Niseko

The radio silence of the last week and a half was due largely to the fact that we were in Niseko, Japan to celebrate (belatedly) Michael's birthday!

Here are some pictures of our trip.  Lola, enjoying her first real economy seat for the first time!  She is still too young to be on her own during takeoff and landing, but I think she (and we) appreciated her having the extra space during the flight.  When traveling with Lola, our emergency provisions entail: bread, raisins, fruit (preferably bananas, apples, berries, grapes, kiwis or peaches, or even more ideally, all of the above), water, and corn.  Yes.  Ears and ears of corn on the cob.

The trip to Niseko is always a long and tough one, because it requires getting to the airport, a non-stop 4.5 hour flight, followed by a stint at the car rental agency, followed by a 2-3 hour drive.  And Lola, like her mama, hates road trips.  At the car rental agency, though, Lola had an absolute blast running around and playing with the vending machines.

Vending machines!  She recognizes them from Hong Kong but this time came to me seeking money.  She is trying to use the Octopus card but it doesn't work in Japan...

Despite our best efforts, by the time we are finally on our way to Niseko inevitably the sun is setting.  Michael also loves trying to get an upgrade to a luxury car at the car rental counter, so that negotiation/discussion usually sets us back by a good 15-20 minutes.  Much to his disappointment, though, this time we did not get an upgrade even though one seemed promising (to the Mercedes G wagon).  But we had a great, trusty and very steady Subaru that I even got to drive for a bit of this trip.

Despite all of the snow, the roads are very well paved and cleared (for the most part) in this part of northern Japan.  We had a slightly different experience on our return trip but I will chalk that up to our being basically in the middle of a snowstorm.  We pulled into Niseko (Hirafu Village) in record time, making it in under 2 hours and in the midst of a big snowfall.  It was so exciting to drive in to a flurry of white powder and snowflakes!

My holiday also kicked off with a great start when, despite the long day, I got to eat at Abucha 2, a delicious and easily accessible ikazaya, with my friends who joined us from Hong Kong.  We went through two epic rounds of ordering, including pork skewers with salt, cheese appetizers of very many varieties, two hotpots (crab, pictured, and a salmon tofu), multiple salads (including a radish and shiso), house sake... oh, yum.

 

Sunday dawned bright and snowy and the first thing we did was take Lola out into the snow for some walking around and sledding.  She did not like the snow - at first, refusing to let her feet touch the ground or any part of her body touch the strange white substance and just generally calling out "bye bye!"

 I love the snow scene here.  There is something about the birch and pine trees nestled in a stark white blanket, set against a stark gray sky, that I find intensely meditative and calming. 

 

 Michael and I then went snowboarding/skiing.  You will recognize all the same equipment from my previous Niseko posts, and likely the background too.  But it still doesn't take away from the magic of experiencing it.