The Insignificance and Vulnerability of Simplicity

Wednesday, January 28

Just as the norm of most free and easy trips..

There bound to be a day where you’d overslept.
This was the day.
In fact my body clock was totally tuned on this seventh day, and I was already awake 6-7 plus I think.
But I was waiting for that alarm..
It did not come.
When I finally could not stand it, woke up to find a thin trail of bright light peeking in through the curtains..
It was 8 plus.

Gosh..
Today was the day that we had two places on the itinerary..
Quickly washed up packed up and we did away with the breakfast.

I was waiting with the luggage and dear went to drive the car over.
He halted while walking towards the lots.
There was NO walking path to be seen.

LOL

Snow was as thick as fresh cream..
He turned around to face me with a questioning look..
Where was the curb and which was the road..?

White is my ultimate weakness.
I couldnt stop hitting on the scenery.
Snow landed on the bare tree branches very nicely..
Half covered just like icing on a cake.
Again I saw those similar hot red cherries that we saw in Showa Shinzan on a white pale tree..

Nature is so unfair in Hokkaido..
In autumn, colorful leaves are abundant, the rich greenery is incredibly authentic.
In winter where the colors are gone, Nature replaces it with white icing and bestows a grayish mystical landscape..

Ooooh..

Played with the snow..
And I made compact snowballs without much effort =p

Snow was very soft and so powdery that it stuck onto the tree bark like flour would stick to wet surface.

The car came after a long time..
He had difficulty sweeping off the thick cake of snow.
It was just a night of snowfall..
But snow on the car top was piled to around 20 cm??!

As we began to drive out..
I couldn’t resist asking him to stop the car..
Got down to take a picture of this..
The road..

It says OUT alright
But the road was nowhere to be seen..

*****

After a two hours drive from Niseko, we finally reached the port.
The longest drive ever..
The dense and packed houses signified that we had arrived at Otaru port town.

Otaru or 小樽

A port town on the coast of the Sea of Japan, northwest of Sapporo.
The town was obviously populated by the number of houses situated very closely to one another.
Otaru is well known for its canal that runs through the town.
We briefly drove past the canal, a popular tourist spot, where camera flashes are never ending.

Stomachs growling fiercely, plus there was no parking space for our next destination.
Going in circles, we finally found a parking lot which we thought it was meant for our destination.
But alas, the guard told us that belonged to Victoria Station.
If we wanted to park there, we had to dine in.
Just nice, we need food badly.
And damn..

The menu in the station was huge with so much varieties of appetizing food that our poor stomachs became chaotic.
Tough choices.
With a continuous flow of patrons into the station, it seemed like the dining place was a famous one..
Its chain of restaurants include Big Boy restaurant and Milky Way..

The food took forever to arrive.
Nothing much we could do..
So the consequences shalt end as these..
Give me a camera, my patience shalt be stretched..

LOL

But could see Jeff san could not take it le..
Bleahz..

He ordered chicken steak and lobster..
I ordered chicken and tamago porridge.
And OMG, not forgetting the desserts..
The authentic Japanese red bean on green tea ice cream that I loved so much..
Just that had it in Japan this time round =)

After lunch, went straight the Music Box street..
The Victorian buildings were all situated in weird angles..
There was no sequence in the Music Box Museum Hall 1, Hall 2 ecetra..
You just have to walk the streets in random to locate them.
And the entire street was filled with sweet crystal clear music that seeped out from the Music Museum and the DIY shop =)

Fairy tale clock houses, European feel..
Imagine walking down an open air street that is so creatively designed and enriched with dream-like musical touch..

Popped into the Character House / Sound of Dreams.
There you would find many popular Disney characters whom accompanied you through childhood.

We saw the DIY shop notice in one of the shop houses.
After getting our directions right, we set off to accomplish another task.
That is, making our own music box =p

The DIY shop was packed with small decorations..
And the few music box creations greeted us the minute we stepped in.
Sweet!

It was a tough time deciding the theme of the music box..
Plus we did not have much time for 2 music boxes because for fear that Ishiya Chocolate factory would be closed by the time we reached there.

We chose a box structure
Then a melody..
Did away with the base.
Then we spent a long time deciding the decorations.
After payment at the counter, the staff passed us a tray, the glue, the sweets..
Satisfied with our music box, we handed our music box to the counter who asked us to return in 30 minutes time =D

During the 30 minutes of waiting, we took off to the Otaru Music Box Museum Number 2 Hall Antique Museum.

The rich history of the various musical instruments were on display.
Especially the structure and the various types music boxes..
These were extremely pretty but the prices were scary.
They were meant to be admired as a whole, not purchased.
In there, the music filled museum soothed our minds and calmed the restless souls..

Perhaps it’s the music, perhaps it’s a port town, perhaps it’s the weather or perhaps it’s Hokkaido..
The ambience that existed was one filled with extreme warmth..
One that promised relaxed peace as everyone walked about with childlike ease..

*****

The Ishiya Chocolate factory was a 20 minutes drive away from Otaru.
Situated at the edge of Sapporo, we saw the huge Victorian-like building the minute the GPS announced Sapporo.
It’s awesome how the different areas of Hokkaido gave us different emotions and sentiments the minute we stepped in the borders.

Sapporo or 札幌

The capital of Hokkaido
A place that is frequently visited for business meetings
Famous for its brewery and chocolate factory.
And being one of the few metropolises in the world with such heavy snowfall, Sapporo holds the popular snow festival every Feburary.
We decided to give the brewery a miss..
He had to stick to the no drinking rule.

The Ishiya Chocolate factory was hard to miss.
Prominently perched in its conspicuous architecture
I thought it the Disneyland style structures were similar to the buildings in Otaru..

We bought our tickets quickly for a tour in the factory.
They gave each ticket holder a chocolate 白い恋人 =)

From the restrooms, to the litter bins scattered all over the premises
Designs, sculptures and paintings are tastefully and exquisitely choosen to give an ancient feel.

We proceeded to the Shiroi Koibito production line..
A rare sight nowadays especially in this metropolitan city.

Suki-san, this was where your cookies came from =P

Then it was time to grab the goodies =)

This was at the shop.
Chandeliers are indeed abundant in Hokkaido.

Shiroi Koibito or 白い恋人

The two ultra thin butter cookies with rich white or dark chocolate in between is somewhat the trademark of Hokkaido.
At the shop,

We saw the local Japanese grabbed the boxes and piled them in the baskets like they were free of charge.

I grabbed some myself and proceeded to the counter for payment.
The ladies at the counter took delicate effort to paste a small flower on each and every box with the Ishiya logo.

In fact, we thought that the best part of Ishiya Chocolate factory was the cookie shop.
It was a tour alright, but if time is tight, we thought most tourists can give this a miss.
Nevertheless, it was awesome how the Japanese takes pride in their jobs and creation..
They actually built a musuem to house their chocolate prouducts and to retain its history.

*****

Hotel Monterey Edelhof was a choice of spontaneity.
We thought after a few days of Japanese ryokans plus the scarcity of ryokans in Sapporo, we tuned to this Vienna-themed accomodation.
The hotel gave a wholesome finish to our tour in Sapporo..
It was a city that had a warm European feel..
Or at least, this was the image of Sapporo that I had =)

Took a stroll out into the cold night..
Realised we both forgot our gloves.
Thought that we could do without them, but we were soooo wrong.
It was drizzling again, the temperatures were actually on par to that of Niseko.
The hand holding on to the umbrella was frozen beyond feel.

The Xmas lightings lit up the blurry night streets pretty well..

Added more zest of life to the existing vibrancy in the city.

These lightings were sponsored by the various companies in Sapporo.

It was a kind of advertisement for them, creating awareness in the gloomy economy.
That explained why each and every "wall" of decorated lights was made with good dedicated effort.

Sapporo is somewhat similar to Tokyo, just colder.
And every underpass seemed to be a refuge for us.

Passed the TV tower, walked about randomly till we found the entrance to the Sapporo station.
Settled down for some decent meal..
The cheese croquette was sinfully tasty!
And this, shalt be our last night in Hokkaido.

After our meal, made our way back to the hotel for packing.
Rain by this time had ceased completely.
And we were able to have a superb view of the TV tower =)

*****

irony @

10:29 PM

Monday, January 19

Dawn came quickly..

Rose to the excitement of something that we had set out to accomplish this trip..
The highlight,

Skiing on Niseko's famous powder snow.

As I drew the curtains to the morning view..

Had a quick breakfast that comprised of salad, eggs, bread and more croissant..
We realized that the fellow diners also took their breakfast quickly.
They were already in their ski gears =)

Absolutely no idea how the rentals were like, so we piled on the normal 4 layers.
Outside Green Leaf Hotel Niseko, we couldn’t help gawking at this bona fide piece of art work..

Funny how nature made the skies so blue in a whole piece of white..
Snowflakes flirted with our hair, our jackets, our hands..
We only moved on to the car when we decided that we could no longer stand the freezing cold..
The inside of the car was also a freezing chamber..
And the windscreen resembled a car wash hehe..

In anxious anticipation..

We entered Niseko Village Ski and into the NV Snow School that was adjacent to the Hilton Niseko Village.
We had previously asked the hotel staff if we could go up the mountains to ski by ourselves without taking the lessons..
His immediate reply was,
“Yes you can, but do you have travel insurance?” o.0

We hence settled on a group skiing lesson that was reasonably priced in the brochure as compared to the rest of activities.
After informing us where and when to gather, the school personnel told us we had to get our gears at the ski equipment rental shop that was just next door.

The service personnel next door handed us a form each.
Filled in our names, age weight and the size of our feet.
The form showed a checklist of gears for you to select.
Absolutely disoriented..
Dunno which to select which to do without..
So we simply ticked the gears from head to toe..
And each piece had a rental price attached to it =x

After making our payment at the counter, the equipment issuing counter then handed us our gears based on what we had selected on the form.
Sizes of the boots are based on your feet in centimeters.
Jammed my legs into the tight ski boots..
And it was a good thing that we wore our own wool sweaters beneath..
They only provided the outermost layer.

Many patrons came in and out of the ski shops after getting what they required.
Some of them were veterans with their own cool ski gears..
The rest of the patrons were not new to skiing by the comfortable ease they walked about in the very unbreathable ski boots.
They donned Oakley goggles, Adidas goggles, Puma goggles over their beanies..
Woooo nice.

And we were there for some time fiddling with erm, gears that we had never put on before.
Till an instructor came to talk to dear..
He was asking if we were first time skiers and reminded us to tighten our boots as much as possible =x

Walked about like penguins almost tripping over countless times..
We carried the skis to the wooden railings that you could “park” your skis.
If you ask me, I thought the boots weigh a lot more than the skis.

As the lesson was about to start, we saw the biggest group of skiing instructors possible.
All dressed in green jackets, mostly Westerners, some Japanese.

The Niseko Village Snow School is directed by a Canadian native and top ski teacher and trainer and staffed by over 80 local professionals and a team of international teachers and trainers.

It was snowing lightly as we climbed atop to a partial slope to meet our English Instructor.

Unlike my casual boots, these ski boots really held the snow well.

Our lesson began with “How to put on our skis”
This part was enough to make our instructor vomit blood.
We were all hit with the sudden realization..
SKIING IS NOT EASY AT ALL!

The skis are made from very good materials like glass fibers, polymers and other composite materials..
They are not that breakable like they appeared to be.
Long and thin,

They are pointed and curved upwards for easy gliding on snow.

We put on our skis by fastening our boots into the ski bindings.
Front foot in first, followed by fixing the heel of the boots into the ski till we hear the latch up sound.
The latch sound came from the two thin brake pivots that sprung upwards under the downward pressure of the boots..
The brakes would then run parallel with the ski allowing free movement.
When the boot comes out of the ski, the brakes spring out perpendicular to the ski and stop the ski from sliding.

We did the latching of the boots into the ski and taking them off numerous times.
Not a simple feat for skiing dummies like us.
I tried to latch my right foot into the ski but as soon as I tried to lift my left leg into the ski, my right foot on the ski started sliding downhill.
So I tried to sit down and put both skis on..
Then I realized another problem.
I couldn’t get up with my skis on -,-

Gradually, we got used to to taking our skis off and putting them on again..
According to the instructor, the ski poles were actually more of a hazard for beginners.

Did away with our ski poles..

And the next thing we were taught..
“How to stop as and when on a slope..”

First bad fall

We started to move..
Dear deliberately made himself fall to his sides when he realized he couldn’t stop.
I had not fully grasp the technique to stop plus I didn’t know how to fall.
I ended up moving towards the instructor like a speedball and crashed into her @_@
She was trying to catch me and I remembered feeling a hard blow on my left cheek and my skis flew out.

Alpine Skis

The boot is released by the binding if a certain amount of torque is applied
(usually created by the weight of a falling skier).
The amount of torque required to release the boot is adjusted by turning a screw on the toe and heel piece.

That explained the sturdiness of the ski when you attached your boots and the ease to which they come off the minute you fall.
Thus, it is important to give the most accurate weight possible on the form so that the equipments given to you are safe and able to withstand the torque caused during a fall.

Second horrible fall

I gradually got the hang of moving down the slope at a controlled pace.
Then the instructor was teaching us how to change direction on the skis.
Shifting your weight to the left leg when you want to turn right and vice versa.

We noticed snowfall by then had become very heavy..
Somewhat too heavy to go without the goggles.
Perhaps putting on the goggles made me lose my sense of balance.

While trying to ski to my left and right, I suddenly lost control again.
No matter how I tried, I couldn’t stop.
My speed was accelerating beyond my control and I panicked.
Crashed into the instructor again =(
Took me a while to realize I’m on earth.
My beanie flew, my goggles flew, my skis some distance away.

All these while, we could see kids slide down on their skis from the mountains with great ease.
Maneuvering in their smoothest moves, the kids were definitely better than us.

And I meant real kids, kids who had barely finished kindergarten o.0
When it was close to lunch time, a live band began playing at the foot of the gondola..
Nice music there..

A small clip on my humble camera..

Live band music in the background and the view was slurred by the heavy snowfall.

*Please do pardon the retarded face*

I began to love every minute of it as I descend the slope.
Reached the bottom, turned around and dear almost crash into me o.0
But climbing up back, the cold began to take a toll on our legs.
The instructor asked us to keep our bodies straight and bend our knees..

I couldn’t bend my knees at all..

The ski boots were cutting into my shins..
I saw somewhere in the snow, dear was as stiff as a pole too =p
The boots by then were already cutting into my flesh.
The instructor had to make sure we really master the technique to stopping before we could take the lifts.

Then it was lunch.
We slumped down instantly upon reaching the Royce Café.
Ordered hot chocolate and a hotdog roll.
Exhausted and stoned.

Royce Chocolate is somewhat similar to Shiroi Koibito Chocolate.

Both are exclusive chocolate dairy products that the Japanese in Hokkaido proudly called theirs.

After the warm chocolate break,

We bought our lift passes and were prepared to ascend to the mountains!
The instructor explained that we had to take the lifts in individual slots as we were still inexperienced for two.
She would take the first lift and asked us to leave a lift in between so that she would have time to catch hold of us when we land.

For most ski jackets, there would be a small pocket by the side of the left arm where you could zip up the lift ticket.

The machine will be able to scan your ticket from the jacket through the entrance.

This way, one need not fuss with both the ski poles and ticket at the same time.

Skis on, I had difficulty moving through the entrance.
The person in charge of the skis would sweep the snow off the seats and signaled us to go onto the lift.
The lift came quickly behind me and swept me off my feet.

Felt the weight of the skis as the lift ascended.
Looking down, couldn’t believe I was on one.
The scenery from the lifts was an awesome one.
Skiers below, the sun in the horizon, paths defined by powdery snow, the piste on a groomed slope made by seasoned skiers..

Third bone splitting fall

As the top of the mountain approached..

I was supposed to lift myself off the lift but my leg was bent at a 30 degrees on that steep slope..
I couldn’t get up -,-
When I finally forced myself to stand up, the surge of force made it impossible for me to stop.
The instructor was there to catch me alright but I skied straight into the pillar beside her.
My legs did a split and I almost pulled my hamstring.
And my skis flew out for the umpteenth time.

When I finally meet up with the rest of the group members, I saw those behind me..
One by one..

Either ended up at the hedge in front while landing or dipped straight into the snow or like me into the pillar.
Dear did the first stunt, into the hedge..

What a sight!
Beginners ahoy =x

LOL

Assembled at the beginning of our course, she did a demonstration for a part of the slope.
We tried and mostly were doing fine.
Then came another two more sections, all ended well.

Had this taken at a gentle slope..=)

Fourth disastrous fall

This segment of the course was a much longer and steeper one as compared to all.
Skis pointing inwards, my legs were sort of aching from all the force exerted at attempting to stop down the slope.
Suddenly I was going too fast and the phenomenon of losing control seeped in again.
The instructor had her back to me, and I couldn’t find my voice to yell..
When she finally turned around, she could only raise her right arm to stop me.
I did a flip and I landed hard on my head.
Couldn’t remember if the impact on my head was due to hard snow or was it the weight exerted on my neck..

“Are you alright, did your head hit hard snow?”
“What happened to the excellent skiing just now?”

I was..numbed.

Continued our lessons, took a second lift back up..
This time this round, no one fell after leaving the lifts.
Wooo everyone was beginning to get the hang of it.
I finally saw what the skiing poles are for.
They were not used for balance.
They were used to increase speed on some parts of the slopes where the gradient was minor.

And I still had the cheek to take pictures of the ice-capped Mount Yotei..
“The Mount Fuji of Hokkaido”
The snow on the mountain was reflecting light off from the sun in reddish translucence..

Lessons ended around 3:30pm.
We had 2 more rides on the lifts.
Dear and I decided to go up ourselves.
This time I felt more adventurous to take pictures of the surroundings..
The sunset was..

Stunning!
But the minute I took off my gloves, hands stung by the cold till the finger tips were painful.

The sun’s soothing glare peeked through the pines..

Heavy skis mid-air held on just fine.
Dexterous moves, the skiers, the snow lines.

Temperatures so low that fingers were no longer mine..

As I glided down the slopes, finally felt myself moving like a proper skier.
Stopped by some parts to take pictures =p
And the best thing, no more hiccups no more falls..
Heh heh.
Soooo fun the minute I grasp the technique.

Even managed to take pictures of Jeff san in action..

The last lift ride saw us skiing into the night.

Night skiing was very very fun too =)

The skies were turning darker every minute..

Everything nice had to end somehow..

This, was the last I had atop the Niseko Village ski slope..

Changed out of our gears returned them and settled back down at the Royce café.

Faces flushed and red.

All that was left was sore thigh muscles, aching calf muscles, bruised shins and a head that still had that impacted sensation..

In quiet contemplation..

Paused a while, sipping my hot chocolate.

Suddenly hit with an overwhelming awareness that we had done it.

Everything was definitely well worth it..
The experience of a lifetime..
We will be back on the ski slopes someday..

Back at the ryokan,

Off to the convenience store again.
I went for the hot spring bath thereafter..
And this time I sneaked my camera in =p
The good thing was there wasn’t anyone else..hehe

Soaking the sore muscles in the hot bath was such a relief for the pain inflicted during the day.

In fact, the extreme cold during the day made me appreciate the hot spring bath even more..

I could not ask for more.
I wasn’t on Earth at that point in time.

*****

irony @

5:27 PM

Tuesday, January 13

It was Day Five..

We thought the time that we had in Lake Toya was a lil too short..

Hence checked out really early and it was Showa Shinzan next.

What is a visit to Lake Toya if we did not check out the magnificent sizzling red mountains?

Showa Shinzan or 昭和新山

A young volcanic dome of 290 metres high, created from a flat wheat field between 1944 and 1945 when Mount Usu erupted the second time.
Its name means a new mountain created during the Showa Period in Japan, ie the Showa New Mountain.
Red and steaming, Showa Shinzan is still venting sulfurous fumes today.
It stands directly next to Mount Usu.

Showa Shinzan is a place category on the bottom right of the Toya Trail..

In fact I could not comprehend why the place wasnt called Mount Usu especially when Showa Shinzan was created by its parent Mount Usu..

Just like how the various attractions are called,

Showa Shinzan Bear Park, Showa Shinzan Glass House..

A ten minutes drive away from our ryokan, travelling was hassle free..
The red mountain was very prominently perched high up, amidst clouds..
Smoke was puffing generously..

As usual, we became accustomed to the vending machines that were propped at the most unusual places or in the middle of nowhere =)

Bougt hot cocoa.

Then off to the ropeway ticketing counter..

And we chartered the whole cable ride to ourselves again =p

The clouds were low and the air was foggy.

Seemed like heaven..

The fifteen minutes short ride took us quickly to Mount Usu.

Mt. Usuzan or 有珠山

The majestic Mt. Usuzan which rises to a height of 729 meters and is marked by a rugged, bare rock surface created by four past eruptions.

The ropeway carries visitors up to the top of Mt. Usuzan where two observation decks are located.

On the right side of the ropeway station, stands the Toya-ko Tenbodai (Lake Toya Observation Deck), from which you can command an excellent bird's-eye view of Lake Toya and Mt. Showa Shinzan.

Initially, the thick clouds hindered all views possible..

But then the sun rose high and some clouds cleared gradually.

From this platform, we saw a different angle of Showa Shinza and a partial Lake Toya..

It was indeed a piece of peaceful tranquility..

To the left of the station, located 300 metres away is a seven-minutes walk to Usu Kakogen Tenbodai (Usu Crater Basin Observation Deck) from which you can observe the largest crater basin in the area.

We climbed A LOT of steps and slopes..

We climbed Mount Usu =D

Slightly to the right of the Crater Observation deck, we saw a huge charcoal hole-like platform.

It seemed like the mouth of a volcano.

That, was one of the biggest Nishiyama crater created when Mount Usu erupted in year 2000.

Usuzan West Craters or 西山火口

Craters are circular depressions in the ground caused by volcanoic activities..

Or simply to say, when a volcano erupts and collapses to create a deep basin, a crater is formed.

When Mount Usu erupted the fourth time in year 2000, several new craters opened up on the west side of the mountain.
The west craters can be accessed from a 40 mins 1.1 km trail.
But too bad the trail is closed Early November to Mid April.
Hence we could only watch them emit smoke from a distance.

Then we saw few red cherry trees along the path to back to the ropeway..

They were a real red, yes, in this cold winter..

What a sight!

Perhaps of the red mountains and cherries, the contrasting sky in the background was painted a rich blue color.

This would be our second volcanic tour in Japan =)

Showa Shinzan Kazan-Mura or 昭和新山火山村

Proceeded to the Showa Shinzan Volcano Village after the ropeway to experience the Eruption Chamber.
Sounds and images are simulated to allow visitors feel the power of magma welling up from deep inside Earth.

At the "Hokkaido Budoshu-kan (Hall of Wine)," famous wines from around the world as well as local beers are on sale.

We merely browsed through to see if there were plum wines..

The lifestyle here is so relaxed and peaceful that even the village cats are holy fat..

Next to the ropeway station..

Showa Shinzan Bear Ranch or 熊牧场

Bought our tickets and we stepped into the dens =p

Look at how the "big bear" posed with his tickets..

LOL

There was a group of Hongkies who bought apples to feed the bears..

The fuji apples were bigger than our usual ones..

After having watched them feed the bears, we got really fascinated with the bears' behaviour.

Being solitary animals, they were not prideful to ignore food from the visitors.

They even waved and put their hands together to "beg" for food.

They looked cute in fact, very different from the impression we have on bears in the wild.

What smart animals they are, as they caught the apples using their mouths as the Hongkies threw it to them..

One half portion of the apple is already enough to fill a normal human being..

But the bears crunched them in one mouthful

And then gobbled in whole o.0

Vending machines were situated randomly in the park.

We bought some cookies from the machines.

But they were actually cookies for the bears =p

At least now we know what food they eat exactly =)

Here's a short clip on how a bear even turned himself upside down to secure food..

And the silly me threw a number of cookies to feed the big black crows instead..

Havent played basketball for a long time..

Showa Shinzan Glass House or 昭和新山ガラス館

There were two glass museums on the Toya trail..

One was the Gla-Gla glass cafe which the signs were everywhere but the museum was nowhere to be seen -,-

Showa Shinzan is the other one..

Glass is one of my favourite material..

Clean crystal clear and reflective, decorations are so easily made chic..

Stepping into the museum brought awe to us..

The museum cum shop was quiet with poise.

All the decorative creations were deftly made and maintained by the Japanese.
Define exquisite beauty and intricate innovations..

From glass accessories to tableware and chandeliers..

Every single corner, visitors are able to find something they like.
Thought I could buy something for daddy here..
But it ended up I could buy almost anything..

Choosing was really hard in there.

And Suki, this was also the place where I bought your chopsticks =)

One thing that we thought could wholesomely complete our day was to see how exactly glass was blown..

But the Showa Shinzan Glass House was more like an exhibitionist's hangout.

With this, shalt end our Showa Shinzan voyage..

On our way to Niseko, the GPS made us pass by the small family-oriented shop which sold the whitegrain dessert.

We popped in for lunch AND had a second patronage of the yummilicious dessert =p

I ordered the scallop ramen and he had croquette curry rice..

It was instant gratification!

And we still had not learnt our lessons..

The Japanese ramen serving is huge duh..

Scallops that came with the ramen in generous sizes were fresh and succulent..

The broth was a very concentrated mix.

Dear's serving saw a nicely sized croquette, very unlike those in SG.

Imagine a whole crispy croquette was actually enough to be the only side dish for a plate of Japanese rice.

The curry was quite spicy in fact.

And of course, the full meal did not hinder us from the desserts =D

After a sumptuous one, off to Niseko..

As we drew closer to the extreme northwestern area, we noticed the dip in temperature..

Unlike Lake Toya where snow had gradually been washed off, Niseko saw a thick pile of white..

Untouched snow everywhere..

On the fields, on the lodges' roof, beside the roads..

During the drive, somewhere in the horizon, we suddenly spotted a huge ski slope..
We got excited again =)

Green Leaf Hotel Niseko Village

Situated near the Hilton Niseko Village and hotel.

There are three main ski slopes in Niseko.

Namely Annupuri, Hirafu and Higashiyama.

Our hotel is facing the Higashiyama slope =)

Reaching the ryokan cum hotel, the hotel front desk passed us some brochures on skiing..

Absolutely lost, we had no idea how to go about booking the ski sessions.

What to do, what equipment to rent, how the charges are like..

Back in the room, the view was awesome..

The ski grounds was just a glass window away..

And then we saw for the first time skiers passed our room at an amicable speed =D

As the skies turned dark, we went out into the cold to walk around.

It was only four plus then.

Some distance away from Green Leaf, we chanced on another glass shop.

Too bad again, the master who blew glass sticks had knocked off..

Else we could really experience how glass are being blown.

We could only settle for some DIY earrings.

I chose the green glass for the session.

This shop was very prettily decorated by the person running it.

As patrons were scarce, she merely spent her time doing up lovely and charming ornaments and conduct DIY sessions.

Outside, it was cold and drizzling again.

We felt a plunge in temperature and sensed more snow would approach the next day.

Snowfall approached us the next half hour =)

We tried to find food when it was 5 plus..

But alas, there was none in sight.

All the shops in Higashiyama were closed at 5pm..

And due to the lack of lamp posts, the streets were a pitch black.

Stranded with absolutely no food.

We could only settle for these, bought them at the hotel's snack shop.

During dinner, the Man United fan switched on the TV and was idly changing channels..

Then...

There was a live Man United match!!

The whole team was in Japan for the Toyota Cup..

Muahahaha..

The chips were just nice for a nice match.

What a night..

During half time,

I went to the open air hot spring bath while he remained stuck to the TV =p

Baths were not made of cypress wood..

They were rock baths =)

Slight snowflakes touched my face, while I immersed myself in sheer indulgence..

Couldnt wait for a brand new day the very next day.

A promising fun of heavy snowfall and injury-inflicting skiing =)

*****

irony @

3:03 PM