Friends

Since coming back from Tokyo, we’ve had a number of relaxing days and fun interactions. However, one thing we’ve been light on out here in general is interactions with people our age. We’ve hung out with Seri’s cousins a bit, but it tends to be few and far between. Fortunately, we’ve made some progress!

New friends

A bit before the baseball trip to Tokyo, I got my haircut. Normally this would be pretty unremarkable, but it was only the second time I’d had it cut in Japan, and this time was from a guy named Shuji, who is my age and happens to be learning English. While speaking to him in English is obviously a crutch, it was nice to have another person to talk with. After Seri and I came back from Tokyo, he and I met up for coffee at a nearby cafe. He and his wife — who co-owns the salon with him — live about 5 minutes from us, so it was super convenient to get together.

Shuji has lived in Hakodate most of his life, and uses a service called Italki to talk with a guy in Washington D.C. who is interested in learning Japanese. I guess they trade off chatting on a weekly basis. It seems to be paying off, because Shuji and I were able to mostly hold a conversation in English. I’m looking into signing up for the service in the coming days. You can find professional tutors on there, too — for a fee — and it seems like exactly the kind of help I’m looking for. It should provide a nice supplement to the free weekly class I take in Hakodate, which is currently on break until the end of May.

Not long after Tokyo, our friend Yoko told us about her friend Mizuki. They worked together in Tokyo years ago, but Mizuki is originally from Hakodate and recently moved back. Coincidentally, she works part time at a really tasty Turkish restaurant in our area we’d previously eaten at. We met her there while she was working, and planned to hang out when she had time.

A couple of weeks later, we met Mizuki at the local Muji and headed to a nearby tantanmen popup for lunch. She shared some stories about the area, and connected with Seri over their fondness for hiking (and my lack thereof). They said they’ll find time to hike Hakodateyama together, which is nice for Seri since hiking isn’t my “thing.” After lunch, we walked around the area a bit and landed at a cafe to get to know each other more, and also to eat parfait. Seri loves parfait.

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Hanging out with people has made Hakodate feel more like home. Whereas I had been feeling a bit isolated, things seem more open now.

Old friends

Another welcome event was our friends Kirk and Ei-Lun visiting Hakodate with their sons, James and Anthony, and Ei-Lun’s mom. They were in Japan for a family trip, and made a point to stop by for a couple of days on their way up from Tokyo to Sapporo. It’d been a while since we’d seen them, and it was fun to feel like we could pull off being tour guides, having familiarized ourselves with a number of restaurants, cafes, and other things to do.

We greeted the family at the Hakodate train station. James is infatuated with Japanese trains, and has incredible knowledge of the different types, both new and old. They thought it would be a great experience for him to ride the Shinkansen, which is always a treat. We dropped off their bags at their hotel across the street from the station and strolled through the Hakodate morning market. It was actually the first time I’d been through, even though we’ve been here almost six months! It’s kind of like a miniature version of Tsukiji, with amazing squid and sea urchin. We picked up some strawberries and started walking towards the red brick warehouses.

It was a bit unfortunate, but that day was the first it had really snowed in weeks. We woke up in the morning to a pretty good amount on the ground, and at various points throughout the day we were hit with more snowfall. The boys refused to wear their jackets at times, and got drenched by the wet snow. Ducking inside the warehouses gave us a bit of reprieve, but we still had to brave the weather a fair bit.

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Near the red brick warehouses is a newish restaurant called Gram. It’s a pancake restaurant that opened up in Hakodate just before we moved here, but they have others sprinkled throughout Honshu. Kirk let us know that one just opened in Stonestown of all places. Check it out if you’re there! Anyway, one of Gram’s notable items is its fluffy pancakes. In Hakodate, they only make 60 of these per day, 20 at each of three specific times: 11am, 3pm, and 6pm. In the past, we’ve walked by at 10am to see people lined up outside… in the snow. It’s not something we really considered lining up for, even though we love fluffy pancakes. Having said that, today was our lucky day. Even though we got there at 3:10pm, they still had fluffy pancakes to spare, and we were able to grab 2 orders for the table.

The fluffy pancakes take about 30 minutes to prepare, so we ordered “normal” dishes as well while they were made. We weren’t let down: these things were light, and sweet, and fruity, and… I want more. I think around 3pm is the sweet spot, because even though Gram is in a touristy area, the hope is that most people have already eaten lunch by then and aren’t in the mood for pancakes. But we know better, and can exploit the timing for our benefit.

After lunch, we walked back to the hotel to drop off Ei-Lun’s mom and the boys before heading to a nearby Hakodate-founded cake shop, Snaffle’s. I was pretty stuffed from the pancakes and was trying to save room for dinner, but Japan is the type of place where everyone in your party has to order at least one thing at a cafe, so I ate half of a cream puff. What a trooper. Fortunately, Snaffle’s is good and we go often enough, so I didn’t feel like I was missing out.

Speaking of dinner, we wanted to take the group to our favorite sushi spot out here, Kihara. We go enough where the chefs all know us (but it’s probably a bit easier to remember me because I’m the weird white guy who won’t stop showing up). We usually sit at the bar, but because of the number of people — and the kids — we got a room. They have 4 or so of these across from the bar and are closed to the rest of the restaurant, so the 3- and 6-year-old could act like normal boys with a bit more privacy.

Once we’d finished dinner, Ei-Lun’s mom and the boys once again headed back to the hotel, while Kirk and Ei-Lun accompanied us to a nearby bar to chat and end the evening. Hotel bars around here are nice because they generally don’t allow smoking, unlike most “normal” bars. The drinks might be a bit less interesting (more “predictable” I guess?) but at least I don’t feel like I have to wash all of my clothes immediately after getting home. The bartender mistook my second drink order and I got a whiskey (Old Parr) instead of a drink similar to a negroni (Old Pal). I should have known something was up when the bartender asked me if I wanted it on the rocks, but I rolled with it. I’ve gotta work on my Japanese “ru” apparently. Also every other character, probably.

The next morning, we met the group at Lucky Pierrot for some hamburgers. There are other hamburger restaurants in Hakodate, but this is the most well known, with locations strewn about the city. Each one has a different theme, but the overarching mascot is kind of a creepy clown, and creepy clown imagery is hard to get past, no matter how many Santa Claus dolls (also somewhat creepy) you decorate your restaurant with. The hamburgers tend to be pretty good, though, and the boys enjoyed the fries. They also make a guarana drink that tastes a bit like Red Bull that James couldn’t get enough of. His intake had to be monitored, since the family had a 3.5-hour train ride to Sapporo ahead of them, and a wired grade-schooler in a confined area could be… interesting.

Heading back to the hotel to get their things and head to the train station, we stopped at the morning market to grab a cup of coffee from a shop we’d heard of, but hadn’t been to. They have a stall at the market but also a full shop not far from our house. We’ve been trying to find a coffee shop that will supplant Blue Bottle, since it’s both costly, and takes a long time to ship from Tokyo. I was relieved to enjoy their coffee, after striking out a few times at other local coffee shops. Seri and I went to their brick-and-mortar shop at a later date, where they also sell Belgian beer and international wine.

We’ve met some other folks in the past few weeks, but it remains to be seen what kind of relationship we’ll have with them. It’s not bad, but I can’t really imagine hanging out with them in a friendly capacity. More on that in another post, since both are food-related and I’d like to jot down some of our favorite restaurants and general food spots in the area.