00:00:00 John Daub: Hey everybody, I'm live here in Abashiri. This is the Michi no Eki (roadside station), the ice drift port where the boats go out into the ice in the ocean and break through it. There's lots of wildlife like seals and white sea lions. The boat, believe it or not, right now the timing can't be perfect. I'm stuck on a snow drift. Oh man, I'm really stuck deep in the snow. I wanted to get a nice view because the boat is coming in. Do you see that? That's the Aurora, the icebreaker boat. There's very little on the internet, on YouTube, about this icebreaking tour, this attraction of the city. So it's neat to see the boat coming in. Oh man, it's so cold. There she is, the Aurora.

00:01:03 John Daub: This is live from Hokkaido. Is that bird crazy? Do you see that duck down there? No way. Oh my lord, it's like minus something. My ears have lost feeling. This is super cold out here. There's the Aurora behind me making its way back to port. There's a bazillion tourists on it because you can see in the parking lot all these tour buses from different countries around the world. I talked to a girl from Germany for five minutes. She was visiting all around Hokkaido. I talked to two people from Korea, three from Indonesia. It's insane the amount of countries here visiting Japan. People from all over the world. So it's neat to see this outside of Tokyo. People don't just stay in Tokyo, believe it or not. They're all over the place.

00:02:16 John Daub: Boy, that boat's pretty darn big. I guess it has to be to break through the ice. So I'm going to take you around the city a little bit. I'm not sure how long my battery will keep up because it's quite cold. I haven't added the heaters to the battery yet. Batteries don't last in minus 10 degrees Celsius. My ears are absolutely frozen. This is the main road going through Abashiri. You can see there's still snow. Even though the plows have gone through, it's impossible to keep it off. It was snowing when I arrived from the airport about an hour and a half ago. There's not much traffic. It's early, just after four o'clock and the sun is already down. So this is what you can expect in downtown Abashiri on the port side.

00:03:19 John Daub: Look at all the tourists. Hello. Nice to meet you. Ah, you got a wave out of that lady. More tourists coming in on the boat. That's the Aurora 2 actually. Smartly, most tourists are inside the boat where the heaters are. But it's pretty cool to see the boat coming into port. Once again, I'm at the Michi no Eki, the roadside house here in Abashiri. This is central Abashiri and this is the Aurora 2 coming in from breaking ice out in the sea. I can see from the second floor of the roadhouse, which is right there. You can see the ocean north of Hokkaido. It's just filled with ice, all white. And apparently there are white sea lions. I'll show you what one looks like—there's one drawn on the side of a vending machine. All the people here are tourists come to ride this trip. Pretty cool. My hotel isn't too far away, in the center. Very helpful tourist information shop. There's one guy there who works until 6 p.m. He told me the population of this town is decreasing, but tourists are increasing. Right now they don't outnumber the locals, but it's getting closer every year.

00:05:04 John Daub: The boat leads right out to your tour bus. You see all the tour buses here. Some dude up there is filming me. All right, I'm going to take you inside the roadhouse because I have to. My ears are going to fall off. I actually have a winter hat. I just decided to come out here and show you a little bit of Abashiri before I go inside. There are some really nice restaurants in this area with local foods. I'm going to try to get permission to film in some. One is sushi, the other ramen, and they have pretty good ramen here. I couldn't find any crab ramen, which is only at the airport apparently. But I'll find something good.

00:06:08 John Daub: Check out these vending machines. They probably show the attractions of the area. It's neat that on a vending machine you can see the area's attractions. And there's Hokkaido. Yeah, you see, they have sea lions resting on icebergs. Check it out, he's filling the vending machines right now. I'm going to take you into the Michi no Eki, the roadhouse here. I don't think this has ever been covered on YouTube, so we're doing them a service. The Michi no Eki has a map of the area. So we're up here, Abashiri. You can see these marks—which you have in your emoji. These marks mean onsen (hot spring). A lot of Americans are like, what is this mark? That means hot spring. And there's the town where we are right now, Abashiri port.

00:07:35 John Daub: A lot of people say they're not getting notifications. It could be because if you do more than one live stream a day, YouTube turns it off. That's okay, this is part of the history. You're going to be able to see this online, trekkers. Oh, you better believe it, I'm getting some hot sake tonight. It's just me here, no cameraman or crew. This is how I usually operate. I just come by myself, film, and get permission. I have permission to film at the prison tomorrow morning at 9:30. I met two people from Indonesia when I got off the bus and they said they're going tomorrow morning too. So it'll be cool to meet up with people I sort of know now, even though I don't know their names. They're really nice. This is where you get the tickets, the tourist information office. There's the mascot for the town. If you go on to my Japanese mascot episode on the main channel, you're going to see this yuru-chara mascot there.

00:08:55 John Daub: This is what the roadhouse looks like. There's a tourist information center here. I went to this guy and he knows everything. You can buy postcards and stamps there as well. Very nice guy, of course he is, he's the tourist info guy. Here's the ice—so one of the popular gifts is ice candy. Check it out, ice candy. It looks like little pieces of ice, doesn't it? Supposed to be sweet. Looks good, cheap at 216 yen, 130 grams. Not bad. Here's the mascot: nippon! Yoroshiku! Nippone-chan. I was cracking up the lady in the office. Here's the ticket center for the boat. The staff is hard at work, wondering what this guy is doing with the camera. There's a gift shop inside, which is pretty neat. When I was hitchhiking, I saw a lot of Michi no Eki like this. It's a hub where you get a lot of information exchanged about the areas.

00:10:43 John Daub: There's gacha (capsule toy) machines, ice cream for the people who like soft cream. Hey now. This is all local flavors. Interesting, I've never seen this company before. This is definitely not Haagen-Dazs. Very stylish looking. Wow, he's got the ice cream. Soft cream, milk but it has mint and lemon in it. Oh, it's good. Very soft and delicious. Nice. Abashiri Brewery—I'm going to have to get a couple of these. The color is blue, do you see that? See, the boat is parked right outside the window here. It's much warmer in here. Of course they have wasabi, which I don't think is famous in this area. Wasabi nori, limited to Hokkaido. This is really good. Seaweed is the perfect snack because it's not deep fried like potato chips, but it's got a little crispiness.

00:13:17 John Daub: A lot of these we saw at the airport. Of course they have hats for people who forgot them—like not me, I have gloves and a hat at the hotel. You could get something more local, like this crab hat. Who's in on that? 1,000 yen, about $9. Not bad. Oh that's cute, umai bear. These are cheesecakes, cakes that look like bears. Bear claw, interesting. Ready-to-eat corn for those who want corn. This is crab. This is instant ramen, but crab flavored. Tarako bakari (cod roe). Sorry, hard to read through the camera. So there's two flavors. Crab ramen is famous here, and here's some scallops. These are dried scallops you eat with alcohol. You can chew on them, pretty famous in Hokkaido. That guy was eating ice cream because it makes no sense to eat ice cream when it's minus 15 outside. You have to be a psychopath. As this livestream goes on, I'll exaggerate the temperatures to make it seem like I'm really an adventurer. Minus 30 degrees outside.

00:15:37 John Daub: These are bottles of beer—I'm going to get a couple for tonight. Blue beer, come on, coolest thing ever. There's sake and wine too. I like these logos. I thought this was a paw print. Now you can see it, these are the premium ones. This looks like a piece of ice. Ohotsk blue, cool. There's another blue. I've never seen that mascot before. Whoa, that's a drink. No way, what the heck is this? Only Hokkaido taste. Bears Guarana. Not polar bear, but Ezo brown bear of winter. This is the coolest drink I've ever seen. When they make a logo, you should go for fear because fear sells. People are scared into drinking this. It looks like beer, but I guess it's like cola. Here's Hokkaido corn tea, interesting. Salt cider—which one should I get, guys? The death bear or the salt cider? This one looks real cute and blue. That can't be good for you. The bear one. All right, death bear.

00:18:05 John Daub: I want to get the beer but I don't have a can opener, so another livestream. There's soft cream here too. Thank you very much. These girls are a little shy, not used to YouTube but they're starting. Wow, they got ice cream. I think he's eating another. Okay, I'm going to try this. Mix soft cream, milk soft cream. Mint flavor mix, a little lemon, refreshing taste, 350 yen. Let's go try the bear thing and then I'll get this one. I can't drink this inside because I don't want to unleash the bear. It could be dangerous. I told him I'm here for three days, you're gonna see my face a lot. Ah, the sun has really gone down. I'm gonna drink this in the snow because that's what we do. Unleashing the bear out here. That's a local bus—you can tell because people are standing. They're waving. Wave back. Bye bye. See you at the hotel, probably because we're all staying at the same one.

00:21:02 John Daub: Alright, let's unleash the bear. This should have been the thumbnail. Guess we're crazy people here. Here we go, let's open it. Unleashing the bear right now. Somebody call the cops, we got a bear on the loose. Cheers. It's starting to freeze up. Sweet. I do not think this bear likes this kind of drink. If you look in its mouth, it's got blood— this drink should be red, taste of blood. It's sweet and tastes like that Christmas Pepsi from two months ago. Not bad, but not great. Alright, I'm going back in to try the ice cream. Wait right here.

00:22:52 John Daub: We're back. I went offline to take a picture for the thumbnail. There is the Michi no Eki, the tourist information center. Whoa baby, down boy. Back in the box. Am I really going to get ice cream? Does anybody want to see me eat this? This is awesome elevator music. I'm going to get that ice cream because I'm curious. While I do that, I'll put you down. I was out there two minutes and my hand is killing me. Now we're ready. Let's go get an ice cream cone. Who in their right mind eats ice cream when it's minus 25? This is where you board the icebreaker boat, parked outside. I'm going to the prison tomorrow but see if I can get an afternoon icebreaker. I see some sea lions or something. Who wants ice cream? Yay. Alright kids, back down.

00:25:52 John Daub: Mint flavor? Yes. Let it rip. She's very focused on getting that perfect swirl. Nice color, look at the little lemon on it. Nice touch. Come with me to the outdoors. Dance with me ice cream. Oh ice cream how I love you, you're so blue and yellow. Shall we dance outside? We're alone now ice cream cone. The ad says it's minty and refreshing. So we're going to see. Why eat ice cream at minus 25? I don't know. Minty and refreshing. It's 5 p.m., they play music. So we're eating the ice cream outside. Funny thing is it won't melt out here, it'll just get harder. Wrap your head around that. Normally soft serve melts, but I could eat this two hours and it won't. It's getting harder, I can't even stick my tongue through it. I have to go inside where it'll melt. Very nice, crunchy with lemon bits, refreshing crunchiness to the mint. Quite nice.

00:31:03 John Daub: So I got an old building, shokudo (食堂, diner). Guess this is a restaurant that serves traditional food from 1945. This place is famous for the prison, might have something to do with that. They make onigiri (rice balls). Pretty cool, like a museum in here. That's a scene from a movie, they filmed here. So there you go, this is the Roadhouse Adventure from Abashiri. I've been living in Japan 30 years, but there's not a part of this country that doesn't surprise me. Every time you go someplace new, it's a new experience. Even in Japan, every area has its own culture, uniqueness. This is why you need to get out of Tokyo. They got their own beer, ice cream, drinks, food. I was in Tokyo a couple hours ago. Airplanes are cool. I'm going to find a restaurant, see if we can film, do some info. Got work at the hotel, staying in the center. Here for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday—three more days of live streaming, lots of Hokkaido stuff. Massive info in my backpack from the center.

00:34:13 John Daub: If you have questions, leave a comment below, I'll get back. Hopefully see stuff you're interested in. I'm going on the icebreaker boat tomorrow afternoon after prison or next day. Have to get a permit to fly the drone—kyoka (許可, permission) in Japanese. Can't just fly here or pay a big fine. Here's info for icebreaker Miss Aurora: traveling the sea ice drifting area, approx one hour, 3,300 yen about $30. Special seat after embarking. Would you pay $30? We're going tomorrow or day after. Might not have signal to livestream, so probably an episode. Schedule: boats from 9:30 a.m. to last at 3:30 p.m. Best in morning breaking fresh ice. There's smelt fishing at the lake—pull fish out and eat right there, $20 tent, $15 all-you-can-eat. Pretty cool, down by prison museum. Abashiri has lots of attractions, eventful four days. I'm surprised this area has so many. Thought it'd be a shack town, but no. Info guy said two Michelin star restaurants here. That would make Jennifer mad, she wanted to come but couldn't afford ticket or time.

00:39:19 John Daub: This town has two Michelin stars. Might check them tonight, get permission to film. Probably need reservation in advance. Look at this, beautiful. Started livestream when light, now dark—snow and city landscape so beautiful. Walking back to hotel, downtown Abashiri. They have shops, supermarket, restaurants. Friday night before I leave, 4-6 p.m. night market of yatai (food stalls) along main street. Gonna go right before flight—bus to airport at 6:55 p.m., 50 min ride, get there just before. In Japan domestic, hour or 45 min early is fine. US is 2-3 hours. Today's flight I was 45 min early, perfectly fine, even livestreamed. Security thorough yet fast— TSA can learn from Japan, polite and efficient.

00:41:28 John Daub: Minus 50 degrees, going back to hotel to prepare for dinner. Might do another livestream, check Facebook and Patreon. Hard to schedule with notifications off. 7-Eleven, snow 7-Eleven. Gonna post on Facebook/Patreon so you see more. Here for Patreon people, their support brought me. That looks like a supermarket. Need heat pads. That was a fun adventure. Ending livestream here. Thanks for joining on this chilly Abashiri Michi no Eki ice drift pier port tour, with evil death bear drink and snow drift salty lemon mint ice cream. No good translations, sounds less cool in English—except death bear. Still got it in my bag, it'll follow me. Jennifer, want death bear? No. See you everybody from Abashiri, north Hokkaido, where it's 100 below zero. Exaggerating.