Japan Part 9 - Second day of Skiing

As Ant had lessons at 10am everyday - we were always on a bit of a mission to get up and get moving... (well - he was anyway). Another breakfast at the apartment - another stereo war with my brother playing his I-Pod. I think I have discovered someone who is an even greater "CD Nazi" than I am.

My mum and I toddled off to the beginner area with Ant for his lesson.... said our goodbyes and headed up to the upper area of Hirafu (beyond Mid-station... yeah!). We checked out the "King Hooded Triple Lift #3" and the King Quad Lift #2 areas. Up top (although the weather was sh##ier) the snow was soft, powdery goodness. It wasn't as groomed as the bottom runs and a little bit more challenging. I even took my mum down a black run - aka hard run (which was just a steeper, ungroomed version of a green run (aka easy) nearby.

Hirafu is full of these loud-speakers everywhere and pretty much void of any sort of usable signage. A woman (who must have provided the alien voices in the movie "Mars Attacks!") comes over the loudspeakers on a regular basis with loud announcements like "There is a crack in the something something. Do not ski there because of the high avalanche risk". The irony of having loudspeaker announcements for avalanches hasn't escaped me. To make matters worse with these announcements is that they are pretty much inaudible. It is very echo-ie and her accent is soo thick - you need to be an expert translater to understand them.

Ant has noticed that the noise pollution in Japan can be pretty bad. At all the JR stations - they ever play an loud "alarm" sound when the train doors shut, or play a little jingle. All of the lifts in Niseko have loud noises telling you when you can ski over to board the lift... and many have repetitive voice recordings telling you when to get off. No doubt that the "Mars Attacks" woman is the pits when it comes to noise pollution.

We headed down at midday to the bottom of the beginner area where Ant was having his lessons for lunch. I had (stewpidly) advised Ant to change over from a Goofy setting on his bindings to a "Natural" setting the day before because he looked like he was trying to fight the board too much. However - he is indeed a "goofy" (left-footer) and had to switch back his bindings before his lesson.

Ant was getting happy with his progress - as he could now stop and turn. The day before - he could only point downwards and sometime stop. Also - he only crashed 6 times down the run (a new record).

We had lunch down at a "Chinese" noodle shack near the SAS fibro shack. There was a cute husky dog chained up the front who looked sort of cold and hungry in an RSPCA sort of way. Thankfully - he wasn't on the menu.

The noodle shack served big bowls of what they call "Chinese" noodle soups - but they felt a lot more japanese than chinese... (Never thought that Miso was a chinese-style soup?!). It was all cheap and cheerful.

After lunch - Mum and I (expert skier and expert skier guide) traveled off (despite the bad weather) to Higashiyama - the resort to the left of Hirafu (when you face up the mountain).

Higashiyama has about four or five lifts but the main one is the "Prince Gondola" - one that takes you from the bottom to the top of the mountain. There aren't too many variations in the runs here - it is all pretty much straight down (whether it be a green run, a red run (aka blue aka intermediate) or a black run). A big difference between Higashiyama and Hirafu is that instead of the Mars Attacks woman on the PA system - they play awful J-Pop music instead.

Because of the really f@@@in bad weather - Mum and I decided to have a break at the Prince Hotel down at the bottom of Higashiyama. It was the most expensive coffee with UHT milk I have ever had ($6AUD).

Mum decided to head back to Hirafu - but I thought I might rough it out for another couple of Higashiyama runs. Unfortunately - my goggles didn't think likewise. I have an old crappy pair of goggles - which were constantly fogging up in the f###in cold weather. To add to the mix - the fog in the goggles started to freeze over - rendering them pretty much useless.

I had got to the top of Higashiyama - and I could only (just) handle one run down Hirafu as I had to ski down the mountain - sin goggles - a truly s%%% experience especially when the weather is blowing icy cold snow in your eyes.

I'm not normally a bath sort of person (I have these bad memories of getting baby sited in Canberra with this old dude who left a lot of hair floating in the bathtub)... but being so cold and miserable - I had one. Sacha and Taeko headed to the more famous Onsen hot springs - where everything is segregated and naked. Sacha inadvertedly stole the courtesy modesty towel.

After a few cheap Sapporo beers at the apartment - we headed down to the restaurant next to the Chinese Noodle Shack near SAS smelly hut. It was an Izakaya style "restaurant" - which is more like a bar with lots of small dishes. It was the best meal yet on this trip to Japan - we had fried oysters, calamari, pork kebabs, fish - it was all good. My dad didn't make the whole "chopstick in the bowl" or "draft sake" mistake.