HAPPY at APPI

Ski trip take 2...

This time (January 25th) we headed to APPI Snow Resort. It's a little farther away than Okunakayama and it quite a bit bigger. I agreed to go after seeing that they had a very long all green run. Perfect for me to get some more practice and try out my new skis! Found some used ones at a thrift store for a reasonable price and they're not ugly...score! Also found some cheap poles so all we needed to worry about renting from Outdoor Rec were my boots and I think they only charged me $4 this time. I should mention that the temperature here does not get nearly as cold as we are used to being from the Midwest. Today it got to about 50° F at the base of the mountain and some of the slopes were getting kind of slushy. We definitely dressed warmer than necessary! The average high for Misawa in January is 34° F and average low is 24° F. For comparison, the average low for Lincoln, NE in January is 14° F! Ten degrees may not seem like a big deal, but in my opinion it is! There have been very few days when I walked outside and thought it was "cold." It rarely gets below 20° F here and while we have the occasional windy day, those are not nearly as frequent as we're used to either. So back to skiing...

Random foods of January...guess I took a break from cooking this month!

Looking back at January it seems like we ate out quite a bit. It might have been because we didn't do much of anything else because of the snow or maybe because I was working so much on crocheting that I didn't feel like cooking. Whatever the reason, here are a few new places that we tried and a little info about each.

Not a restaurant, but a little light display in Misawa.

The following are some pictures from a yakiniku and noodle restaurant in Towada. I'm not sure on the name of it. We went there with some friends, two of which were Japanese women. They ordered their favorite, "chicken bones." I asked to try one and they were very shocked and impressed that I did. The "bones" were cartilage. Very interesting texture obviously, and had to chew forever, but the taste was good.

Location: South of Route 10 on Route 4. It's just north of a Circle K. (40.612924, 141.258733)

Beef with garlic, pork and "chicken bones."

Korean cold noodles. Flavored with vinegar
and kimchi to desired spiciness.

Frozen Waterfalls - Oirase Gorge & Lake Towada in winter

What better thing is there to do on a snowy Saturday than go check out a frozen winter wonderland?? We decided to check out the Oirase Gorge (40.518497,140.964103) and Lake Towada (40.430742,140.892496) to see how they are transformed by the cold and snow. 
Side note...yes, I got my haircut. It ended up much shorter than I intended and I regretted it immediately. Sad.

Quick snow update: As of January 13th the season total snowfall is 40.9" so we are catching up to the season average! (44" for this time of the year)

You may remember our visits to "the gorge" and Lake Towada in previous posts. We've been there several times...this time it looked like a completely different place!

Hitting the slopes at Okunakayama!

Ah, our first ski trip of the season...I was so excited. Not really...I haven't had the greatest experiences my previous 2 attempts at the sport. I took a lesson once, but that was 4 years ago and on the second day of the 2 day trip. The first day I basically rolled down the mountain. Didn't really get a chance to practice and absorb what I'd learned. The next time I skied was last year, for one day, when I was half-sick. Couldn't really get into it and felt bad for holding up Keenan and his brother who both wanted to go have fun somewhere other than a green run. 
Keenan says this time will be fine and to stop being nervous! He also says he'll be patient and help me get better. We shall see.

We(I) chose a little ski resort that I'd heard was good for beginners. Not Keenan's first choice I'm sure, but I wanted somewhere that I could learn. 

Okunakayama Kogen. 
Coordinates: 40.082636,141.190385. 
Website (use Chrome browser so it translates for you)
http://www.okunakayamakogen.jp/ski/index.html
It's about 100km (62mi) from Misawa and about a 2 hour drive depending on weather of course. The toll road is usually in pretty decent shape, it's once you get beyond there that things can get a little dicey. The tolls are about 4000¥ roundtrip.

Our local grocery store has this... & Here's to the New Year!

Haven't taken many pictures when I'm at the local stores off base. I should take more, the selections are interesting! Slowly I'll get some of each department. Here's a few of the sushi and bakery selections at one of the stores. It's hard not to buy "bread treats" every time we're there. Japanese people love their bread and pastries even though they're not a traditional Japanese food. 

980¥ = $9.80 for the entire tray...pretty good deal!

The bottom trays are ~$20.