Niseko: The Aspen of Asia

From Sapporo, we drove to Niseko for three days of skiing. Blizzard conditions made the drive quite stressful; some of the roads we were supposed to take and most roadside stores were closed. At one point, we all needed to go to the bathroom, so we stopped at a little shop that appeared to be open. I asked the woman working in the shop if I could use the toilet. She directed me behind the counter and through doors into what appeared to be a living room filled with her family. An old man was reading on the couch, and children were playing some kind of Japanese game on the floor. To say I felt awkward was an understatement. When I thanked them for their hospitality, I saw that T.J. was walking into the shop saying that he also needed to use the toilet. My heart sank. When I got out to the car, Matt said he had to go too. This poor Japanese family had no idea that they were going to have to let not one but three Americans use their personal restroom in the middle of a blizzard. The hardest part was knowing that it is not a cultural norm in Japan to say "no" in a direct way, so they may not have really wanted to let us use the toilet in the first place. Needless to say, we bought a few things to show our appreciation- a bag of peanuts, a package of butter (to cook in our cabin in Niseko), and a couple of beers. Back in the car and on the road, we laughed about what the Japanese woman must have thought about those random purchases.

We finally arrived in Niseko to more snow than we've seen in our lives. The walls of snow lining the roads were literally 10+ feet high. We soon learned why- it snowed about a foot each night we were there. We rented a small cabin, and slept side by side like the three four little bears. The sleeping arrangement reminded me of our 2008 trip to Austria with Kiley.We made spaghetti for dinner the first night, and made most of our lunches in the cabin as well.

The weather on our first day of skiing in was ah-mazing. Blue skies, sun, and great visibility of Mt. Yotei (see below). We skied from the Grand Hirafu lift on Day 1 and 3, and the Hanazono lift and lodge on Day 2. After  two seasons of skiing in our area of Japan, we were surprised at how awesome the Niseko ski area was- tons of lifts that get you up the mountain in a reasonable amount of time and plenty of challenging runs. Again, it was like being back in Europe. We were also surprised at how many "Western" faces we saw- nearly everyone we saw and met there were from Australia, New Zealand, or Americans/Brits living in Hong Kong. It was very easy to forget that we were still in Japan. In fact, we saw a sign that referred to Niseko as "The Aspen of Asia", which actually seemed like an accurate description.

There are a ton of onsens in Niseko. We took turns visiting Yukoro onsen, which was featured on Powder TV. 

When our time in Niseko came to an end, we grabbed a quick lunch before boarding the ferry. T.J. ordered a dish that included a bowl of rice and a raw egg. He thought he could ask them to fry up the egg for him, but after talking to about four different people, they were finally able to explain that there was no cooking in the kitchen at that time. So T.J. was left with the most adventurous meal of his trip: a raw egg served over a bowl of rice. He said it wasn't that bad. 

This picture gives you an idea of what it's like to embark and disembark a ferry by car. We were directed into a spot, the wheels are secured, and we had to wind our way through a dirty and wet underbelly of the boat to the passenger level. It wasn't a pretty sight (or smell), but worth it to have a car to drive to our destinations.

We are so thankful that T.J. was able to make the trip to see us, and had such a great time in Niseko, that we plan to return next year!

Sapporo Snow Festival and Brewery

Our journey to Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan, began with a car ride to a ferry port in Hachinohe and was followed by an eight-hour and very choppy ferry ride; so choppy, in fact, that all four of us (that's me, Matt, Hazel, and my brother, T.J.) were either feeling sicking or getting sick most of the time. When we finally arrived at our port in to the port in Tomakomai, we had a car ride to reach our surprisingly nice hotel in Sapporo.

The next morning, we were off to visit the 63rd annual Sapporo Snow Festival. We took a subway to the Odori site, the largest of three festival sights located throughout the city. One of the first ice sculptures we saw was the "Snow Aquarium: Treasures from the sea", and the giant walrus pictured below was one of my favorite sculptures of the entire festival. I think they used some sort of tubing to create the most realistic faux ice whiskers imaginable.

Ice Sculpture of the National Palace Museum, located in Taipei, Taiwan...

T.J. in front of the Taj Mahal...

Ashley and T.J. in front of a snow sculpture of Aizu Tsuruga Castle, located in Fukushima prefecture.

Pinnochio...

In addition to crazy impressive ice sculptures, there were performances by Japan's top-level snowboarders and skiers from this 60-meter jump ramp. If it weren't so cold, it would have been fun to stand and watch more than a few jumpers.

We also saw some of Sapporo's main sights, including the TV tower, the maypole (at the sight of the beer fest held in Sapporo) that reminded us of the one we saw at the Viktualienmarkt in Munich, and the red brick Old Government Building. It was sights like these, in addition to the pedestrian friendly and grid-like layout of the city that reminded us of being back in Europe.

But then we'd stumble across an incredibly ornate shrine or temple, and be reminded that we were most certainly still in Asia. 

Between the three adults, we sampled a lot of different festival food and beverages, including corn on the cob, deer ragout, vegetable chowder made with Hokkaido cream, yakisoba, a chocolate Belgian waffle, and Belgian beer. 

While the Odori site was mostly comprised of large snow sculptures, the Susukino site was lined with smaller but very impressive ice sculptures. 

Those are real fish, crabs, and other sea creatures frozen in the ice.

Ice bench.

We found a warm restaurant for dinner and made our way back to the hotel. On our walk back to our hotel, we unexpectedly came across Nakajima park filled with small amateur snow sculptures illuminated with candles in the snow. It was quite beautiful.

The next morning we snagged a picture of the historic clock tower en route to the Sapproro Brewery.

The brewery was located on the outskirts of town, but may as well have been in Europe. The visually appealing campus is made up of a brewery museum/tasting room, beer hall, and multiple gift shops. We all agreed that they must be pumping something into the air throughout these buildings, as we just couldn't stop buying souvenirs (a poster, sticker, glasses, t-shirt, crackers, and a key chain to be used as an ornament to be exact). Here are some photos from our visit to the brewery:

Inside the museum...

In the tasting room, we sampled nearly all of the different types of Sapporo beer between the three adults, and discovered the delicious curry crackers and Sapporo beer crackers (simple butter crackers). After lunch, we returned to the tasting hall for dessert- way too rich caramel and really tasty "black beer" ice cream.

For lunch, we grilled our own meat, fish, and veggies yakiniku style in Kessel hall. They provide bibs the size of aprons and bags to contain coats and bags under the table, presumably so visitors don't smell quite so bad at the end of the meal and to minimize the potential of catching on fire in the open flame used to cook the meal at the table. 

The whole brewery experience solidified my burgeoning opinion that Sapporo was my favorite Japanese city visited so far. So much so that I would really love to come back in a different season...if it weren't for that painfully long ferry ride. 

Save the Date: House Hunters International

If you want to watch a show that showcases our house hunting experience in Misawa, watch House Hunters International on April 12, 9:30 PM or 12:30 AM Central Time. Follow this link to read about the upcoming episode. The wife is actually a friend of mine, and she and her husband recreated their house hunting experience in January for a small crew. I say recreate, because at the time of filming, they had already been living in their home for some time (yep, folks, it really is Hollywood).  Hazel and I were out in the driveway shoveling and playing as they were shooting in the driveway of a house in our neighborhood, so I am curious to hear if we will be in the show! Also, to anyone reading this post that is related to us, even if you don't want to watch (and I know you all do), please DVR this episode so we can watch it on our next visit home. I'm talking to YOU! Thanks in advance :)

Picture of them filming, taken from our living room window.

I wasn't there, but this is a picture of them filming in a house in our neighborhood  that appears to be an exact mirror  image of our house.