As we were very happy to spend our time shopping at Sapporo, we decided to skip Otaru and instead spend an extra day of shopping in Sapporo. One of the attractions to go to Otaru was to try the famous Le Tao pastries there but we soon discovered they had a swanky branch in Sapporo itself. The pastry cafe was housed on the second floor of a small departmental store and we hada hard time deciding which of the delicious looking pastries we should try. We decided to opt for a mixed platter and well, we will let the pictures do the talking. The cakes were just right, in terms of the sweetness, the cream is very light, yet fluffy and the presentation is so good.
(Above) Our platter of cakes prsented with a creamy snowman - about SGD$20
(Above) It came with a cup of English Breakfast tea. The things in the spoon are the white and brown sugar granules.
(Above) Gayle posing with our platter cake set
(Above) Me posing with the cafe interior in the background. Very classy, elegant and cozy place to meet a friend / loved ones. Most of their clientele looked like tais tais. We were the only young couple there. Service was good, polite, discreet .
(Above) They have a see through kitchen where you can observe the pastry chefs at work.
(Above) Cakes on display at Le Tao glass window.
(Above) Christmas Strawberry cheese cakes with sugar trimmings from Le Tao. After looking at this kind of quality, we find Singapore cake shops to be quite 'crass looking' in terms of presentation. The strawberries used look so fresh.
(Above) More cakes from Le Tao.
After a good rest at Le Tao and with much energy from the delicious cakes, we went shopping at Pole Town, one of the underground shopping malls in Sapporo. 
(Above) LizLisa, a well known ladies fashion chain of shops that sells all things, white, pink, feminine, furry. Their salesgirls are true blue kawaii Japanese Kogals with their sharp features, beautiful eyes, short skirts - we were wondering whether appearance was a requisite to work there. It was the same in other Lizlisa shops. They also know how to give genuine and sincere compliments and were very good in their customer service. With good and attractive salesgirls plus good range of nice fashion clothes and accoutrements, it is no wonder LizLisa is a runaway success in Japan. Gayle bought a nice white coloured winter hooded trench coat there. Cost about slighty over SGD$200.See Below. The furry lined hoods and cuffs are removable.
We then went in search of the Old Ramen Alley and New Ramen Alley. Quite easy to locate if you follow the map directions. These are supposedly the place to have your ramen from a wide choice of ramen shops there.
(Above) New Ramen Alley
(Above) Old Ramen Alley - the Original
Along the way, we stopped at some Neo print picture booths to have some fun. The booths have really huge spotlights shown above.
(Above) cute tiny screen studded with crystals with Gayle's photo for previewing before print.
Robinson's departmental store, one of the big stores in Sapporo. Not related to our Singapore Robinsons. Selling similar fare catering to the middle and upper conservative class - more conservative fashion, household stuff etc.
(Above)Sapporo Old Clock Tower in the background behind Gayle, another icon of Sapporo to see.
The JR Sapporo Train station main building. A key point of reference to use when navigating around Sapporo central. It is quite huge with 4 wings - North, East, South West. There are also shopping levels above and below ground leve. You can practically spend 2 days exploring just this building. The Tourist and JR train information counters are located within, side by side. You can also check your emails at the internet kiosk there for 100yen for 10 minutes.
(Above) Us posing in front of the main entrance to JR Sapporo building. 
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