Skiing at Fujiten aka Attempting to Stay Upright While Speeding Down a Volcano

Since I was enjoying the snow so much, I didn't hesitate to say yes when Mark asked if I would be up for skiing.  We have a department on base that organizes trips, provides transportation, and includes instructors...in English.  Since Mt. Fuji is just a little way down the road (about 3 hours), we decided on a trip to Fujiten, a popular ski resort area.  Thankfully, I also roped my friend Megan into coming as well.  I went into it with the mindset that I would be satisfied with the day if I didn't break any bones and enjoyed the view and the company.  As you can see, the view was magnificent!

Megan and I went to base to pick out our rental gear the Sunday before this Monday trip, and it literally took 3 hours.  Granted there was only one person working, but the fact that he told us to go size up our poles indicated just what level of beginner we actually were.  Luckily, it didn't take that long to get ready at the resort.  We had to add multiple layers and get all our gear piled onto our bodies.  The worst part was definitely the boots.  Seriously, after about 10 minutes on my feet and I had no feeling beyond mid calf.  While we were waiting for our instructor, I had to take my boots off...the locals probably thought I was crazy.  Here is Mark, looking like a bug while we were waiting in the lobby.  

Here are Megan and I.  I kept teasing her, because she borrowed all these cute, matching clothes from a friend.  I kept telling her that it's just as important to look good as it is to ski well.  In fact, people may not notice if she skied badly as long as she looked stylish.  I'm not sure goggles are ever going to be considered stylish.  

Seriously, the views were amazing and definitely worth the trip.  

I found the sheer number of people in ski training to be overwhelming.  We were surrounded by folks in these blue and yellow outfits, which indicate that they are taking lessons.  It was interesting to learn that many of the school children here take ski lessons as part of their elementary school curriculum.  It's also humbling to see them zip by you on a slope as I was struggling to avoid trees.  

Don't I look like a natural?

Honestly, it was a rough beginning, but after about 15 minutes, I felt like I had the hang of it.  In fact, I forgot that I couldn't feel my feet, or legs for that matter, because I was rocking it out on the barely there training incline.  

Zoom, zoom, zoom.  I was zigging and zagging and stopping and going.  It was amazing. 

Then we took lunch.

Took a few shots of stunning Mt. Fuji.  

Here I am, ready for round 2.  After my success this morning, I was confident that I would do great this afternoon.  The instructor left us with instructions to buy a lift pass so we could go up to a "real" slope for our first run.  To be honest, I was more concerned with the thought of the lift than the actual slope.  

My experience with the lift went fairly smoothly.  I made it on and off without falling or losing any teeth...that's successful in my book. 

I exited the lift, turned the corner, and looked at the slope.  My immediate reaction was, there's no effing way I'm going down that.  I know it wasn't, but it seemed almost vertical.  Of course, Mark did fabulous, making it down to the bottom without falling until the very end, and even having the coordination to take pictures like the one below.  Megan also did great, although, I may credit part of her success to the tri-skis that helped her make "big pizza" the entire way down.  I, on the other hand, fell about 37 times.  I would get going really fast and because of the incline, couldn't stop.  That would freak me out, then because I was amazing at turning to the left, I would quickly veer left toward a six foot drop off next to a forest full of trees ready to give me a traumatic brain injury.  Because I had no desire to fly off into the forest like a song bird, I would purposefully bail and wipeout.  At one point, I was so tired and in pain from all the wipeouts, I had to bury my face in the snow like a snow ostrich.  Needless to say, I am now an expert at clicking my skis into place and getting up on an incline after falling down.  I am not, however, pumped up to visit Fujiten anytime soon.  

This is a picture of my first wipeout.  I was zigging and zagging, uncontrollably down the first hill on the slope, when I suddenly veered left.  I went straight for Megan who was already on the ground and the instructor was standing in front of her helping to adjust her tri-skis (training wheels).  I careened into her and inadvertently knocked him down as well.  I landed in a perfect straddle of her and all I could do was laugh, though not as loud as Mark's cackle.  

Overall, I had a fabulous time and am quite willing to give it another go.  I would, however, prefer to head to a ski resort that has more beginner hills.  I know that our instructor didn't mean harm from putting us on an intermediate hill, but it was just a little too much a bit too soon.  After two weeks of recuperation, and believe me, it took every bit of two weeks, I am ready to plan the next trip.  I'm not sure I'll make it again this year, but am definitely ready to buy some cute ski gear to distract folks from my lack of ski ability for next year!

Sapporo Classic, Oh and The Snow Festival Too!

Another weekend, another adventure.  I have been wanting to head to Sapporo since last year, but finally decided to buy the ticket and hop a plane to the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.  Sapporo is the fourth largest city in Japan and was designed by westerners, so it has a grid layout which is unusual for Japanese cities.  This meant that I could now navigate successfully once again and street would run parallel and perpendicular instead of illogically in every which way.  

One of the first stops on my self-guided tour of Sapporo was the Chocolate Factory.  As with just about everything in Japan, things are not what they seem.  Upon entering, we were given our complimentary piece of "chocolate".  What we really got was a wafer cookie with a bit a white chocolate sandwiched in the middle.  It was delicious, but not what I expected when heading to the chocolate factory.  Especially, when I could smell the real stuff...where were they hiding it?!

After touring through a large building filled mostly with knick knacks and museum type trinkets, we came upon two windows to view the factory.  This was definitely NOT Willy Wonka's factory.  Everything looked completely sterile, from the clothes to the silence.  I would be so totally bored with this type of work.  The workers were picking out the cookies that weren't perfect. 

The outside of the factory was really fun and interesting. This was the clocktower in the middle of the gardens.  It was also the part of the view from the restaurant on the top floor of the factory.  

This was another view from the restaurant.  

As the clock struck on the hour, all these figures came out to sing and dance.  They piped the music through the entire museum and restaurant as well as outside.  It was really cute.  

Outside, there were tons of singing and dancing figures.  They popped out of the recesses of the building like rats in the streets of Bangkok.  There were tons of things to look at, including these tiny houses.  

Back inside, I was swept back to my roots by Abraham Lincoln.  I thought it was funny that they had this statue in their factory.  

They had a toy museum that included all sorts of fun items...including these ice skates.  I can barely stay upright with modern ones.  Can you imagine skating in these?  Try doing a triple sow cow with flip flops on!

They all sorts of antique toys.  I thought these little cars were cute.  Especially since they had different flags on the trunks.  

I'm not sure what's going on here, but this toy would have scared me as a child!

After getting my fill of the chocolate factory, we headed to the whiskey factory in Nikka.  Once we arrived, I wasn't sure if we were in the right place because it looks more like a prison that a whiskey factory.  

I was hoping that I would enjoy the whiskey at this point.  I can't say that I have been a huge fan of it so far in my life, but there's always room to change.  

Apparently their whiskey is well known and award winning.  I had never heard of it before, but according to the displays, it rivals some well known Scotch and Jameson.  

Here are the boilers where it starts early on in the stages of becoming whiskey.  They are fueled by coal and peat to give it a certain flavor. 

The whisky is stored in a barn with dirt floors to add to the flavor.  The type of barrel is also key, as different types of wood add different flavors to the drink.  

First, we came upon the tasting room where you can pay to try some of the top shelf varieties.  Some smelled salty, peaty, oaky, and others were just gross.  This one smelled the best to me.  It was actually quite good and I am regretting the fact that I didn't buy any while I was there.  

Here I am giving it a try.  It was great, just a small sip at a time.  

Here is our self-made tour group, which includes my friend, Mark and his friends from Iwakuni.  I am so glad that I got to meet them!

After the paid tasting room, we came across the free tasting room.  They offered four different types of whiskey here.  It was interesting to taste ones that were young and then move on to taste ones that were older.  I could definitely tell the difference.  

Here's the group again in a different part of the museum.  

Another one of my favorite things about this city was the crazy number of fun British/Irish pubs.  I have really missed the cozy atmosphere of The Celtic Mist, and these places definitely made me feel a bit like I was back home. 

Our friend Suzy was anxious to eat at this restaurant.  She introduced us to this group of different places that have special plates with entrees that are unique to each area and each restaurant.  The point is to collect the different plates and to try all the local specialties.  The food here was absolutely fabulous.  It was Italian and some of the best I've ever tasted.  

Here are some examples of the kinds of plates you can buy.  These are from the original 12 restaurants.  Now, there are more than 50 restaurants all over the world.  The majority, however, are found in Italy and Japan.

Suzy's collection inspired many others to start their own that day.  The plate from this restaurant had a mother and baby cow painted on it.  The dish that was prepared was a beef dish with a port wine sauce along with many other sides.  Even though I didn't buy a plate, I will have to travel around Japan trying to find these unique restaurants.  

We left the restaurant full and ready to head to the snow and ice sculptures.  We hopped on this super fun street car to head back to the Susukini district of Sapporo.  

This is the entertainment district where all the fun happens.  It is also where the ice sculptures were located.  It was really fun to see all the boys on the street corners with their crazy, done-up hair dos.   

Here's a view of the other side of the street.  

Some of the ice sculptures were difficult to photograph, mainly because pictures didn't really capture the detail of them.  Some of them were huge.  I thought this was a beautiful scene with the full moon, a tower that reminded me of Tokyo Tower, and the ice sculptures too.  

Here I am, pumped up to be in Sapporo.  It looks like I am flashing the bird, but really it's a double peace sign.  

So cute!  I love that the Japanese always set up opportunities for photo shoots.  

Here's an ice sculpture of the Lion King.  

This one was an ice bar with different bottles of sake frozen in it.  It was interesting, because the sculptures were in the median of the street.  So, I was trying to get pictures while cars and trucks zoomed right on by.  

Yep, that's a bunch of different types of seafood frozen in this sculpture.  Look at the size of those crabs!

Speaking of crabs...after checking out the ice sculptures, we wanted to head to the downtown area where the snow ones could be found.  After a long day, we were ready for some food.  We stopped at this Asahi stand to fill up on great beer and HUGE crab legs.  They were delicious!

Here we are after eating into oblivion.  We had lamb, crabs, deer, and some other stuff too.  After cooling down there for awhile, we headed back to the action.  

Some of the snow sculptures were huge, and others, like this one were much smaller.  I would say that this was the smallest sized sculpture, he's a cute little anime character.  

We saw some white folks and headed over to see what they were up to.  We found a crew from Misawa who were sent up here to create their own snow sculpture.  They decided on the Unknown Soldier.  They did a fabulous job creating this likeness from just a picture.  

Here's a cute little girl.  I wonder how they got her hair to stay like that.

This was one of the large ones.  It was full of sea animals and detail.  It's hard to get the full effect in a picture, but you get the idea.  

Here it is all lit up at night.  I think it's even harder to see now, but you get an idea of how big it actually is.  

I liked this crazy soccer player.  

This was a large castle, that almost looked like it was made of ice.  The lights behind it looked awesome.  

Here's the Taj Mahal.  Check out how small that woman looks in front of it.  It made me want to make reservations at the Ice Hotel in Iceland.  

Here is the castle from Fukushima area.  I think they were asked to do this in order to boost the economy in that area.  Surrounding the base of the castle were folks from there who were selling local goods.  

After the rest of our group left, we decided to head to the local shrine.  It is the most famous one was the Hokkaido Shrine.  It was located in a beautiful park on the outskirts of Sapporo.  This Torii Gate is unique, because it is made of metal instead of the traditional wood.  

Here is the entrance to the shrine.  The architecture here was different from that of other shrines I had been to.  I think it's because of the large amount of snowfall they get.  In fact, their average yearly snowfall is 248 inches.  There isn't another metropolitan city in the world with numbers like that.  

Here is the purification station where you wash away impurities before entering.  

Here were some of the cute prayer boards.  These ones were specifically to help students to pass exams.  

Here I am in front of the main building.  I thought it was beautiful, but we weren't allowed inside.

On our way back to the hotel to pick up our luggage, we saw these cute snowmen and just had to get a picture.  

I really loved this city and look forward to visiting again.  In fact, I would love to make it a yearly visit.  I had great, thoughtful conversations, drank some great beer, found fabulous bars and restaurants, met some fabulous folks, and came home with plenty of great stories.  Who could ask for more?