Ohai. Iz me.

Well, half of me. Hahahaha.

Fatty had a conference/retreat to attend in Hokkaido — and it’s Japan plus I’ve never been to Hokkaido!!! No way he’s going without me so I tagged along.  Everyone was allowed to bring spouses yay.

This was our first view of Hokkaido from the plane.  Here I suffered a pang of doubt.

Turns out the conference wasn’t in Sapporo, but in a ski resort in Tomamu.

Means… Isolation.  Cold.  Exercise.  Sun reflecting off the snow.  NO SHOPPING.

Never in my life have I felt any inclination to go skiing or do snow sports.  I’m still very amazed by my soulmate Angela’s newfound interest in snowboarding so you can imagine my trepidation at this Tomamu wtf.

But… I was there already.  Embrace the fear! wtf.  At least I can say I’ve tried a ski resort once in my life.

I got to say though, Hokkaido food is the shiznit! And the resort had some awesome restaurants.  This is hamburger and shimeji mushroom and veggies in soup curry.  So so so so good to eat on a cold day!  I dragged Fatty back twice to eat this.

Anyway on the first night… there was an earthquake WTF.  We were chilling in our hotel room (on the 18th floor) and I heard what sounded like hailstones hitting the window.  I thought it was a blizzard until Fatty gasped “IT’S AN EARTHQUAKE” and attempted to get onto the floor beside the bed. Hahahahahahha.

Fatty: “what do we do? Should we go down?”

Me (contemplating but too lazy to put on jacket): “ummmmm… nah let’s just chill.”

Room (swaying): *creak creak creak*

Seriously.  The earthquake was 6.9 on the Richter scale apparently.  If I was nearer to the center of it I confirm first person to die upstairs.

Nobody got killed though so it’s a good thing although I heard some twelve people were injured, and not anyone around us.

But apparently I heard by the time the tremors ended, one hotel guest was halfway down the stairs with a backpack. HAHAHAHAHAH DAMN PREPARED.

So first night got earthquake.

Second day got blizzard.

And the organizers planned a sports day for us WTF.

Games included tug of war, and throwing snowballs into a bucket wtf.

I thought I knew what cold was at Mount Holyoke.  It got up to -20C there but that doesn’t compare to -11C in Tomamu because the wind chill factor just kills.

I covered myself with every piece of winter clothing possible.  And I still nearly died.

Thermal check.  Wool check.  Down jacket check.  Heavy duty waterproof gloves check.  Three layers of pants check.  Boots check.  Ear muffs and hat check.  Face mask check wtf.

And still not enough.  The snow blew into our eyes and I couldn’t tell if it was cold or painful wtf.  Stupid wind blew until I started running cos if not I really felt I would fall over.  And my hands hurt like a bitch even with the gloves on.  I thought I was getting frostbite already wtf.

Our team leader, this guy called Ryo, said I knew Malaysians cannot take it so I came prepared.  And  he stuffed カイロ (heat packs) into my pockets to warm my hands.  Please I had カイロ in my boots and stuck onto my torso also didn’t help in that crazy blizzard.  Lol.

I lasted about twenty minutes before someone took pity on me and asked Fatty to bring me inside. hahahahaha.  Fatty went back out there for another half an hour at least though *amazed

All my ammo.

Later to escape… we went to the indoor wave pool.  Lol.  Ya in a ski resort.

Very surreal to come in and feel hot because the temperature is set at 30C.  And then to look outside the window and see snowflakes swirling around and about four feet of snow.

Didn’t go into the pool but I did go for the onsen which is OUTDOORS.  So I had to shiver and run naked from the building out into the snow and jump into the onsen.

Then I sat there and watched the wind blow the snow onto water surface.  Again very surreal because my face would feel cold cos of the snow but my body was all warm haha.

Oh yea not many pictures of me because this was how I looked most of the time wtf.  I didn’t even bother putting on makeup nobody’s gonna see my face anyway wtf.

One of the after parties.  One of the Japanese hosts was wearing this HAHAHAH.  I complimented him on it and he started unzipping the suit saying “it looks better on a girl”, handed it to me and hastily backed away WTF.

So I was Rilakkuma that night!  I liked it cos it was very warm.

And I had a tail!

Fella in red was the official photographer (not the guy who gave me the suit).  Most flamboyantly gay Japanese I’ve ever met.

Our last day we went to Sapporo!

Followed Fats into a talk and got a beef bento box!  And my favorite bottled green tea.

Then went to see the famed　雪祭り　Snow Festival.  When I was studying at Doshisha a bunch of my classmates headed to Sapporo for the Snow Festival.  I wanted to avoid the cold so I went to Koh Samui wtf.

Now finally got the chance!

My station!

Snow replica of the Kabukiza which was the main theater for kabuki in Tokyo.  They were still building it so we were the first to preview it.  It’s nearly life sized very amazing.

 

Forgot what this is WTF.

Some interpretation of an anime I think.

 

Hahahaha.

 

Crazy snow!  Snowed nonstop in Sapporo too so by the time we were done with the snow festival we were coated in snow.

 

The only thing worse than having your car snowed in is to have someone draw a butt on your car hahahahahahaha.

 

Then an amazing gala dinner.  Launched with this parade and palanquin thingy.

 

Damn energetic dancing wtf.  Really loved the vibe actually.

Oh the only time I bothered to wear makeup the entire trip wtf.

With no contact lens.  Cannot get used to it T___T

120kg tuna fish. D: D: It supposedly cost USD30K or something.

This lady in kimono went around cutting silhouettes of people!

This is mine.  Wah my nose damn big.

Fatty and his.  Looks like Harry Potter uncannily.

 

Me and her!  She was super sweet.And that’s it.  Bye Hokkaido!  At least I’ve visited you once in my life. 😀  And thank you for the hospitality and great food and experiences. 😀