Sunflower fields, zoo, soup curry and more

Yesterday was a trip with school to the area around Asahikawa, about a couple of hours drive north of Sapporo. We all piled into one of those big tour busses, which was great for socializing on the way there and taking a nap on the way back.

The countryside in this part of Hokkaido consists mainly of a lush, flat, agricultural area, although you can see mountains in the distance. Our first stop was the sunflower fields which was quite beautful. We had a couple of hours to wander around. It was still hot with intense sun.

The next stop was the Asahiyama zoo in Asahikawa. This zoo is apparently quite famous in Japan, but I thought was fairly old-style with small enclosures. I did see a couple of animals I'd never seen before, like the Red Panda:

After arriving back in Sapporo, some students said they were going for Soup Curry, which is a Sapporo specialty, so I tagged along. We ate in a very nice, very popular restaurant in the basement in one of the buildings near the school. The restaurant made nothing but soup curry, and from the menu you choose the type of broth, the type of curry, toppings, degree of spiciness, and rice. It was very good.

 Afterward, the others said they planned to go out, and invited me along. Everyone went home to change, and we met outside a club/lounge called Gossip in Susukino. For 1600 Yen you got entrance and tokens for 5 drinks. I didn't think I'd use them all, but I did, and more. Very friendly atmosphere, with a few other foreigners. There was about 8 of us and we stuck together as a group for the most part. There was no dance floor but people just danced whereever they were standing. After a while we conversed with some of the Japanese people - with a lot of use of Google translate on both sides of the conversation. Overall it was a lot of fun and the time went by fast. I walked home at 4:00 am and it was already getting light out. Yes you could say I'm getting too old for this, but what the hell!