I work with from Shikaoi Elementary school. The rest are Fukiko's (front left) extended family. A shout out to Miki who hopefully will soon be reading this blog from Tokyo!
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