Japan: That’s A Wrap!
I just got home from a long, fantastic trip to Japan. The entire trip was incredible- we lucked out on snow conditions in both places (Niseko and Asahidake) as it started to dump as soon as I arrived at each location. I got to ski with some new people (Ingrid Backstrom) and some familiar people in new locations (Justin Dorey, Mike Riddle and Julian Carr). I was able to push myself in terrain other than a halfpipe and got to ski in Japan outside of a competition for the first time!
The skiing was phenomenal, but there is so much more to Japan than just what takes place on the snow. (See previous posts for ski pictures!) So, I headed down to Tokyo with John Roderick (www.neuproductions.com), Erik Seo and Julian Carr to spend 4 days in the surrounding area. We visited Kamakura and saw the Hachiman-gu Shrine and The Great Buddah; we took a bullet train to see Mt. Fuji and ended up stumbling upon a seaside town called Atami; we took in the sights and sounds in Tokyo itself (Shibuya, Roppongi, Akhiabara and Shinagawa) and got a great dose of refreshingly cool culture.
It feels nice to be home, and though I’m ready to sleep in my own bed, Japan was the perfect supplement to my contest filled season. I was thrilled to be able to spend that time with such wonderful people and I thoroughly enjoy the irony that the most time I’ve spent with my boyfriend in the last 6 months was 7,000 miles from home!
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- Buildings near our hotel in Shinagawa.
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- Soup for dinner! We cooked that meat in our soup at our table!
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- Chicken Skin, Chicken Liver, Chicken Spine, Chicken Heart. Eek.
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- John, Julian and Seo train bound for Kamakura.
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- Sites as we blast out of Tokyo.
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- Deep in thought on this train ride!
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- Cute building in Kamakura.
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- Very cute restaurant in Kamakura.
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- Chopsticks from the chopstick store!
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- Hachiman-gu Shrine.
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- A Monk performing a ritual at Hachiman-gu.
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- Prayer flags at Hachiman-gu.
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- A hard-candy coated strawberry with powdered sugar and ritz cracker. YUM!
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- The stairway to Hachiman-gu shrine.
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- Julian at the Torri Gates in Hachiman-gu.
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- Torri Gates at Hachiman-gu.
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- Me at the Torri Gates in Hachiman-gu.
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- A look back on Kamakura.
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- Fortune blocks.
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- The Great Buddah of Kamakura.
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- Julian and The Great Buddah.
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- Julian checking out the pier at Atami.
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- Very happy Julian.
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- The seaside of Atami.
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- The sign says it all.
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- An old castle now a museum for the Atmai Doll Collection.
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- Almost a bird’s eye view of Atami.
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- Strange castle.
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- Sunset in Tokyo.
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- Julian likes it.
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- Sunset keeps getting better!
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- Julian still likes the view, especially from the 39th floor!
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- And still better.
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- Night lights.