Merry Belated Christmas and an early Happy New Year!!
Well seeing as pretty much everyone is chucking up christmas posts I figure I might as well to. Yes I know it's a little late but do I care?? Not really...so live with it people...
Anyway...an update on things that've happened...finally went skiing last week!! And man...did it hurt!! Twas my first time ever. Great thing abt living in Sapporo is that we're so close to the ski fields. It wasn't really a planned trip or anythin...more like a spur of the moment type thing. Me and Chris decided to go skiing like 2 days before we actually went. Chris's girlfriend Yuki came along as well...good thing having a Japanese person around because it made catching the right buses and stuff a whole lot easier.
So...we got up at like 6.30am...made our way to JR Sapporo station to meet Yuki and catch the bus to the Kokusai ski field. 1 1/2 hr bus ride from the city to the field. Close ain't it?? I don't have my own gear obviously so I had to hire...4700yen for the ski kit and about another 4000yen or so for a return bus trip and all day lift pass. Expensive day yes but well worth it. So...the skiing...Chris was my so called "instuctor" and he gave me a crash course in how to ski. It went something like this...
"OK...this is how you get your skis on...going forward...stop...slow down...turn...understood?"
"Errr...yeah I think so..."
"Good...off we go to the top of the mountain then..."
Here's me and Chris...that's me before most of the crashes...
Yeah...you can tell this ain't gonna end well...
...and down I go...
Luckily...the snow was pretty much powder...so it didn't hurt...and the reason why crashing is so much fun...
For the day, I stayed mainly on the green, easier course...crashing and wiping myself out many a times as you can see...then night came at round about 4-4.30pm...thats when most of the courses except for one red/intermediate course gets closed down...now...I didn't know this until I actually started down the course (because the green and red courses have the same starting point)...anyway...so down I go...and as the run gets steeper I suddenly realise..."shit...I can't control my speed very well..." And as expected I start gaining speed and before I knew it...I was hooning down the hill at a suicidal pace...zooming past Chris and Yuki (two very proficient skiers) and well...you guys guessed it...completely wiped myself out...apparently...the crash was a spectacular one...after falling, I slid down the mountain about an extra 10m or so before coming to a stop...and I laid there for a moment...in the cold...completely covered in snow...and in pain (because although throughout most of the day the snow was soft powder, it had been rather packed in by this stage and...well...falling hurt a lot...) And so I got up, dusted myself off, sped down the mountain (not that I had a choice of speed because well...I can't control it at the moment) and...did it all once more. No I don't have a death wish...it's jus fun to wipe oneself out at high speeds. I suggest you all try it sometime. The second run was just as bad, if not worse. Wiped out twice...but both times were kinda 1/2 as bad as the first wipeout so you could say it sorta evened itself out. Suffice to say, that was the last ski run for the day. I had bruises all over and couldn't lay down on my right side for the next few days...so all in all...an awesome first experience skiing...
So this was all before christmas. Actual christmas wasn't as exciting. Christmas Eve, Tomo had a singles party at his place (yes ppl...still single) and it basically consisted of a hot pot dinner and drinks...the usual stuff. Chris and Yuki ended up going skiing Teine ski field on Christmas Day...and while I wanted to go as well...I was/am still kinda sick and recovering from previous skiing battle wounds...all of which are pretty much gone now. So bring on the next ski trip!!
Oh...by the way...have a Happy New Year everyone!! Don't get too blinded. I know I won't!! (hey...what's with the laughing??)
Anyway...an update on things that've happened...finally went skiing last week!! And man...did it hurt!! Twas my first time ever. Great thing abt living in Sapporo is that we're so close to the ski fields. It wasn't really a planned trip or anythin...more like a spur of the moment type thing. Me and Chris decided to go skiing like 2 days before we actually went. Chris's girlfriend Yuki came along as well...good thing having a Japanese person around because it made catching the right buses and stuff a whole lot easier.
So...we got up at like 6.30am...made our way to JR Sapporo station to meet Yuki and catch the bus to the Kokusai ski field. 1 1/2 hr bus ride from the city to the field. Close ain't it?? I don't have my own gear obviously so I had to hire...4700yen for the ski kit and about another 4000yen or so for a return bus trip and all day lift pass. Expensive day yes but well worth it. So...the skiing...Chris was my so called "instuctor" and he gave me a crash course in how to ski. It went something like this...
"OK...this is how you get your skis on...going forward...stop...slow down...turn...understood?"
"Errr...yeah I think so..."
"Good...off we go to the top of the mountain then..."
Here's me and Chris...that's me before most of the crashes...
Yeah...you can tell this ain't gonna end well...
...and down I go...
Luckily...the snow was pretty much powder...so it didn't hurt...and the reason why crashing is so much fun...
For the day, I stayed mainly on the green, easier course...crashing and wiping myself out many a times as you can see...then night came at round about 4-4.30pm...thats when most of the courses except for one red/intermediate course gets closed down...now...I didn't know this until I actually started down the course (because the green and red courses have the same starting point)...anyway...so down I go...and as the run gets steeper I suddenly realise..."shit...I can't control my speed very well..." And as expected I start gaining speed and before I knew it...I was hooning down the hill at a suicidal pace...zooming past Chris and Yuki (two very proficient skiers) and well...you guys guessed it...completely wiped myself out...apparently...the crash was a spectacular one...after falling, I slid down the mountain about an extra 10m or so before coming to a stop...and I laid there for a moment...in the cold...completely covered in snow...and in pain (because although throughout most of the day the snow was soft powder, it had been rather packed in by this stage and...well...falling hurt a lot...) And so I got up, dusted myself off, sped down the mountain (not that I had a choice of speed because well...I can't control it at the moment) and...did it all once more. No I don't have a death wish...it's jus fun to wipe oneself out at high speeds. I suggest you all try it sometime. The second run was just as bad, if not worse. Wiped out twice...but both times were kinda 1/2 as bad as the first wipeout so you could say it sorta evened itself out. Suffice to say, that was the last ski run for the day. I had bruises all over and couldn't lay down on my right side for the next few days...so all in all...an awesome first experience skiing...
So this was all before christmas. Actual christmas wasn't as exciting. Christmas Eve, Tomo had a singles party at his place (yes ppl...still single) and it basically consisted of a hot pot dinner and drinks...the usual stuff. Chris and Yuki ended up going skiing Teine ski field on Christmas Day...and while I wanted to go as well...I was/am still kinda sick and recovering from previous skiing battle wounds...all of which are pretty much gone now. So bring on the next ski trip!!
Oh...by the way...have a Happy New Year everyone!! Don't get too blinded. I know I won't!! (hey...what's with the laughing??)
posted by Scattered!! at 10:13 PM
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