For 2 ppl total rm22,058

Flights rm2,471
Hotels rm4,147 (8 nights)
Transport rm1,830 (JR pass, taxi, train, etc)
Food, Snacks rm5,621
Souvenirs/Shopping rm1,411
Ski Rental & Ski School rm5,525
Other Attractions / Activities rm1,053

This post has been edited by deodorant: Mar 3 2019, 05:38 PM

It was quite expensive this time cos the ski school was quite pricey.

Yes, waterproof as long as the snow doesn't get in from the ankles.
Yes, I also wore the same shoes in Tokyo.
They weren't really that comfortable for walking around, but I didn't really want to pack so many pairs of shoes (the ski jacket etc all take up quite a lot of space).

Day 5-8: Myoko Kogen (Akakura Onsen) Ski'ing continued ...

Just random snow photos for today's update.



For ski video remember to check 1st post!



Members of the Japanese Army (cadets, maybe?) doing ski training ...

Day 5-8: Myoko Kogen (Akakura Onsen) Ski'ing continued ...

Hotel lady was really nice, helped us put our ski boots next to the heater to dry overnight.



One of the days we took our bears out for some shots for the bear instagram ...



... also went shopping for some books at the local konbini.



Then next few photos just random shots of all the food we ate during lunchtime (in between morning and evening ski sessions)



The Mapo Tofu Ramen (2nd one) was weird as hell.

Day 5-8: Myoko Kogen (Akakura Onsen) Ski'ing continued ...

Last update for the Ski'ing part of the trip. Wife and I didn't feel like going out again in the cold winter for dinner after onsen, so we opted for half board (i.e. breakfast and dinner) at the ryokan/hotel.



p.s. Hotel name was Kotobukiro. Family run, a little on the pricey side perhaps but service was very good and homely, and food was pretty good. We were also the only guests in the hotel so my wife and I used the same onsen throughout the trip, which was a nice surprise.

Day 5-8: Myoko Kogen (Akakura Onsen) Ski'ing continued ...

After the last day of ski'ing, we taxi'ed / train'ed / shinkansen'ed back to Tokyo, and by sheer luck saw a nice Mt Fuji silhoutte.



We spent our last night in Tokyo in Asakusa instead of Kanda ... to get some nice night views of the Asakusa area!

Day 5-8: Myoko Kogen (Akakura Onsen) Ski'ing continued ...

So on day 8 after we reached Tokyo we decided to go for some yakitori. Ended up visiting Birdland Ginza which supposedly has 1michelin star.



Most of the restaurant is counter seating surrounding the main charcoal grill so you can watch the chef cook up your chicken.



English menu for the two gaijins.



Here comes the food! And yes, the 'char-grilled fillet with Japanese apricot sauce' was served with a rare/medium-rare middle ...

Birdland Ginza dinner continued ...

Birdland Ginza dinner finished



Day 8 end!

spycam Huawei p20pro night mode 🤣
I used to travel with my DSLRs, lenses and flashes but lately been really super lazy, cos phone pics are good enough in 80-90% of scenarios (cos my pics just use to upload FB and forums saja anyway).

This post has been edited by deodorant: Mar 21 2019, 12:25 PM

The flight time is way shorter (flight is therefore also cheaper), and there's only 1hr time diff so you don't need to worry about jetlag.

No comment about price though, never skiied in the americas before so can't compare.

Ryokans generally quite similar in that they use tatami (straw) mats, and the materials used are like, lots of wood, lots of paper. More expensive Ryokans of course will have higher quality furnishings and maybe larger rooms and better service.

Bedding is generally futon, which IMO is the weakest part of the experience, because I've yet to experience a really comfortable futon.





The ryokan may or may not have an attached bathroom (depending on price), however many of them will not have attached shower facilities, you will need to go to the public bath / onsen. The one below is from cheap ryokan so it looks small. Expensive ryokans will have huge, sprawling, onsen (e.g. the one at noboribetsu has like 5 different types of onsen water in dozens of different baths).

Day 9: Asakusa, Ameyoko, Cup Ice Museum, Ueno Park.

Anyway our flight back home was on Day 9, so this is actually just like a half day of sightseeing. First we went to Nakamise area to have our favorite melonpan and taiyaki in the world. Oh we also got some daifuku. Took away everything and went back up to eat in hotel room.



Then we went shopping in Ameyoko (no photo cos well, we were only shopping).

Then we were hungry and saw a double-double cheeseburger photo so we ate McDonalds (looolololol)



Then we went all the way to Sunshine City to do more shopping, and also to re-visit the cup ice museum (the shop that has dozens of weird ice cream flavours like snake, soy sauce, chicken wing), only to find out that it was closed zzzzzzzzzz. So bopian, just go and order some random not nice parfait instead.



Amusingly enough at sunshine city there was this parade of uh ... kids with bow ties and a huge cat ... the namjatown equivalent of the disney parade i guess.