Sapporo Snow and Ice Festival (Part 1)

Sapporo Snow Festival 2011
This was probably my favorite!

I want to go back!  It's so beautiful up there!

The Sapporo Snow and Ice Festival is one of Japan's largest winter event every year.  Over two million people come to Sapporo to see the hundreds of beautiful snow statues and ice sculptures which line Odori Park and another main street in Susukino.  The city is turned into a winder dreamland of crystal-like ice and white snow!  The Snow Festival began in 1950, when local high school students built a few statues in Odori Park.  In 1955, the Self-Defence Force joined in and built the very first massive snow sculpture, for which the festival has become famous for now.  The festival is a must do especially if you are ever stationed in Japan!

There were a lot of sculptures modeled
after American movies

It wouldn't be a trip for Amanda and I if something didn't go wrong.  We made sure to leave ample enough time to make it to the airport, but the train took a little longer than we expected (especially since we went a few stops in the wrong direction after a connection), and then we arrived at the wrong domestic terminal.  Luckily, security was not like the states and we were through to the gate in 5 minutes.  Another weird thing was that we never once showed an ID/passport and we were able to walk on the plane with an open beer can!  Crazy!

note to self:  DO NOT watch the Superbowl
with Packer fans!  Boo!
Tim, Amanda, Kristin, and I

Our first mission when we arrived in Sapporo was to get to a bar so we could watch the end of the Superbowl since it was Superbowl "Monday".  Out of all the bars we could go to Hokkaido, we end up walking into the same packed bar that some of my friends were at.  Sadly I had to watch the Packers win the Superbowl with the only two Packer fans in the bar... Tim and Kristin.

Hiunkaku Of Hongwanji, a national treasure in Kyoto

After the game, we walked around the snow festival checking out all the amazing snow sculptures!  I couldn't get over all the detail and time put into some of these!  One of the main giant snow sculptures was modeled after the Hiunkaku of Hongwanji temple in Kyoto.  The Ground Self-Defense Force (about 4,500 people total) built this together for 31 days.  The sculpture was 15x24x24 meters (it was huge!) using over 4000 tons of snow!  The pictures don't do it justice!  There were a few other big sculptures modeled after a temple in China, The Lion King, Japanese cartoons, and scenery of Japan.  

view from the top of the Sapporo TV tower
of Odori Park and the mountains in the
background

The ice festival was a few blocks away on another main street in Sapporo.  There were hundreds of ice sculptures and even an ice slide lining the street all lit up at night.  I still can't decide which I like better, the ice or snow sculptures.  They were all very impressive!  We were able to get a great view of Sapporo and the whole festival from the observation deck of Sapporo TV tower (they tried to copy the Eiffel Tower).  I think next trip to Hokkaido will be to go skiing  where the Olympics took place.  If we were up there just one more day I would have liked to check out the mountains, but our trip was only two days.  

Mr Potato Head!!

We were there on the 1st day of the festival, so the international
competition was still going on with the sculptures hard at work.

Chinese temple (I think it's in Beijing, but not sure)
They were so beautiful at night with all the lights!

Sapporo loves their beer!  (and so do I)

yes, those are real fish in the ice!  So cool!

Japanese boy band rockin' out on an ice stage!

Hakone and the Hot Springs

Kayla, Christina and I in the green tea bath.
The aromas of all the specialty baths smelt so good!

Yunnesen in Hakone, Japan

Work has been pretty busy lately with catching babies and all the other random tasks the Navy gives you.  So, what better way to spend our day off than at the spa??  Kayla, Christina and I didn't just go to ANY spa, we went to the Disneyland of spas on the other side of the peninsula in Hakone.  Hakone is a well known onsen (hot spring) town close to Mt Fuji.

We went to the Yunnesen, which is a very unique spa experience.  There were many different spas featuring a coffee, red wine, green tea, sake, and other mineral baths.  They all smelt really good!  It was all set on the side of the mountain with half of the baths outside.  It was snowing a bit and freezing... definitely reminded me of the time I went swimming in the snow with my family when I was younger.

Hakone scenery

And if any of you were wondering, yes, we were allowed to wear our swimsuits this time!  That would get a little awkward otherwise.  I mean they did have a whole naked part sectioned off, but we definitely didn't partake in that.  Trust me, we saw enough of Japanese men and their thongs on the swimsuit side!  All in all, it was a very relaxing day!  Mission accomplished :)

We ate at a little mom and pop restaurant on the river
with homemade soba noodles!  Delicious!

Japanese love their French bakeries!  It's always a mystery on
what you're getting since all the descriptions are in Kanji.
They're SO much better than American breads and pastries!

This sign belongs on engrish.com!!!  I couldn't help but laugh :)

Asakusa & The Year of the Rabbit

Kayla, Kat, Michelle, Christy, Christina and I at the Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa

A few girls from work and I took a trip up to Asakusa to visit the Senso-ji Temple for the new year.  It's the year of the Rabbit and in Japanese tradition, you're supposed to visit a temple or shrine at the beginning of the new year if it's the year of your zodiac sign.  Now I'm not a rabbit, but a friend is, so we all decided to go along with her.  I was a little curious about my own zodiac sign and looked up what it means.  Here are the following personality traits represent the Rat (the 1st and most prominent of all the signs):

The Year of the Rabbit is everywhere in Japan

Forthright, tenacious, intense, meticulous, charismatic, sensitive, intellectual, industrious, charming, eloquent, sociable, artistic, and shrewd.  Can be manipulative, vindictive, self-destructive, envious, mendacious, venal, obstinate, critical, over-ambitious, ruthless, intolerant, and scheming.


Hmm, not sure if ALL of those traits represent me, but I can see most of them (the good ones of course)!

Locals wafting the smoke on them at the
incense burner for a healthy year

Senso-ji Temple, also known as Asakusa Kannon, is Tokyo's most sacred and spectacular temples.  The temple survived the 1923 earthquake but not World War II bombing.  It's main buildings are therefore relatively new, but follow the Edo-era layout.  While these buildings are impressive, it's the people following their daily rituals that make this place special.  The incense burner, one of the temple's focal points, is constantly surrounded by people wafting the smoke over them to keep them healthy.  The front Kaminarion Gate, "Thunder Gate", opens up to Nakamise-dori which is a long street filled with little food stands and speciality shops leading up to the temple.  My favorite food I tried that day was a fried green tea dough filled with bean paste. Actually reminded me of funnel cakes at a fair.  It was delicious!

Christina tying her "bad" fortune on the stand at the temple.
Kat was the only one out of us who got a "good" fortune.

It's also a tradition to get your fortune when visiting a temple.  Well, let's just say my fortune was NOT good at all.  It basically said that my house was going to burn down, I need to stop planning trips, I'm not going to meet the one I'm waiting for out here and I'm bound to bad health.  Well, that's just a bummer fortune isn't it!  So, I tied my fortune on the "bad fortune" stand and left every part of it at the temple.  (I finally figured out what the little white ties are at all the temples.)  You are only supposed to take the fortune with you if you want it to come true.  So hopefully in my case it didn't stay with me!

I'm a celebrity with Japanese school 

I felt really special when 3 Japanese school girls came up to me and asked, "Wir - you - take - picture - wit - us?"  (Japanese can't pronounce the L)  Apparently they really like light skinned women with either blonde or light brown hair.  They associate us with hollywood actresses.  Hey, why not!

"Thunder Gate" leading into the shops and temple

Walking through the streets with the girls

Fried dough balls... I had the green ones!!  Delicious!

Tokyo Tree and the "turd building" (Asahi headquarters) in the background

I think we should start throwing up this sign in all our pics instead of the "peace sign"!

Kandatsu Kogen Ski Trip

Niigata, Japan 

Kandatsu Kogen Ski Resort

I finally made it out on a Japanese ski trip set up by base last weekend!  A group of us went to Kandatsu Kogen in Niigata (It's a little north of Nagano in the same mountain range).  The 3 girls I went with from work were all boarding and I was the lone skier until I made it to the bus and met up with a friend from Marquette and his wife.  I ended up skiing with them all day which was a lot of fun!

It was a Japanese Winter Wonderland

When we got to the mountain, it was snowing pretty hard which filled the slopes with lots of fresh powder!  It reminded me of the time I went skiing with my family a few Christmas' ago in Wisconsin during a blizzard.  We could only see about 5-10 feet in front of us at the top of the slopes which was actually kinda nerve-racking because we didn't really know if we were going down the right run or not.  It didn't make for good picture taking at all which was a bummer, but I took what I could.

Now, I've really only skied in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Cali even though I've been skiing all my life.  And, I have to say, these runs were A LOT bigger than what I was used to.  The green were probably equal to the intermediate runs and some of the reds were close to black diamonds back home.  BUT... I figured, I kinda have to try it since I made it all the way out here.  I actually didn't do bad if I say so myself.  I was rocking it down the reds by the end of the day.  Oh man were my legs killing me by the end of the day though.  Next ski trip is either going to be Nagano or Hokkaido!  Who's in?

Tim Boston (MU alum) and I

Christina, Kayla, and I

Christina, Kayla, Kat and I hanging out before catching the bus at 0230

Nikko Lodge

Well, this post is WAY over due!!  I went on this trip back around Thanksgiving, but hey, better late than never.

Lake Chuzen-ji, Nikko National Park

Torri gates at Lake Chuzen-ji

Amanda window shopping in Nikko

Amanda and I decided to head up there after overhearing some Americans on the train talking about a nice lodge that has an English speaking staff.  We got off to a later start that we were expecting and being the "frugal" travelers we are we decided to trek it from the train station to the lodge instead of taking a taxi.  From what we read online it was only supposed to be a 15 min walk, and that we could definitely handle.  Amanda got the directions from the lodge staff and it seemed fairly easy.  Well, an hour later, still walking uphill, and no lodge... not good!  (It's already about 11pm at this point too and not too many street lights in a rural area)  We kept calling the lodge and they said only a little further.  Finally, one of the other staff members got on the phone and told us to back to the hotel we saw a while back and wait there, he was coming to get us.  Needless to say, we were probably at least a mile or so out of the way uphill.  We missed the turn at the bottom of the hill (next to the house with all the Christmas lights... too bad they were already turned off for the night).

Kegon Falls (315ft high)

The Nikko Lodge is a quaint and cozy family run bed and breakfast that I would recommend to anyone traveling to Nikko.  It's set away from the hustle and bustle of the small city and actually is pretty easy to get to (just go during the daylight).  Wild monkeys and other local wildlife are a common sight around the lodge.  We enjoyed breakfast with a few other travelers (some who were actually from Chicago too!) and then set off for the day.

The first day there, we hopped on the bus headed into Nikko National Park to see the waterfalls and onsens (mineral baths).  It was so beautiful up there driving through the mountains and hiking to the waterfalls.  Trust me, the pictures don't do them justice!

Ryuzu Falls

Yudaki Falls (my favorite)

Alright, and about the onsen, lets just say that Amanda's and my friendship just moved to a different level!  We were already warned on what to probably expect, but we still wanted to check it out.  The lady at the onsen didn't speak any English and just pointed us in the right direction.  So of course, we were completely clueless on all the correct customs on going in an onsen.  We started undressing and walked into the bath house with a towel wrapped around us only to be greeted by two (naked) Japanese women speaking something in Japanese and motioning us to leave our towels in the locker room.  ARE YOU SERIOUS!  WOW!  Well, let's just say it was an experience.  Not really sure how else to explain it.  But on a good note, my skin did feel amazingly soft after soaking in it for awhile.

Looking out at Yumoto, a lakeside onsen town

Finally got to Yumoto... time to try an onsen!

The following day we checked out all the historical shrines and temples around town.  Here's a fun fact I didn't know... The saying "Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil", with the three little monkeys, actually originated from this town.  

Three Wise Monkeys (Bryan, Kristin, Amy)

5 story Pagoda, each story represents an element - earth, water, fire, wind, and heaven - in ascending order

Shinkyo Bridge spanning the Daiya River

Christmas-time in Tokyo

Christina, Amanda, Christina, Carrie and I at the New Sanno 

Christmas was definitely different this year.  This was the first time in 26 years I wasn't able to spend it with my family.  Amy was spending it with Ahkmed in Kandahar, Afghanistan dodging his rockets.  Bryan and Michael were on a ski trip in Colorado with the parents.  And Catherine was back in Chicago.  We were all separated from each other, but luckily I was able to spend Christmas with the little family I've formed in Japan!  Many of you have asked if the Japanese celebrate Christmas, and the answer is, yes.  They LOVE American holidays.  Granted, they pick and choose a lot of our traditions and then add a little taste of their culture into the mix, but in the end, it's still Christmas.  Many even decorate with trees and lights.  And, the best part of it was, they've adapted many of our Christmas carols!
 
Some girls and I went to the New Sanno (military hotel) in Tokyo for a delicious Christmas lunch buffet complete with Santa and ice sculptures.  The food was catered to the traditional American Christmas menu.  Then we all went to Tokyo Disneyland!  Yay!  I don't care how old you are, everyone has fun at Disney!  Surprisingly Tokyo Disney is EXACTLY the same as Disney in the States.  Well, with the slight exception of millions of Asians running around and most of the signs written in both english and japanese.   The entire theme park was decked out in Christmas decorations!  It was nice because it brought a little taste of home to Japan with all the familiar Christmas carols playing all day.

I hope you all were able to enjoy a lovely Christmas with your family and friends.  And for those of you who were overseas, away from your loved ones, I hope you were able to enjoy yourself a little too!  Stay safe and keep up the good work!  Have a safe and healthy New Year.  Happy 2011!!