It has snowed almost the entire day in Otaru (小樽) , and that really sucks! Sorry for all the romantics out there but snowing and walking on the streets don’t go together. I’m all wrapped up in four layers of clothing sans my gloves but I’m still shivering like a fully plucked chicken! Fortunately, I stumbled on Osa, a boutique winery. The spirits in me desperately needs one glass right now. Just one glass, I promised myself. As it turned out, this place was an unexpected find! The owner of this boutique, winery cum café, Osa-san, is polite and friendly. We soon struck up a conversation. He told me that his hometown is in Kyushu, but he now lives in Otaru (小樽).
Outside, the snow continued without any signs of calling it quits. On a day when I had decided to venture to Mount Tengu (天狗山), the snow really was of no help as far as getting a bird’s eye view of Otaru (小樽) was concerned. However, I managed to snap some shots during the intermittent times when the snow decided to take a ‘smoke’ break.
Because of the snow, there was really nothing much I could do but check into the Mt. Tengu Ropeway Café. I plonked myself down on one of the seats at the observation deck which offers a stunning vista of Otaru (小樽) below. I was resisting the urge to drink again because I’d had beer almost every meal for the last 10 days that I was in Hokkaido. Instead, I ordered a coffee to warm my body (and spirits). Fresh from its break, the snow was all geared up for Round 2. I decided I needed a Round 2 myself, so I ordered a beer. And continued watching the snow fall. LS
One of the first things I penned down on my bucket list when doing my research on Sapporo was the 
Take the Sapporo Factory for example. This former brewery is now a shopping centre, restaurant complex and tourist trinkets trap. The only reason I spent a good hour there – there’s a small tasting room at the corner of a miniscule “exhibition room” where you can taste 6 different kinds of Sapporo Beer for 250 yen each for half a pint.
Next, the 
Inside the Museum, there’s two floors of exhibits – both of which took me less than 5 minutes each. The exhibits cover the history of Sapporo Brewery and a special tribute to their bestselling Black Label. I would have preferred a more interactive experience, but sadly, the exhibits are mainly posters and Sapporo beer bottles from the different eras.
Now if you have time, the beer tasting is the real deal. And the best part, you get to sample 3 half-pints of different Sapporo beers at a grand total of 500 yen. This almost makes the earlier price tag of 250 yen per half pint offered at the Factory seem exorbitant. In addition to the beer tasting, there’s an interesting souvenir shop where you can purchase beer flavoured chocolates, beer flavoured cookies, beer flavoured anything… Cheers to that! 
So I’m going to accost your sights with 
Here, geishas toting umbrellas totter in wooden clogs on the cobblestoned streets of Gion. Shrines pop up in the most unlikely of places (for example, in the middle of Teramachi, a bustling market and shopping arcade). And just a stone’s throw away from the shopping belt, mega temples built on hilltops instantly spirit you into a zen new world.
It’s funny how sometimes you just feel like doing random things. Like sit in a Lego shop and play with the bricks for a good two hours before heading to your next destination. If you must know, I managed to fashion a synagogue / church (can’t really tell which it resembles more) out of a ton of yellow bricks.
Exploring the Jewish quarter is another adventure on its own. A little sedate in the day, the cobblestone enclave really comes alive at dusk – when the pubs and restaurants open and start filling up with locals.
The Old Town Market Square (Rynek Starego Miasta) overlooking the Vistula is the heart of Warsaw and probably any traveller’s first stop. However, when the sun goes down, hipsters and well-heeled Poles flock to Nowy Świat, a cosmopolitan F&B thoroughfare that boasts some of Warsaw’s swankiest cafes and fine dining restaurants. Here, you can spend hours just people watching or bar-hop to find your ideal poison. Luckily for me, they still count in zlotys. So go ahead, indulge your inner demons! 
If what the Japanese did to us was abominable, what the Americans did to the Japanese (in the name of ending the Pacific War) was unpardonable. I recalled the solemn atmosphere at the 
On 6 August 1945, Hiroshima was flattened by a uranium bomb, dropped by a US B-29 bomber, and which exploded about 600 metres above the city. Nicknamed ‘Little Boy’, the bomb unleashed a gigantic fireball (370 metres in diameter) over the city when it detonated, measuring 6,000 degrees Celsius. Thousands caught in the hypocentre of the bomb instantly vaproised. The resulting firestorm from the blast swept across Hiroshima, incinerating everything in its path. 140,000 people perished. The radiation emitted by the bomb will continue to haunt the generations after.
The Peace Memorial Park just outside the Museum had a dedicated section to the children who perished during the bombing. Thousands of colourful paper peace cranes, painstakingly folded and woven into Japanese kanji (or Chinese) characters symbolising Peace, dotted the Children’s Memorial Park. I stood in front of the Children’s Memorial, the statue of an angel, and said a silent prayer.
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