Nakano Boys Hit Hokkaido

I spent a while trying to figure out whether to spell "Nakano Boys" with a s or a z (like the kids are doing thee days). Since it is a moniker that is not of our design, I can only make assumptions as the the proper spelling.

But I digress.

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Last week proved Robert Burns' quote to be a major understatement.

Now to preface. Brandon and my birthday are 8 days apart (for those of you who are updating your Rich scorecard, my birthday was February 4. No, I don't mind that you didn't call. I do recognize I live on the other side of the world. Thank you for the belated birthday wishes.) In the spirit of the great Brooklyn Birthday Extravaganzas that were once held at stately Funk Manor in Carroll Gardens, I decided that a vacation (the only thing that could compare) was in order. Brandon and I planned it out, and then I turned over organizing control to Brandon's superior Japanese.

Now we may not seem like the most organized guys, but in the end, B and I managed to organize the trip to a T. On February 4, with tickets and an itinerary in hand, we (Brandon, myself, and Stokes) headed to Hokkaido for a week of snowboarding in Niseko and a glimpse of the Sapporo snow festival.

And that is when the real fun began. On the way to the airport (thankfully Matsumoto and not Tokyo) we got a call. The flight was cancelled due to snow in Hokkaido. No prob, lemons/lemonade and that hole bit. We stayed at Aaron's place in Matsumoto and had some (sorely missed) Thai food.

The next day, we put our game faces back on and were ready to go. We reached the airport with no news of cancellation... so far, so good. Flight was delayed. No problem. It was once we were actually on the plane that the next challenge would present itself.

You know when you are running for a train in the subway and you catch it in the nick of time? You feel a great sigh of relief cuz all ifs good with the world. You caught your train. The train makes its first stop, and its not the first stop you were expecting. Then you get that feeling inthe back of your neck when you realize that this is the wrong train. This train is not going where you are.

Apparently, in Hokkaido there are two airports. They are also a 15 minute train ride from one another (or so the train schedules promise, but let"s not delve into that...yet.) While Brandon spent the previous night planning out every train and transfer from Sapporo Airport to Niseko, this was entirely moot as we were not going to Sapporo airport, but to Chitose airport.

To all people that live in Nagano: do you know how you keep bragging about the wonderfully punctual transit system here in Nagano? Well, if you are not bragging, if you are doing anything other than singing the praises of whomever's job it is to oversee transit operations, then you are severely neglect in giving Jack his jacket. In Hokkaido, the rules of punctuality go out the window. The trains come when they feel like coming, and a 15 to 20 minute stop between stations while snow is cleared from the tracks is far from unheard of. Such was the case during our (quickly becoming) disastrous first day in Hokkaido. We had to get from Chitose Airport to Sapporo, and with each moment of delay we were becoming dangerously close to missing the last train up to Niseko.

After arriving in Chitose after the scheduled departure of our train, Brandon, who despite the clockwork German plans that he designed, was defeated. Still, we ran around the train station inquiring about every train or bus that could possible get us to Niseko, but at every turn we came to realize the sad truth that all was lost. We had to face the fact that there was a good chance we would lose yet another day on the mountain.

Or so it seemed. Apparently, delays can also be a blessing, and as such, our train to Niseko (the one we thought we had missed) was waylaid at the station. Without a second thought, we sprinted to the track (with bags and snowboards in tow).

Damn you Murphy...damn you and your stupid laws. As we reached the track, the train, our salvation was pulling away. It was official. Everything that could have gone wrong did.

We refused to be taken down like that. Time for a choice: declare the day a loss and party it down in Sapporo and try again next time, or take a taxi to Niseko and indulge in a victory cigar following our triumph over all the bad luck that could go a traveler's way?

The answer was clear and few minutes later, the three of us, four snowboards, and a driver were crammed in a tiny cab, ready to embark on a 3 hour car trip through meters of snow to Niseko.

We reached our Ryokan, though; victorious, triumphant, and ready for bed.

The next morning, we headed for the hill. In Nagano, I am lucky enough to be learning how to snowboard on a great mountain during a season that has been generous in it's supply of wonderful powder. That being said, the snow in Niseko was unparalleled. The powder was so light, it was like boarding on a cloud. The trails were great, the weather was good, even the food was pretty damn good (especially a kickass brick oven pizzeria that was about 100 feet from the gondola.

Quick, guess which one is me and which is Brandon

Also, us at Niseko and a cool shot of me strapping in

After some boarding, we took a day trip to Sapporo to see the snow festival, as well as Jane and Akira of Yamagata Pirate fame. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

I'm not sure what that is sculpture with the dog ia supposed to be.

I tried to make my own snow sculpture

Fortunately, the rest of the trip went smoothly (with the exception of my finger nearly rotting off due to frostbite). On the last night, we met a really chill dude from Australia named Robbie who partied with us. As usual, my streak of meeting people from countries that I WILL visit in the future lives on. Right after I visit the Italian girls that Lake and I met in Egypt (go figure) I'm goin down under to party it up with this dude.

Ok, if I put off posting this one more day, it just aint gonna happen, so I'll end the adventure there. Good times had by all.

Oh, and for those of you who are supa quick, you may have noticed that there is a film strip looking thing to the right of this post (towards the top). That is a link to my flickr.com site. Rather than try to put all my pictures on these posts, most of them will be on the flickr site. I uploaded some pictures to it, and i will continue to do so. Click on it every now and again to see what I have been up to.

(above) Shot from the planeride home. Lake Sewa in the foreground, Mt. Fuji in the background. We really do live in the most beautiful prefecture.

-Rex out

RACCOON TO XANGA:

"SHOVE IT!"

Actually, I used a different string of expletives altogether. Seriously though, screw Xanga. Bastids actually have the nerve to not only charge me to use their service, but then have the inane audacity to stunt my already challenged blogging by imposing a 10 meg limit on photo uploads!

For the second month in a row, halfway into the post Xanga put the kabbosh on my update. It's my fault really. I feel ashamed for my failure to realize that I was being taken for the proverbial ride. I assumed that it was normal for one to pay for a service.

The problem is, (and I will make this rant quick so as to not detract from the scrumtrulescent post that really sparked this whole thing), I made the same mistake with Xanga that a good amount of people are still making with America Online. It cracks me up that my father, though slowly becoming more and more tech savvy, continues to pay the monthly America Online bills. Current "selling out" aside (and I am of course speaking about Google's decision to put out a version for use in China that censors words like "democracy" and "human rights") Google has taken a great leap forward in the world of big business while most companies are stuck in the mud of Reganomics. Google offers unsurpassed, premium service and it doesn't cost you a cent. They figured out a way to allow for the most superior email platform (with 2 gigs of server space and growing) a superb search engine, and various other services that make AOL's signature "channels" seem like the network television to Google's fiber optic cable.

Anyway, that's the reason for the change. Now without further interruption we return to part two of today's post...

So, in my living room, Jen learned about the glory of the kotatsu while Sean said a muffled "thank you" to Micha for providing comfortable (and heated) futons. They were most good.

Of course in the spirit of New Years tradition, we made dinner. As I have become somewhat tired of food made entirely of fish, fish flakes, fish scales, fish bones or fish eyes, I FINALLY managed to convince Sean to allow me to make something different for a change. So we made Tacos.

Dinner was good. They don't have cilantro in this cursed land so we had to go without the guacamole (which is a crime). We also learned that if you use Enchalada seasoning for taco meat, you get AMAZING tacos...While if you use taco seasoning on undercooked rice, yo get SHITTY rice.

Drew (who proved this trip to be nothing short of a champ) aided in my sanity by fixing the clothing bar in my closet (which falls on me every day). He also provided much entertainment with his Family Guy Season 4 dvds.

Of course, between the full stomachs, they day of snowboarding and onsen, the warm futons, and the soothing sounds of the Five Peters we were passed out long before midnight on New Years eve. We set an alarm, woke up at the stroke of midnight, wished each other a happy new year (Jen did something with coins) and we went right back to sleep.

The next day, our journey began as we set out for Kyoto.

If you thought the tori gates at Fushimi Inari were the coolest things in the world, try seein them at night. The 2 hour hike around the gates was excellent. It would have been incident free if Jen (aka Lil Miss Adventure) hadn't insisted on leading Sean, Dru, and I off the path and into the unlit and unpaved path through the woods. I don't know why we listen to her.

The upside is, this time I didn't do anything to offend the gods, so we passed through unscathed.

The next stop was Kiyu Mizu Dera. The thing about Kyoto is it is hard to go into how beautiful everything is because everything is truly great. It is definitely my favorite city in Japan. At Kiyu Mizu, Sean and Jen walked the "love stones." If you successfully walk between the two, you apparently have luck in love. While they did this, I showed Dru my own brand of love.

So after a few days in Kyoto, we set out to Osaka. At Kyoto eki, we hit a snag. I lost my cell phone. As my cell phone is also a 3 megapixal camera, this means I also lost a memory card full of photos, my direct connection to Micha (who would pick us up when we returned to Nagano) as well as my ability to call hotels and hostels to inquire about vacancy.

Fortunately, after an hour of growing gray hairs looking for the phone, I listened to the sagacity of one Mr. Holohan and called it. Sure enough, in the most honest country in the world, somebody picked up and met me with my phone. I love this place!

Osaka fulfilled the most basic of our needs: food and video games (and shopping for Jen.)

On the left, Dru and I let out a heartfelt "HARRAM!" at what was one of the most delicious seafood meals ever.

On the right, Sean and I DOMINATE the taiko game while Dru watches out for pirates who would scorn at our ninja mirthmaking.

Jen spent most of her time trying to win a Stitch. She ended up just buying one.

After Osaka, we made our way to Tokyo. Of course, I have to mention that Sean was sick because he didn't heed my warning and he ate with a fork that fell on the floor. SO for the first day in Tokyo while Sean was germed out in the hotel room, Jen Dru and I went into Harajuku. Jen, to gawk at the stores, Dru and I to clean up her drool.

We ended up at the Park Hyatt (of Lost in Translation fame) for classy drinks and fine fine Jazz music (by a woman from Brooklyn who was a regular at the Blue Note... Small world ne?)

The following day, we went to watch some Sumo wrestling at the tournament opener. Below is the title bout where E. Honda faced off against Man Titties for a battle royale.

We checked out the Imperial Palace, and then returned to Nagano for some Karaoke...

Ok, regular posts from now on... I promise.

Same bat time, new bat channel.

-Rex out