On Friday Feb. 6th we all boarded the HUGE ferry up to Hokkaido. It was a pleasant 19.5 hour ferry ride. It was great fun getting to play games and sleep! We docked about 2:00 PM. We then had to take about an hour bus ride up to Sapporo. We threw our luggage in our rooms and were off to see the ice sculptures. They were seriously a 5 minute walk up the street from where our hotel was. I ran into one of the girls, Jill, from Nashville Orientation. I thought it was fun to see her there! We walked around for a while in the ice festival. We then met friends for a big ramen dinner! The girls below are all JET ALTs. From left to right: Kyrstol, Emily, me, Bea, and Tracey :)
A few of the many ice sculptures on display. The city of Sapporo blocked off 3 city blocks for the artists to create these amazing sculptures!
This was one of my favorites! I think it is hilarious!! The fish are literally frozen inside!
Bea and I enjoying the wonderful festival!!
Peacock sculpture! I could never be an ice sculptress because I couldn't stand the cold on my hands!
There was a slide at the very end =D The guy patrolling the slide motioned for me to come over to go down and over course I did!
About to go...
...ha ha ha
ice sculpture
We continued to walk through the festival. Hotate (scallops) are one of my favorite sea foods! I had to snap a pic! Its not every day you see them roasting on an open fire.
It was time for dinner :) Bea and I were not hungry so we juts watched everyone else eat until we became hungry! From left to right: Kyrstol, Emily, Tracey, Jason (old JET, new friend), and Bea! Sapporo is famous for kani (crab) ramen!
Here we are outside of Ramen Ally standing in the snow. Left to right: Hong Ee, Jason, Liyan, Kriss, me, Jason, & Bea! Ramen Ally is literally an ally way in Sapporo that has tons of little ramen shops! They are all really small as seen above. In the one above it only sat 8 people :)
Anna, me, & Liyan getting excited for the tranny show! Yes, we went to a tranny show! Proof below!
A pretty little shrine :)
YES! That is a guy! WOW!!!!! I was so surprised at HOOOW believable these guys are!
The show and some of the different acts we saw =D We paid 5,000 Yen (about $50) for all you could drink anything and the show! It was fantastic!
We then played in the snow after the show and were off to rad brothers...oh boy, that was fun :)
Ice sculptures at night!
So after the tranny show we were off to rad brothers, a bar in Sapporo. I went with most of my friends. It was tons of fun and we stayed out until probably the crack of dawn! Or at least it felt like it. The next morning we were not feeling so well ;) and slept in. I had lunch with a new friend :) and then continued sleeping until we headed out for dinner at the Kirin Brewery! We had all you can eat sushi and lamb! It was delicious =D
Here is most of the gang and new friends!
Ha Ha...just kidding I could NEVER drink that much! That was the pitcher for the entire table!
So it was early to bed and early to rise to go explore the SNOW FESTIVAL! Here below is one of the first sculptures we came to. Tokyo as the candidate city for the Olympics 2016.
Tokyo Disney's 25th Anniversary! Emily and I standing below! I can't believe how HUGE these sculptures are!
Me, Emily, Kyrstol, and Bea =D
This is representative of the northern area of Hokkaido. It looked pretty American to me :)
A smaller snow sculpture but still beautiful nonetheless!
Bea and I split off from Kyrstol and Emily because they needed to go back the hotel and pack up there stuff. Bea and I were on a mission to find sweet corn! Victory was ours :) It was warm and delicious!
Sapporo TV tower. Bea and I spent quite a long time in this building. The views were breath taking and we wanted to soak them all in! We didn't have a worry in the world, we just took our time.
City views
If you look at the bottom middle right of this photo, you will see 2 people waving. Those two people are Annelyse and Chika =D I called Annelyse and told her to start waving!
This is the main drag through Sapporo where all the snow sculptures are. It was really neat to see them all from way up high!
After Bea and I came down from the top we stopped to enjoy coffee and kiwi juice! The views were just absolutely amazing. I really felt like I was on vacation. It was truly amazing.
Bea and I and our wonderful view of the city and the snow sculptures!
It was almost time to leave Sapporo so we wanted ramen one last time before we left to go to Otaru and Niseko! Ha Ha, I have no idea what my pinky finger is doing :)
Our AMAZING ramen. You can't appreciate it based on this picture. You must simply go to ramen ally to enjoy for yourself!
David joined Bea and I for our last meal in Sapporo...it was off to Otaru! Otaru is a little village that I saw on an advertisement back in August. I told Emily that I wanted to make sure to visit this beautiful place within my time here in Japan. Sure enough we made it happen!
Candles in Otaru shopping ally
This is the famous Otaru canal. I think this is one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen. The candles in the water and the lanters lighting the pathway, its gorgeous!
Standing in the pouring snow in front of the the canal :)
Small snow sculptures illuminated by candles.
I thought this was the most adorable of all of them :)
The canal :) Isn't it gorgeous?
A lantern - I thought these were just beautiful.
Bridget and I being snow queens for the evening! It was time to go to our snow village - NISEKO! :)
Well, I had never been to a literal ice bar...so we asked the guys at our lodge if there was one around :) Sure enough after our PIZZA dinner we were off to have the "ice experience". You paid 1,000 yen for an ice cup and drink and then 500 yen for each additional drink! It was so much fun to finally have this experience! We stayed for a bit and then tried moving on to the next bar. We soon discovered that Niseko becomes dry after 11:30 and many bars/shops shut down.
Emily, Me, & Eri :) Cheers!
John and I enjoying our drinks. Itako Buds!
My new friend Bridget and I enjoying our drinks at the ice bar! They even had fur for the ice benches so your butt wouldn't get wet!
The next morning was the day we were leaving. Several people hit the slopes but I did not want to blow out my knee so we went sleding instead! We had great views and tons of fun! Emily made grand attempts at building a snow man. The awesome Australians at the lodge lent a few of us snow outfits to go play in the snow! We had so much fun! We were laughing so hard as we rolled down the hills and went sleding! Behind us is Mt. Hirafu.
Emily and I soaking up the sun and the snow before heading back to Ibaraki.
Mt. Hirafu
Playing in the snow :) What great views, seriously?!
This tree reminded me of being out west in the states. Aspen trees - gotta love them :)
Anna and I decided to eat snow! :) and icecycles - yum! It actually was refreshing!
Emily jumping jump after jump off of the base of her snow man :)
After playing the the snow we tried to go to an onsen. However, they were all closed until 2PM. We decided to go an enjoy a really nice lunch in town at a little cafe. I enjoyed a tuna and tomato sandwich and oero hot coco - dear GOD that was amazing! Here below we went to the little shop next to the cafe to buy presents for friends and teachers. I really enjoyed this bug stuffed bear and wanted my picture taken with him :) raawr.
We packed up the bus and left Niseko area around 3 PM so we could make our 6:30 ferry back to Ibaraki. This was seriously one of the most fun trips I have ever taken in my life. It was good fun had by all. I am currently at home sick from school because I have a nice little cold. The cold was worth all this fun. We were bound to get sick. We were traveling, going out, and just having so much fun! This concludes my adventures for now and I am NOW all caught up with my blog! Stay tuned for more of my adventures!! Next weekend I will go to Tokyo to see the play Wicked with Annelyse, Emily, & Erin! TOKYO girls weekend!! I will be coming home in March to visit with friends and family :) It is sooner than I expected but I am really looking forward to seeing everyone!! MISS YOU ALL! Until next time...XO
The sun was setting over the mountains and the water. I could not have asked for a better conclusion to our trip.
1 comment:
omg it is an ice land. I wish i could have gone. of course it is an ice land it is Japan. Those poor frozen fish but maybe then Mr. Bubble's would have stayed preserved forever. RIP Mr. B. OH YEA JOHN I MISS YOU. Lauren I need emails. Oh also why does it suprise you that Japanese men can look like girls? Seriously LaLa man purse ring a bell? xo
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