Blogs from Hokkaido, Japan, Asia - page 12

Day 8. Lake Saroma to Abashiri The floor bed was quite comfortable again but the deep sleep was rudely awakened at 4am by the fishing boats powering out to sea. The sound was like a huge lorry with no silencer outside the window going nowhere. After 15 mins of this I realised that we had left the window open and promptly closed them and reduced the noise by 30 decibels to 95 in just a second. Consequently we were late up but were treated to a 'get your own' breakfast which included some westernised food such as scrambled egg and bread. The temperature was pretty high again at about 30 deg. C when we got away at 9.15. The going was generally quite flat today with only about 400m of climbing in 55 miles and was ... read more

Japan Experience Furano to Shintoku Here we are in Sapporro, on Hokkaido, 28 hours after leaving home. 11.30 pm and straight to our room and a shower and bed in this warm, windy, humid climate after getting lost on the way from the railway station. Am I glad I had wheels on my luggage. Our Japanese guide, Ken, was waiting for us at the airport and it took us an hour to get our bikes to his van having to go up and down lifts, across bridges and then pass our bagged bikes over an iron railing to him. Eventually we were off and onto the express train into the city. Japan, so far, has been a busy place and full of quiet, respectful people who are almost all quite short in stature compared to the ... read more

This isn't something that I imagined I would be doing only two years ago but my partner, Jenny, and some of her family were going to Japan for a skiing holiday so I thought ... why not. Actually, visiting Japan for any reason had never been on my horizon. Having learnt to ski only two years ago I have to admit that I was a little hesitant, particularly given that I had only ever skied the relatively comfortable slopes of Mount Buller (in the Victorian Alps). The thought of the potential for powder snow (aparently a rarity at Buller) seemed to excite the rest of the Devenish family; especially 11yo Georgia, 8yo Lauchlan and 6yo Benny. The two older kids delight in out-skiing me on any slope, which is only to be expected given that grandmar ... read more

The two weeks I spent in the farm was one of the best time I have in my lift so far. First, the scenary of the farm is amazing, with snowy Yotai Mountain at the backdrop, ending green all around, dogs barking, chicken running, and quiet. Second, the work is so different from what I used to do in the office. Pure manual labor, not too much brain work. Third, great people, cute cats, delicious food and great conversations. Everyday is hard labor, but you will so satisfied and rewarded with great home cooked food. Here are few of the things I really missed and memorable moments: 1) Food made by Hiroko-san is amazing: Hiroko-san used to be a cooking teacher in Osaka. With the limited ingridients grew in the farm, she was able to come ... read more

25 septembre 2012, Hokkaido Konichiwa! Après 10 jours à Tokyo (nous devions attendre notre passeport qui était à l’ambassade chinoise), nous sommes enfin partis en train pour l’Île d’Hokkaido, au nord du Japon. Pour parcourir les 800km qui nous séparaient d’Asahikawa, nous devions prendre 4 trains totalisant environ 11 heures de transport. C’était long, mais très efficace (les Shinkansen roulent jusqu’à 300km/h) et confortable comme voyage. La petite dame au comptoir a bouqué tous nos billets de train, de sorte que nous avions seulement 10 minutes d’attente (ou devrais-je dire de course!) entre chaque train. Notre voyage a cependant pris 14 heures, comme un des trains a dû interrompre deux fois sa route pendant plusieurs heures. Un des agents de bord a pris en note toutes les destinations des passagers, puis nous a donné ... read more