Highlights of our Hokkaido trip

Note: Pardon for this long overdue post. I have nothing but a few lame excuses for procastinating. I know you are eager to hear what we did, what we ate, where we went, so I won't keep you waiting. ;)

To start off, I must say that this was the first and the grandest (in terms of expenses) vacation we ever had here in Japan. Some friends even wondered why on earth did we want to have a vacation in the coldest part of Japan on the coldest month of the year? Many reasons, the most significant of which (at least for us) are to chase snow, and feast on Hokkaido's superb dishes. Not only did we achieve these, we also had grand time with our friends who unselfishly accommodated us in their house.

Food, food, and more food!
We ate at home during our entire stay in Hokkaido, but it was as if we were eating out because the dishes served to us were truly superb. The likes of Genghis Khan barbeque, chawan mushi, soba, tempura and lots more I forgot what they are called. And oh, grilled mochi with seaweeds! Of course, we always had soup, different kind each day.

We went with our friends for their grocery shopping, and my eyes (not jaw) dropped as I get to see the low, low prices of seafoods and vegetables. Pumpkin, for example, was only 50yen -- about 1/3 of the price here in Tokyo. A pack of bean sprouts was goodness gracious 10yen! Crabs, lobsters, prawns and many fishes and fish eggs were, if I'm not mistaken, about half the price in Tokyo. Not to mention, they were all sold FRESH (not seemingly fresh)! Oh, it makes me want to stay in this part of Japan and devour on all those. ;)

There is only one thing I find more expensive than in Tokyo -- my baby's milk! But no choice, I had to buy a few boxes.

Shiny, white snow
Meter-high snow welcomed us when we arrived in Fukagawa. It was a fine day when we arrived there but I felt I was freezing to death. Walking on snow needs an extra care so as not to slip (it melts when the sun is up the whole day).

We played on the snow, tried to make a big snowman which turned out to be a snowdevil (that's what our friends call it). My son and I tried to make snowball. It seems so easy to make one when we watched the Teletubbies, but in reality, it was rather difficult I gave up in the end. My son enjoyed it though not minding his already wet and very cold gloves. Our friend patiently made a snowhouse, and according to him, it was warmer inside.

Just the sight of snow makes me warm inside. I don't know why, but I am kinda happy to experience such a wonderful thing and endure the very cold weather, at least for one week. On a fine day, the rays of the bright sun shine through the snow below and produces a sparkling array of stars down.

Oh, we also went tobogganing twice. Hubby enjoyed it the most. Afterwards, we headed to the onsen.

Onsen
What a comfy feeling to bathe in natural hot spring overlooking the sky and falling snow, while having a nice chat with your friend? At first, I thought I could not endure the 41-degree hot water, but as I slowly immersed myself, I started to feel good. My friend and I hopped from one pool to another, inside then outside, and back.

After almost two hours insde the onsen (that includes bath, shower, dressing up, and a few sips of tea or water), going out didn't make us feel cold anymore.

New Year's Eve
We went to the shrine near our friends' house and waited in line for our turn to hit the gong. Striking the gong is the Japanese way of waking up the townspeople and saying, "Hey. it's already 2007!" At the strike of midnight, many people suddenly showed up and queud up for their turn to show those striking power. ;)

Photos coming up in the next post! ;)