On the 4th day in Matsumoto, we went to the hotspring, which was super awesome.
And on the 5th day we were running out of things to do, because Matumoto is a small town. But there’s one thing i’d really reeeeeeeeeally love doing. That was to see snow.
This winter had been warmer than usual, and it hardly ever snowed for the past few weeks. we could go to the ski mountain, which is a little far (like, 40mins from home, which is really far by their definition), and rumor had it that we might not see snow. Plus, weather forecast said that it would rain that day.
I wanted to cry liao. It was my last day in Nagano and i was leaving for Tokyo the next day, and it was unlikely for me to see snow in Tokyo. Or Kansai. This would be my last chance.
Anyway, we decided to try our luck. Woke up early and Otousan drove us to Mount Norikura.
I was praying and praying that at least there would be some snow up the mountain top. I didn’t want much, i just wanna touch and feel and step on it and grab a handful and let it melt on my palm. For the first time in my life.
It was a long and winding journey up the mountain.
And then…
I saw white mushy stuff along the roadside!!!!!
WAAAAA! WHITE!!!
And on roof tops!!! Arhhhhhh SO HAPPY!
We parked our car and got down. I was deliriously excited, running around and touching the snow (even though it was quite dirty la). And scrunch and press and smash and poke and kick and throw and did everything i could possibly think of doing to snow. I just needed to put it into my mouth to comeplete my first snow encounter crash course.
I know la, i sound very paisehful, but well when you saw snow for the first time you were also liddat right! Right? Right right right? What turf.
First time stepping on real snow.
And we realized people came to Norikura from all over the country. These are the photos of different car plates i took. All from different prefecture!
People came from as far as Akida!
Kai with his failed peace sign =P
Ai rolling up a snowball!
Me eating senbei.
Unfortunately it wasn’t open for skiing yet. So we could only do slide. They call it sori. (Ok ok sori. Oops, always can’t resist the joke. Sori. :/)
Pulling the sori up the hill.
Kai and I.
Yuriko and Ai.
Ai and I.
Ok at this point i’m so glad this is in writing, because if i had to illustrate these pictures verbally, it would be so confusing. Ai and i and i and Ai?
Ai is so cute!! (See what i mean? People might think i sound like some hopeless megalomaniac!!!)
Kai trying to build a snowman.
Yuriko helped Kai with it.
Nakamura Family, and a deformed snowman.
Later we had lunch in a restaurant that has an awesome view like wallpaper!
Right after lunch it started raining. So the weather forecast was accurate after all. We were really really lucky we managed to have a few fun hours with snow before it started pouring. 😀
And went back home.
Next up: Leaving Nagano to Tokyo.
wow nice ohhh hot spring i never have been to a hot spring…. think it must be really relaxing
I was only in those wellness pools in the swimming pool…
Wow how super cute can it be to read about somebodys first experience with snow!!!
but i would really say that you had quite alot snow…
I btw began to not like snow that much anymore
my experience with snow:
first days: everything is super beautiful and white
after approximatly 5 days: parks are still beautifully white, but all the roads are covered in brown,black snow mud and if you try to walk through that mud you will definitly get wet shoes…
lol you again!!!! =P
of course me again!!!!
and i tell you:
you are blogging at exactly the time i am looking at your blog
telepacheese!!!
lol yeah 😀
that must be it 😀
but damn thats really a nice/cool idea
would be fun if it were true 😀
aiks this comment went into mod again!
normal people try to get their blog easily accessible by using feed readers, signing it up on all kind of websites
but cheesie does not need all that she is using telepathy
and i really think it is a good marketing technique
Also imagining cheesie as a fairy is kinda cute 😀
Haha all my friends who lived through winter b4 say the same!!!
But all my friends who saw snow for the first time also sameeeee!!!
Lol well thats understandable
I love reading your blog cause I get to see so much of the place I’ll retire to….but I’ll be living in Okinawa!! Okinawa rocks..
🙂 i still have a couple of entries. I wanna go Okinawa too!
yea… i know wat u mean. d 1st time i saw snow last month, i played in snow for hours n hours n hours till i sprained my ankle and had to go to d doc. going to d doc wasnt all that bad, telling her that i sprained my ankle cos i was chasing the guys, and being chased by the guys was embarrassing!
but it was all worth it anyways.
why so cham one!! is this ur first time commenting? 🙂
Ringo,
You and the children look like you were having great fun.
However, every first-time experience playing in the snow includes making a snow angel! ! ! !
If you do not know what a snow angel look like, copy and paste this link:
http://www.kimberlyrolfe.com/family.html
The second picture shows Kat making a snow agnel.
Next winter try learning to ski!
Great fun, just remember to take a lesson from a qualified intstructor!
David
u mean like, arms waving up down up down ah. how does it work
Ringo,
You are correct!
Lay in the snow, dressed appropriatlely, wave the arms up and down a few times, and move legs apart a few time, and you will have made a snow Angel.
Please, please, please, post pictures when you make your first snow
Angel!!!
David
Wow……nice pic u got there. Mind telling me what’s that small hiragana represent on every car plate in japan??
wa. beats me. i also wanna know. i asked TK u know what he said?
“i dunno”
I definitely plan to go Japan one day especially with my love one in the future. You blog gives me a rough idea on where to go 😀 Anymore suggestions?
Btw is it difficult going around there without being able to speak Japanese? I know you can but for other people. Do you think it would be difficult?
i dont think so! Japanese people are very patient and friendly. I’m sure you can manage it. Knowing how to read mandarin is a plus.
Ya the first time you step on it, damn nice one!!!
3 days later you’ll jump away when the cars come near you eewww
i havent even gone past the 3rd hour let alone 3 days later
You should go skiing wei, damn best.
wa if i could i would have!
Hehe the snowman looks a bit like Shin Chan!
Um, and no, I wasn’t like that when I first saw snow 😛 I don’t quite know why though…
haha ya meh!! how can!!!
shin chan is liddat one meh lol
yayyy what a fun trip u had …
cant wait for the rest .. kai wa kawainee ^^ n u2 of course
🙂
ada salji syoknya!
walao i totally forgot about the word salji lol. eh i ask you, what is spring called? like season spring. i know autumn is musim luruh
I haven’t left a comment for so long.
Spring = musim bunga, summer = musim panas, winter = musim sejuk
I knew it!!!! You know, that day i took a taxi to KLIA, so i was chatting with the Malay cab driver la. He asked where im going then i said Taipei. Then he ask, now is musim ape? Is it Musim Luruh. I said no, it is, erm, spring, what do you call spring in Malay? Is it musim Bunga or something. And he thought for a very long time and he was like, i dunno.
-_-
Btw thanks for commenting again!! Like the new system or not! 🙂
Yeah love the new comment page but why do I get a purple monster as my avatar?
I like ‘sori’ too. Never knew what it was called until now. But we just used this huge canvas, and sled down the hill with 5 ppl. We felt all the bumps on our bums.
sounds like fun! eh why u in aus now!!!
I just orbed myself there. wtf. Dunno why..
One thing I find absolutely annoying about snow is how slippery it gets after awhile. I fell twice. 🙁
But I absolutely salute the Japanese girls to be able to trot around in their high heels in full speed.
Wow. Really liked the landscape. It’s just amazing. Also, all your the photos look just GREAT! Wish I could play with snow one day. Did you make an angel out of the snow?
no, didnt know snow angel exist lol
sliding on that thing does give people a rough idea what it feels like delivering a baby
lol, like lotsa excitement and you scream out loud…
eh i dont get this metaphor sorry >_<
You obviously haven’t had a baby
No i obviously haven’t :/
I meant the aeroplane1234 guy/gal, not you.
Then again, I would go through labor all over again, it was quite an experience 🙂
lol really!!! Didn’t know you have a baby!!
Quite understandable
http://adriannekee.blogspot.com/2008/07/labor-story.html
Read at your own risk
Adrianne for some reason that statement sounds very very very wrong haha! Or it could just be me 😛 anyway it’s very brave of u to go through labour again, is it really that beautiful? 😀
Hello chriso, which statement? ‘Read at your own risk’?
Yes, labor was painfully beautiful. Which is why I love my mum! No love is greater than a mother’s love for bringing a child into the world (for the right reasons lah)
I’m sure you’ll understand when fatherhood comes a’calling ;P
snow is nice for a few hours, and then u wish it’ll just go away already. :/
haha not yet!!! not enough just yet!!!
KY,
The snow is always nice. Here in North America you learn to live with snow during the winter! Along with temps way below 0C! This winter the coldest days were around -30C.
Sadly, spring is near, song birds are now heard in the morning, and any snow is found around 240 miles north of 43 N.
I like snow and I like to ski!
David
never seen a real snow.. i need to go somewhere where there is winter… 😀
jom
WAH!!! so syok leh … so did you get to experience the snow falling down on you?
like snowing? yea a little when i was in nara
the pict u took with ai was very very very pretty.
Thank you ! 🙂
Nice pics!!!
love the snow!
But aint the snow slides(buckets) a bit too small for an adult? >.<”
Lolx….
haha just nice!! 🙂
it’s akita prefecture, not akida
finland!!!!
your white boots! not sakit meh weih… looks damn bitchy to the feet! o.O
one of the most comfy ever! really!
Cindy,found tis in frenster.
http://profiles.friendster.com/najiama
Sori looks so fun 😛 I think it’s better than skiing 😀
u not scared sitting on the sleighride meh 😛
is it akiTA or akiDA?
there is akiTA in the northen of JApan.but I never heard of akiDA.
btw,I think that Kogawa is much jauh from akita.
as kogawa is in Shikoku.
maybe I am wrong.just sharing~
Ringo,
Happy Spring Equinox!!!! Yes the first day of spring is here.
Here at 43N in North America the current condition of springs arrival looks like this”
-4.0 °C
Clear
Humidity: 55%
Wind: Calm
Visibility: 16.1 kilometers
Dew Point: -12 °C
Precipitation: 0% Chance of Rain
Air quality: Good
Pressure: 1031.4 hPa
Clear blue skies everwhere, the sun is shining, and yes it is a balmy -4C outside.
Yes I wore a warm jacket and gloves this morning. Saturday the temps go up to 10C! ! !
I cannot wait. . .
David
Ringo,
There snow in Michigan, just travel 500 miles to the northern tip of the upper penninsula.
Check out the ice and snow visible on these webcams:
http://www.pasty.com/bridge/bridge_picture.asp
David
I wanna touch the Snow too!! Oh My god…so how does it feel Cheesie??
did you really taste it??
hitomi,
1. Snow simply feels cold. Depending on the temperature during the snowfall will make the snowflakes either small and more crystalline, the kind that feels almost like sugar, and perhaps a little hard when one first touches.
The warmer the temps the bigger and softer the snowflake. Big flakes are fluffy, until they are compressed by more snow.
Snow is frozen water so it sort of taste like an icecube, except it melts in your mouth faster than icecubes. That said, snow taste like water! (no surprise there.)
David
COol!! does it snow when May to August in UK??
hitomi,
I cannot speak on the UK as I live in the U.S.A. on the other side of the pond as the Brits say.
The latest recorded snowfall in my part of Michigan,
lat 42.504970, lon: -83.000035 was way back in 1961 snow flurries fell in May 26th. Measurable snowfalls actaully become rare by mid April.
David
You are resident at USA??
I see…sounds bit statistical to me ^^
hitome,
I do indeed live in the U.S.A. I sound statisitical.
Hmm, do not know what to make of that. If I mention that I live in Michigan, where we have all 4 seasons, and that the state looks sort of like a mitten would that enable you to find us on a map. The lat and lon make finding any location easy.
BTW right now, rain outside with a temp of 6C.
David
Lately it has been hot and cold. Sure will get sick soon…
Oh…how is living in Michigan like??
Erm…why not you come over to my blog haha….later cheesie said we spammed her comments LOL
The kids are so kawaii~~~!
How I wish I can go Japan and play snowfight!!!! ^_^