Monthly Archives: February 2013

Niseko – Day 2

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As always in Niseko the weather can change in a minute. Yesterday morning it was sunny with just a few white clouds. In the afternoon it started to snow, and it snowed the whole night.

I woke up to 30-40 cm new snow. Whohooo!!! The only drawback was that the visibility was not so good. If you haven’t experienced a whiteout then this is it…


Whiteout

Despite the whiteout the snowboarding was superb. I was riding my board almost exclusively in backcountry area. The powered snow was knee deep in some places, and by the end of the day I was pretty tired in my legs. And the rest of my body as well for that matter.



I was well deserved of a hot bath. Which I also took. Afterwards I had pasta for dinner before I ended the night by writing on my GLOBIS report, and watching an episode of Spartacus. Goodnight!

Niseko – Day 1

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Got up almost before I got to bed, at 4:45 am. At 5 am I was downstairs trying to haul a cab. The first one that stopped and opened the door just left while I went for my bags :-O Maybe the driver was at the end of his shift and did not want a foreigner with a snowboard in his car??? No problem though, the next taxi stopped and took be promptly to Haneda airport.

By 8:05 am I arrived in Hokkaido, and by 9:15 I was on a bus on my way to Niseko. 4 and a half hours later I had checked in at Niseko Norther Resort An’npuri and was getting ready for half a day snowboarding.

The weather was great, -10 degrees, sunny with some clouds, and powder in the woods. First rides were easy going but then I climbed Mt. Niseko An’nupuri to go backcountry. Once at the top clouds had started to roll in. And the ride in the backcountry was bumpy with a lot of old tracks in deep powder that had started to freeze again. Hard work, but still fun.


Lift with Yotei in the background

After the backcountry ride from Mt. Niseko An’nupuri I was being more relaxed. I just got on the gondola and rode in the slopes down to where I could go out in the woods where the snow was still soft powder. Great fun… Though a twig smacked me in the face, resulting in blood and a somewhat swollen lip 😛


In the woods

At 4:30 pm I called it an end and returned to the hotel. Had an early dinner. Took a hot bath in the outdoor onsen. And did part of my GLOBIS homework due next wednesday. Overall it was a great day, though I missed Chie 🙁

Critical Thinking Day 3

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Another GLOBIS class. It was an interesting class and I stayed for the nomikai (drinking party) and talked a lot with the teacher. He is deeply into yoga, meditation and self-healing, and personal coaching. Funny thing, he listens to music to trigger the “right” brainwaves for meditation, similar to my brother Robert.

Super Bowl XLVII

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Super Bowl XLVII (47) was today, or Sunday night in US. But not really any teams we were interested in so we went to the office. And watched the game once we got back home in the night. Unfortunately Ravens won against 49:ers.