Kobe and subsequent hermiting

14/2 - Pretty much after having gone to Hokkaido for a week or so, it was back to Kansai,with pretty much nothing else planned for the break..so I decided to go to Kobe and check out if there were any decent Chinese New Year celebrations XD

Unfortunately, it turns out that while there were some nice dragon dances and whatnot, it doesn't compare to the scale of anything in Sydney, so was left a bit disappointed. However, I was able to eat a few random foods at the stalls set up in the area, which all pretty much sell the same items of meat buns, chinese donuts, sticky rice, and char siu ramen. And when you start eating one meat bun, you can't really stop...well, I can't anyway XD

Apart from that, it was my first trip to Kobe as well, and while my body still ached a fair bit from Hokkaido, it was still fun to at least head out and enjoy the area. The shopping centre by the port is really nice, and pretty much spent half mytime there, also as a means of getting out of the huge gusts of wind that began toblow during the afternoon.

After having gone to Kobe though, I pretty much stayed in my room for a good number of days practically doing nothing but some studying, mainly because I was savingmoney, and also because 姐姐 or other friends weren't really around to have fun with. In any case, time flew by relatively quick enough till about the 25th or so...so 10 days of being a hermit in my room. Well, on the 21st Stephanie came back to get her stuff and leave for Sydney, but apart from that, it was a fairly uneventful and boring 2 weeks.

終わり

春休み in 北海道！！！ Part 4

Day 6 - Shopping in Sapporo
Yet another day in Sapporo, with it being our second last in the wonderful island of Hokkaido. Prior to heading out, I headed off to buy fresh melon bread and the other variants of chocolate and caramel, and ate most of it on my own...so good.....XD

While I suggested to people to go to Sapporo to finish off the Yuki Matsuri events, it would seem people had other intentions, mainly to spend time resting in the hotel...that, and because of that, if we were to go drinking, we were to do it in Otaru since the others did not wish to go to Sapporo just to drink...Whether you follow this blog or not, all I can say is that with all the small things that have piled up during the trip, while I had an insane amount of fun having been able to relive my lovely memories of this place, the piled annoyances had started to reallyget to me...to the point where I was quite pissed off, and would head off to Sapporo anyway. Thankfully Harry and Sara also decided to head to Sapporo to do some raondom shopping for clothes, which helped me calm my nerves down a bit as I would have something else to help take my mind off the events of the day.

We went off going around the basement level of the station and going through the various shops, and made our way to Tanukidori where the shopping arcade was. We stopped over at freshness burger along the way to eat lunch, and then finished off our rounds. We then made our way back to Otaru, but not before looking at the 500yen bar one last time and wishing we went...and then made our way to eat dinner at, once again, Victoria Station. Pretty much finished off the day after eating that. Also getting a call from 姐姐 made things better as well XD

Day 7-8 - Final days in Hokkaido T_T
This was our final day in Hokkaido, which would be spent going around Otaru yet again, after checking out of our rooms. I ate breakfast at a soup curry place in the cafeteria by the river, and proceeded to make my way around Otaru on my own whilst going to buy my gifts for people. Afterwards, we made our way to karaoke which was 'cheap' and spent roughly 2hrs or so, and then went off to eat dinner at Victoria station yet again, before finally making our way to Otaru port...To actually spend my final day in Hokkaido going to karaoke instead of doing something more memorable was a bit of downer (yet again), but I guess it can't be helped. In any case, after waiting a little while for the boat, we made our way across the seas this time with little problems, though Harry was still knocked out cold and slept for most of the trip. Once we arrived in Maizuru, we took the lasttrain back to Kyoto, and made our way back home, which would end our magnificenttrip to Hokkaido XD Shall be visiting Hokkaido once again with family in April, so am definitely looking forward to that, and the food i get to eat..XD

終わり

春休み in 北海道！！！ Part 3

Day 5 - Skiing at Tenguyama
It was decided that only me and Angela would go skiing, as the others felt that the price for skiing was too expensive, and decided to head off to the aquarium and Sapporo. Before that, we would go to a nearby bakery, which had some really nice bread XD

When we arrived at the mountain, and rented our skis and whatnot, we decided to goup and go down the slope a few times, while also buying an 8hr pass, hoping to usethe most of it...what a terrible mistake that was <.<

It turned out that whilst the slope was split into 3 levels of beginner, intermediate and advanced, the levels in comparison to when I went skiing 3 years were huge...No wonder 国際スキー場 was considered easy by people...In the end, Angela did notknow how to ski, and my 1min lessons didn't help either, so she didn't end up being able to go down the slope, and went back via the ropeway. I however, utilised mylovely skills of skiing without a proper way to stop, and went down the beginner slope. It took a bit of luck considering there weren't any signs to point where thelevels were split. As i raced down the beginner slope at an insane speed, I realised that the level was like that of the intermediate course when i went ages back. To think I considered myself being able to go down the intermediate course...what a fool I was...

The next time i went down the slope would prove to be an interesting experience indeed. Thanks to the lack of signs, I went down what would be the intermediate slope, immediately realising the amount of powder snow and rough footing I was on, and eventually rolled roughly 400m or so down the side of the slope...oh the pain...Thankfully I didn't have anything broken, though I did drop my phone in the snow and lost my locker key. I climbed up a few metres up the slope with insane pain, and was then helped out by nice Japanese high school students and ski instructor as I slowly got my way down the slope whilst in pain and whacked in the head. In the end I was only able to go down the slope twice, and was in too much of a daze to do any more...and also had to spend 2000 yen to break open the locker to get my stuff...oh the money wasted...but, it was worth the experience, as well as being able to ski down the slopes yet again XD

After that, I lost my beanie on my way back to the hotel, no thanks to being dazed, and spent the rest of the time resting, and also went out to eat ramen for dinner by myself. Haha, most of the trip ended up being down on an individual basis I guess. Mark, Peter and Stephanie, after having gone to the Aquarium, went off to Sapporo to see the Pokemon Center above other things, and had dinner in Sapporo. Harry and Sara also went their way around Otaru during this time. Oh well, all in good fun I guess.

In any case, whilst an insanely tiring and painful day, it was on to the following day to which i hoped people would go to Sapporo to finish off the rest of theYuki Matsuri...

つづく