This Is Not the Netherlands. This Is Hokkaido.

With the kitchen build and install finally done after working straight through the holidays, I headed out to grab a scallop burger from this place.
This time I tried the one with cheese for the first time.
The cheese tastes a lot like the one in Mos Burger’s Tobikiri Cheese (one of Japan’s best burger chains). Seriously good!
The weather was so nice that I had the roof open on my Jeep while eating, until a crow started swooping down at me from above and I had to hurry up and close it.

After the burger, I made a detour to the tulip fields in Yubetsu.

Now, before you ask: no, this is not the Netherlands.
This is Hokkaido, Japan. The northernmost island, right at the top of the country.
The place is called Kamiyubetsu Tulip Park, in a small town called Yubetsu. About 1.2 million tulips bloom here every May, and yes, the windmill is real (lol).
American travelers usually fly straight to Tokyo or Kyoto, but if you want to see something that looks like Europe without actually flying to Europe, Hokkaido in May is your secret weapon.

The tulips were at about 80 to 90 percent bloom this time.
I think the coming Sunday will be the peak.
There were quite a few foreign tourists, but I am happy to report there were almost none of those rude “Xi-Jinping-style” visitors this time.

I want to build one of these. .

Since the weather was still nice, I headed home and fired up the BBQ. (Some locals here in Kitami jokingly call it “sending up smoke signals.”)
We grilled scallops we picked up in Hamasaroma, plus seasonal cherry salmon and striped Atka mackerel. Delicious.

The end.