Red eye flight from Singapore to Tokyo Haneda, then a long distance bus (5hrs) to Hakuba that cost 8,500YEN return (if you buy one way, it's 700YEN more expensive). Japan is expensive, everything is expensive. A 40min train ride within tokyo costs 590YEN!! That's like SGD10!
The snow scenery was fantastic and the snow was so white and powdery!!! Couldn't help ourselves but to make snow angel! Snow Fight! And build Snow Man!!!
Always envy those snowman you see in movies/dramas, so perfectly round and proportioned. But it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to get that level of perfection!!! I mean, you have to keep rolling snow balls to accumulate enough snow into a snowman! And the snowball weighs TONS!! Bloody heavy!!We finally managed to make a 2 layer snowman and he looks pretty charming!! Edric made an especially large nose for him.
Shortly after our photo session, Edric karate-chopped the head off.....
And then, the snow fight begun!! It was 2 against 1. Obviously I was the odd one out, and I must say I didn't lose too badly.....And I made my snow angel!!
At 4pm we went back to the hostel to check in and guess what? They Fucked up our booking and we didn't have any beds to sleep in. The owner, realizing his mistake, called up a local homestay (Pension Nostalgia) and got us rooms there for the same price! So we actually got upgraded!!! How cool! Turned out, the owner thought we prepaid but we actually didn't pay anything before we arrived. Haha, who cares! We got upgraded!!1st day of skiing, we started small - Minekata. The owner comes to pick you up and send you back anytime you want. 3,000YEN for 1 day pass + lunch. And it was snowing on that day! Good for beginner!
The resort is really small. Only 2 lifts, but only 1 working. And 7 slopes only.
Yes, I had some training in Beijing, but this was different. Was wombly at the beginning. And the slope looked pretty scary at 1st...Fell down a couple of times though.... But the scenery was beautiful!
Lunch was simple affair of ramen. Chatted with the owner and we were the 1st customer of the ski season!!! Nice!
We were smiling happily, we really really were!
Dinner was home cooked by the owner's wife with ingredients we brought all the way from Singapore! Food is very expensive in Japan. Even buying raw ingredients would cost a ton!!
The room is really neat. Heated from 630am to 11pm and towels provided.
Our dinner of rice+ vege and noodles+vege+luncheon meat and daily RUM+APPLE JUICE
2nd ski day, we went to Goryu for 3,900YEN include Lunch. This is a lot bigger ski resort with many more lifts and slopes.
Off we went to the 1st beginner's slope all the way up the lifts. Halfway through the downslope, with Edric leading the way, he suddenly made a right turn and I followed behind. That was the very 1st disastrous mistake!! Turned out, the left turn led to an intermediate slope which was steep steep steep! Edric immediately fell and i was shocked to be faced with a fast zooming speed all the way down, with no control on stopping of slowing down! And within seconds, I tumbled and rolled several metres down the slope, not knowing where is top and bottom. Couldn't get a footing to stop myself and kept sliding. At that moment, my heart literally jumped out and I thought "Die, what is happening". Really scary! Luckily I managed to tumble till my legs pointed downwards and immediately ramped my skis into the snow and stopped.
Stopping was only the 1st step. AFter I got up, I literally wanted to give up and not move. But I was stucked in the middle of the slope, with nowhere to proceed. There was only 1 option - DOWN! Deep breathe and let go, tumble tumble, get up get up, tumble, roll, crawl up, roll. FInally I made my way down. Great exercise for the butt!
This is the slope that we accidentally turned into...
The super foggy day and the FOGGED up mask made visibility very poor and that was so terrible! After that unfortunate incident, we kept a straight line forward.
After a few rounds at the lower beginner slope, we took the lifts up to the higher grounds yet another beginner slope.
Who knew, that was a advanced beginner slope! The slopes were pretty steep and tons of turns! Tumbled and fell more times once again! After what seemed like forever, finally reached the end point! It was so damn tiring!!!!
THe view up there was pretty amazing though but the ski was too hard for me as a beginner. Halfway through, we lost Edric but ended up meeting him at the crossway!! After which, Edric and I stuck together while JJ went for greater challenges.
At 1 point, we missed a turn once again and had to go up again. 
Of cos, not going to stop us! We got up the lifts and tried again and again and again.
We ended up doing the slopes many many times to practice and train up our S ski and it was really good practice! FInally we were able to slow down the speed and brake in the slope!
Skiing was fun and happy but at the end of the day, because we were on the other side of the resort and the shuttle bus was at the other far end, we had to go from left to right of the resort, which is not near! WE had to rush up the last lift to the top, ski down to the middle part of the resort and try to catch some lift up the other route and down. Turns out, that middle part is intermediate and the slope down was waayyyyy scary for Edric and I. We wanted to sit on our butt and skid down the slope but dear old JJ said 'You should walk up to the opening, it's quite near'. So we took off our skis, and started climbing up the slope. WRONG DECISION!!!! It was bloody FAR UP!!! Edric and I were literally pulling ourselves up with skis and poles in hand! Terrible decision! Worse than 3 days of skiing.
After what seemed like forever (JJ already skied down and took the lift up), we finally reached the start of the slope and started skiing down. By then Edric and I were way tired, and on our way down (beginner slope BTW) just felt like sitting down and not ski.....Ultimately we made it down.. Way tired...
Given that it was our last night in Hakuba, we went for Onsen (hot spring). 400YEN. IN japan, you have to go FULL MONTY! Which means nothing, all off when u step into the hot spring! ANd they have an open air hot spring! It was pretty relaxing but too hot for my liking! Almost fainted in the hot water.
THen we went in search of a soba place but that was closed, so we wandered around and chanced upon a nice little local Japanese ramen stall! The owner knew only very little English, and it took us forever to try to communicate to him that I'm a vegetarian. It's called Begitarian in Japanese, and Just say Yasai (means vegetables). The ramen is cheap 500YEN and pretty tasty! But the soup was too salty and I couldn't finish it. In japan, you're supposed to finish the soup as all the essence is in the soup.
Last half day in Hakuba, we went to Sanusaka, a much further ski resort but with amazing view!! Cost us 3000YEN for half a day!
Really nice ski place, not crowded. THe slopes were ok..and we have trained up the past 3 days. All the way up to the top and you get a magnificent view of the lake!!
From the top, it was beginner's slope down, but not an easy one...Fell down a couple of times but got the hang of it ultimately...Then we went on to challenge the carving slope - Intermediate!
It was a very tiring down slope. At the end of the 2nd try, was so tired I tumbled head 1st at the very end...Last run, did a couple of ramps (not jumping high up though) and succeeded! Pretty fun.
How do I find skiing? It's ok. Not my absolute favourite but don't mind trying again. Yet again, not on my top list. Diving or skiing? I choose diving anytime!! Sun, sand, sea or snow? Sun, sand sea!!! Hahahah. Was it tiring? Yea, at the point of skiing. And knee hurts sometimes. But my legs are not sore, were not sore and still not sore!! Hahah, JJ couldn't quite feel his legs after the 1st 2 days! I expected much more soreness in my thighs but they're not anywhere near sore or muscle ache...
2 comments:
Hello dear.You have written a great post. Going to share with my followers on twitter. Thanks for sharing.nice pics....
The Ridge Hotel Restaurant
Thanks!
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