Japan part II : The skiing

View of the main Hirafu runs at night

For The Man and I, this was the second time we had been skiing. First time was in Maria Alm, Austria, and great fun, but it was end of the season, so we had more slush than snow and powder was something we used to prevent chafing. Also, The Man had a rather amusing encounter with our previous ski instructor that put him off group lessons. Our previous ski instructor, to put it mildly, was a hunk. Very, very hunky... He was great with the ladies of the group, but when my big baby fell over, promptly skied up to him and said, 'S*** happens' and skied off again! Hilarious. Less so for my subcoordinated (is uncoordinated more rude? Hmmm...) spouse. So, it's been 7 years since we've donned those cement blocks masquerading as ski boots, and wielded the mighty rapiers of doom... i.e. ski poles.

Well, for those new (or old, or anywhere in between) to the sport, I have 2 words for you. Brian Findlay (http://www.instructoracademy.com). 'Nuff said. Instructor of instructors. The man with the never ending repertoire of analogies from which surely something will trigger the 'Ah-ha!' light bulb moment for you. The man who got my malcoordinated (sound better?) hubby swishing down the slopes with no spills, thrills or wipe outs. Unlike the last time where it was harder to find a non-painful patch of skin than green grass in the arctic circle.

We were pretty hopeless when we met up with him for the first time. Decked out in our new goggles and rented gear (yup, this time we had helmets. Made everything worse. Like I couldn't already see and hear well enough, had to add a handicap...), we did the stiff legged, hip rolling, step, drag walk that seasoned skiers pull off with such panache. Except we looked like marionettes operated by a puppeteer who'd tipped one too many the night before. So there we were, students of the instructor's instructor. I didn't even bother trying to look like I belonged. Anyone who'd seen us schlepping across the snow dragging our skis and poles, and whamming ourselves on the (thankfully helmeted) heads would've been able to tell we were rank amateurs. No class, no style. But I can tell you within the 1st 5mins that helmets are a necessity!!

Then he said the other side of the mountain was better, he'd drive us there. More awkward shuffling. And we piled into his van. Note to self, don't do up the ski boots till you're certain it's time to put the skis on. When you're as short as I am, fastened ski boots mean virtually no movement below the knee. Walking is a weird rocking from heel to toe that make it virtually impossible to climb into a van. I essentially flung myself in full body and dragged myself into a sitting position. Kind of like a seal dragging itself up the beach. And NOT the cute fluffy baby seals at that. Think blubber, flopping, olympic weight lifter grunts...

Reaching our destination, which was only about 5mins away (everything in Hirafu Village is about 5 mins away from everything else), we piled out of the van (I mean that literally). Brian gave us a few refresher tips, and said, 'Well, you know how to snow plow right? Let's head to the lifts!' Waaiiiitttt!!!! Too late. Off he went and we had to follow. I was just praying that I'd a)get there without falling (too embarrassing) b) not knock anyone done in the process (too embarrassing) c) just get there... Well, there's something to be said for jumping in the deep end. Both of us got there without falling, hitting anyone, running into anything... Not very gracefully perhaps, but get there we did. Whew, now for the next step, getting up the ski lift...

This is simple for seasoned skiers. Nothing of great import. Part of daily life. A necessary pause in life that lets them get to the next stage of swishing gracefully down pristine white slopes. Not so for us. More like a stumbling swish, swish trying madly to get to the green line before the chair comes and bashes you behind the knees. Then it's followed by an ungraceful flop into the chair while trying to deal with poles that really want to go somewhere else, skis that would like to cross and wham your seat partner's shins (Imagine 2 beginners on together. Seen Laurel and Hardy?), and the ubiquitous bum shuffle you have to do 'cause you didn't realize you sat right on the edge of a (rapidly) moving seat that is now 500ft (I exaggerate, but it FELT like that) above the ground. Not to mention, NO SEATBELTS (Obviously the higher ones do, but the ones you go up as a beginner don't). Then just as you're about to get comfy, the weight of the boots and skis feel like they're about to yank your feet off at the ankles... Before you know it, you're at the top. Now you have to coordinate standing up at the line, skiing straight down, making sure your weapons don't brain someone in the process, and, most importantly, GETTING OUT OF THE WAY! Then comes the fun part. Trying to get down a slope standing on 2 planks and holding oversized chopsticks. Unbelievable that it can actually be fun!

All in all we had 3 half days with Brian, kiddo had the other halves. Bringing us to a total of 3 full days. Brian's ski school only does private lessons. So I guess you could have a group of pals doing it together, but we found it perfect for us since we were equally inept, and group lessons tended to leave us feeling rather dissatisfied. Kinda like standing at a pub trying to order a drink and the bartender gives you a sprite when you asked for a spritzer. Then has no time to retake your order...

In any case we had an awesome time. Not to mention being thoroughly entertained by Brian who is clearly highly in demand as a ski instructor and has done heliski tours and been privately flown all over the world to give private lessons etc. Like I said, his skills were totally wasted on us. Still, he's been in Niseko for yonks, and had lots of very interesting little snippets of information for us. Not to mention speaking perfect Japanese! Hats off, kowtow, you get what I mean. In 1 day we were as good as we were after 3 days before. We'd also only fallen over twice each. More topples than the screaming, flailing, flashes of your life thing that happened previously. After 2 days, we were as good as we had been after a week. And after the 3 days, we were better than we could've possibly have imagined. We were parallel skiing!! Kinda...ish... Still, yay!!


Brian and the kid on a ski lift


Now onto the kiddy's experience. For the first 3 days, we stuck her in day care when we were having lessons. It was about USD25 for either the morning or the afternoon sessions. These were run by the large hotels and there tended to be very few kids in there. Kiddo put up with it, but after the first day questioned why she had to be there since she wasn't 'a baby'. Tough luck kid, learn to ski and you can be out with us, be belligerent about learning and stay with the babies! Monster mummy rears her head...

Brian was phenomenal with the kid. He started by sticking her on one ski, telling her they were her sharks and scooting her off with him to find food for them. There was something about shark bellies and happy sharks and all. Wasn't listening to the details, but kiddo was burbling on about it for ages after, so whatever it was, it worked. So there they were, skiers were sharks and snowboarders were whales. All of a sudden... 'Auntie N!! She's a white whale' was announced at the top of a piping little voice. ACK!! Oh earth swallow me now... That was unexpected and MORTIFYING!! Luckily N has a good sense of humor and just laughed it off. Not so funny were the declarations of, 'There's a purple/ red/ black whale...'



There were a few worrying moments for daddy and mummy throughout her lessons. We saw the death of all further ski holidays when she mournfully said to Brian, 'Uncle Brian, my sharks aren't hungry anymore. Can we build a snowman instead?' I could see The Man cringing. At USD450 for 5 hours a day of private instruction, this would probably be the most expensive snowman in history... Still, she ended her journal entry for the day with 'I love skiing!' Totally worth it in my mind.


First 2 days were touch and go for the kid. I could see her wavering between 'Hate it, never want to do it again' and 'It's ok, but not my first choice'. Poor Brian spent those 2 days with her pretty exclusively skiing backwards since she wouldn't move without him in front of her. Nail biting for the parents who already had visions of more ski holidays, custom ski boots, etc etc. Not to mention we'd already plonked down the GDP of a small country on goggles, gloves, winter boots for her... She kept us hanging for 2 whole days. What a tease. Then on the third day, all of a sudden it was 'Watch me!! I can go FAST!'. It was a 'whew'/ 'crap' moment. 'Whew' because next year is HAPPENING people! 'Crap' because I now had visions of her turning into a speed demon... Just think of it... Motor bikes, race cars.. oh NO!! Biker boyfriend!!! *swoon* For obvious reasons I didn't mention any of this to my feet on the ground spouse, he might have just tried to smack some sense into me...

Last day of skiing was a revelation. Our little nervous Nellie was zooming down the hill and skidding to a stop 6 inches in front of other skiers. We saw lots of 'startled deer in front of headlight' looks. All were incredibly understanding and seemed more amused than anything. Inside they were probably thinking what an undisciplined brat the kid was. With parents that had obviously no control over her. They certainly weren't far wrong. We have videos of her barreling down the hill with me racing behind yelling, 'Turn!! Stop!! Slow down!!' Kiddo's reply was, 'Why? I know how to stop...' Grrr. Well, I certainly feel like I spent the whole morning apologizing. Though realistically, since she only did the run 5 times, it can't have been that much.

You may wonder why I haven't posted much on the other members of our little group. Well, JT the black whale, and L and P the sharks were in a totally different league. They were talking about going across the ridge and through trees... We never really saw them. Just a bit in the morning and then again for dinner. Last few days, it was dinner capped off with monopoly deal. Action, action!!

That pretty much sums up our experience. We were there from the 22nd of Feb till the 28th of Feb. To us the snow was great, but apparently it was pretty late in the season and wasn't powder. We heard lots of people say that Niseko was THE place to be for powder snow. So next year we'll be aiming to get there earlier in the season. You can bet the first person we call after making our accommodation reservations will be Brian.

PS : Brian's academy also has the same kind of private lessons for snowboarders. After 2 days of abuse to her derriere, N finally hired the snowboard equivalent of Brian. She too ended up singing his praises...

Japan part I : How we got there

February 21st 2010. We set out on our 1st ever ski trip as a family, 1st ever greater than 6 hour journey (it took us 36 hours to get to Niseko due to our desire to cut costs and travel on miles. Normal would have been about 12 if we did the same route), and 1st ever trip to Japan (for me and the kid).

We started out making the short 1.5hr hop to Singapore, then spent the next 10 hours catching up with friends and relatives. In retrospect it was actually a really nice break seeing as I have no idea when we'll next be back. Also, it was a great opportunity to tire the kid out so that she would sleep on the overnighter to Tokyo. Which she thankfully did. Crashed at 12 midnight before the plane even took off and we woke her at the other end at 7-ish when we landed at Narita. We flew the A380!! I'd like to say how fantastic the facilities were and all that, but seeing as I pretty much slept the whole way, all I can say is the movie selection looked good... The man was obviously not best pleased as he kept mentioning the flat beds in business class etc etc. WHATEVER! If you fly the whole family to Japan using points, you ain't gonna have enough to go business... Still, we all got our little sleeps. Me with enough space to really stretch out (Ha! All you people who laugh at my height! Always told you it's better to be 5'1"!! See who has the last laugh now!!), kiddo sleeping horizontally with her legs propped on this little box-like storage space (good seat, space beneath the seat in front and also next to you) next to each window seat (Yup, she takes after her mummy)and the human pretzel also known as daddy... I looked over at some point during the flight and couldn't believe my eyes. He was sleeping diagonally with his head kind of balancing on the head rest, with his legs propped up next to the kid. I'm sure if the plane hit turbulence, he would have hit the floor. Heh...

We got in to Narita at 7ish. Bundled the kid into the toilet (all of you out there with kids would immediately understand why this is even mentioned) and went out to catch the airport transfer to Haneda, our domestic airport transfer to Chitose in Hokkaido. This was another 2 hours-ish in a bus. Which was smooth and really comfy. We all slept through. Which was a bonus as the Man and I were anticipating a lot of 'are we there yeeetttt's. On reaching Haneda, we caught up with my cousin L and his wife P and went to check in for our domestic flight. ANA (the airlines we used) was really helpful, we were early, there were seats on the earlier flight, so voila! We flew early.


View of south Hokkaido from the plane

Another 1.5 hours and more sleep (yay!) for all later, we landed in Chitose airport in Hokkaido. More meeting up with friends N and JT (not THAT one), and we were complete as a group. On to the bus transfer to Niseko... There was a lovely lady giving out what looked like really important information, but I didn't understand a word... Oh well. Unfortunately, we had to wait a bit outside for the bus. It was FREEZING! Poor kiddo had never been this cold in her life, and I REALLY didn't want her woken up fully. The bus ride takes 3 hours. And I was hoping she would sleep more...!



Another lovely, comfy bus. The Man asked kiddo if she wanted to sit with him. Nope, she replied, she wanted Auntie N. After some woeful looks from daddy, the kid replied with, 'Sometimes it's not all about you Daddy...' Hee hee... Got you there. Quoted verbatim!

More sleep...

1.5 hours later, we had a rest stop at a truly amazing rest area. It had fresh produce, lovely little cake things (I tried some of N's 8 then went and bought 16) made fresh with all sorts of filling. The caramel ones are terrific! It also stocked some winter wear, souvenirs...

More sleep... (more like zombified staring at this point)

Hirafu Village!! Finally!! It was probably about 5-ish in the evening and we had been on the road since 9am the previous day. Us parents were pooped. Kiddo was full of beans... Bustling around the welcome centre like a little Michellin man. So comical... We then had ANOTHER transfer, but luckily this was only to the next street where our apartment, Kira-Kira, was. Now this apartment was really the bees knees. 3 separate bedrooms, 1 ensuite, 1 shower/bath, 1 WC with typical Japanese heated seats and warm water washer/ dryer to save you wiping... Cool, but apart from the seat warmer, I couldn't bring myself to use the washer. Lots of partial attempts, but I always chickened out in the end... The apartment had cooking facilities, a full complement of crockery, a dish washer, vacuum, washing machine, tumble dryer... Wall mounted shampoo and soap dispensers, clothes washing powder... And a lovely large dining table and sofa set (that to my mind could easily sleep 2 people ).

Then it was showers all round and out to dinner at Sou. A truly FABULOUS shabu-shabu (Japanese steam boat) restaurant. The beef and pork slices were melt in your mouth tender. And the salmon sashimi absolutely to die for... L had a drink called calpis (try saying it fast... Hee hee) which is some yogurty drink. But don't let that put you off. It's really, really yummy. The girls had Umeshu sodas. This is a plum wine that says 4% alcohol on the box, but obviously if you mix it with soda, it's practically non-alcoholic right?? In any case, it's lluuurrrrvvveeely.... Had LOTS of it in the one week we were there.

After dinner it was a 10min trudge back to the apartment. Uphill!! It had also started snowing heavily and was a wonderful 1st time experience for the kid. Tongue sticking out tasting the snowflakes... Pelting the grownups with snowballs... Or actually I think it was the grownups that were doing the snowballing... Hmmm...




Then the stops for snacks. Hokkaido is famous for it's food. We went back to the apartment laden down with local cereal, bread, milk, umeshu (of course!), ice cream (I know... crazy isn't it. But the apartment was really, really warm), chocolate...

That wrapped up our 1st day in Japan. Next would be the beginning of our ski holiday and all round eating fest.

Long weekend away to Hong Kong

Kiddo and I just returned yesterday from an EXHAUSTING weekend away to Hong Kong. We're trying to pack as many holidays as we can into the next 6 months as Kiddo starts Grade 1 in August. As it is, her teacher is none too happy with the number of 'ponteng' (truant) days we have taken so far. The comment the other day was, 'Is your husband an athlete?? You've taken days off for his triathlon, diving and now skiing!' Um. Weeellll....

Anyhow, this holiday was planned in about 3 weeks. During the Christmas holidays, my Dad mentioned that he would be in Hong Kong for 5 days at the end of January. At that time, I didn't think much of it, but we later found out that the Man had to be there the same time on business. So, long story short, we cobbled together a trip for the same time. We even stayed in the same hotel in Kowloon although we only met for dinner on Saturday and Sunday, and lunch on Monday. Heh, Dad = food. We flew in Friday night and back to Jakarta Tuesday morning. The flight took about 4 hours and was really good. Set up of the video screen and meals was much better than our usual carriers. We flew Cathay Pacific and it was marvelous. Of course, they gave out little kiddy packs too. That always helps.

It's currently winter in Hong Kong. Meaning that for those of us who have lived in the UK, the weather was a balmy 20C with light breezes. A light cardi was all that was needed for the nights. Saw lots of winter coats and knee high boots around. Overkill, but super fashionable.

Saturday saw us hopping on the MTR (Hong Kong version of the London tube) to Disneyland. Brilliant way to travel. Convenient, fast, and announcements are trilingual. Disneyland was lovely. I have always loved Disneyland. Nice clean, organised streets. Cheerfully lit store fronts... Piped music... I want to LIVE there!! Imagine... Address: # Sleeping beauty Avenue, Disneytown. Or, Snow White Glade, Pocahontas Valley... I digress...

We hit easily 90% of the rides. Kiddo wanted to do EVERYTHING. Which was rather a surprise actually. We expected a fair bit of resistance, but once she tried out the Mad Hatter's tea cups, she was on a roll. We didn't even stop for lunch! Peckish? No problem! Box of yummy caramel popcorn while waiting to enter the stage show. Still hungry? Here, have a bite of a foot long hot dog while waiting to go into the Lion King show... That was the 1st time we've been so lax about food, but we knew dinner was going to be a feast, and since she wasn't complaining, and Daddy was given enough to prevent him from morphing into the monster at the climax of MIB I (the slimy roaring one that ate everything it saw!), I decided to just go with the flow... All the usual rides were there: it's a small world, pooh and the hundred acre wood, buzz lightyear, space mountain (we didn't go on that), princess carousel, flying dumbos, tarzan's treehouse (not sure the point of that actually)... The Lion King show was very, very good. Things have certainly changed since the last time we have been to a Disney park. Admittedly that was 10 years ago in Florida and we were still DINKs.

HK Disneyland opens at 10am. We got there just before 11am and stayed till almost 7pm.Prices were HKD 950 for the 3 of us (about RM450/ USD150). Food within the park is pretty expensive. Captive audience and all that. Not that we ate much. Still, as our little princess' 1st visit to a Disney park, it was a rousing success. If not for having to meet my Dad and his friends for dinner, we would have stayed for the fireworks. No matter. Tokyo Disneyland in 3 weeks!

Sunday, we hit the Science musueum in Tsim Tsa Tsui. The original plan was to do both the Science and history museums then go check into the Hotel we stayed in on HK island. Unfortunately, we ended up spending over 3 hours in the Science museum and ran out of time. Oh well, next time. The science museum was very interesting. They had old rotary phones that were exposed so that you could see how the connection went through. And also all sorts of games that illustrated how things worked... Power stations, electricity, phone operators, mobile phone towers... Fantastic. Sunday night we went to a Teo Chew restaurant on HK island. Can't remember the name but it's 37-39 Queen's road West. Incredibly yummy. Had food like my grandmother used to cook. It also cost HKD23,000 (RM12,000/ USD3,000) for the 18 of us. I only found out the cost the next day when I was chatting to my Dad. My jaw dropped and I'm so glad I only found out the next day. No WAY would I have been able to eat it if I knew the price beforehand...!

Monday Hubs had to go to work. So kiddo and I trekked up to Sham Sui Po on Kowloon island to do some bead shopping. Didn't buy much, but kiddo got a look at 'real' HK street shops. As it's nearing Chinese New Year, all the decorations were out, and there were vendors selling wax ducks etc. Wonderful. Lunch saw us wandering off to Harbour view City on the south west coast of Kowloon. We met my Dad and a couple of his friends there and had more good food. Then we walked around the shopping centre which was obscenely huge. LV is 3 stories high (!!). There's a Manolo Blahnik, Kate Spade and Jimmy Choo (drool)... And also any other branded goods store you can possible name. The entire ground level of the Ocean terminal (one end of this store) is devoted to kids stuff. Dior, Tommy Hilfiger... you name it. Tucked into a little corner next to Toys R us is a little bookstore called Book Buddy. Unassuming and messy from the outside, but if you spend a little time checking out the inside, it's chock full of fantastic finds... Kiddo was in heaven. And of course, since grandpa was there, she literally walked out with the whole store. Trust me, I know. I carried ALL of her finds...

Tuesday saw us returning to Jakarta. The Man moved on the Singapore for more work. HK was nice. Though very, very expensive. A bowl of noodles in a small restaurant can easily set you back USD10. Taxis are exorbitant. The meter starts at HKD18 (USD2.50). The MTR is a fantastic alternative. A HKD 100 trip from Kowloon to HK island cost HKD15.50 for kiddo and I. It truly is a shoppers' paradise. And so alive... I love the neon signs suspended over the streets...

All in all. Great trip. I would have liked to take her to Tai O village, a traditional fishing village built on stilts. But apparently it's better in summer. And being over an hour away, we just didn't have the time. End of the day, the only thing I would have done differently would have been to bring a bottle of face scrub along. Believe it or not, I actually think HK is just as dirty pollution wise as Jakarta (not general cleanliness though. Toilets=sparkling, streets=no trash. HKD1500 for littering). 5 days = 5 spots. Gaaakkk!!