Posts Tagged With: ramen

So the day started early and the scenery outside the inn was looking amazing. Simply amazing. No other word for it.

Within the first run down Hanazono though I managed to lose my right ski glove (there one minute, caught in a gust of wind the next) and also was having serious issues with my boots. My left foot kept going completely numb which meant I would go to turn and just fall on my ass. After buying new gloves (uhhh money) we decided to catch the lifts up Hanazono and the ski down through To Hirafu. This seemed like a good idea….until my foot stayed numb and I just kept falling over. Not only that but visibility basically disappeared and by the time we finally made it to the base I was pretty stressed out. So I sent B off to board on his own (so he gets to do fun stuff) and made my way into the village to go to Rhythm Snow Sports who have boot fitters on site, by the time I made it (walking in ski boots, on ice, down a 45 degree incline) I was….not a happy snow panda.

The guy at the snow sports place was awesome though. He helped me work out why my legs were hurting so much, gave a few suggestions to alleviate the numbness (heel lifts) and also made me feel like I wasn’t a complete moron for being stressed out. I was with him for over an hour and he only charged me for the heel lifts as well as offering to help me again if I have the same issues tomorrow. So now I was feeling happy again and caught the shuttle back to Hanazono, then met up with B and we came back to the inn. Here’s a photo of us taking selfies at Hirafu hahaha or getting ready to rob a bank….

After we got back the inn folk drove us up to the niseko Weiss hotel which has an onsen inn guests are allowed to access for half price (only ¥335). It was beautiful. This was literally it, although this is a day time pic and we went at night (can’t take photos in there because of all the nakies):

Tonight we went to Nakama for dinner again! Same place as our first night but this time I was determined to try their famous ramen. It lived up to the reputation.

We also had gyoza dumplings and kimchi dumplings which were a house specialty (spicy outer). I think I am a little obsessed with ramen and dumplings at the moment – this is the 3rd meal of ramen I’ve had in 24hrs!

We were waiting for our driver and feeling a little guilty about sitting in a small family restaurant and not ordering more so this conversation happened:

B: we could order icecream
Me: I can’t. I can’t fit anymore in.
B: but icecream is just like water – right?
*loosens his belt a notch*

So we had icecream.

At the end of the meal they gave us some super cute New Years charms and I told the chef his meal was “oishedesu” (excuse spelling) which means delicious! I was pretty proud of that. Also proud I can count to ten in Japanese and B can’t hahahaha….thank you year 7 japanese classes!

Another day in the snow tomorrow, here’s hoping the heel lifts help and my leg stays awake this time 🙂

So after lots of napping and resting we decided to actually leave the inn for the first time today and go out to dinner at Nakama again (same place from our first night) and try their signature dish – ramen! Unfortunately it is New Year’s Day so they were closed. Boo!

Instead, the inn recommended we try Aji no tokedai which is a noodle house near Kutchan with the added advantage of being next to a supermarket so I could grab some snacks.

This was my first go at sitting in the traditional style and I did pretty well….until my foot went completely numb and I had to jiggle around like a ninny. B failed miserably and I spent about half the meal laughing at him awkwardly trying to not fall on the floor or kick over the table. He was also wearing jeans which didn’t help!

I had Japanese pork ramen with miso and it looked (and tasted) delicious.

B had chilli ramen but not too spicy and that looked really good as well, we also split some dumplings. I love dumplings. I could live solely off dumplings.

After dinner we walked over the the Max Valu supermarket and attempted to work out what Japanese foods were what. As you can see our shopping basket was full of amazingly healthy things…..

Early night tonight in preparation for a full day back on the snow tomorrow!! Hope you all had a wonderful first day of 2014 🙂