New sisters, Niseko and Harajuku get ups...

Hmmmm...
sorry it's been a while since an update...I think instead of putting photos up here I'm going to add a new photo page... so go here for the photos that fit the text...http://www.3littlepenguins.com/photos/japan/1/index.html
I'll try and be brief as i am feeling so fat from all the goodies that people bring to the hotel for the staff and need to workout...it's a Japanese custom to bring a gift when you are going somewhere...usually a gift full of sugar and fat...i just dont understand how Japanese people can remain skinny!!

So Misty (aka my step sister for billing purposes) and Ferg came to visit and stayed for 3 nights at the hotel...It was fun shooting the breeze and having some people of like mindedness around for a bit, Ferg and I went snowboarding at Hatoriko, we braved the trees, me ending up with a bruised hip from a misjudged turn...ooops...we also had dinner together on the final night in the refectory where Khan works which was nice, followed by a quiet drink in the executive lounge (newly opened) where the dress code is even stricter than the refectory (dining hall), very expensive cocktails are downed and cigars are puffed in quite decadent surroundings...

Then we all left the strange surrounds of Little Britain all bound for Tokyo tho Khan and I chose the cheap skate way via the bus while we waved Misty and Ferg off at the Shink station...Hopefully we can get to Osaka before they leave but I'm I doubt it due to the mammoth effort Khan had to put in to get the measly 3 days off we had...

Anyways, Tokyo then super early flight to Sapporo in Hokkaido and then a 3 hr busride to Niseko and the hotel we were staying at which was literally set into the ski field...the runs went down past it...coooooollll...
Our hotel had an onsen, so we thought we'd check it out...so the rundown on onsens?
They usually are seperate for male and females as you get naked...both of us were very nervous as a) we were getting naked in front of people and b) it was our first time and we didn't really know the exact ritual involved in the whole bathing in an onsen thing and c) this onsen turned out to be a sulphur one...this meant it stank like rotten egg...after gagging for a minute or so I got used to the smell and found that I had lucked out and there was nobody else in there so I could do as i pleased...
Anyways, long and short of it is that the sulphur is supposed to do great things for your skin (I got big pimples the next day) and it makes you smell like shit, literally...so no more sulphur nsens for me thanks...the smell still makes me feel ill...

I'll keep the stuff about snowboarding short as i know it's boring for some...So it was fantastic...knee deep powder, riding through the trees, somersaulting and getting up laughing instead of being broken...we rode until we could ride no more...it was exhausting work but oh so much fun...on the last day we decided we'd hike the summit as it was a nice bluebird day and there was still so much untouched powder up there even tho it seemed to be almost like a pilgrimage happening to the top with a steady line of skiiers and boarders carting their equipment up the hill as there were no lifts to the top. Of course as soon as we got halfway up the clouds rolled over and it was a complete white out...unbelieveable... we went for it anyway as we didn't know how long it'd take to blow over and it was the sweetest ride down...that 5 minute ride was worth the 45 minute uphill climb that's for sure...anyways, enuff of that...

So we're back at little britain and nothing much has changed, a couple of new people have come, makes life a bit more interesting...they're kids from a resort about an hour and a half away and have been snowboarding most of the season so we have a bit in common. Khan is now working in the pub as well as the refectory, i think he's enjoying it...We had a Harajuku party the other night (see photos on the photo page) and the poor sausage had to work but i think the seabreezes he was making me were a little on the strong size as i was paying for it the next day...If yr not sure what Harajuku is, think Gwen Stefani's side kicks...the Japanese girls (and boys) that get dressed up in all kinds of crazy clothes...you know, extreme goth, maids, fluffy animals, scary clowns anything goes really...as long as you have a theme...
It was a lot of fun and somebody has a really funny video of me falling off a skateboard in the kitchen...

Ok, it's a biggie...the mama, that's where i'll leave it for now...going to go see Khan in the pub for a bit...no seabreezes tonight tho...

Knee deep in excitement!

Ok, so it's been puking.
And by puking i mean we've had about 50-60 cm of snow in the past 2 days. It just won't stop!
And oh my god or as the locals say..ahh sagoy! It's the lightest fluffiest powder...
Khan went to the hill today and as I had to work was not allowed to talk for too long about it but I get my turn tomorrow...sweet...
Other exciting news, Misty and Ferg are coming to visit our hilltop village for a few days which should be fun! They have no idea what they're in for...but we'll take care of em...I'll be taking Ferg snowboarding and I'm pretty sure Khan will be waiting on them both nights...he he he...Maybe they can take those photos of us in uniform that we've been promising for a month now...

Aaaaannnnndddd...drum roll please...
We head to Hokkaido on Sunday (well Tokyo Sunday, Hokkaido early Monday morning) should be awesome...altho we keep hearing the place is overun by aussies, I'm just hoping we might be able to dine in a worry free environment for once... niku nai!
begetarian!
We're staying in a place which has an onsen in it which will be great..nothing better than soaking after a long day snowboarding...and i musn't forget to mention the 325cms of snow that they have...eeekkk!!! Thinking about packing a snorkel...
Pictures soon I promise!
Mwah!

ok here they are...
Before...


and after...

This is from our bedroom window...I'm absolutely exhausted after battling my way through knee deep powder theis morning...but I'm up for some more punishment tomorrow...yay!

And now, the news.

Another day off has rolled around, well two to be precise. Yesterday Marika and I made another trip into Shirakawa for supplies and avoidance of aforementioned cabin fever. Tonight the hotel is closed so we are having a bit of a staff outing, off to another nearby city named Kōriyama. Tonight we will be dining at an Izakaya which is kind of like a Japanese pub where you can enjoy all you can eat / drink. (N.B. when you say pub [or pub-u] in Japan it often refers to a hostess bar instead.) An Izakaya is supposed to be the perfect lead-up to a night of karaoke. Yes, karaoke. If you were going to do it anywhere in the world? Exactly.
Things are moving fairly swiftly up here, it doesn't seem like it but we've been here for one month already tomorrow. It's not such a bad thing some days as you can go for up to a week without spending a cent (yen), then there are days where you can spend almost all yr days earnings at the pub in one shot (for the record, gross exageration). The snow is all but gone in our area, the ski-hill is still open but is starting to look a little brown around the edges. Marika and I are planning a trip to Hokkaido in a few weeks, March is supposed to yield the most snow up there so I don't think we will be disappointed. In a way i'm really looking forward to the seasons changing and a little more colour coming into the countryside. As much as I love winter and snow it often looks the same wherever you are, cherry blossom season is just around the corner and it sounds pretty spectacular.
Sadly my little brother Gabe has left the country and returned home to Australia, hopefully he will be back again before we leave for the next leg of our journey.
We haven't been out taking too many pictures this past fortnight so we will update when we have, for now i'll throw in a few that I neglected to post a few weeks ago, entitled; Obligatory Shinkansen pic, getting radical, massive sake and tiny beer. Hope everyone is well.
Smell you later.