Day 4 cont'd: Affogato at Sugiyama Cafe and the Cheese Factory

Welcome to Sugiyama Cafe - Furano

As I was preparing photos for this post, I am quite aghast at how many food we consumed that particular day. To recap from the previous post, so far on the same day we have had: lavender ice cream, lavender calpis jelly, lavender cream puff, various soba and grilled mochi. This post picks up where we left off... after lunch, we had some time to kill before our bus to the wine and cheese factories (yes more food I know!!). So we walked back to the station when we came across this cute cafe. The signs were all in Japanese, but if you walk in, you will be rewarded with great coffee and super cute cafe.

Check out the tablecloth's pattern: coffee cups!!

The menu - Affogato for JPY 400! (+/- US$4.00)

I was so excited to find such a cute, cozy cafe and at the same time felt sad because I only had that time to enjoy it. As soon as we stepped in, we could smell roasted coffee beans wafting in the air. The furniture were so retro but at the same time very cozy as there were lots of wooden furniture and chocolatey color that made the atmosphere felt so warm. The AC was full blast, such a cool refuge from the midday heat outside! I absolutely adored the tablecloth, it has coffee cup pattern! I really wish I can transport this whole cafe here to Sydney, or wherever I happen to live.

Check out the retro chairs and the fan... too cute!

The special blend of coffee drip

Waiting for our order and taking a break from the heat

Affogato - perfect cure from the hit and to ensure that we stay after a morning of eating, eating, oh and eating!

There were two baristas and they were very friendly even though we don't speak the same language. This is what I call hospitality service! Well, my broken Japanese don't really count... Anyway, the lady barista spoke English as she lived in New Zealand before. She has the cutest accent! It was so unusual for me to hear Japanese speaking in a non American accent. Anyhow, she explained to us that they have a special brew see picture below - where it takes about 7-8 hours to drip the coffee and yields only 15 cups of coffee per day. Of course we had to try it! We decided to have the affogato. I am also sure that Ginko chan was happy I got the same as her, this way she didn't have to wait for me to take pictures of her orders! I think she got used to it though ;)

Closer to the bus departure time we head back to the station and waited for it to come. First and stop: cheese factory. We planned on going to the wine factory afterwards but it rained so hard that we decided to head back and enjoy our cozy hostel. Bibaushi and Furano area were so tranquil and peaceful, we felt so sad to leave the next day. But hey, it's always better to leave when you still want to stay than being stuck when you just can't wait to leave. I've been on both places and this is way better.

Furano Cheese: you could tell which one is the one with cuttlefish ink, couldn't you?

Unfortunately the cheese factory was closed on the weekend. However, we still get to taste the their specialty cheese which is black cheese made with cuttle fish ink. It wasn't fishy at all but you could taste the squid ink very subtly, the slight pungent taste cuts through the creaminess that would be too much for me. Ginko chan though, preferred the normal cheese. So really, it all comes down to your taste buds and preference.

The emblem, which is kinda funky as it fused Italian and Japanese elements, how they make the pizza and an angel pizza!

The end product and my Hokkaido Milk Ice cream...

This little guy kept us company while we were having ice cream outside, isn't butterfly a sign of good luck?

Remember to get your tickets here first, then give it to the people on the counter.

Then as if we hadn't had enough to eat for the day I had the Hokkaido milk ice cream and Ginko ordered a slice of pizza. Are we crazy? Yeah, I think we were... But then again, we WERE at a cheese factory so how can we not try the dairy products there?! They were really yummy, definitely worth our stomach getting angry at us. Will I do it again? I'd probably try to space all the eating out on a couple of days!

Sugiyama Coffee

〒076-0025 富良野市日の出町12-1
+81 167 23 5277

Opens 10am ~ 7pm

Click here for map

Day 4: 2nd round of Lavender ice cream and soba lunch in Furano city

Lavender soft ice cream Round 2!

At first it was definitely the rain that made us decide that we just had to go back to Tomita farm. However, I confess as you all probably have guessed that it was the Lavender ice cream that really tipped the scale. So it was day 4 in Japan, day 2 in Bibaushi and another visit to Tomita farm. Getting up early, we caught the train to Naka Furano and walked the 20 minutes walk to Tomita farm. The weather was as sunny as it was raining the previous day. By the time we reached Tomita farm, we needed to sit down under the shade and get something cold, yes we got lavender ice cream. Seriously though, it was the heat.

Lavender calpis jelly with poplar trees in the background

I then decided to try the Lavender calpis jelly and Ginko chan got the cream puff, also in lavender flavor. No surprise there eh? The fields were just so beautiful. I couldn't stop snapping pictures. I wish I had a whole week just to spend wondering around this area.

I wish I could have brought my late German Shepherd here, I miss him so much!

Norokko Go Train - Sightseeing train on operation in the spring and summer

Kodamaya front entrance, very summery

The sun was really shinning that day, as if to make up for its lack thereof the previous day. It exhausted us. So we made our way to Furano to get lunch and wait for the bus that will take us to the cheese and the wine factory. The tourist information recommended us this soba place about 7 minutes walk to the north of the station. We were lucky we got table right away because after that, people had to wait for quite a while. There were so many kind of soba to choose from too. I was tempted to get the Anago soba at first, but then saw the kinoko (mushroom) soba which I never see on any soba place menus. That settled it then. Ginko chan opted for the set and we waited for our food to come. We were super hungry.

Ginko chan's set, tempura soba, ikura soba and nama soba - fresh fresh fresh!

Look how fresh the egg is!

Mushroom soba with chicken

Yaki Mochi (grileld rice cakes) - my absolute favorite Japanese snack!

The soba, was really fresh. We ordered the cold kinds perfect remedy for such hot days. Honestly, I'm not really of a soba person, but I was happy here. Service was awesome, food quality was great and the price was friendly to my wallet too! Seriously, I heart Japan. There are so many affordable great quality food there.

Kodamaya

Click here for website

Click here for map

Day 3 cont'd: Aunt Stella's cookies

This is what got me interested in the first place. It had a watermelon scent, but it was rather chocolate chip-py for me. I was amused.

On the way back to Bibaushi, we passed by the basement of one of the department stores nearby and long story short, we ended up getting all sorts of cookies from Aunt Stella's Cookies. It was the first time I had ever seen such a wide variety of cookies. I was so impressed with their creativity. Tell me if you're not impressed after seeing all these pictures!

My favorite was the corn flake cookies. Hopefully soon I will attempt to recreate this. If it works out, I might just share the recipe with you. Or you just have to order it through IEatSweet who will give me commission ;)

Aunt Stella's Cookies

Click here for website

(It's only in Japanese... Sorry! Really I am, I wish I could put through an order)

Day 3 cont'd: Flowers of Bibaushi and Ramen Dinner in Asahikawa city

Mural of the local scenery at the Asahikawa station

Disheartened by the continuous rain that day, Ginko chan and I decided to take the train to Asahikawa city - 40 minutes away from the Lavender Batake Station. Unfortunately we go there around 4pm which means that many attractions were closing down soon or too far away for us to catch the next train back. The tourist office directed us to the little sake brewery nearby and after that we walked around the city center till dinner.

The view from the Lavender Fields Station - Naka Furano

The rail tracks after the rain

View of the surrounding farms

Fresh lavender for sale

The sake brewery was not too far from the station, and I really can't remember the name. Sorry! However, if you can read kanji then you can probably figure it out. Ginko chan wanted to get some sake for her dad but since we still have quite a journey, she decided to get it in Tokyo. So we got sake ice cream instead. It tasted like.... fermented rice. Very sake-ish, as sake is made by fermenting the rice. The sake taste was soft and subtle, so you could still taste the milk. The first time I ever had sake ice cream. Very unique.

For dinner, we had 2 options: izakaya or ramen. We ended up with ramen. It was on a little alley, but there were so many people inside. So I had a feeling that it had to be somewhat good. On the walls there were tons of autographs of what I think should be famous people otherwise they wouldn't bother putting it up. We ordered butter corn ramen, I had soy and Ginko chan had miso based soup. I removed my excess butter and Ginko chan kept hers. Yeah, we're different that way. Anyway, we were in Hokkaido and we were having ramen. The verdict? Good of course! But if I were given a choice, I probably won't go back. I'd rather go to the ramen alley in Sapporo. When we left, I figured out that it was Baikohken ramen, surprise surprise. They have branch in Singapore if that is closer to you. Here are some reviews on the Singapore Baikohken, in contrast to my so-so liking, they quite like it: ieatishootipost, camemberu, the travelling hungry boy.

See the signature collections?

Soy based corn butter ramen

Miso based corn butter ramen

Down Town Asahikawa

Anyway, as promised. Here are some pictures from Bibaushi, a small little town between Furano and Asahikawa where we stayed. I love our hostel, it was so cute and cozy. Breakfast there is also good and healthy. They always give us some kind of veggies, hard boiled egg, a warm side dish (one day it was curried beans) and sweet breads. It was a scenic little town with charming views. I could so have a 6 months sabbatical and rent a house there. I'd be so zen...

Liberty Youth Hostel, Bibaushi - our charming hostel. We were really sad to leave.

Around Bibaushi

Wild flowers of Bibaushi or the correct term that I learnt at the Botanic garden: herbaceous plants

The fields were just exploding with flowers, I wanted to spend the whole summer here

The Bibaushi station - it was really small! The first night we got here, Ginko chan had a moment of doubt of what have I gotten her into!

Baikohken

住　所：	〒060-0003 札幌市中央区北3条西4丁目 日本生命札幌ビルBF
TEL：	011-281-2305
営業時間：	11：00～21：00
定休日：	不定休