Blogs from Hokkaido, Japan, Asia - page 30

向往到漫天飞雪的国度去游玩已经好久了。前几年到哈尔滨，气温都降到零下40度，就是不降雪，真是扫兴。这次来到北海道，终于如愿以尝，天天都在雪花纷飞的日子中度过。北海道的雪，象棉花糖，白白的雪花从天上飘下，漂亮极了。不过，在函馆也遇上暴风雪，行走得好辛苦，雨伞根本招架不住。 Snowfall, snowing days ... that was what we wanted to see and experience for ourselves when we decided to head for Hokkaido. Fluffy snow falling from the sky, snow storm, blizzard ... Well, we have seen them all in Hokkaido. In fact, it snowed everyday the week we were there. How amazing. It was indeed a memorable holiday for us, who came from a tropical island near the equator. Our Hokkaido tour started from Hakodate, after spending 2 days in Sendai and Matsushima. Itinerary: 2 Dec : Arrived in Hakodate 函館 in the afternoon - Mt Hakodate-yama for the night view 3 Dec : Morning Market - Walk around bay area, old warehouses shopping mall - JR Train to Sapporo 札幌 - Sapporo old Hokkaido government building - Odori Avenue Park 4 Dec : Ota ... read more

Sept. 25: I learned how to do Ikebana, Japanese flower arranging. It took about half an hour to complete the arrangement. It was fun to learn. Oct 1: Mama, Grandma, Mama’s Aunt and I went to Okurayama. It is the Olympic ski jump for the Sapporo winter games in 2007. We got to go to the top of the jump and watch skiers as they practiced for the upcoming winter games. There isn’t any snow there yet so it was very interesting watching them practice. At the bottom of the jump is a museum with every winter Olympic game that there is. The museum was a lot of fun and since I could take pictures I took a ton. In the museum there were several interactive exhibits which we all took advantage of. They also had ... read more

Japan is well known for its seafood. This can cause problems for two people who find this form of food more than a little unpalettable. I think our sea food experiences stretch to fish fingers and, of course, fish and chips. Basically, we like it when what we're eating isn't recognisable as having once been a living creature. If its got limbs, fins or eyes we tend to steer clear. For this particular reason Vikki found our trip to Hakodate Morning Market less than enthralling. The sight of crabs, bound and gagged before having their legs ripped off so that passing tourists can have a tray did not appeal to her. I, on the otherhand, was thoroughly enjoying the barbarism of it all. I'm suddenly concerned what that says about my psyche... Anyway, having been to ... read more

I haven't had time to write since I've been so busy with my Japanese Class and hanging out with my host family. I'll try to cover everything, so it might take a couple postings. I'll start with last Saturday Sept. 9 when I met my host family. My host mom (Mama) and host father (Papa) took me to the store after picking me up from the Kirari; which is where international students stay for a short period of time on campus. At the store I got to pick out my very own set of chopsticks, a miso soup bowl and a rice bowl. I love them. When we arrived home I met ‚Ü‚Ý(Mami; pronounced Mommy) who is their oldest daughter. Their other daughter is ‚³‚â‚©(Sayaka; pronounced Sigh-aw-kaw). I also met ‚¨‚΂¿‚á‚ñ and ‚¨‚¶‚¿‚á‚ñ(Obaachan and Ojiichan; Grandma ... read more

The Second Week in Japan Sep. 11-17 I have so much stuff to catch you all up on. I’ll post entries according to the weeks I’ve been in Japan. Unless there is something special that requires it to have its own post. Enjoy the following postings. (This is the same week that my last two posts were about.) On September 13 Mama took me to Moerenuma Park to see the big fountain. However when we arrived it had just finished displaying. Even though I did not get to see that I did get to see the Glass Pyramid. I can’t remember the name of the architect that designed it but the entire park was designed by Isamu Noguchi. The entire park is considered to be one giant sculpture. There are four main chambers in the Glass ... read more