Nihon 2015-nen ni sunõbõdo

So I was extremely fortunate to be posted in Tokyo for work this year so took advantage of the location to chase down more of Japan’s famed powder.

I am writing this post after around 25 days in a handful of Japan’s hundreds of ski resorts mountains. Some old, some new but all good times. Sat in the corner of a huge hotel room with its own hot tub and sauna on the 19th floor with a 3 meter long window overlooking an incredible mountain in Tomamu that we rode yesterday.

A little sad because I was hoping for one last ride of my season, but the winds are too strong and the top lifts (where all the good stuff is) are not open.

Sad also because my assignment here has come to an end and as soon as I head back to Tokyo this evening I will be packing my things and returning to London. At least until I can get my affairs sorted for my next assignment in HK.

So I have spent every weekend since the new year snowboarding. Starting with an extended 5 day trip over new year in Nozawa Onsen, which just never disappoints. More weekend trips to Nozawa and Myoko Kogen with a long weekend in Niseko filling the rest of the weeks.

Days trips to other mountains included Togari Onsen which had loads of untouched yet not patrolled side country action accessible off the lifts. A short bus ride from Nozawa made a nice change of scenery to explore and a bit of variety.

Seki onsen again a short bus ride but from Myoko this time. Seemed to be a small family run mountain with only one 2 man lift. We arrived here just as it opened and looking up the mountain the visible face only had a couple of lines down it. By the end of the day there was more touched than untouched snow on the face. A great location for laps and laps of side country. My friends will tell you (or rather gloat) that there is even better fresh line action. Payload for this is a hike which I was not equipped for at the time. Next time Seki, next time.

Myoko

The fun this year has definitely got to go to this last trip. A 10 day tour of Hokkaido including Rusutsu, Niseko, Kiroro, Furano and Tomamu.

Rusutsu was as fun as it was last year, but more chances to explore the actual resort’s runs an side country as I was here for more than a day trip. A nice long hike up the main ridge, plenty of bowl action, but you do kind of feel you are always traversing in the bowls rather than gunning it down the mountain.

‘The Meadow’ as we nicknamed it, just off the main piste through a short section of trees opened up to a massive field where you could always go that little bit wider and find fresh lines. Only down side is it required a 10 minute walk back up the road to the gondola. Worth it every time. Staying in a Japanese style ski resort in itself is an experience. A self contained complex with various dining options, indoor way pool and water slide, but with staff uniform and decor that made you feel like you were in a 80s time warped. Everything is well maintained and runs smoothly, but just like it had been intended in 1979. You can’t knock the fact that it just works, but as the location becomes more popular with international skiers I do wonder if they will bother to refurbish the complex or not. The fast food options were pretty terrible, but the Bavarian style buffet which had all the snow and king crab you could stuff your face with was a highlight.

Niseko just increasingly feels less and less Japan. The modern Canadian architecture is really nice and luxurious, but its that what attracts the masses of gaijin to the point that nearly all service staff are not Japanese and can’t even exchange basic Japanese formalities nevermind understand what nama-biru is.

Limited amount of lifts were open when we were there, but always enough to have fun. What we did benefit from the Niseko effect was the access to good restaurants. Quite common in Tokyo, but less so for the ski resorts of Japan.

The Barn – Niseko

La villa Lupicia – Niseko

Kiroro – What an absolute gem of a resort. A more modern take to the Japanese resort compared to Rusutsu. Still a little chintzy in Piano hotel where we were staying, but the main hotel looked pretty modern. We had arranged a local transfer from Niseko which to be honest I had expected a coach. A mini van turned up and the guy got out the van to look at the masses of luggage we had and scratched his head wondering how it was all going to fit in. We took over and a bit of tetris later, packed the van to get all our luggage and us into the van. Arrived late afternoon and after checking in and hit the night ski. And oh what a night. It had been snowing most of the day and even the piste was ankle deep, side of piste was up to my thighs. Loads of natural terrain to play with under lifts and side of piste, made for one of the fun filled four hour runs with the crew.

The next day the gondola had opened after a number of days closure. We arranged a guide, who took us too all the different secret stashes of side country. So many options for runs and plenty for everyone so much fun with varieties of big steep powder fields and technical run outs (having to dodge holes that drop into rivers).

Some hiking routes which I will need to explore next time I come back here.

Furano – a bus back to Sapporo to pick up the hire car and drive to Furano. We had booked into what was a pretty cool modern business hotel. We only had one day skiing in Furano as we extended our Kiroro stay due to the good snow conditions. I opted to take a hike option up an old ski resort. It hadn’t snowed for a few days which was a shame, but the hike was fun up a solitary, but not imposing mountain. Cost benefit was still pretty low as the snow was ok, but not amazing. We decided to play about and build a kicker.

We drove over to Tomamu the following morning which took about 3 hours. It was a bit overcast but we were all keen to get out. What we were presented with was an incredible couple of super steep powder filled faces with lots of natural features to play with. Unlike Rusutsu we didn’t really have to be conservative with dropping height as there was just so much continuous steep face.

Despite being kitted out with all the essential avi gear (except airbag) doing some basic avi training and research, a couple of avalanche stories early on made me pretty apprehensive and risk adverse most of the season. Except for some very sketchy moments I was glad to get out of I’ve had a great season of powder filled runs that I will always remember. I have definitely shifted from a flocking mentality depending on the knowledge and judgement of others to make my own assessments and decisions which has allowed me to enjoy my boarding with more piece of mind.

It’s certainly is sad to finish another season in Japan, but I will definitely be back. Hopefully to Kiroro and Tomamu

Teyandei, Nishi-Asabu – Uni Pasta, Cheese Tofu and Anchovy Potatoes

Type	Izakaya
Restaurant name	Teyandei omo-ya
Location	〒106-0031 Tōkyō-to, Minato-ku, Nishi-Azabu, 2 Chome−20−1
Map link	Google Maps
Website	http://www.teyandei.com/teyandei_omoya/
Write up	My foodie friend Xue had taken me here before one evening and it was amazing so had to revisit again.The uni (sea urchin) pasta was a memorable dish so had to order that again. Incredibly rich and smooth texture of the uni and the egg yolk coated the cold pasta. A lovely fragrant toasted sesame and a very delicate freshly grated wasabi could have been a car crash combo but added a lift in different dimensions. One dish I wasn’t so sure about when it was ordered was the cheese tofu. Then out came gelatinous off white coloured dish topped with what looked like a soy sauce and flaked garlic with a side of sliced baguette. After seeing my friends dive into it like it was going out of fashion quick i followed suit and what a surprise. It had the wonderful silky smooth texture of tofu for sure, but tasted like creme caramel with an ever such slight hint of cheese. The soy was in fact a caramel sauce and the garlic was in fact sliced almonds. More of a dessert than a main, but delightful nevertheless. By the time I realised what I was enjoying I looked to see the plate empty and my friends looking in various directions as if it had nothing to do with them. The soup gyoza was warm and comforting. Still prefer the fried ones though The avocado chicken and parmesan was nice rich and salty hit The anchovy potato was the closes thing I’ve had to 1. roast potatoes and 2 proper bacon. Not too heavy on the anchovy paste but a good dollop’s worth to coat a side or two Spinich, mushroom and onsen tomago (half boiled egg) salad was a yummy irony hit. Every salad should have an onsen tomago! Sake here was pretty tasty. No idea which one it was though.Apologies for the bad photos. A combination of bad light, dirty phone cover and sake
Cost	¥3,500
Rating	Food 5/5 Service 3/5 – a little slow waiting for the food, but everything is made to order fromscratch Value for Money 4/5

Tempura over rice (TenDon)

Type	Tempura
Restaurant name	天茂（てんしげ）
Location	〒105-0000 Tōkyō-to, Minato-ku, Akasaka, 3 Chome−6−11
Map link	Google Maps
Website	http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1308/A130801/13002795/
Write up	A MD from the bank I am working at took me and another colleague out for lunch. A short ride away from the office opened a whole host of different eating options.Her favourite Tempura place was carefully selected after she heard I loved my food. We got there just before 12 to avoid the mad lunch rush. Through a typical small building entrance on the first floor going through a tiny sliding wooden door opened up to a restaurant that probably seated 20 people. My host kindly ordered for me (only two things on the lunch menu) which was a tempura of prawn and baby scallops on rice (Don). She also explained that sushi and tempura chefs are typically men, but this lady took over the helm when her father passed away a few years ago. She carefully gathered the filling mixing it with the batter in a small bowl before dropping it in oil pretty much freestyle. Attentively ensuring it was cooked evenly by penetrating it to let the raw batter ooze out. Once she had finished frying it her assistant dipped it into a pan of soy based broth. As it absorbed the yummy, and slightly sweet but salty goodness it sizzled out all the heat from the fry. All cooked one by one to order.
Cost	¥1,500
Rating	Food 5/5 Service – so quick there wasn’t really much service to rate, but they were very efficient and polite Value for Money 4/5

Kyoto day 3 – Cycle to Kinkakuji

After 2 pretty heavy days of walking a change in the mode of transport to 2 wheels was a welcome change. A cycle past the Honganji Temples and Nijo castle was enough as the number of temples and castle I had been to recently significantly reduce them on the priority for the day. A failed attemped to Nijo Jinya which was a former inn for visiting feudal lords with lots of secret passages. Turns out you need to make bookings and tours are only given in Japanese. This however led nicely to the priority of the days which was Kinkakuji. A golden pavilion which was aptly a Zen temple. Ignoring the hoards of tourists it was quite the tranquil setting. And a short walk around the grounds tailed off with a matcha tea and read bean treat. Started tracking the ride on Strava a bit late, but about a 25km leisurely cycle over a few hours.

Dropped off the bikes at the hostel before heading to Osaka and the final leg of my JR Pass tour.

Kyoto Day 2 – Bamboo Groves, Monkey Park and Kiyomizudera Temple

The next day was pretty full on with decent stops for lunch and dinner. Arriving at Arashiyama it was heaving with tourists as there were multiple sites

The floods of visitors were pretty full on due to the various points of interest in the area.

The bamboo groves were impressive for their stature. Appear to tower higher than a 5 storey block of flats with a gradient shade of green from top to bottom. I sat patiently for about 30minutes to try and get a clear shot, but unfortunately was impossible in such a short run.

So there were certainly a lot of bamboo, but not enough to set up scaffolding like on some of the huge buildings in HK. I was pre warned by others that they were a bit underwhelmed, but given I was prepared, I was able to appreciate it for what it was. In short its not that large an area. Probably a few hundred meters of path that walk through it. Surely there must be bigger ones else where? China surely.

The Monkey Park a short walk away provided an alternative side activity. The monkeys were all bred there and the keepers seemed to know each one by name. The park itself was at the summit of a hill which was a good 15 minute trek up the path. You start to see a couple towards the top, but once you get to the rest house you see the whole clan. It was nice to see the monkeys play around in freedom.

My favourite shot of the monkey’s where one get a left jab right in the face.

However the keepers did chase some of the trouble makers away to avoid larger fights. Some battle scars were apparent and some had even lost one of the eyes.

Maybe later in life the play turns a little more serious. You were able to get close and feed the monkeys from inside the meshed windowed rest house for $1. Infants would come and try get some food, but if you weren’t careful the elder ones would give them a bit of a smack and steal the food. Often followed by the alpha stamping his authority on the offending abusive monkey which was kind of nice to see. I applied some simple diversion tactics if any little ones crept up and fed the larger monkey while backhanding some nuts to the little ones who would then scamper off before anyone try to steal their spoils.

Heading up a few steps from the rest house gave amazing views of Kyoto in the company of more monkeys grooming each other in the spring sunshine.

Lunch by the river near the bottom of the monkey park entrance was a random choice, but was a stunning setting. It was set surrounded by sakura trees overlooking the river. I’m fairly certain in full bloom it would be near enough impossible to get a table without booking.

The room was a large tatami mat room with about 12-15 tables and with beautifully carved sakura trees in the wooden frames that divided the main room from the rest of the building.

The set meal was an incredible balance of lots of small dishes.

Blanched bamboo shoots and wrapped tofu skin accompanied some delicately grilled beef & grated cheese, garnished with a couple flower root pieces.

Some of the lovely soft textured tofu skin in a slightly sweet and savoury sauce and a touch of wasabi. Mochi balls, Japanese rolled omelette, smoked duck, fugu sushi, lotus root and black cod took your mouth through a roller coaster of taste and textures.

Standard bowl of gohan (rice) with spiced little fishies made it pretty easy to eat this in isolation.

The softest tofu I’ve ever tasted was warmed in a water bath which is lit on serving of the meal. Accompanied with shoyu and your desired amount of nevi (onion), ginger and katsuo bushi (fish flakes).

A very delicate side dish of skushi (pine cone looking nut), goji berry and spinach greens on tofu with some very young wasabi.

Another tofu dish with a gel which had a suspended shiso no hana (flower from the shiso leaf.

Walking back to the station there was a small shop which sold kimonos and there was a master artist painting the detail on a order which looked incredible. was interesting to see the rig set up which allowed him to paint one colour at a time and dry the various overlapping sections.

Kiyomizudera Temple – I hadn’t contemplated such a trek to get here. The single carriage tram and a local train to Gion seemed to be the quickest route, but there was still a fair amount of walking required. The walk was through some lovely small streets of traditional looking buildings except most of them were souvenir or food shops. Managed to bum into some girls dressed as Geishas taking some photos. Some middle aged women seemed to be going crazy taking photos of them dominating the best photo positions. After my 2 days of sitting waiting for the perfect shot I was starting to get impatient and then it dawned on me. These girls had paid to dress up a geisha and the women dominating the photo taking were probably the dearest mothers. Oooops

The temple itself was incredibly detailed with a whole section on shrines dedicated to find happiness in love

The main temple was raised and supported on the open face side the equivalent of 7 stories. It is traditional to cleanse yourself in a ritual of washing hands and mouth prior to entering the temple to pray. Normally this is with a bamboo ladle and trough of water but this one the water source from above and the ladles were all returned into a UV chamber for cleaning prior to the next person using.

Sunset in the higher setting of the temple was a fitting end to what was a long the day.

However that wasn’t the end of the evening. Kiln was recommended to me by Rochi, a friend in Tokyo and it did not disappoint. A hipster/artisan feel to the place was calm and warming. A huge wooden table dominated the main floor with a segment cut out for the uber hip barman / waiter with accompanying ponytail. As each individual drink was ordered he would sit down and make each order with the utmost clinical precision. Quite the theatrical experience.

A warm home made soda bread was a lovely reminder of dining back in London served with butter and a surprising, but great cumin flavoured humous.

Masayo San the head chef was young and obviously passionate about the food and the whole end to end experience. She personally replied to all my email enquires and was extremely accommodating and welcoming.

Fugu (blowfish) capriccio to start was well seasoned with a quality olive oil and dill combined with a citric sharpness .

The fried kawachi duck was very interesting. It was encased in a hard spice crust which on biting released sweet clove and light cinnamon flavours type aromas that almost smelt of Christmas. It was a nice sensation to bite through the caramel toned crunchy crust which kept all the duck flavours sealed and moist.

The duck pasta on the menu was off for the day so I asked them to make me an alternative meaty alternative. The chef rustled up a rich tomato pancetta pasta garnished with cheese. The orchiette was perfectly cooked to form that perfect bite with the rich oily tomato sauce.

The homemade spinach and rosemary scialatielli was a pleasantly interesting combination with incredible tender baby quid. I later learn that baby squid is only seasonally available in March and April.

A great recommendation and I pass on this recommendation on to you dear readers.

Kyoto Day 1 – Piece Hostel, Fushimi Inari (Red gates), Night lit shrine and dinner in Potoncho

In my most humble opinion Kyoto is one of the most beautiful cities in Japan. It’s contrast of busy large city integrated with sites which immerse you in a deep cultural experience that really feels Japanese. I’ll attempt to explain why in my next 3 posts.

Getting in from Kobe just before lunch time the first stop was to check in at the Hostel. Piece Hostel is potentially the best hostel I’ve stayed at and I’ve lost count at how many I’ve been to.

The hostel was very modern and minimalist in the sleeping spaces with shared but private showers. Outdoor patio areas where decked with simple and stylish furniture and greenery. Incredibly it was less than a 5 minute walk to Kyoto station. The reception, cafe, bar, common area was chilled out with books and nice seating areas. You could say for between $25-35 depending if you got a dorm or a private double room. Amazingly thats no difference to the vast array of other place I’ve stay in throughout Japan. All perfect so far and would have been perfectly happy with, but what made it exceptional were 3 things.

Free breakfast – this may have served to get people up and out if I was looking at it cynically, but there seemed a tremendous sense of the staff really wanting people to be set up for the sightseeing day ahead. Travellers would share experiences over rice and miso soup and you could read the bespoke whiteboard/tourist map with tips for the main attractions and daily updates on weather and any special events. Staff were always on hand to help out with any questions on what to do and how.
Happy hour. $2 beer between 7-8pm provided the perfect medium travellers to meet, share experiences and arrange activities together
Cheap bike rental. For $5 you could rent a bike for a whole day and reach those sites that are tucked away in Kyoto’s nooks and crannies. Everywhere else I spotted on the way was at least $8 and far from the hostel or train stations.

Throughly enjoyed my stay there and would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Kyoto.

Fushimi Inari Shrine is famed for its ‘thousand orange gates’ the whole site from the station all the way up to the peak is paved in stone with gates as far as the eye can see. It’s almost like a red gate theme park. Even the prayers offered are on mini little gates rather than the normal wooden plaques that are used. You can also buy varying size red gate as souvenir.

That said its a beautiful sight to see. Each of the gate have been donated by various people and the gate size is dependant on the donation size.

Some times there were meters between gates, other times you could barely fit your finger between them. There is a specific stretch quite early on where there are a few hundred gates over a hundred meter stretch which can make quite the spectacular photo. However the constant river of tourists makes it pretty damn impossible to get that perfect shot. After a while I gave up and took the obligatory jump shot. First time too! Ha – got a few weird looks, but heyho.

It was a lovely looped hike to the summit, but to the ignorant tourist (moi) did feel a bit like groundhog day towards the top.

Having got back to the hostel I had heard from other travellers that there were some shrine which are lit by night that are worth checking out. They were right. The specific one I had gone to was Yasaka Shrine close to Gion, the Geisha district. It was nice to see traditional lanterns and more modern paper models lit up amongst the shrine and trees. A week or so later and I might have been able to catch Sakura here which I can only imagine how amazing that site might be.

I had read that close by Potoncho was famous for its amazing array of restaurants and izakayas. Was hard to pick one from the other, but as always wasn’t disappointed with a random choice.

Smoked tofu, fish, ham and duck was a delicate balance of smokiness across a spectrum of base flavours from the more palette cleansing tofu to gamier duck.

Tried some local speciality of ‘tofu skin’ which was silky smooth and ever so slightly sweet which when accompanied with a little shoyu was divine.

Sea eel and soba nori maki tempura

Stir fried prawns with vegetables and a motchi like cake made a nice contrast of crunch, bounce and chew textures

Wagyu tenderloin was lovely, but wasn’t a patch on the previous night’s Kobe experience

The akagai (shellfish) was tender on first bite but needed a bit of chewing to finish each piece.

An interesting dumpling and soup dish which comprised of a prawn ball which had a light batter coating that was scored as a grid to create a textured surface. All the crispiness had gone because it was soaked in the soup and the ricey type soup was somewhat bland. It was somewhat complimentary.

A chicken and new potato dish that was quite similar to a chinese soy based dish I’ve had and cooked in the past however these potatoes were extremely starchy and formed a slippery almost slimy layer on the surface that made it taste like a dumpling. Yum!

A grilled snapper served like black cod would be back home. Just a very good bit of fish.

The Kobe beef experience

It would have been criminal to come all this way from London and not try the renowned Kobe beef.

So when booking my flight back from Miyakojima and Kobe popped up as a destination airport it was meant to be.

Wakkaqu was the restaurant of choice which was a higher end choice, but didn’t want to skim on the experience and I wasn’t let down.

Teppenyaki was the style of cooking. So a chef looked after our every need for the evening. Amazingly the chef spoke near perfect English without having lived abroad. He says he’s a singer and loves The Beatles.

A mixture of sirloin and the recommended fillet steak set meal was duely ordered.

At the start of the meal the chef carefully placed garlic slices on the grill and toasted them to perfection. He then plated up a selection of condiments of local sea salt, pepper, english mustard and the toasted garlic. There was of course the obligatory shoyu (soy sauce) on the side.

The chef would prepare bite size pieces of the meat alternating with one of a variety of vegetables, tofu and potato gel cooked in the excess beef fat that he chops off at the beginning. At every step the chef would explain the detail of and difference of the food he was serving.

Each serving was done so at you eating pace. The meal is finished off with fried rice flavoured with little beef fat and meat nuggets and finely diced vegetables.

As you finish one serving he would plate the next in almost perfect timing. The beauty of this way of dining was that every mouthful was a perfect temperature, a nice crisp on the outside yet rare enough to enjoy the flavour of the meat. The chef would recommend on or a number of condiments to try to accompany each morsel of food.

Well? How did the beef taste? – I hear you ask. I chose the sirloin because I wanted a bit of fat. The beefy meaty flavour burst out on every downward grind of my jaw and swilled around my mouth as my jaw opened again.

It was simply so divine every jaw movement happened in slow motion to try and savour the experience longer. The chef enjoyed a chuckle as I closed my and made various murmurs of oral pleasure. In actual fact the fillet (or as the locals call it by the actual cut tenderloin) was an even nicer balance of meat and fat. More meat meant a firmer (meaty?) texture, but still oh so packed full of flavour. Glad I was able to try both and compare. Would probably stick to the tenderloin next time.

I have eaten some amazing food in Japan, but I’m going to put it out there and say this comes the top of my list. Amazing ingredients, cooked with such precision, care and love and as always in Japan top class service.

Sightseeing in Miyakojima

On the 4th day decided to do a bit of sightseeing. Public transport was limited and taxi’s weren’t a cheap way to travel to I decided to I hire a scooter. The old boy running the shop didn’t like the idea of a UK licence and was quick to shoo me away, but when I mentioned I had an international one he seemed happy. Funny though because he didn’t even check either license.

I was able to cover most of the island in 3 hours. I turned down so many side streets and lay-bys and found endless uninhabited small beaches, partly because it was still so early on in the year.

A number of bridges connecting some of the smaller satellite islands so was easy to see each part. Beautiful white sand beaches, turquoise waters were a common sight. This place would be awesome in the summer.

On my last day it was raining heavily in the morning with some pretty epic thunder.

Late morning when the weather had improved a little the dive company were kind enough to take me to a Limestone cave and sightseeing dinner. The limestone was pretty amazing. A hidden cave accessible only by swimming to a small hole in the coastal rock face.

A pumpkin like limestone deposit dominated the entrance and we climbed up the neighbouring coarse surface, steep incline. What followed was a series of naturally formed limestone steps which each had a mini concave pool of water. The steps let up to 2 different fresh water sources which the locals believed to be a deity. Reaching the top we spotted a shed snake skin which was quickly dismissed by my guide. Hilariously When he went to show me a deep pool in the corner I pointed out to him there was a snake coiled up right next to him on the wall. He swiftly jumped away like scooby doo into shaggy’s arms. Wasn’t overly keen on them myself as had no clue if it would bite and poison me. I was then put in a situation where I had to encounter one. To get out you have to slide off the pumpkin and there was another snake swimming in the water were I was suppose to land. He seemed pretty keen for me to press ahead. I opted and insisted to wait for the all clear.

Miyakojima is a beautiful small island that was great to explore over land and in the sea. Shame I couldn’t really spend much time on the beach. Definitely got me thinking about trying into diving more from London. Diving Leisure London maybe? Let me know if anyone else is interested!

Dazaifu

In the backpacking days of year gone by my main sources of information were the Lonely Planet (probably why I’ve stuck to that trusted source), exchanged stories with other travellers and guides and leaflets at various points of interest. Off the beaten track points of interest in Japan don’t serve Gaijins too well. I think I learn more about the reason for certain shrines in researching destinations compared to actually visiting them. Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine was no different. Japan-guide.com and Lonely Planet being the 2 main sources as well as anything else a search on the inter-web brings up. A stark contrast of my round the world trip 10 years ago. How the world has changed. (and how old do I sounds saying that!)

The Tenmangu Shrine was in a beautiful setting, but I think I had picked a day when every single school decided to visit the same shrine. Though it has to be said I’ve seen literally school loads of kids at airport check in all patiently sitting on the floor cross legged chatting quietly in rows. Amazing level of discipline. Cut a long story short, this clever fella Michizane passed away after being exiled and a bunch of bad tings happened. Like earthquakes and dat. So now they pray to this shrine to stop dem tings. (sorry was reading a funny social media response from Argos which I thought I’d try, maybe badly may homage to). The better explanation is on Japan-guide.com

On of the main reasons I came to Dazaifu was to see the Kyushu National Museum. A pretty impressive building housing a main gallery of historic artefacts of times before the Japan as we know it existed so also explains certainly interesting similarities with other south east asian cultures. There was also an interesting special exhibition on sacred treasures from shinto shrines and outlined the development of deities over time. Pretty interesting stuff.

The transport network isn’t really set up for easy public transport access to Dazaifu. A bit of a walk between independent train networks. It would be a while until I would get to the right line to Nagasaki so I thought I’d grab lunch here. Rarely do places charge a premium in tourist hotspots so not much of an issue. Pretty enjoyable tempura soba. Got the slurping technique down to a tee. Going to look like a right rude eater when I get back to London – Ha!

Next Nagasaki

Fukuoka

I was only in Fukuoka for an evening on the way to Dazaifu, however given it was one of the larger cities in Japan, I thought I better have a look around. When I arrived it was pretty bustling and had more of an energy. Tokyo is by far my favourite city still with so much to do and I was quite surprised that cities like Sapporo where so quiet (maybe its just the areas I had been to).

It was a pleasant discovery to find another hustle bustle city. I’d met a random fairly elderly Irish gentleman at the hostel who was ‘over from Korean for the day’. Couldn’t work out exactly why as he said he worked in the education sector. Most people just say teacher and if he was really there working then why was he in Japan to reset his Korean visa?

I had read about the Yatai street food stalls that Fukuoka was famous for. I head to Nakasu island which is just a small area by the river connected by bridges. On arrival I’d probably call them more street izakayas. They generally seat no more than 10 people and you can eat well for $10-20

They all pretty much serve the same kind of thing, Yakitori, Ramen, Stir fries and a special type of tempura.

It is always a bit challenging to try everything when you only have one evening in a city/restaurant and travelling by yourself, but I certainly tried. I ordered the yakitori set which had various innards and seafood on a stick. The one to the right of the picture below is probably the one I haven’t encountered yet. It was some spiced Tarako (fish roe) wrapped in a shiso leaf which is then wrapped in pork, sliced and skewered. The saltiness of the fish egg and the fattiness of the pork is nicely cut through by the freshness of the shiso. Pretty yum.

It certainly wasn’t enough to fill me up but I wanted something a little less fatty. I noticed the dish the 2 people sitting to my left had so pointed and asked for one of those (one of the phrases I had just about managed to get a handle on). No idea what it was at the time but a bit of stir fried veggies would never be a bad thing. A well seasoned dish I had wondered what the squid like bits were, but on biting they were like little chunks of fat. Tasty but very chewy.

Thats when the retired couple next to me asked me where I was from. Maybe I hadn’t mastered my Japanese so well they spotted the gaijin a mile off. Ha. Anyway we got into a interesting conversation in patchy English and Japanese. They offered me their remaining tempura and some of the Nihonshu the old boy was drinking. He warned me the Nihonshu was pretty spicy but I thought it tasted pretty sweet. They told me the tempura they had ordered was the speciality of the region and in particular this Yatai was famous for. I had randomly stumbled into this one out of the 10 others that lined the river.

The tempura was similar to the new yakitori i had tried. Tarako wrapped in shiso leaf which was then deep fried in a light tempura batter. Nice with a beer, but pretty rich so couldn’t eat too many. Sorry no photos, but I was too busy bowing and saying thank you to the generous hospitality to remember to take a shot.

I’ll never forget the friendliness and generosity of the Japanese people to strangers. So nice for them to be genuinely interested in where I had been, why and what I had particularly enjoyed. I’d constantly reminded that a 3 month sabbatical would never be heard of here.

I walked back to the subway station hunting for a watering hole for a cheeky pint when I realised I was in the more colourful end of town. Confirmed only by the pretty blatant signs and door men trying to get me to pay $200 for an hour.

I kindly refuse and continue to head back a see a few more legitimate watering holes. One called The Shooting Bar. Why not give it a go? The worst it could be was a themed bar, the best could be a shooting range. It was something in between and there was a menu of lots of different types of BB guns some famed from movies such as Robocop and Leon. Others from various computer games

I had a couple of beers and shot a few guns, yes the Robocop one and yes it was just like the film. brr-r-r-r-r-r-r. ” You’re move creep”

Time to head back and rest, ready for a bit more culture in Dazaifu tomorrow.

Hiroshima – Miyajima, A-Bomb musuem, Mazda musuem and spicy dipping ramen

So on arriving in Hiroshima I reacquaint myself with the hostel experience with the hope of meeting more travellers along the way. When I arrived in my 4 bed dorm room they all had curtains for each bunk. First time I’d seen it. A touch anti social but it also kind of made sense.

I asked the hostel for a recommendation to try Hiroshima’s version of okonmiyaki and they suggested Denko Sekka

Took me a while to find as it appeared that every eatery on the 6 floor of this mall was a okonomiyaki place and the signs were all in Japanese. A bit of character matching and spotting the Denko Sekka t-shirts worn by the staff helped confirm I was in the right place. Another cosy dining experience they sat me between two couples I had to tuck my elbows into my kidneys for a while.

A twist on okonomiyaki I had experienced which included a choice of soba or udon noodles and all the fillings sandwiched between 2 small pancake size omelettes. A number of fillings and options include seafood and a fried egg. I opt for the Hitoni Yasashiku (double pork, egg, noodle, oyster, spring onion and shredded nori). Nom nom nom

I wake up the next morning to clear blue sky and blazing sun so opt to go to Miyajima as the famous shrine by the sea it would hopefully yield better photos.

Pretty cool as I can get there on the local JR train and JR Ferry as part of my JR train pass

The ferry ride was pretty quick but enough to get a glimse of the shrine gate from a far. There are lots of small platoons in the water along the way and I figure they are some sort of fish farm, but later learn they are oyster farms.

This shrine is on a raised platform over the sea and its red exterior contrasts nicely against the sea.

I walk through the town which is mainly made up souvenir shops and restaurants to the ropeway.

The ropeway was a bit of a trek to get to, pretty old and $15 to get up! The view from the top was pretty cool and you see how many neighbouring islands Hiroshima has.

I opt not to sit down and lunch, but snack along the various places on the way back to the ferry with the aim to head and see the A-Bomb museum before the sun sets.

First I eat a battered custard donut on a stick. So Oishi! but not really something for Lunch.

Next I have a prawn and fish cake thing which is sausage shaped on a stick. So much flavour packed in. So glad I ordered when I did because some fella came over and pretty much ordered the rest of what was left.

Then given the oyster farms I thought I better try some and get some grilled oysters with garlic butter. So damn tasty my mouth is watering writing about it. 2 oysters for $2 I thought was a bargain!

I head back to Hiroshima and the peace park. I have to say the whole experience of the peace park, A-Bomb memorial and the museum was an extremely somber experience. I mean I learnt about this at school many moons ago, but the extent of the events and the impact caused a lump in my throat on more than one occasion. A horrible loss of life in an instant. Even after all of that I’m not sure I’m decided on nuclear weapons. I certainly disagree with the principal and hope the world never sees another one denote. However do I feel safer that some western powers have that capacity? I think I do. Despite learning that Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to the use of the A-bomb on Japan, I do hope the current powers have more sense. It does scare the living hell out of me that some of the other world powers are doing everything they can to enable their nuclear capability.

The following day I head to the Mazda Museum

It was a great tour of their history and was great to see the live production line. Definitely better than the Toyota museum I went to, but I understand the Toyota plant tour is supposed to be one of the best. Again surprised to see the early American influence, and that actually it was a German that invented the concept of the rotary engine. It was pretty staggering to see how much of Hiroshima Mazda took up and how much influence it had on the local economy and infrastructure.

Great showcase of their portfolio of cars from years gone by

Also a pretty good marketing tool to understand their green credentials

So during my research I came across the local speciality of tsukemen. Unlike the normal soup ramen this bad boy was cold in temperature but hot on the Scoville scale. The noodles are served on a plate with a selection of greens including cabbage, cucumber and spring onions.

The dipping sauce is served in a separate bowl and all you can see is a spicy red liquid filled with crushed sesame seeds. As you dip your noodles the sesame clings to the noodles holding the spicy sauce to the noodle. On the counter resides a bowl mound so high of sesame to top of your dipping experience. You have to pick on a scale of 1-10 how spicy you want it. I opt for what I think is a safe 6, but it certainly had me in a sweat by the end of it.

I always like a hot meal over a cold one, but this one would definitely be a regular lunch spot of mine if it was in London.

I head back to the station to head to my next stop Fukuoka

Nagoya

Nagoya Castle was built back in the Edo period and was one of the largest in Japan until it was destroyed in the allied air raids of 1945. I am constantly amazed how much effort, money and time the Japanese go to in preserving their heritage. They don’t charge the world to go see it, but the volumes of people that do go must help fund the relentless renovations that seem to be going on.

The site itself it pretty large with a high large stone wall perimeter. The main castle now acts as a museum displaying various relics, from their past, largely from the Samurai.

One of the first buildings you come across is the main reception like building where they would have typically received their guests. It had been completely rebuild from the ground.

And when you see the high level of workmanship that follow the same historic techniques used its no surprise that no shoes, food, flash photography or touching are allowed.

The detail down to the gold paintings on the wall are replicated.

In the main castle they take you through a journey of what it might have been like in the day of the Samurai. An absolutely amazing collection of artefacts.

They are well into a restoration which is estimated to take until 2018 but give you access to what is effectively the building site to see the progress.

Toyota Museum

Been winging it a bit and I tend to learn a lot about a city as I research what I can do there and planning out my agenda. In that research I learnt that Nagoya was the birthplace of Toyoda/Toyota. As I hadn’t timed my visits perfectly I was not able to go to the main Toyota plant, but was able to visit one of the related museums. Given the stereotypical (American) argument of American Muscle vs Import I was very surprised to learn large American influence on the car industry in Japan and how early Ford got involved in car production in Japan.

The museum takes your on the journey of manufacturing and technological advances firstly of Toyoda’s textile machinery to its present day automobile focus.

It was pretty interactive showing with lots of demos and things to try out, but if I’m honest I hot stepped pretty quickly through the textile part in favour of the car section. A great showcase of technological advances in all the major car components from the engines all the way down to the headlights.

Pretty amazing to see that car body panels were individually cut and honed into shape before the pressing techniques used today.

There were lots of workshops for young kids to get their interest all within the main museum route. A great family day out.

I headed back to the train station to grab a late lunch before heading to Hiroshima. I picked a set which looked nice on the menu and they brought this out to me. Seemed to miss the main part of the meal, but I kept quiet as there was more than enough.

When I was pretty close to finishing the lot they came over and brought this out.

Might need a bit of a walk with the backpack on to work this off after!

On to Hiroshima….

Hakone and Kawazu

My friend Chikako chan had been kind enough to organise a couple of higher end ryokans in Hakone and Kawazu with nice onsen options.

The trip to Hakone by car was interesting, least not because the fear of getting lost in the midst of Kanji and Hiragana roadsigns, but also any local traffic peculiarities say such as speed limits. I may have had a conversation with the local fuzz at the side of the road. There was a lot of talking in Japanese by him (sounded like a standard script) and a lot of nodding, bowing and the occasional sumimasuen (excuse me), gomenaisai (sorry) and wakaraimasu (understand). I was only a few kph over the limit and driving a pretty standard car, must be the face.

Hakone was supposed to be eye shot of Mt Fuji, but the weather was not onside. The ryokan in Hakone was simply amazing. The complex was set within the mountain we were on and had views of luscious green trees and bamboo.

The ryokan was big enough to sleep a family with a mini Japanese garden.

They traditionally serve you dinner and breakfast in the room both with more food than I could manage and rather similar to a michellin starred tasting menu if not better!

The complex had a number of different onsens you could use all with different views. Not cheap, but considering what you get it would be the equivalent of a fine dining mean and night in a moderate hotel and in London.

Next morning a trip to another cable car this time to the summit of Mt Komagatake in the hope of catching a glimpse of Fuji-san. Unfortunately the weather again hampered the attempt.

The structure at top end of the cable car resembled an abandoned missile silo out of a James Bond film from the 70s.

A shrine a short hike from the top of the cable car was probably a bit more adventure than I had planned. The partially melted residual snow covered path was a little deeper than expected and there were a number of occasions a leg sunk in so deep I’m sure my scrotum touched snow.

A short stop over at Joren waterfall made famous by a classic Japanese tail/film and one of the 7 waterfalls in the region.

Lots of Wasabi cultivation in the region due to the fresh clean running water from the waterfalls, but I avoid the local wasabi soft (ice) cream speciality, more so because of the fear of the lactose fallout as I’m told when young and raw it doesn’t have such a kick.

Pretty cool spiral road down to Kawazu led to the next Ryokan which was famed for its outdoor onsen next to the largest of the 7 waterfalls.

It also had a man made tunnel onsen which was a bit like a steam room, but didn’t say in for long as it was pretty claustrophobic and felt more like caving having to duck through certain low ceiling points.

The room had a private onsen which was the nicest of them all. Mainly as it had a modern luxurious feel to it with a view of sakura in full bloom.

The sakura in Kawazu blooms very early due to its warmer climate and the festival that celebrates it brings hoards of Japanese tourist to view the few kilometres of sakura lined rivers all the way to the sea.

It coastal road itself is a beautiful drive. You get pretty high, pretty quick as the road snakes around the coast. Reminds me a little of the Great Ocean road in Oz except this road has numerous tunnels that cut through the mountains.

A great little off the beaten track trip that I’m blessed to have experienced.

Tokyo – Part Ni

After my fairly quick tour of the north part of Japan, I headed back to Tokyo. Mainly so that I could spend my birthday with the friends I had made over my time in Japan who were largely based in Tokyo.

Had opted for a novelty option for my birthday dinner in the fishing restaurant where you can fish for your dinner. The main restaurant is a big wooden boat surrounded by a moat like tank.

Fishing rods where a simple stick with a small hook where depending on what fish you are trying to catch you either put a little bait on or just get the fish to bite on the hook. I have to say I was pretty hopeless and no birthday boy special treatment from the fish to have a nibble on my line. Luckily Shane managed to catch quite a nice bass and we ordered a la carte for the rest of our evenings sustenance.

The suitcase had been a bit of a pain on the previous leg of my journey as it barely fitted on the overhead space in the trains and train station lockers and was cumbersome to wheel around. Time to get reacquainted with my backpack which I hadn’t used in earnest for 10 years. Repacking into this bad boy meant I was more conscious about travelling light. Still amazed how functionally well thought through this bag is. Great investment. Must try to use it more!

Onward to Hakone….

Nyuto Onsen – The Onsen Tour

Having skipped the cable car in Hakodate I make my first train in good time. Between the fish market breakfast and the walk around town I managed to go to the station to reserve my tickets in the hope of better seats. The first train is a normal JR train. 2 hours on I change at Shinaomori for the JR Tohoku Shinkansen for the next leg of my journey. I only had 13 minutes to get from one platform to the other which given the different networks was a short walk. I find my carriage and seat and get settled. My seat was next to an old lady so I gamble and sit in the 2 empty seats. But given the train was a rapid service to Tokyo my luck ran out at the next stop and I had to move to my allocated seat. Seeing the snow covered Japanese countryside is quite humbling. Its so different from Tokyo with simple one or two story buildings scattered around. Seeing the sparse road traffic makes me realise how bloody fast we are travelling. It’s only when I get off the train I see the full beauty of the Shinkansen train that I’ve only ever seen on TV documentaries. Just the nose itself is 2 long car lengths. I guess the aerodynamics play a large part in the whole bullet train set up. Last leg is another Shinkansen, but just the one stop to Tazawako where I have to get an hour long local bus transfer to Arupa Komakusa and the onsen I booked will come pick me up. So Nyuto Onsen is an area close to Lake Tamagawa (deepest lake in Japan) that boasts 7 different onsens, each with different mineral compositions and some dating back to the 1600s. The one I was staying at Tsurunoyu is a mixed onsen that had 20-30 rooms and probably the most famous in the are. When staying at any of these onsens the price includes dinner and breakfast. The mixed thing wasn’t that big a deal as the way they are set up allows people to get changed in separated changing rooms and enter the onsen discreetly. The water is a cloudy milky white and combined with the steam off the onsen you would struggle to see far in front of you. I get there close to dinner time so opt to onsen after dinner. Dinner was an interesting collection of foraged mountain vegetables, mushrooms and fish. It was nice to see such good use of what was around them. Each normal thing you would find at a Japanese dinner was slightly different. The soup had mountain yam in it. A creamy slippery potato like dumpling that added a little bite to the soup. Deep fried rice ball and some sort of fried chicken are one of the tasty highlights. The pickles were all smoked in a lovely woody flavour which quickly subsides when the vinegar kicks in. The fish was on a wooden skewer with a salt bake type layer probably to protect it from the wood fire it was sitting over. A whole arrange of different tasty mushrooms throughout the dishes and as I eat them I wonder if I will have funny dreams tonight. A short while after dinner I onsen and have the whole place to myself. Given its outdoor its more like a warm soak. I hunt for the onsen source like a crab trying to keep my whole body submerged and must have looked something special. It wasn’t that much hotter so I shuffle around a bit more. In that process I feel my buttocks get a little hotter than comfortable and realise there are various natural outlets from the gravel covered floor. I head for the indoor onsen and its a much hotter affair. It almost scolds the skin as you get in, but only for the first second or so as my body gets used to the temperature. I realised that the slightest movement of any body part causes that same initial sensation to reoccur. Better not get too excited then hey? I return to my room to find my bed made (awesome!) I try and revise my Japanese vocabulary as a couple of brushes of difficult conversations encourage me to get my head back in the books. 2 weeks off snowboarding in Australia didn’t really help matters either. The next morning I onsen before breakfast and I book my shuttle to the onsen and the lady is really helpful in helping me with the logistics. I have to get a shuttle to one of the other onsens and from there I can walk along to the others. She also gives me a number of bus schedules to help me get back to the train station as well as the Tokyo train schedule. I buy a ticket booklet which allows me to go to 5 onsens and take the shuttle for about $10. Ganiba onsen – I’m dropped off by the bus and met by an angry looking man (and yes I realise the irony in me saying that) and he points me to the 2 different onsens available. The first is an outdoor onsen which is clear as day and has a smattering of egg white like particles in it. To get to it you have to walk through a cut out path with snow walls twice my height either side. As the sun comes out and reflects in the virgin white snow its hard to make out the difference between floor and wall. As I bathe a couple of guys come by and take a snap and then see me bathing, apologise and carry on snapping. One tries to have a full on conversation with me and after whats seems like his life story and apologise and explain I can’t speak Japanese. He apologises profusely, gets naked and bathes the other side of the onsen. I try the other onsen the other side of this hotel and its a hottie. A lovely wooden tub which is really smooth. The water is not as clear and loads more white particles that resembles the egg in a chicken and sweetcorn soup. As I doze off slightly my perfirial vision sees each of the eggy particles spitting out a rainbow along its edge as the sunlight beams through the windowed wall. Pretty special but I do wonder if any of those mushrooms might have taken hold. Oogama onsen – pretty standard after the others but was amazed to see the size of the icicles hanging pretty close to the outdoor onsen’s edge. This indoor one was the hottest yet and I bail after no more than 5 minutes hoping to save myself for the others.

I planned to head back to Tokyo as there wasn’t a great deal that had caught my eye between here and Tokyo except a certain nuclear reactor that I’d rather keep clear of. Ben was away in the Philippines and I try to arrange to pick up the keys from one of his friends, but proves difficult mainly due to my last minute plan and complete lack of mobile phone reception the night before. I skip the last onsen I had planned to go to. Firstly because I walked straight past it and secondly because the bus back to the train station and train back to Tokyo only run hourly with a 40 min gap in between. Much more hot soaking and I think I’d pass out anyway.

I get on the bus back to the station as it picks up quite a few passengers on the way. One of which a young family who decide to put their fold up buggy in the aisle. A short while into the journey I wake up suddenly from a post onsen nap and drop my phone and bus ticket I was holding. It had fallen under the buggy and reach down to get it holding on to the seat in front for balance. Ouch – feck. Did I just dislocate my arm? Yes I did. Did I just managed to dislocated it after avoid serious injury including this bloody recurring one after all that snowboarding. Yes I did. Numpty. I couldn’t really afford to go to hospital as I was on a pretty tight schedule to pick up Ben’s keys. After liaising with Ben in the Philippines and planning out the weekend in Tokyo the last thing I wanted to do was delay it all and have to depend on my Japanese friends to help me translate over the phone to the doctors that I had managed to dislocate my arm picking up a bus ticket. At this point I was thinking of heading back to Tokyo (3.5 hrs away) and getting it seen to there. But then wondered how was I going to get my heavy rucksack or suitcase off the beaten up old bus. Every bump the bus hit was hurting so I decided to try and do it myself. I read an article maybe about 2 years ago and had a couple of episodes where I could have but didn’t try it. This was the time to pull it out the bag. Medic friends always tell me that it is procedure is to first exclude a fracture, but even I couldn’t be that unlucky and the trauma was low impact (a bloody bus ticket!). I put my hand into my shoulder socket to check and yep its definitely out. I put my hands together and interlocked my fingers and clasped my bent knee. I straighten the knee and voila. Crisis averted. Was it really that easy? Appears so. Pretty painless too. Still I won’t be trying to do that again in a hurry, but good skill to have in the back pocket. Well done Tim – you now no longer wear the badge of always being there when I pop my arm out. Just only when it requires medical attention. Anyway onward back to Tokyo to celebrate my birthday!

Hakodate

It’s a 3.5hr train ride to Hakodate from Sapporo so it was unlikely I’ll get up to observation point before the cable car closes for the evening. So when I arrive I check in and go find something to eat. A bit of research had pointed me to a few places, but the top listed Japanese options seemed to be closed. I opt for the Lucky Pierrot (burger) option which turns out to flood tripadvisor mainly with comments its not the gourmet meal people were expecting. The joint is different to say the least, but was willing to give it a go despite the reviews on tripadvisor. The set up feels like a cross between a dirty fried chicken joint and a wimpy that has been decorated by gypsies. The food isn’t that bad. Its fast food and is what it is. The chicken burger is more like chunky karage that is well seasoned between a sweet toasted sesame bun with more mayo than I care for. The chips come in a mug with some kind of chill and more mayo. The drink of course is the traditional accompaniment of iced tea. I was kind of grateful for something with meat in it as the back to back mainly raw seafood is getting a bit too rich for me and need something else to balance it out.

Not sure I’ll rush back to Hakodate just for this, but it’s worth a try.

Since I had already missed the last cable car I decide to call it an early night so I can head to the fish market at 6am for breakfast the next morning. I had a prawn, scallop and crab rice bowl for lunch which was simple, but really tasty. The advice of the guy was to use soy for the prawn and scallop, but have the crab plain.

I picked up a steamed crab bun for a snack just to try. I love these filled with char siu so though would be amazing with crab. It tasted different to the sweet/salty combo I’m used to. I’ve had better steamed buns, but had to try it. Was unlikely to get it many other places outside of Japan.

I walked around the old Motomachi district which was rich in British, American and Russian ties and interesting histories of fires that burnt down the city, things being rebuilt and the cycle repeating itself.

Given the late opening time of the cable car I wasn’t going to be able see the city from above without significant risk to missing my complex schedule of trains and buses to Nyoto Onsen.

Otaru

I’m told me that Otaru was famous for its seafood and glassware. The storm still blowing I still managed to walk to the fish market a friend suggested to go for breakfast. It was a late start so it was too late to eat without spoiling lunch so I just had a walk around. I got asked by a local if I was Thai which was a first. But I realised my snow rat goggle mark suntan probably make me look darker than normal. Some amazing sea cucumber and blow fish specimens there which make it special.

I waited patiently outside a restaurant that was recommended to me, but unfortunately it was closed. Gutted. I walked back towards the station where a smaller market I walked through earlier and find lunch. Surprising to see a bunch of people from Hong Kong at the place I pick. These guys were on the same bus from Niseko and they clock the coincidence too. What they didn’t realise was I could understand cantonese and hear them speaking about me.

Manage to get back to Sapporo by 1pm in the hope of reaching Hakodate earlier, however due to the weather a lot of the regular scheduled trains were not running and I had to wait to 5pm. Bummer. Onto Hakodate

Sapporo, Hokkaido

So I’ve decided to travel back to Tokyo slowly by train. I don’t have all the time in the world so can’t travel too much of Hokkaido, but plan to make use of my 7 day rail pass to do a bit of exploring and make a few stops on the way down. On the morning of departure from Niseko, Simon dropped me off by the Welcome Center / Bus station.

I Takkubin my snowboard back to Tokyo. A god send of a service where for $10-$20 USD you can send your luggage anywhere in Japan. It only takes a couple of days, but takes the pain of trying to drag your snowboard to and from the airport at both ends. Even more so when travelling around the rest of Japan. This may be a good point in time to tell Ben he might be expecting a snowboard at his apartment on Monday morning 🙂

We are informed the bus to Sapporo has to take an alternative route due to the adverse snow conditions and they tell us it will take 3.5 hours as opposed to the usual 3. Ironically it actually only takes 2.5hrs. The bus is due to make 5 stops around Sapporo and I’m booked on the last stop. I do a quick look up on the map from my phone and I’d much better get off at an earlier drop.

As with the way in Japan the drive insists I stick to the plan and assures me the last stop is near my hotel. Oh how wrong he was. I was now off the bus 5 km from my hotel and running low on battery. I stand outside the bus for 5 minutes trying to figure out what to do when the driver opens the door and says its all ok and he’ll drop me off at the main station near my hotel. He must have made a call because he had two English speaking reps waiting for me to make sure I could get to my destination. Obviously my Japanese is not anywhere near the ability to explain myself, and no doubt there will be more of these situations to come.

I find my way to the hotel and drop my bags and have a wonder around the sights of Sapporo. By this point the winds are incredible strong blowing the fallen snow to make visibility terrible.

Though throughout the day I think I experienced all four seasons. The roads are covered in a powdered snow that resembles that of the stuff you get in indoor snow domes. Its a good few centimetres deep on the roads and falls away as you walk on it, but the temperature is so cold it doesn’t want to melt. It makes crossing roads a challenge, but I see hunched over old ladies manage fine, so just tell myself to man up and just get on with it.

I make a trip the clock tower and learn a bit about the history of the town. Still amazed how early on the Americans were here.

Then I head to the Sapporo Factory. Part of the old beer manufacturing estate turned into shopping mall that seems to specialise in mountain sports gear.

A little misnavigated walk later and I’m in the Sapporo beer factory – surprisingly interesting learning about the history of Japanese brewery.

Catch a bus back into the city centre and walk around the fish market. Humungous crabs bigger than my head! Had the fortune to try some back in Niseko. Chunkier than lobster and oh so sweet.

I find the Soup Curry place my friend recommended. I thought Japanese didn’t do spicy, but this brought on a good sweat.

Walking back to the hotel the city seemed to liven up at night. I walked past the TV Tower and decide to venture up to the observatory. The storm was taking full effect and though I could see as far as the famous Ski jump, the photos came out terrible as the camera couldn’t decide what to focus on.

Though against the norm I caved in and bought the souvenir photo of me with the background of Sapporo in better conditions.

Niseko, Hokkaido – The final snowboarding chapter

After 2 weeks in Niseko I can truly say its changed my perspective on snowboarding, both in the different pleasures it can bring, but also educated me in the dangers the fun can bring. (Don’t worry Mum it was all done safely).

Over the past 2 weeks I’ve managed to experience the joys of riding through the gated areas of the Niseko resorts. Ungroomed and unpatrolled areas which are only opened when the conditions are good and safe enough to do so. Steep and deep in snow with lots of trees to meander through. Incredible, just incredible.

Physically challenging both when you have to dig yourself out the powder if you have fallen and mentally challenging for having to plan your line down and respond to the terrain in front of you.

I’ve hiked more times than can remember this trip. Sometimes through marked gates, other backcountry routes to peaks (with friends with significant backcountry experience) and other times with organised guides. I’ve had to dig deep as I’ve found both stamina and mental determination are both essential, but also learnt a great deal about equipment and clothing. Whilst here I borrowed or rented various bits, but I’m definitely investing in some avalanche gear before I return to Japan to snowboard (which is a certainty). More so for the piece of mind and knowing your own gear when it matters would be critical. I wanted to do an avalanche course, but time and overall exhaustion from the trip didn’t really allow.

Most of the time it was to find those mountain faces which haven’t been touched of if they have only the few who were willing to invest the hours to hike to the drop points. Some of the most mind-blowing runs in my 14 years of snowboarding that I will continue to dream about.

The mountain face we conquered

The ridge we walked up. Photo Credit: Sayaka Takano

Mt Yotei

Photo Credit: Sayaka Takano

At the top! Photo Credit: Sayaka Takano

Photo Credit: Sayaka Takano

Other times it was just as much for the hiking experience – a great physical workout which still probably doesn’t net out the insane amount of food I’ve eaten.

A finally by no means least of the new experiences is cat skiing. Not cheap at $300 USD, but given a lift pass is about $50 a day I think you get what you pay for.

We managed to fit about 7 runs in on the day. We got picked up at 8am for briefing and equipment hire. The operator took us to a disused resort where the cat would drive us up to various points on the mountain and we would ride down through completely untouched runs given we were the only people on the mountain. We were lucky with the weather as it had dumped the night before and were told it was pretty tracked out with previous 5 days tours where it had not snowed. A pretty awesome bento lunch was provided as was a collection of videos and photos as part of the package. Great fresh track runs and some interesting chutes out which aren’t too dissimilar to the boarder cross in the olympics. Only single filed, much more narrow and unfamiliar turns which you need to be prepared for. I’ll let the photos do the rest of the explaining, but something I would definitely factor into my trips in the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwGj8OP__Tw

I also lucked in on accommodation. I stayed for a good few days in the normal lodge set up with the Tokyo Gaijins group but got the opportunity to share an amazing 17 sleeper chalet through Shane’s network of snow junkie friends. Kasetsu which was run by The Niseko Company was an insane set up that combined Japanese style with Canadian build quality. It was being in an episode of MTV cribs for 4 whole luxurious days. Would highly recommend doing this if you can.

To complement this it was a complement of extremely considerate and fun people from all over the world and varying walks of life.

So many laughs, snow experiences and one epic house party. I will forever be grateful to Shane and Xue for introducing me to the group, Hugh for dropping out (sorry dude but you missed out big time!) and most of all Don and Rochi for organising it all.

The money shot

Prior to this my Niseko experience had been very different. The massive influx of tourists, so much so it was so far removed from the Japan I have thus far experienced and grown to love. A popular destination for the Australians and Chinese made for a weird combination where staff would typical speak to you in English because they either couldn’t speak Japanese or were expecting you not to try.

The experience was particularly marred when walking down the street a young Australian walking towards me who thought he was being smart in front of his mates shouted out to me “Ni Hao” in an attempted comical Chinese accent. His ignorance was somewhat thrown back when I replied in English to point out his comments may have been of racist persuasion. I would like to point out that I don’t bare any grudge against that great nation. Firstly because some of the best people I’ve met in my travels have been Australian and secondly it’s no different to the British contingents the bring such a great reputation to our nation in the various Mediterranean islands destinations. I sound like an old man, but where is the sense of pride in representing your home nation.

And finally a note of thanks to Simon who kindly put me up in a bed for a couple of nights while I sorted myself out on my slow journey back to Tokyo. Not only did he offer to put me up for a while, he carted me and my luggage around, showed me some pretty awesome parts of the resort runs I hadn’t really explored properly and offered an interesting local insights into Niseko. Thank you.

He had mentioned one evening as part of his tenancy agreement he was required to clear the balcony of snow, so after he left for work one morning I spent about an hour shovelling the snow and compact ice off. More as a small gesture of thanks but it turned out to be quite a satisfying job. Hilariously as Simon returned from work I had cleared the balcony his house mate was responsible for and he pointed to the other balcony he was responsible for which was still caked in a meter of snow and compressed ice. Oooops.

Walking back to Simons one afternoon I was met by 4 open back trucks and some huge piece of machinery that picked up the 2 stories worth of snow at the side of the roads. I recalled a conversation with friends another evening where they said they had that much snow they have to take the snow away. Crazy! And this was suppose to be a rubbish year for snow!

Apologies for the long post, but it’s been a big two weeks of my life that will remain the best (and possibly most exhausting) 2 weeks of my riding career.

Zao, Myoko, Nozawa – Snowboarding the next chapter

Finding it difficult to collate and write about the copious amounts of food I’ve eaten in Tokyo so I’m going to keep that on the back burner for now and carry on with my other updates.

So after my last snowboarding post I’ve returned to Myoko Kogen, Nozawa Onsen and also went to Zao Onsen for the snow monster festival.

Myoko and Nozawa brought much the same back country and tree run riding pleasures as they did before and now seems a distant memory. Fun times with friends.

Zao was a change of scene and the annual snow monsters festival provided the ideal opportunity to ride a new mountain range. This time we went with Tokyo Snow which also provided an opportunity to meet other people. My recently expatriated friend Jolyn was also here with people from Google so there was a fresh set of people party with. Ben and I managed to get up to the snow monsters after navigating our way through what I had worked out to be the quickest route. Those plans were quickly scuppered when we were told at one of the main lifts there was a 40 minute wait.

We eventually made our way to the top of the resort on a beautiful blue sky day to see the natural beauty of the Snow Monsters. The fir trees, that typically catch a lot of snow, are also subject to heavy snow filled winds which cause the trees to be encapsulated in a crusted snow. These are so heavy they cause the weaker parts of the trees to bow and eventually form what looks like monsters. An amazing freak of nature when a whole forrest turns into something out of a fantasy novel.

Snow conditions weren’t great for riding, but they were ideal for a hike to the top and taking some beautiful photos of Ben within the snow monsters and others of me with Ben’s finger.

Might have been a bit cheeky, but rather than walk down we rode down by the side of the monsters.

On returning back to Tokyo a friend who will remain nameless snowed me a video of them riding through the snow monsters.

Nagasaki

So I ended hitting the train times with pretty awful luck. I ended up waiting at Nishitetsufutsukaichi station for over an hour. A brief check and I thought the trains ran every hour, however they were every 2 hours to where I wanted to get to. Oh well was a good time to research and update the blog.

Nagasaki’s chinatown seemed to come up on the radar quite a lot on the research especially their sara ramen so I checked into Hostel AKARI and they showed me round all the facilities, pointed out the main attractions in Nagasaki and gave me some discount vouchers for popular sites. Score. The hostel had a nice vibe to it. Friends chatting and strangers watching TV together, a hostel vibe I hadn’t seen until now.

I got settled and headed out to hunt down these noodles. Walking through the narrow main local shopping district into town and 15 minutes along I hit the well lit 2 main intersecting streets of chinatown. Lots of street stalls selling steamed buns and dim sum like snacks, but I save myself for dinner. The noodles were more like fried ramen, crispy and fragrant. However the topping was a little bland. Some gems of good ingredients, but think I could do better (which isn’t saying much), but is normally how I judge a dish’s various aspects.

The best way to get around Nagasaki was the streetcars (trams) and for 500 yen a day tourists can ride them all day. Pity I only noticed this at the end of my first day sightseeing.

As mentioned in my previous post I thought getting to know more of the detail about the atomic bomb droppings was pretty a somber experience. However even more having visited Nagasaki to learn that it was actually a secondary target and had only been hit because the primary target was covered in fog and the pilots couldn’t see the target. Less casualties than Hiroshima, but just as unnecessary.

I venture to some of the shrines around Nagasaki which are dotted around some of the higher grounds of the city a lot of them next to each other but dedicated to different deities or teachings. Some pretty similar stories of things being burnt or moved and rebuilt. The Sofukuji temple below with strong Chinese influences and apparently each part was shipped over from China and assembled here. They are backed up the hills by their associated cemeteries which being deserted and a little overgrown was a little eerie to walk through.

Not that hungry, but I did want to try some of those steamed buns and treats in Chinatown. Not a good as the ones I’ve had else where but I think that mainly because they were left in the steamers too long and the bun was too soft. Belly pork was damn good though and full of flavour.

I was told by another traveller that I must go to the ropeway view at night. “It’s the third best night view in the world after HK and Monaco”. I had read top 3 in Japan but either way had better go check it out!

So it was beautiful view. Pretty windy but the city was quite spread out leaving a great night view spectacle. Certainly not top 3 in the world, but worth a look.

Thought I fill my belly with something more Japanese this evening and throw myself into the deep end with more Japanese only situations. The guy serves me up an amazing salad. Not the healthiest, but very tasty with lots of various nuggets of yum.

Tomorrow was going to be a pretty heavy travel day to Miyakojima for a spot of hot weather, scuba diving and beach time so I head back and hit the sack.

Tokyo Life – learning Nihongo (Japanese)

So I’ve been living to Tokyo now for the past 3 weeks and it has truly been a blast. The people are kind, the food is amazing and it is as exciting and crazy as you want it to be. (will write a separate post with other activities).

Given I’m here for a while I thought I’d make the effort to try and learn some language basics. Language not being my strongest asset, as my BBC (British born Chinese) friends will attest my Cantonese sucks big time. But the main reason for learning is mainly out of courtesy to the locals. As Brits I feel we tend to fall into the trap of speaking English to foreign visitors and try and get by with broken English when abroad. I’ve always tried to pick things up when abroad for basic conversational politeness, but Japanese was always going to be something different. One they don’t commonly use Romanised characters and I’m conscious its a culture that has even more formality and traditions than the Chinese ones I’m partially aware of.

I’ve signed myself up for 3 weeks intensive course which consist of 3 hours of lessons a day. The hope is it will give me an opportunity to explore and experience Tokyo, whilst developing some language basics.

Lessons so far have been pretty tough. Sentence structure seems alien and lots of different particle words which join other words and seems to vary for every sentence type I learn. Its a bit Yoda-esk so I’m keen to watch Star Wars in Japanese to see if he speak with an English word order. A quick google search later and seems its not just me that thinks so:

Numbers too are challenging. They have a unit for 10,000s with a handful of exception variations for some units which augment the base number. Then they have a different number set for dates, counting objects (like ordering stuff), floors in a building.
Lots of augmentations for words for negatives, past tense and negative past tense depending on the ending letter and the direction the wind is blowing at the time.

Then I’m also trying the learn the Hirigana character set which is like the basic alphabet that typically a vowel ending sounds.

Not even going to try and learn the kanji set which I’m told I need to know 2000-3000 characters to read a newspaper. With it’s inheritance from from the Chinese character set I do recognise a few that helps me determined if I want a big or small flush of the water closet.

My class is comprised of two french body builders who work out all week and party all weekend. They are good fun, but lewd connotations toward the unaware staff start to get tiresome after two weeks. Feel they aren’t here for the same culture experience as I, but try to make the most of the interaction for conversations.

Lessons continue to be tough but Ben helps me daily, correcting my incorrect pronunciation and I practice some phrases with some very kind Japanese friends I’ve made, as well as some unfortunate staff at various Japanese shops.

A couple more lessons to go and feel I’ve got some basic formalities under my belt, but need a fair bit of practice before daring to engage in any real conversation. Working on a few conversational sentence for the back pocket standard conversations with a lot of help from my friends, but I’m in hope that will be enough to show the locals I’m making an effort with their language and culture.

Myoko Kogen

On New Years day we make a transit to Myoko Kogen which is about an hour away. The resort is even more primitive than Nozawa, but I’m promised good snow and runs and I’m not disappointed.

The lodge was pretty basic and seemed almost industrial except for the rooms. Food was again a wide array of dishes, but most of the gaijins were not that impressed, more due to the repetitiveness. I however was amazed with the spread

Breakfast was an experience to say the least. My first introduction to Nato. A fermented soya bean dish that is mixed with soya sauce and rice. One of the gaijin warn me, but as most of you will know I’m a pretty adventurous eater and brush the comments to the side. I’ve eaten plenty of fermented dishes in my time and loved them all. Not so much with this bad boy. Slimy, stringy and the stick of rotten flesh is the best way I can describe it. I ate it, but it wasn’t something I’d rush back for if I’m honest. Ben however hoovered it in 10 seconds flat. I’d put the slowness down to the time of day rather than anything else.

The first day riding was pretty much constantly snowing which doesn’t help much on the visibility but was amazing for the slope conditions. There are no piste bashers in Myoko so the pistes ride like off piste runs. I’m told that when conditions are extremely heavy they just have to close the runs because there is too much snow.

There is a pretty large group of us and its a great day’s riding with the sun coming out toward the end of the day. There is a huge queue for the top lift which only opens at 11. We hit some amazing knee deep powder on what is ordinarily a mogul field which we only determine after hundreds of people have flattened out the fresh snow by the afternoon. Ben and I get stuck in powder a number of times and its a fair work out to get out again. I soon get to grips with the ‘bum shuffle’, ‘backward rollie pollie’ and ‘roll lots till I build up enough momentum to stand up’ techniques. Combined with the dig like a gopher they work out to be pretty effective techniques. However managing body temperatures in what are probably -10c and digging for England to get free, turns out to be more a challenge. Next objective – don’t fall over in the powder so much!

The next day we hit a neighbouring resort which is supposed to be a 15 minute bus ride away. Hope the 3 amigos that morning managed to get off a stop too early. We only realised when we tried to redeem our lift passes to which we were clearly told we were in the wrong place. We proceed to wait 40 minutes for the next bus to arrive but were met with the most amazing blue sky back drop

Shane takes Hans and I through some drop off the top lift which is basically follows the chair down.

We meet Zuma for another couple of runs. A great challenging number of run down, but a bout of flu has got the better of me so I stop for a ramen lunch in the hope it will sort me out. I decide to call it day and head to the cafe at the bottom and wait for the others to finish to get the coach back. Mainly because I had no clue which one to get and didn’t want a repeat of this morning.

I spend the next couple of days trying to recover and work my way through my entire paracetamol supply to only discover its quite hard to get anything in this pretty remote and basic resort. I do discover that pot ramen here is amazing though. It’s pretty tough staying in whilst seeing the copious amounts of snow falling outside.

Various people make their own way back over the next couple of days due to scare stories of previous 8 hour delays due to snow storms. We make our way back on the chartered bus which after all that noise takes just shy of 3 hours. Ben and I then navigate our way back to his apartment on the JR train network and head out to an izakaya (Japanese bar) where small dishes are served. An incredible experience. Firstly because the draft beer here are incredibly smooth, more so with the Yebisu Premium which I discover like all beers here are always served perfectly chilled and like our continental counterparts with a hefty head. It was a thing of beauty. We accompanied that with some grilled tongue (cow I think), asparagus and some beef brisket. An amazing end to a great ski trip.

New year in Japan

Very randomly Zoe, a friend from London had moved to Tokyo and was also in Nozawa Onsen with her friend and mother so we caught up over a few drinks.

Luckily not too heavy a night as it was pretty eventful new years eve boarding that followed.

I decided to join some of the significant better riders to try improve my skills. One of the regular boarders decided to switch to piste skis for the day, but the pack had opted to hunt for some back country powder anyway.

A few runs in and we had to walk a fair bit at the bottom so we looked for some other routes down. Unfortunately this untracked run ended in a twisted skiers knee. She wasn’t able to walk out the pretty steep entry we just dropped in on and the walk out was definitely too long. The snow was about waist deep, so between the other snowboarder and skier we made a makeshift sledge with snowboard and two ski poles. I attempted to flattened what felt like 100m of steep and deep snow so we could haul the casualty up. Two of us pulled while the other pushed from behind. An hour and a half later, and a few renditions of eye of the tiger to keep spirits up, we managed to finally get back to a tracked route (see video below) and then the piste where we were able to call the piste patrol for medical attention and skidoo ride to the bottom.

I caught up with Ben for a very late lunch and a couple of afternoon runs before the obligatory onsen, dinner and nap to try shake off the jet lag before the New Year celebrations.

Dinners continue to be a massive spread of assorted Japanese and J Style western foods

The locals put on a firework display at the base of the gondola every year. As we arrived some people were night skiing down and the announcements over the speakers was only hurry them off the mountain.

A great atmosphere and pretty impressive firework display and champagne helped us see in the new year in style.

I sincerely wish you all a great 2014 and that it is full of things that will make you lives more complete and happy x

First taste of Japanese Snow

After a pretty boozy night out getting to know the rest of the tour group we are woken at 7am by a tanoy announcement in Japanese for what I think is the breakfast call.Still pretty jet lagged, but the thought of hitting the mountain gets me up. I fuel up and get set up.

Discover the most amazing honey and butter combo disposable dispenser. I’ll let the photos do the talking: I had been pre warned about the dated infrastructure here compared to Europe/US and low and behold there was a 2 man calf chopper waiting for us. Most of the regulars shoot off by I spend the morning with Ben while he finds his feet. We hit some pretty cool piste runs and a bit of park and it definitely as great as everyone said it would be. Wide pistes with nice dusting of snow.

We hit a late lunch by the top of the gondola and have the most amazing steak and rice and ramen for lunch. All the steak in Japan seems to have incredible marbling which makes it just melt in your mouth (and probably solidify in your arteries).

Another cool contraption is the auto beers dispenser that pours the perfect head:

We catch most of the others at lunch. Ben sticks to the piste for the afternoon whilst I follow 3 others including Ricky the organiser on some back country runs. I stack it a few times getting used to the thigh deep powered and dodgy small branches of trees, but have an incredible time. Getting out of such deep snow when falling is a challenge, but I soon get the hang of rolling and getting up. Starting to feel the jet lag a bit more, knowing full well I have the season ahead of me and not wanting to over do it I decide to call it a day. Lifts close early here (3.30pm) so had a decent innings. We head for the onsen when the others return which was an experience in itself. For less than 3 quid you get to soak in some amazing natural hot springs which have a pretty powerful sulphur smell. There are some free onsens in the town, but the temperature is not regulated and the facilities are pretty basic. A quick rinse before opting for the outdoor onsen and a nice long soak with all hanging free relaxes the muscles after a hard days boarding.On reflection a very interesting cultural difference. On one side you have a very conforming, obedient and fairly private society that rarely appears to break the rules that thinks nothing of baring it all in front of strangers; in comparison back home you have a pretty liberal and more controversial society that covers up all modesty without fail. Even in a changing room.

Tokyo Gaijin – Nozawa Onsen

So I learn Gaijin is anyone who is not native Japanese and the group we are joining will be mainly Gaijin who live/work out of Tokyo. Should be a good opportunity meet some people and expand the social circle.

The first destination we are heading to is a Hot Spring (Onsen) town where we will be joining the tour 2 days late. Just the thought of a nice hot soak after a long hard day’s boarding has got me excited. Can’t f-king wait!

Still 100% dependent on Ben getting us there we need to some how get to the Tokyo JR Station which is on the mainline rail network. We can either drag our now reduced luggage through the metro network or try find a cab that will fit our snowboards.

We head out to look for a cab, but everything that drives by seems the same jazz as at the airport: inadequate to cope with the sizeable boardbags.

We test our luck and flag one of them down. The same trial and error protocol is executed with the driver first trying to fit the board bags across the back seats. Ben and I look at each other as if to say “where the hell are we going to sit?”. Ben tries to suggest dropping the seats down, but the taxi seems to be LPG and has a jock off tank between the trunk and the back seat. He tries to angle one of the bags into his trunk and to be fair wasn’t far off. Then as if by magic he whips out a random length of strap and proceeds to tie his boot lid down.

I acknowledge Ben’s comment from earlier about just letting them get on with it. I was pretty amazed at the lengths this guy went to just to ensure he was able to service our needs whilst in the middle of the main road (taxis seem to pull in anywhere!). The first of many experiences where the Japanese will go to any lengths to try and accommodate you.

The taxi drops us off right outside Tokyo JR station and we buy tickets for Nagano from there a bus transfer to Nozawa Onsen. We miss the next train by literally minutes, but doesn’t seem so bad as the next one is in 30 minutes. At Nagano we realise that we’ve just missed a bus by 15 minutes and the next one isn’t for another hour and a half!

We are in no real rush so Ben manages to locate a tiny little restaurant that specialises in Unagi a short walk from the station.

We drag our bags over and the proprietors move mountains so we can be seated and our cumbersome luggage accommodated. I try to sit down on the tables which appear lower than normal western standards and struggle to fit my thigh between the top of the chair seat and the underside of the table top. A nod of acknowledgement from Ben from the other side of the table that he is having the same issue puts a smile on my faces and I make myself as comfortable as possible. The owner brings over a menu of which there appears to be 2 options, regular or large. Ben orders us 2 large and they proceed to bring over the standard, hot flannel, tea and little dishes of pickled vegetables.

The main dish arrives and its first of many amazing eateries Ben takes me to. Never had such soft, flavour packed and plentiful Unagi. The side dish of softly poached sweet apple pieces balance out the flavours really well.

We head to the coach stop a little early to queue for seats and Ben assures me the coach will leave on schedule. The coach driver got on the bus after loading everything with 30 seconds to spare. With 10 seconds to go he pokes his head out the door to see if there are any passengers running for the bus and pulls off smack on time. Amazing. Though I will always wonder if we would have still left on time if someone had been running for the coach with 10 pieces of luggage.

Managed to sleep most of the journey so didn’t take any photos, but what I did see, as I drifted in and out, was a crisp sun lit flat landscape with a mountain range in the distance, all of which was covered in snow. We arrive in Nozawa Onsen and located our lodge and sleeping quarters. Was fairly surprised that it was basically a room with tatami mats laid out with futons and blankets by the people who were already staying there.

We are soon joined by our roomies: Mai-Chan the crazy, but adorable Swiss educated Japanese girl, Xue the German Chinese with a very British education and Shane the Ozzie snowboard extraordinaire.

I get to hear their adventures from the days riding which get me excited for tomorrow. I get the call of nature so venture to the gents and get more than I bargain for in my first J toilet experience. The actually facilities in the lodge seemed fairly basic with the cold mountain air coming in through an open window. Thought this was going to be primitive. But when I sat down and was greeted by a nice warm seat. I definitely need me one of these!

When I was finished I couldn’t find the flusher, but did notice a Knight Rider like console to my right. I surveyed my options and though the icon with the flowing water might be my best bet. A warm jet of water then proceeded to clean my poo poo hole. Genius really! I continued to sit there thinking this may come to a predetermined end when the water started to get cold and thought I better do something here. I then hit the button with the person’s head (don’t ask the logic behind this decision, because I have no idea). As another jet of water then proceeded to target my testicles it dawned on me that the image on the button was that of a women and this feature was to clean women’s bits. I sort myself out and head back to the room to share my water closet adventure with my room mates who are in stitches.

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Taste Bud Adrenaline Junkie

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