Sapporo Snow Festival 2012

After seeing the Chocolate Factory, as I posted about last weekend, we got back on the train and went back to downtown Sapporo, Japan to see the 63rd annual Snow Festival. There are three sections to the festival: one parkway has huge ice sculptures with smaller snow sculptures in between that get judged at the end of the week, a boulevard of smaller ice sculptures that will get judged as well, and a park outside the city that had a huge slide for tubes, a maze, and other things designed to entice international travelers. This is my second time at the festival and I've yet to get to the third place but I'm not upset. I seem to have gotten less used to cold weather so I've never pushed to explore Sapporo. When I go out we usually stick to the plan and don't stay out too long. :)
Once we got to the festival, we walked as much as we could and took a lot of pictures, which are on my Flickr page, and tried to enjoy the afternoon. Unfortunately the air pressure, cold air, long work week, and long day of sightseeing got to us both and we both got headaches. Luckily mine was less than my friend's was so I still got a lot of pictures but we headed in as it got dark. We wound up eating supper at a German bar that had very little German food but the Japanese food was good and either being inside the mall or eating basically got rid of my headache while it was too late for my friend. She slept off her headache on the train and bus before we got ready for bed and she seemed better the next morning.
It was a fun visit to Sapporo, I just wish the weather was a little colder. As much as I was cold and my fingers were numb from taking pictures on my Ipod (that's what I get for forgetting my memory stick), it was rather annoying that we were there on the second day of the festival and the sculptures were already melting. A mermaid on a guy's back had lost her arm at the shoulder, we passed a freshly fallen bust of a girl the police were circling, and there was a sculpture labeled "Raising Dragon" that I would have loved to see but it was only a set of legs by the time we got around to it. However, the huge Disney scene, the animal scene, and the huge buildings were still lovely so I can't really complain.
All in all it was a fun trip and am not surprised the Snow Festival made it into my book on where to visit before you die. It is definitely an amazing place to be.

The Chocolate Factory: Sapporo, Japan

Last weekend my friend and I went up to the northern island of Hokkaido, Japan and visited the Shiroi Koibito Chocolate Factory in Sapporo, Japan and the 63 Snow Festival. To get there we took a twenty minute bus ride from where we’d slept to the train station and a seventy minute or more train ride up to Sapporo, passing Hiroshima on the way. By the time we got to the Sapporo train station it was lunchtime and we were hungry. I remembered from last time I was here that there was a shopping mall on the floor under the train station so we went hunting for lunch and found a pasta place. Neither of us spoke Japanese and they didn’t have an English menu so we went to the entrance and pointed to what we wanted to order. Now, try to picture this: there are about ten dishes of pasta and rice in three rows at the bottom of the display case, all on the same level with two shelves of drinks and desserts above them and two American women who don’t speak Japanese are trying to point at our dishes and drinks to two Japanese people that don’t know English? Are you laughing? We were by the time we were done ordering. Luckily we got the dishes we’d ordered but I got a lemon-ish soda instead of the blueberry shake-looking drink I’d tried to order. Oh well, the seafood pasta covered in slightly spicy ketchup with extra salt was rather good and there was miso soup and the complementary water to wash it down with.
After a little more navigating (the nice way of saying maps can only get us so far) we got to the Chocolate Factory. It turns out the factory is part factory, part museum. It seems they gathered a lot of collections from collectors, such as chocolate tins, hot chocolate tea kettles and cups, and Columbia themed things and arranged them in exhibits relating to the history of chocolate candies before showing how chocolate is refined from the cocoa beans to usable chocolate. Then they explain how their famous cookie, a thin square of white chocolate inside two thin butter cookies, is made and large windows show the actual production line in a large room beneath us. After that we went upstairs where we could have baked and decorated the butter cookies, bought sugar-craft items (such as a lady in a hoopskirt made of sugar), or had hot chocolate and cakes. The next floor held more exhibit rooms they didn’t bother to connect with chocolate such as the gramophone gallery and a few themed rooms full of toys from before the 1990’s or so.
After stopping at the store to pick up some of their famous cookies, we went outside in time to see the Chocolate Carnival. “A parade of jolly singing and dancing mechanical dolls,” as their brochure says, occurs every hour on the hour that the factory is open. The courtyard is a village of children’s houses and roses (covered for the winter when I went) and everywhere I looked something was moving to the music. A parade of mechanical animals circled the clock tower, chefs were singing and dancing on one all while other mechanical chefs across the courtyard played trumpets and birds swayed to the music. The three little pigs from the nursery rhyme peaked out of their houses and a dog stood up every few minutes.
After we toured the small village of play houses it was time to get back on the train for central Sapporo to see the Snow Festival, but that story and all those pictures will come out next weekend. If you want to see more pictures of my trip through the Chocolate Factory, check out my Flickr page.

My Birthday Weekend

Last weekend was my birthday weekend and I couldn’t figure out how to celebrate it. I finally decided that I would spend it trying various crafting techniques I’d wanted to learn for a while. I have about five main techniques I’ve picked up supplies for over the last few months that I have been putting off: Viking knit, kumihimo braiding, various clay projects, origami, and chain maille, as well as some necklaces for my sister that just seemed like such big projects I didn’t want to start since they would take so long to finish. What better way to celebrate my birthday than to stop the research, writing, and basically spinning my wheels on internet work and to just be creative for a few days? My plan for Saturday was to call home and talk to my parents before going out to Yokohama and the mega-store called Tokyu Hands. I had planned to let myself take out about a hundred fifty dollars for craft supplies or whatever really caught my eye and lunch out there. It was a good hour train ride from my place, or so I thought, and I figured I’d leave midmorning and get back to my train stop about supper time. The problem was that I forgot to get yen out the night before and for some reason my cash card wasn’t accepted at the ATMs around my place. As I was walking to a number of ATMs, I passed a store I went in once before. I had gone in and left with the feeling that it was kind of a boutique where cool Japanese things were sold for decoration and a few craft supplies were thrown in. Um, yeah. I had only been in one floor. This time I realized there were four floors. The street level was mostly kitchen goods, the lower level or basement had stamping, gel pens, and scrapbooking things. So far I was interested and had a few ideas but wanted to check out everything before deciding on anything. The second floor was basically school or office supplies. Again, I had some ideas but not much I needed at the moment. The third floor was all origami and paper with paintbrushes, paint, clay, and rows and rows of paper in all lengths, colors, textures, and styles. That got the ideas going but I still didn’t have yen. Finally I settled on about twenty dollars worth of paper goods and an extra bit of Japanese modeling clay to add to the bit I already owned. I had an idea in my head of creating a clay sculpture, maybe not that weekend but soon and needed some extra clay. I picked up a small lunch at the convenience store and was back in my room by 3 pm ready to start my projects. I hadn’t gotten to the mega store, which looks awesome in its multilevel floor-plan for do-it-yourself and souvenir items but it was bordering on rain outside, I wound up saving a lot of money, and I found myself an awesome craft store about ten minutes from my place. (It even sells metal clay I can practice with before spending lots of money online to get things shipped to me.) Tokyu Hands will wait awhile as I get a better idea of my preferred craft techniques and make money to spend at the mega-store.
The weekend definitely did not turn out the way I had hoped. I finally finished two necklaces that had been sitting around for a while. They were ones my sister had requested based on characters from her story and I really liked the design ideas but had never gotten around to actually finishing them and putting clasps on them. I got those two done and started on another simple design I decided to complicate some once I got the components in front of me. I also set up the kumihimo loom so I could start the next day. I also tried to work on Viking knit only to realize the wire I was using was too thick so I’ll have to find thinner wire in the stores around here.
All in all my birthday weekend was relaxing but not as productive as I had hoped. Oh well, that’s what weekends are for and I did manage to finish those two necklaces. (And it turned out my card problems were really just ATM problems. Apparently some Japanese ATMs don’t like foreign cards. Oh well, lesson learned.)

Tokyo 2011, Day 2

The next day we again had trouble leaving the room on time and got to the restaurateurs’ street less than an hour before we had to be at the theater. This street, which I forget the name of, is full of ceramic dinnerwear, pots and pans, and fake food made to look like real food which people buy to use or display at their restaurants. In Japan most restaurants have a visual menu outside the main door as well as the written menu inside. The visual menu is plastic food created to tempt the taste buds of passersby and look very realistic. My sister really wanted to buy a few pieces but when they’d gone during the week things had been closed. This time we found one store open in the first block and she got something and I picked up a keychain of a small crepe. (Trust me, you should not come to Japan without trying one of their crepes. Hm, my favorite is the strawberries and banana slices with cream and chocolate sauce topped with whipped cream and wrapped in a thin French-style crepe. Delicious)
Our next stop was the Japanese National Theater to see a traditional kabuki play. Unfortunately I have no pictures of that as cameras weren't allowed. The traditional theater of Japan, it is based on the acting, not the story. Coming from the Western idea that the acting complements the story, it was hard to see a play where the story complemented the acting, which was the real art. It was also impressive to see a “Living National Treasure” on stage as one of the actors. It was also hard to follow the story as the day only showed three parts of a ten part story, which is typical. Counting two twenty minute breaks, we were in the theater from a few minutes before it started at noon to 4:15 when the third part ended. It was a good experience and was interesting to see a number of Japanese patrons wore the basic kimono to the traditional theater. I felt a little under-dressed in my good jeans and nice shirt but other people were in less formal wear and no one commented on my outfit so I guess I wasn’t doing anything wrong. After a trip to a Christian bookstore where I finally found The Screwtape Letters and a good trip to Mcdonalds, in which we each tried the local sandwiches not offered in the States, we went back to the ryokan. They were going to stay another night and fly down to Okinawa that Monday but I had work the next day and gathered my things before saying ‘bye and taking the train back to my place. As usual, got started later than hoped as we took a while to finish our conversations and I got back to my place at ten but it was a good weekend and I had a lot of fun with my sisters.

Welcome, 2012

As 2011 comes to an end I look back on a good year. I saw a lot of things, did a lot of things and got more stories to tell my possible children or nieces and nephews (or just neighborhood children if those two possibilities never happen :) ). I’ve learned a lot of things and can now rather clearly see two paths my life can take. I can see myself still taking the path I saw myself on in high school or I can see myself on a rather different path I discovered this past year. I’m not sure yet which path I will pursue or which one I will eventually end up on. I may yet find another path to follow and who knows where God will lead me. All I know is that the world is a huge place and the possibilities are endless as long as we keep our minds open and see the world as it is, not as we think it should be. I know there are problems out there, threats that may harm my family, friends, and anyone reading this but I truly believe that, as the card my mom has somewhere with two bears comforting each other like friends says, this too shall pass. Another great sentiment (and probably a quote somewhere) is that after the rain comes a rainbow. May 2012 be full of more rainbows for you than thunderstorms and may you look back on it with more fond memories than sad ones.
May God bless us all in the new year. Welcome, 2012. Try to go easy on us. :)

Christmas in Minnesota

I made it to my home state last Monday, two hours before I left Japan that same day, thanks to time zone changes. It was good to be home, even if there was no snow. I had gotten little sleep on the way so I was a little out of it by the time I met my parents at the airport but it was late anyways. I had them stop at Walmart so I could pick up things I hadn't wanted to pack (like shower stuff I hadn't wanted to take through security and snacks) before heading back to our place. We headed out to IHOP for breakfast (hmm...) then went walking in the Mall of America. As usual, I went into Beadniks, a bead store there, and Barnes and Nobles and spent way too much at both but I rationalize that it will be a while until I'll be in a position to get the stuff in those techniques. (Let's ignore Amazon for now, okay?)

The next day we went to Khan's Mongolian Barbecue for supper (yummy)and Thursday we went to the neighborhood deli. That's about when I realized how short this trip was and how little I would manage to get done of what I'd planned. Anyways, Friday I stayed home and worked on my projects while the parents went out and I didn't leave again until church on Saturday. This morning there were two church services before gifts and a quiet afternoon. It's nice to be home and not have the deadlines and red tape I need to deal with, even if my body thinks it's time to suddenly be wide awake after midnight when I just want to sleep. Oh well, that's the joy of changing time zones.
It's been awesome to be home and see some of my favorite places and people for a holiday designed for family get togethers and memories. I hope you all have an amazing holiday season and the best of luck in the New Year. I hope 2012 is your best year yet and I'll see you next year. :)

Tokyo 2011, Day 1

Last weekend both of my sisters came up to see me. They’d spent much of the week in Tokyo seeing the sights and on Friday afternoon we met in Kamakura and I took them to my new place where we would all sleep for the night before going up to Tokyo for the next two days. After I gave them the (rather short since there’s not a lot there) tour of my apartment, we tried to go to CoCo’s, a curry franchise (the food is the bottom picture and it tastes better than it looks), for supper. A favorite of the locals and the Americans around here, the place was full and the night was cold so we went to a ramen shop down the street. Honestly, I’d never had the ramen there, I’m not much for most soups, but I’d heard rave reviews from those I work with and my sister’s wanted to get the “Japanese experience”. I don’t blame them since one of them was only going to be in Japan for less than a month and I loved the shrimp fried rice the ramen shop sold so we went to eat there. I finally tried some of the ramen there, as we sampled each other’s meals, and it was good but we all agreed that the shrimp fried rice I ordered was the best choice of the three. After that I led them to a bar not far from my place and got us a chuhi to share. They didn’t feel much like drinking alcohol so I only ordered one and drank most of it (they were rather tired and didn’t want the alcohol to make it worse) but I wanted them to try it. The chuhi is a drink I have only found in Japan and can be bought like a soda in a can at any convenience store but around my place, it’s the favorite drink. A mix of club soda, flavored syrup, and a shot or two of strong liquor, depending on how strong it’s ordered, the drink seems like soda and sneaks up on a person. It tastes like a soda and a lot of people drink two or three before it starts to react with them and for some people that is too many. It’s not unusual for people to try it, decide the chuhi tastes good but is weak, and chug another one or two before the effects quickly overtake the person who’s never tried it before. A lot of Americans get very drunk their first night trying chuhis but I only ordered a regular which we each tried/shared so we didn’t really feel it. After they’d tried the chuhi it was time to get back to my warm room to catch up and get some sleep. The next morning we were planning to see my work and be on the train to Tokyo by ten in the morning.
Um, yeah, we left my place late, had breakfast at Cinnabon, and I gave them a tour of my workplace. We got lunch at a convenience store before boarding the train about noon for the two hour train ride up to Shinagawa Station where they had stored their suitcases for the night. On the way we went through a “learn your strengths” list my sister had found in a book and I realized how long it’s been since I had a good debate on psychology, especially about analyzing ourselves and each other. Each one of us has studied psychology with different aims in mind and it made for a very good conversation. My oldest sister is a drama teacher who works with children and young adults as well as doing some acting on the side so she’s studied psychology from a viewpoint of how people learn and how to teach children while my middle sister is in graduate school to be a Christian counselor to actually help people deal with any issues they may have. I just study psychology because it helps me understand people. (If you know me, you probably know I’m a very blunt person and like to know why people do what they do.) Psychology also helps me develop characters for the stories I write but I never intend to use psychology beyond that, except to play devil’s advocate with my friends. Three different perspectives on one topic and the ride just flew by.
After we (okay, my middle sister) navigated us through the Tokyo train system to the place we were staying, we dropped our stuff and went back on the train for the origami museum. We got there less than an hour before it closed at six p.m. and explored some. I’d never realized the intricate folding that could be done to make paper dolls that looked like the real ceramic court dolls sold in Japan or boats full of soldiers or full landscapes of places or crabs. We sat in front of a master folder who folded things like dragon heads and a traditional new years decoration and a puppy and a few other things before we got to pick one to keep and look around the store. I picked the dragon head and also bought some beginner origami books to add to my list of techniques I intend to learn but have yet to get around to before we left. After dark already, we decided to go to Ahkiabara, the area known as electric town. There we could buy just about anything with a current in it and we saw things like usb ports that looked like pieces of sushi, a screen that worked like an etch-a-sketch, antennas and gps gadgets for cars, and a shop that sold robots and parts to make them. By the time we left the neon town behind we were pretty hungry and finally found a sushi place to eat. In an area that didn’t see too many Americans, the patrons at the restaurant and the workers were very helpful. We finally ordered two plates of sushi to share and they brought out some pickled radish pieces for us to try for free. All was very good and we were ready to go back to the ryokan we were staying at. A ryokan is a traditional Japanese hotel with shared restrooms and the traditional shower/tub facilities. In Japan the tradition is that you shower outside the tub and then relax in the tub that is usually a one person Jacuzzi. Quite nice with the carefully manicured ground you could see through a small window by the tub after a long week at work.