In the wars

28/02/12

Ended up getting almost 8 hours sleep. Woke up feeling good. But as usual, we were in a rush, especially me. I just can't seem to coordinate myself in the morning. Everybody had left and I had forgotten something so I was about a minute behind.

I didn't bother tying up my boots, no time.

I was running for the train station, board in hand. And I see Oscar running in the opposite direction. He had forgotten his goggles. I had a momentary lapse of concentration, and the laces of my untied boots got caught...

I went down. Hard.

And hurt my hand pretty badly. Oscar came back with me to wash it off. And we still made out to the station before the train left.

If I had just walked... I would have made it. Hand intact :(


Photo: ...this still counts as a snowboarding injury right?


So I ended up trying to take it easy at Happo One...

...didn't really work out for me.

I strapped up my hand and after a couple of runs, we hit the park. I think I got 1 good jump in and about 20 bad stacks. Good numbers.

We went to the top of the mountain and there was a pretty amazing view.


Photo: a pretty amazing view


But. But. The snowboarding wasn't the crazy thing! The crazy thing was, of course, crazy steak restaurant guy, Paul.

We got to the Happo information center, when we had finished our day. And there he was...

He pulled over and offered is a lift. We declined, of course, telling him our bus was coming in 5 minutes.

..20 minutes later he drives past  ...and we're still sitting at the bus stop

He pulls over, and guilts us into his car, he's like a conversational wizard! He tries to find out what we are doing tonight and we give away as. little. as. possible. Of course he continues to spruik a lift to Tokyo, which we haven't yet got the heart to refuse. Turns out we don't have a choice but to refuse anyway, since Daniel and his girlfriend are joining us shortly, and there will be too many of us.

We get back to the hostel, after enduring an uncomfortable number of awkward silences in Paul's van. Oscar cooks up some udon noodles and they taste, amazing. It was actually one of the best meals we've had.

We realise we've already missed the pub crawl we were going to go on.

But then a strange little man walks in from outside and tells us the pub crawl is just next door.

So we head off.

I only made it through two pubs. I was exhausted, and almost too tired to stand.

Luckily for me, Sam Rogers was too drunk to stand, so we both called it a night. But not before Sam poured his entire beer all over the floor.

We left the others to continue partying and I'm back Jimmy's house, writing this now, about to fall asl...

Quality over quantity

27/02/11

Had a bit of a sleep in this morning, which was nice. We decided it was too late to travel far and after breakfast, we headed to Goryo (our local mountain). Nothing much exciting happened, we just had an awesome day on yesterday's powder. There were a few stacks, mostly caused by me. And somehow I was the only one who got away with not stacking on film. We're sitting down in the main cafeteria having a bite to eat now. I got the nippon special, but I'm starting to regret it. The spicy meal just smells so good. We're planning on going out tonight. But after a visit to the onsen. I'm doubting if it will happen.


Photo: "man, I upload some great photos, like really, I do" - Sam Rogers

We arrived back at Jimmy's house after the snow

And you'll never guess who was waiting for us. Crazy steak restaurant guy!

He was waiting for us outside.

Waiting for US.

Specifically.

No idea how long he had been there.

That's not creepy right...?

He tells us that he is heading to the supermarket if we want a lift. Being the intelligent intellectuals we are, we accept. The whole way there he spruiks a lift to tokyo for a measly 50000 yen (=$650). ...which we politely decline. As this was our first trip to the supermarket, we stocked up. I didn't find even one item that could be found in Australia. It was awesome. I wanted to just buy every item there.

We also had a quick look at the 100 yen shop. Dollar shops in Australia have nothing on this.

On the way home we stopped off at the liquor store. Which probably wasn't the best idea... We bought the highest quality bottle of whiskey we could find.

...


Photo: $30 for 4 litres.

We played a few games of kings, planning to go out. But when we realised it was -14°C outside, we decided to stay in. As with any quality whiskey, it should be savoured, and as such, we didn't quite finish the bottle. Satisfied that we had drunk enough for a pretty killer headache in the morning, we stumbled into bed.

Mmmmm crispy

26/02/11

Not sure what I woke up to this morning. Maybe it was a phone call, maybe an alarm... We had decided to get up early to go to another mountain, Cortina. I got up and got ready much slower than I should have. Everybody was ready 10 minutes before me and they were worried about missing the train, so they left. Bryce was taking a while to get his boots on so he waited for me. We strolled to the station, thinking we had plenty of time. Ignoring the train we heard in the distance, thinking it must be going in the wrong direction. The station comes into view and we see our train steaming off into the distance.

Oscar and the Sams had made it, Bryce and I had not.

We stood around for a bit, not really sure what to do, as neither of us had any idea where we were going. We attempted to decipher the japanese signs at the station and came to the conclusion that the next train wasn't for two hours. So it was back to Jimmy's house for a nap. 

We're sitting on the concrete at the station now, I didn't wear thermals today so it's pretty chilly. My shaky fingers are starting to make writing on my phone difficult.

Okay, so we're one train and one bus close to cortina, as far as we can make out, there are two more buses. I'm starting to feel like the japanese people we're talking to are enjoying confusing us. And on the rare occasion we find something written in english, it's usually even harder to decipher than the japanese anyway.


(photo: mmm paradox)


I'm home now from an awesome day at the snow. A seriously awesome day. It took forever to get there, but it was so worth it. We found Sam asleep on a chair in the cafeteria area, his arm was in a sling. He had a fight with a tree and the tree won. He couldn't really move so we waited around for Oscar and Sam Rogers to come back. They took us right to the top of Cortina. We flew down through the forest and it was as good as any snow video I've ever seen. Knee deep in soft dry powder. It was so cold that all our clothes were frozen solid, they were crispy, and cracked when you moved.

Everything was going great until, of course, I also flew straight into a tree. Stopping me dead. I fell to the ground and stayed there. It was a couple of minutes before I could move, but I did make it down the hill. Eventually. Once the adrenalin wore off I was pretty sore and it looks like I've got a killer leg bruise coming my way.

But, speaking of killer, Oscar cooked up some pretty amazing pasta for dinner. The Sams and Oscar walked to 7/11, to pick up some ingredients for dinner. It was the first meal any of us have cooked since we got here and turns out oscar is quite the chef.


Photo: we are the providers and we have provode


We're watching driver at the moment and it's just taken a sharp turn to completely messed up.




Photo: also, I saw a goat

Pow Pow

25/2/11

Woke up to Oscar bounding into the room like a little girl screaming "Look outside! Look outside!" It's the first fresh snow we've seen and although it was calm it was coming down pretty hard. The snow is super soft, it's like drifting through a cloud. We're on our first gondola ride now. And after waiting in the longest line we've met since we got here (a few minutes). We're pretty excited to tear it up.
Okay, yerp that was unbelievable. Even though there was a rock solid base, the powder was... just... awesome. That was what we came all the way to japan for. I had some of the best runs of my life. It was like floating through a dream in done parts, flying though untouched snow. I saw my first filling formed snow flake. I had an awesome time. We all did and now we're sitting down having lunch. Somehow the food just tastes better. We are sitting at a slightly curved bar, which Sam Rogers deems "acceptable". You'll be glad to hear that my lingo repertoire usa expanded rapidly. When I get back, don't be surprised if you can't understand a thing I'm saying. I was attempting some Japanese, but all I've got down so far is "shall we dance?" and "thank you". But I guess that's all you really need. I actually tried out my Japanese. Hilarity ensued.

We're heading back to Hacuba47 now and I imagine we'll be hitting the park. Finally the countless hours I spent playing SSX Tricky, are going to pay off. Weow!




Photo: The energy drink for men, MENERGY!

Yep, that was definitely the best day I've ever had on the snow

What happens at the onsen...

Everybody got an awesome sleep in. Everybody except for me and Sam J. We ended up staying up till 5am, he was mixing, I was grooving. When he plays that set, it is going to go off, and I'm pretty pumped. Eventually found the energy to get up and breakfast was already finished. I still snuck in a few pieces of toast though.

Soon after, we hit the slopes. But because it rained yesterday and was freezing last night, everything had iced over. All we could hear as we climbed the mountain was the piercing scrape of metal against ice. Ended up not having a great day, barreling uncontrollably down a steep icy hill with no way of stopping, (suprisingly?) scared the crap out of me.



Photo: Should have listened when he said the sun behind us would make for a terrible photo.



Photo: Finally, resolution!



Photo: We pretend we're sit down to look at the view, when really we're just too tired to move.


Photo: This photo is actually funny. You just don't get it.


We caught the shuttle bus back to the hostel and got ready to leave for the onsen (hot spring) down the road. It was my first visit to an onsen and it was... an experience. But what happens at the onsen, stays at the onsen.

..are you suggesting we dance our troubles away?

23/02/11

The day did not start well for me, I had a rude awakening from a lovely dream, my doona was being pulled away and my muscles were too weak to stop it. Eventually I tricked myself into thinking getting up would be a good idea and got some breakfast. The only option was chocolate flavoured cornflakes, and I nom-ed them up.

We got dressed and hit the slopes on a full stomach. It was the first time we had truly seen the mountain, as it looked amazing. We saw the mountain for the first time and it got us pretty excited. Our first run in and Oscar was tearing it up, actually we all were. Everybody was in fine form. We were actually warned against riding today as it was raining, but I'm SO glad we didn't listen.

I was hoping that I would be the worst in the group and so far my wish has come true, I'm planning learning a lot from these guys. And just because it has to be said, Oscar was seriously tearing it up today. One of the highlights of the mountain was definitely the gondola, which Sam Rogers especially appreciated for the social element.

Blog readers, I know I had a couple of funny moments in my previous posts, and you're reading this thinking: "What's going on? Why isn't this funny? Where's all the funny?" 

Well today, at the snow, did something funny happen? 

Yes, yes it did, and I will tell you that story, without delay, by saying, what I'm about to say, vis-à-vis, the following:

The day was almost over, and had just had an awesome run and I was keep to do one more, so I left the others sipping their hot chocolates as I made my way up the gondola solo. It took 20 minutes to get to the top as the wind picked up majorly and they had to slow it right down. I was actually scared for my life as my compartment swung around violently. When I got up the top, there were some aussie who though he was cool put his board down on the flat, and let the wind carry it as he jogged along next to it. The wind suddenly picked up and his board went zipping away, I joined in with his friends laughing at him as he chased it across the flat. Only just catching it before it reached the hill.

Cool. Story. Reuben.

Okay, so apart from experiencing the best snow of my life, what else did we do...

Well... we ate. Like kings. Lunch was ramen noodles, awesome. Dinner was the local steak restaurant, awesome. Right now I'm eating Vegemite toast that Oscar insisted on making me. Also, awesome.

Bizarre? Yes. 

Tasty? Definitely.

We met a strange man at the steak restaurant and I need some level headed opinions on whether to trust him. So here is the informations. 

-He comes up to us while we're eating and asks us where we're from and what we're doing in Goryo. I thought he was coming over to ask us where he should go out, but he was actually just spruiking a local bar, in way that makes it sound like he is being paid to do this.

-He told us that he had no affiliation with the bar, and then that is is best friends with the owner.

-He mentions at least 6 times that he is divorced

-He says he 'knows' Jimmy in a way that somehow makes it sound like he is Jimmy's evil twin brother.

-He offers to take us on a tour to see the snow monkeys in his minivan. Half price.

I have decided to trust him. For now...

But yeah, if this is the last you hear of me, at least you'll have some idea what happened...

We went to 7/11 on the way home (actually it's called 7/i here) and I got an epic can of beer as well as some of what I think was tea...

Photo: Such an appetising name

...actually it tasted pretty good.

On the way back Sam noticed this:

Photo: Parking tickets. You're doing it wrong Japan.

Got back and attempted to play a game of kings.


Photo: He actually isn't posing


As is usual for me in any game that involves drinkning. I lost.

Photo: 4 of hearts. Yes that is a table spoon and no that isn't milo.

Photo: I demonstrate the correct technique for pouring beer.

We left to go to bike bar, for, as Oscar actually did put it, "a bit of a boogy". We arrived and of course it was pretty dead, but it was a great venue. Our crazy steak restaurant friend was there, but I somehow managed to avoid him. We hit the dance floor and turns out pretty much everybody there was a DJ being paid to be there. I had a good time setting DJ Sammy J up with them and negotiating a gig. I actually got the most pumped I have gotten the whole trip. Sam IS going to play a set here, and dat shit is going to be cray. There will not be one person there who isn't on the dancefloor. Bouncers and bar tenders included. I am personally going to make sure of it.

Cowabunga dude

23/02/12

Hungry to shred, we grabbed a bite to eat. Aparrently we're not allowed to eat at the bar anymore, as it limits social interaction.

"I hate sitting at the bar, Me, Sam and Bryce have nobody to talk to" - Sam Rogers PHOTO...?

I borrowed a board and bindings from the lovely Sam Rogers and we all hit the slopes for some night skiing. Since it was a cold night, the snow was quite hard, but good times were definitely had by all. We had a race, (and spoken like a true loser) it doesn't matter who won or lost as long we had fun, and we did.


Photo: Yes. I did wear this. Translation: "Shall we dance?"

Sensitive Sam bought me a can of corn soup on the way home. It was a relief to get out of the snow gear and get into bed. Actually I'm sitting on my bed, in the dark, writing this now. So before I descend into incomprehensible babble, I'll call it a night.

Peace out, loyal readers (all 2 of you). Catch you on the flip.

Revenge is a dish best served cold

23/02/12

We arrived at snow drenched Hucuba Goryo at about 5pm. The temperature was well below zero, so stepping off the bus in shorts probably wasn't the best idea. But, you know, strangest thing, just as the cold was starting to get to me. Scumbag Sam pushed himself into a pile of snow (as an excuse to start a snowball fight).

And it.

Was.

Epic.

We laughed. We cried. It changed our lives.

Not only did I realised all I ever wanted to do was read palms. Oscar taught an entire town how to moonwalk, Sam Rogers punched a monster truck, I think Bryce even killed a guy. And last, but not least truthful, Scumbag Sam saw the error of his ways. Earning himself the new title, Sensitive Sam.


Sufficiently warm, we asked directions at the chemist and before long arrived at our accommodation, Jimmy's house. Jimmy seems like a source of infinite snow boarding lingo, which, of course, we like.


Photo: A sign in Japan that actually makes sense, how ironic.

Scumbag Sam strikes again.

Photo: Ahh this is the worst pain ever. Sam refuses to put his seat up.

Scumbag Sam attempts to give us all a seizure by directing our gaze towards a japanese construction sign.

Scumbag Sam offers his sunglasses to me. But not before cracking the lens.

Scumbag Sam only shares his headphones with one person.

Scumbag Sam buys everybody a coffee except for Bryce. Who wanted one the most.

Scumbag Sam replaces his nose canceling head phones before I finish telling him how much of a scumbag he is.

Scumbag Sam carries my candy in his bag for two days and when he returns it, it's slightly cracked.




Photo: Making off with somebody's luggage

Heading to Hakuba

22/11/12

Got up at about 8am, after 5 hours sleep.  The thought of snow boarding this afternoon is keeping me suprisingly refreshed. We're on the way to Hakuba at the moment and so far the 'let oscar navigate' strategy has worked suprisingly well.

Already holding the title of alpha male, Oscar has established himself as the group badass. Showing no regard for Japanese jay walking legislation, as he struts across the road. Holding up a bus and a police motorbike. Later he regails us with tales of how he once ate two mints at a time.


Photo: badass, oscar passes sam one mint


Australia could definitely learn something from Japan's public transport system. They have ten times as many people moving through half the number of gates, three times as fast. None of them struggling to scan their card, none of them don't have a ticket. Plus the machines eat the ticket when when you reach your destination. My only criticism being the dearth of bins. I searched in and out for 10 minutes before eventually giving up.


Photo: Shinjuku station's one and only bin

Photo: "That sparks my curiosity" - tesla trooper, reporting for duty

We're on the bullet train at the moment. And yes, it moves faster than 300 km/h but I know what you're really interested in.

The seats.

They can spin 180° both manually and automatically, they feature both a forward and back position. A coat rack and three different colour variations, immaculate stitching, drink holder, arm rest, optional food tray, hygieno head rest, drink stand, a view, perfectly contoured and heated seat, plenty of leg room. I. Could. Go. On
.


Photo: "Automatically... Awesome. Am I Right?" -Sam

Goodbye Oscar

Me and Sam headed back to the hostel, and very soon after, the others arrived. At the moment we're sitting at restaurant, having a bite. A few beers in and Oscar decides tonight will be a big night. We say goodbye to him as he takes the first sip of a quadruple fuji sanroku whiskey.

photo: Goodbye Oscar



photo: One sip in, and shit just got cray


Soon after, we concede that we won't be getting up at 5am for the snow, and order another round of drinks.

The night of a million smiles and nods

21/02/11

We couldn't get another night at ninja hostel, so we're staying at one of its partners: 'smile hostel'. We wandered around aimlessly for at least an hour before finding the place. It's not quite as nice (or as awesome) as ninja, but can't complain. We're in a room with a guy from portugal, which me and Sam J spoke to briefly.

Oscar, Sam Rogers and Bryce left to grab the missing bags from the airport. Sam and I stayed at the hostel, I've been trying to get the blog up and failing miserably. Frustrated with the intermittent wifi and super hungry, we left to grab some eats.

We played eenie meenie minie mo with the three restaurants we found, landing on the smallest and the scariest. We opened the rickety door,  behind which sat 6 japanese patrons babbling maniacally at us, trying to figure out what we wanted. Eventually, through a complex combination of hand signals, they had served us up some food and some beer. Never have I had a bowl of  mince and rice that was that so freaking delicious. A few beers in and we were chatting away with Oma (bar keep), Yoko, Tochan, Yochan, Okacha and Tachan.

All of them spoke to us exclusively in Japanese, then added one english word at the end of their sentence. It was hard to follow but, I think Tachan is some sort of professional mountain climber... They were actually making made it very difficult to eat, with their non-stop babble. We finished our meal, ate some free icecreams, got a picture and headed off.

Photo: check back here soon, I have to get it from Sam's camera :)

Woke up in my ninja cave

Woken from the most awesome 7 hour sleep, I emerge from my ninja cave. I would definitely recommend the ninja hostel.

Big news though, I figured out, on my own, the answer to my ninja quiz. And I reaped the rewards, literally.

Actually, everybody got their ninja quiz, everybody except (of course) Sam Rogers, who eagerly collected his consolation prize.

We went to harijuku (should I be getting a crepe here...?) to get some breakfast and do some shopping. Everybody seems pretty stylish here.


Photo: See. Stylish.


Photo: They don't call me 'warm ears' for nothing.



Photo: I call this one: escalator




Photo: Riding an escalator solo. Like a boss.





In Shibuya now, visited the world's busiest intersection. Then did a bit more shopping, Sam Rogers bought himself, what I feel, is a pretty sharp lumberjack costume.



Photo: Shibuya, literally the world's busiest.


Photo: 5 seconds later, and it's STILL busy!




Eating pizza and having a beer at the moment. Well, the men are having beers, I'm shamelessly sipping a 'white lady' cocktail.

Photo: Yeah... As delicious as it was, probably should have saved face and gotten a beer...

Photo: ...caption ...pending

Arrived at ninja hostel

We're staying on the 4th floor, no elevator made getting my bag to the room an interesting experience. An experience that was not shared, since nobody else has all their baggage.



Photo: ninja stairs



We went for a little bit of an explore and found a lovely little japanese restaurant. I thought I hated miso soup, but turns out, if I'm in japan, it's awesome. Everybody successfully ordered a random dish from the menu. Everybody except Oscar, who was shut down by the waitress for his choice. The meal turned out to be amazing and less than $20 each with two pints of Asahi.

We finished our meal, grabbed a few drinks and headed back to the hostel. I had my first taste of sake, and although I only had the stomach for a few sips, it actually wasn't half bad. Played a round of bullshit and a round of uno before we called it a night. Lying in bed now, can not wait to sleep.

Photo: ...hello



Photo: welcome to my humble abode. In real life, it's not upside down.

We're here!

20/2/11

Arrived at Narita airport, got in a seemingly pointless shuttle train that took us maybe 50 metres to customs.


Photo: Pointless magnetic shuttle train?


Took us a while to organise the collection of the missing luggage, we will be collecting it tomorrow from the airport. Maybe...

Customs was a breeze to get through, as was immigration. And yes, they did have a strange fingerprint scanner (and yes it was futuristic. And cool).

The first food I ate here was a 'german dog' ...aka a regular hotdog.

Okay. Get pumped get seriously pumped for this.

...My first vending machine experience was at the train station. They. are. unbelievable. On Sam's recommendation I selected the hot corn soup from the 40" touch screen.  At ¥120 it tasted surprisingly good.

Sitting on the train at the moment, heading towards tokyo. The train is fast, clean, quiet, the seats are heated and there is no gum on the floor. It. is. bizarre.

I'm writing so much today to make up for the likely lack of writing there will be in the next few days.

Plane trip. Gold Coast to Tokyo

4 hours into the flight I wonder if being seated on the opposite end of the plane to everybody else was a blessing or a curse. I have actually managed to get a couple of hours sleep. Being about 3 sizes too big for the chair has rewarded me with a deathly sore neck.  Plus a sore throat and dry mouth caused by my body's most recent (and most brilliant) decision to sleep with its mouth open. I think it's time to see what the others are up to...



Photo: Black books. Hilarious.


45 minutes out of tokyo, the temperature outside the plane is a balmy -60°C. Ground temperature when we land, was ~4°C

Arriving Goldcoast

20/2/11

Maybe it's the sleep deprivation talking but does anybody else find the phase:

In an emergency the crew will be 'most helpful' to me,

hilarious?

Turns out being last on the plane has its advantages. You don't have to wait around for people like us, and you're one of the first to collect your bag at luggage claim. Unfortunately it also has its disadvantages, namely 4/6 of our bags not making it to Gold Coast.



Photo: controversy at oversize baggage claim causes emotional roller coaster

Photo: Tension is high as our situation is described as "definitely cray"

With plenty of time to spare we grab some eats. Shortly after which I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. A shocking reminder of how little sleep I've had. 15 minutes in the car, 5 minutes on the plane. I look almost as tired as I feel.

A combination of sleep derivation and hunger caused me and Sam to end up being an hour early for boarding...






Photo: Goldcoast used: Change Time Zone, it was super effective. Sam is now confused.

Departing Melbourne

20/2/11

Arrived at Casa Oscar approximately midnight. Reddit made sure we didn't sleep until the a car trip to the airport. A nap cut short by sam spilling foam letters all over the back seat.

When we arrived at the airport it was completely deserted, we flew through check in, grabbed something to eat, frugally exchanged our monies. Everything was running smoothly. Until we went to board. Finding that not only had our flight been canceled, but waiting for us at checking was jetstar's latest record attempt at the world's longest line. An hour, multiple reassurances that we were in the right line and 20 metres later we were called to the front counter over loud speaker. Not completely wasted, an hour spent in line afforded numerous opportunities to abuse the phase 'dat shit be cray'.  A phase which I'm sure by the end of this trip will have lost what little meaning it once had.




Photo: "That shit cray!" - Jetstar makes a lazy and powerless enemy



After a frantic dash to the boarding gate and numerous threats to unleash our wraith upon jetstar, we made it.

Sacrificing leg room for a lack of responsibility, Sam and I sat second from the front. One away from the emergency exit. We simultaneously realise this is the first time either of us have been seated in front of the wing. A thought upon which sam decides he must meditate.




Photo: sam contemplating the complexities of life

In the beginning, there was a...