Spring Break Part 3 - Skiing

We were all pretty excited for our first day of skiing. Between us, Matt and I could count the days we'd been skiing on one hand, so we were pretty much all beginners at this sport. We were bundled up and ready for whatever the day would throw at us!

Our hotel was only a quick walk to the ski lifts but we were so thankful that there was a moving sidewalk for the portion straight up the hill. We would need all the energy our legs could give later in the day!

We got all our gear and then the boys and I caught a ride over to our ski lesson. I'd booked 3 hours with an instructor so we could all get a solid start. I was irrationally afraid of falling and breaking something!

Everything in Japan has happy jingles.  The train, the subway, and even our snow ski ride! We were enjoying the song as we made our way to the next stop.

Our guide Lily was awesome. She showed us the basics and then took us to the baby slope. Like literally a place where the kids could play in a bouncy castle.

Thankful it had a magic carpet so we could ride the tiny hill and get help back up! Practicing walking in the skis was exhausting.

Lily had a great sense of humor and laughed at how Ben would fly straight down the hill without even attempting to stop and how Alex could only turn left and not right. I surprisingly kept it together and learned to turn and stop.

We all had a few stumbles but picked it up quickly. The weather was fantastic and the sun was so warm we were quickly shedding layers of clothing. Turns out all we really needed was a silk shirt, fleece, and waterproof jacket. Sometimes I even took my gloves off if I was getting too hot!

Lily decided we were ready for some real runs and took us all the way to the top on the long gondola ride. 

The fresh snow from the day before was beautiful and the views from the gondola were just gorgeous!

This particular green run is 10km long! We spent nearly an hour going down and the kids each had a few spills, but overall it was a ton of fun and left us so excited for more. We did learn without poles so later on when we had something in our hands for balance it felt even easier.

We stopped so Lily could show us a natural spring where she sometimes gets a drink. Just as I was laughing at Ben not to go swimming, he accidentally stepped in and flooded his boot!

After a really productive and exhausting morning, we were so ready for lunch. The food was amazing. Japanese curry and katsu, soup, udon, and other hearty choices.

Just as we were coming out from lunch, we ran into the Richardsons and had such a fun afternoon skiing together. The top of the green run was the snow park, with all kinds of jumps, hills, and a few half pipes and there were so many combinations of runs we could try. It was endless fun.

It was difficult shopping for ski clothes because 1. we live in the tropics and choices are extremely limited and 2. I had no idea how to pick. Alice was a ton of help in guiding me through the necessities, but I didn't realize how nice it would be to have unusual colors. Alex got a yellow jacket because it was the only one in his size. He was so easy to spot all over the mountain because it was unique! Alice had blue pants so I learned to spot her as well.

I was having a really great day and then suddenly my foot was killing me. I was still halfway up the mountain so I had to ski down, desperate to get the boot off. I got into that ski shop as fast as possible, probably made some ugly noises as I got my foot free, and then I hobbled next door for a very well deserved beer. Thankfully, I didn't have that problem again and was able to enjoy all the rest of our time skiing!

Our other reward - the onsen in our hotel! There are a lot of public onsen (hot spring) bath houses all over the village but you are expected to go in without clothes and sit with strangers. I was much happier to visit one of the two private rooms on the hotel ground floor where we could go as a family and wear our swimsuits! The hot mineral water did amazing things for our tired and sore muscles.

No shoes inside the hotel. You leave them at reception and wear thatch slippers everywhere.

Dinner with the whole gang! We were SO TIRED and I was thrilled that this delicious pizza place was two doors down and didn't require any extra effort to get there or back. I don't think I could have walked up or down another hill that day.

Day 2 dawned with clear skies and perfect weather. We knew how to dress this time and didn't have to shed anything extra. The walk to the slopes was always interesting. The steaming onsens smelled a little bad but always looked interesting. We did see people bringing their eggs to boil them in baskets because onsen eggs are a popular dish in Japan.

Ready for a fun day ahead!! You can tell Alex is behind us by the yellow jacket! And Ben was on the lift ahead, so we got to watch him break his poles at the top of the lift when he forgot to pick them up. We had a good laugh, realized the ski store was right at the bottom of the lift, and sent him back down to replace them. Thank goodness they're pretty expendable and only cost $4 for a new pair.

Family fun time! We really had a terrific time skiing and laughing together. There were lots of greens and the ski park was so much fun we didn't need to try anything harder. Matt and Alex did attempt a few reds to try to get up to the peak, but they were a little icy in the morning and not as much fun as they'd hoped.

Our ski instructor had pointed out her favorite place to get a hot chocolate and I had to agree that this must be the best in the world. Maybe it's the view that makes it taste so good?

I kept seeing people taking pictures under this sign and I wanted my photo op as well with the random street sign at the top of the mountain! Alex, Laura, Ben, Georgia, Zachary, Matt, and Alice

On this particular day, we had all planned to meet up for lunch and an afternoon ski. I think this food tasted better than anything I'd ever eaten because of all the calories I'd burned all morning!

The only time we had everyone together on the mountain - Alice, Ben, Hedwige, Quinn, Zachary, Juno, Egon, Matthew, Georgia, Alex, Mark, Matt, Laura

Turns out we knew another JIS dad in town skiing with his son and we shared a quick sundowner.

Our last morning was also beautiful but the warm weather at the end of the season meant the snow was starting to get softer in places. 

We enjoyed some of the pretty runs through the trees before heading up to the snow park. It was amazing how quickly the snow was melting in just a few short days. I guess that's the gamble with spring break skiing - the weather is warm but the snow may not last! We hit the sweet spot and got three amazing days before more rain was forecast the next day.

The mushier snow meant that some of the steeper runs were slower and easier for us and we went down one big wide run over and over.

Naturally, we needed more hot chocolate to keep us energized!

and a few snowball fights!

Matthew was off with his friend Coleman, so Ben and Alex spent the entire morning with Georgia and Zachary. 

We did learn that the soft serve ice cream was fantastic. The restaurant had an apple/vanilla swirl that didn't sound so good but quickly became a favorite. And I don't normally even like soft serve.

What an incredible experience. We would have never found this tiny village and its fun ski slopes if Alice hadn't invited us along and it was such a fun trip with friends. The boys loved skiing and Alex has asked weekly when we can go again. He's already got our next spring break planned out!

I was so happy that we all had a fun time and no one got hurt! All of the guys had some spills here and there and ate at least a little snow. Amazingly, I never fell the entire time. I may have been the slowest on pretty much every run, but I happily went at my own pace and enjoyed every minute. Three days was perfect because we had a great time but we were fully exhausted and ready for a break. We turned in our skis, collected our bags from the hotel, enjoyed one last soak in the onsen, and then took the bus to the shinkansen, to the subway, back to our hotel in Tokyo.

 

Spring Break Part 2 - Nozawaonsen

Matt's one request for this trip was to ride the Shinkansen, the Japanese bullet train. He was so excited when we got up to the platform where the trains were coming and going.

So excited! But they are pretty amazing. And so organized. Lines drawn on the platform to queue in perfect order, each train departing within seconds of its schedule. Impressive.

Happy faces ready to head up into the mountains 

The train was less than 2 hours (or 4 hours by driving...no thanks!) and then we had a 30 minute bus ride up into the village of Nozawa, called Nozawaonsen because of its onsen hot springs.

We had a 10-minute walk through the village and not all of us were quite as dressed for the new weather. 

It was cold and rainy and we were hopeful that it would turn into snow later in the day.

The Residence Yasushi was a great place to stay and we had a little 2-bedroom suite.

This room quickly became the ski gear room and was covered in clothes in a matter of minutes.

This was the boys' first time to see real snow and Alex couldn't wait to get out in it. They had seen a few inches of old snow here and there but never big banks that they could climb.

Our view for the week! A charming little town and fun ski slopes. Alice and her family had been here several times so we were thankful they knew this amazing place.

It was time to visit the slopes and find our ski gear.

As we were walking up, we could tell it was snowing a little higher and we got excited that we may have fresh snow to enjoy the following day. We did run into the Van der Hoevens, who had arrived a day earlier, and they had a really cold day on the slopes in the mess. We were pretty happy how our schedule worked out!

So exciting!! The ski shops and restaurants lined the bottom of the hill.

We all got fit for our gear and learned how to get our boots on. That was the only really tough part for me with a big toe that no longer bends, but I learned that it was much easier with a second pair of hands and a slightly bigger boot.

By the time we got out, the rain had turned to snow!

It was beautiful!

It was another long day of travel but we were all set to hit the slopes the next morning and our legs were still happy enough to walk 15 minutes down the hill to dinner. We met up with the Richardsons at a little indoor hawker stand and enjoyed a fun dinner before a good night's sleep....

...because it was finally time to ski!

 

Spring Break Part 1 - Tokyo

At a dinner in November or December, our friends the Richardsons mentioned that they were going skiing in Japan for spring break. We thought that sounded like a great idea, considering that Japan would welcome tourists again starting in December, and amazingly enough, it all worked out and the Van der Hoeven family joined as well! We even ended up on the same flight and one row ahead of Hedwige and Egon and their girls. They were so lucky I decided to bring my Jason Momoa blanket on the plane.

Ready to fly! All bright and cheery despite a 3:30am wake up. Matt was flying from Houston and met us in Japan.

We were really thankful that Mark and Alice had lived in Japan before and helped us navigate all the trains. They're very organized and incredibly efficient, once you know what you're doing. Unfortunately, the computer was down when we arrived and it took some time to get the tickets, but the kids didn't mind raiding the vending machines and hanging out while we waited.

Whew! On the train to the city, where we had to change to the subway to get to our hotel.

We didn't get much done on the first day other than make it to our rooms and find some dinner. But the lobby restaurant rewarded us warmly for our patience! Welcome to Japan!

On Sunday morning, we set out for a day exploring the city and I'm really glad we started at Shibuya crossing, the world's busiest crosswalk. Up to 2,500 people cross here every few minutes and it was fascinating to watch and check out the crowd.

About every 10-15 minutes, we'd see the Live Bus go by with girls dressed up as maids dancing in the windows. Why? Who knows! But it was entertaining.

We bought coffees so we could go upstairs at Starbucks and see the crowd from above.

Endless entertainment!

Traditional Japanese footwear?

We met up with the Guidroz family, also in Japan but not skiing, and checked out the Meiji shrine together. It was a really nice walk through the park with some cooler weather.

Snack time! Most everyone else chose ice cream but I had these grilled rice cakes that were kind of awesome.

The entrance has rice containers and wine barrels that were dedicated to the shrine.

The shrine itself isn't open to visitors or photos but people buy charms and take them to boxes inside. Apparently, you get the luck of the draw on what kind of charm you receive and some can be bad luck!

We saw two different weddings underway and really enjoyed seeing this procession cross the main court.

Outside, we found an interesting street band performing on the corner. Just walking the streets was so entertaining.

Next, we wandered through Harajuku street, famous for its tiny restaurants.

We had grilled pork and other skewers at this stall. Believe it or not, it has an upstairs and there are two people sitting behind me! Ben, Brayden, and Braxton were sitting along the outside.

Our next stop was the Park Hyatt with amazing views in every direction of Tokyo. On clear days, you can see Mt. Fuji as well. It was the set for the movie Lost in Translation.

Don't look down!

Finally, it was time to meet up with the Richardsons and some of their expat friends for dinner, so we went back through Shibuya (which was even busier as it got later!) to find the meetup. By this time, we'd been on the subway 4-5 times and we were becoming experts. Alex loved navigating the trains and the different stations and we'd finally learned the most efficient way to use google maps (screenshot it before you arrive or it's difficult to find the best exit out of the station...and some have like 14 choices).

Made it! Tired, jet-lagged (but only a 2-hour time difference so not bad), exhausted but invigorated from all the ground we'd covered all day.

This was a very cool area that Alice's friend chose and one of their favorite restaurants. Most things are tiny there so it took some thought to find a place that could accommodate 16 people. 

We were all headed back to the subway and wandered through another cool food street that would open much later.

The whole gang! Good thing Matthew has long arms and could get all of us in. We said goodbye to the Guidroz family, who would stay in Tokyo and then head to Kyoto, and goodnight to the Richardsons, who would meet us on the bullet train the next morning.

We made it back to the Intercontinental club just in time to get dessert. Alex sure knows how to make a plate!

We really enjoyed the beauty and simplicity! Ready to see more of the country!