Yuni-Cho!!!

Last Saturday, we didn't have naginata practice so we decided to take a little road trip since we finally have a car that's reliable (thanks to our friend who finally went back to America- Hi Rob!) The weather was still fine so it was our last chance to take the car out for a spin before the landscape freezes. Actually this was a pretty big road trip since it was the first time Ryan's driven outside of Sapporo. And he did great! Of course, he had a pretty great navigator at his side (his LEFT side!!!).

Ryan focusing on the road.

OMG we're on the wrong side of the road!

We decided to go to Yuni-cho, a small town about 40 minutes outside of Sapporo. It's a very rural area with a population of about 6,000. There isn't much there except lots and lots of farmland.




So why would we go there?! Farms mean cows and cows mean milk and milk means...ICE CREAM!!! Of course we couldn't really justify driving an hour and a half just for ice cream (actually, I can but Ryan can't) so we made a few stops along the way.

Our first stop was lunch at the Farm Stand, a soup curry restaurant. Well, we had no idea that it would be so busy. We had to wait for about an hour to be seated! At least there was a lot to see while we waited. The restaurant had a really nice rustic feel to it- wooden beams and lots of natural light. There was also a separate cafe area with a nice selection of cake slices.

Ryan is so happy to be out of the car!

Walkway into the restaurant

The Farm Yard!

We became very well acquainted with these two piggies.
And this cute squirrel!

The waiting room

We were able to look at the menu while we waited and decide what to order for lunch as well as what cakes we would order to bring home after our meal. I also found a really cute pair of acorn shaped glass earrings.

I kept looking for a pair that was brown with green leaves but all the brown ones had purple leaves!

I love carrot cake!! Yes, this is a picture an almost half-eaten carrot cake.
We also took home a blueberry baked cheesecake and a raspberry tart (that we gave to a friend for her birthday later that night).

We both ended up getting the vegetable soup curry but of course Ryan had to get the hottest spice setting while I opted for one between mild and hottest. The soup curry was divine! I was really impressed by it. I thought that the spices were just right and the vegetables were perfectly cooked and so fresh.

The dining area

Tea and fresh flowers

Happy to finally be seated!

I had to beg him to take a "nice" picture for once.

My salad with herb dressing

Ryan opted for tomato dressing.

Ryan's soup curry with shredded cheese topping.

My soup curry with garlic chip topping for my rice.

That's a whole potato in there! It was so luscious!

Ryan does not approve of this corn being in his soup curry.

After lunch we headed for ice cream at Ushigoya Ice Cream on the North Star Dairy Ranch. I think the ranch includes a few other facilities like a bakery and some sports stuff but we were mainly interested in the ice cream and the dog run.

I wanted to see real cows but these were the only ones I found at the ranch!

What a cute and quaint building!

But the inside is quite different!

Welcome to Rastaland! I mean Ushigoya Ice Cream!

Can you see the owner behind the counter with the Jamaican headband and dreads?

Here's a doll that looks like her!

There are many flavors to choose from and even soft serve and a maze-maze aisu (mix-mix ice cream; basically like Coldstone) option.

Actually these are suggestions for mixed ice cream combinations.
I guess I forgot to get a shot of the board with the ice cream flavors.

This is a board showing all the toppings they have.

Of course we opted for maze-maze aisu (mix-mix ice cream) mixed on a cold stone by the proprietor herself, Ya-chan!

It's a cold stone!

Ya-chan handing Ryan his ice cream.

Ryan got the 雲の中のバナナ (kumo no naka no banana) which means something like "bananas in the clouds." It had bananas, custard, whipped cream, sliced chocolate, pecans, hazelnuts, cornflakes, cocoa powder, and something called maple rock but I don't know what that means. She asked Ryan to choose more ingredients to put in and he added some kind of nut but neither of us can remember.

I got 濃厚チョコナッツチーズ (noukou choco nattsu chiizu) which means "rich chocolate, cheese and nuts." It had cream cheese, peanut butter, pistachios, almonds, hazelnuts, coconut, peanuts, chocolate flakes, chocolate slices and about 3 other chocolate flavored ingredients. I also added some chocolate crunchies. IT WAS SO GOOD!!! I am totally justified in using capital letters and three exclamation points. This was the most awesome ice cream I've ever had. Hands down. I was in heaven. How could I have lived this long without ever even thinking about mixing cream cheese into my ice cream?

This is heaven.

Ryan and his ice cream. He's so happy he forgot how to smile.

Ryan enjoying his ice cream

After we finished our ice cream, we had a long drive back to Sapporo. But first, I had to make Ryan stop at a large たまごの家 (tamago no ie), literally "egg house." I saw it on the internet and I couldn't leave Yuni-cho without visiting it and buying GOLDEN EGGS. From a vending machine.

A magical egg house in the middle of nowhere

Golden eggs! From a vending machine!

These golden eggs are all mine!

The golden eggs are some kind of smoked hard boiled eggs and are so tasty! Reminds me of the eggs you can buy from the cart sellers in Chinatown. Ryan says they taste like cheese.





Here's some pictures I snapped on the way home:

A random island of trees next to a small cemetary

I think this is the town proper. It was very small and deserted.

On the road home, sun setting.

What a great road trip! I look forward to many more (after winter, of course). I'll leave you with this photo of Ryan smiling naturally:

P.S. More updates to come soon about really really old topics like our trips in May and August and something about a Naginata tournament.

Hokkaido Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Scrimmage

A few weeks ago my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gym held a small scrimmage. My coach invited a few other clubs based in Hokkaido and we all got together in a local University's dojo for some friendly match-making. Since the BJJ membership in Hokkaido is pretty small, competitions are few and far between. So, this was a great chance for everyone to get more fight experience.

Normally, the brackets are comprised of different weight-classes and experience levels (grouped by belt color). But because of the low numbers, the tournament was divided up into three divisions sans weight-classes.

1. Beginner-Intermediate Gi: This was a combination of white belt, blue belt, and purple belt fighters. Jane and I both competed in this division (Jane is a white belt and I'm a blue belt). There was only one other girl (blue belt), who is actually also from our club, so Jane and her really didn't experience anything new. But it still provided a good opportunity to work through competition jitters. Since Jane's opponent was of a higher skill level, the results were pretty much expected, but Jane did her best. You can also hear my terrible coaching here. :)



I managed to defeat my first two opponents (a white belt and a fellow blue belt) via triangle choke.





During my third match I was paired up with a purple belt. It turned out to be a very close fight. But I ended up losing due to an advantage point (used to break ties).



The former High School Judo champion of Hokkaido ended up defeating my adversary in the next match and took the tournament.

2. Advanced Gi: The brown and black belts were put together for the advanced portion of the scrimmage. A guy from our club actually won this portion of the day.

3. No-Gi Grappling: I can probably count the number of times I've fought without wearing a Gi on my two hands. But I was given the opportunity to obtain more experience so I decided to throw my hat in the ring. I was pretty out of my element and lost my only match pretty badly. I did manage to score a few points though. Unfortunately, our camera ran out of room so we weren't able to catch a good clip.

In related news, we've got another Naginata tournament to prepare for in a weeks! Gotta get back to training!

-Ryan

54th Hokkaido Naginata Competition

Sorry for that long intermission! It's amazing how busy one can get!

The last few months have truly been a whirlwind of events. And not to prolong this post any further, here's one of them!

Back in June we had the All Hokkaido Naginata Championship.

The competition was divided into three parts.

1. Engi - This is basically a Kata competition. What's a Kata? Well, it's essentially a demonstration of the main ideas and techniques found in the art done solo or with other practitioners. Naginata features two types with many sets contained within each. One is done with the basic Naginata made with the bamboo blade. The other is done with a full wood Naginata replica. The latter is generally reserved for high ranked players however. The former is practiced in every class and contains 8 movements in total. During competition, two sets of competitors perform three of the eight (they are pre-determined many weeks before the competition date to give everyone ample time to prepare) and the judges decide which pair has performed them closer to perfection.

Jane and I were paired up for the competition. Somehow we managed to win our first match!



Unfortunately, though expectantly, we lost our remaining matches to some very seasoned veterans.

2. Test - Well, this is pretty self-explanatory. After the Engi portion of the competition. Myself, Jane, and many of the High School competitors took an exam to receive rank in Naginata. The initial part consisted of demonstrating the first five of the basic Kata. After that, we took a paper test (of course in Japanese!). I've got video of our written exam but I'll spare you that!



3. Shiai - OK, here's the real meat of it. Shiai is when we strap on our Bogu (armor) and go at it full force with each other. This was definitely the most nerve-wracking portion of the day. Being the most inexperienced, both of us had no illusions that we would have any chance of standing on the podium at the end of the day. But somehow I did! I took 3rd place!...out of five.






-Ryan

Some Thoughts about the Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Plant Emergency

I feel a little strange about moving on with the blog until something is said about the continuing struggle that Japan is enduring.

As you all know, on March 11, Japan was hit by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake subsequently resulting in a major tsunami and setting off a detrimental chain of events at Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant 1 and 2. The government has named the disaster the "Great Eastern Japan Earthquake" (東日本大震災, Higashi Nihon Daishinsai). I don't think I have to list all the numbers and statistics.

Fortunately for us, we were and still are completely out of harm's way. It feels surreal to read and watch the news. Life is just the same as it was before. There's no shortage of food, no power outages, no panic. Perhaps the only inconvenience we've noticed is the lack of batteries. I know that there are ongoing problems with the nuclear plant but please don't worry too much about us. We are safe where we are. When our neighbors begin to panic, then we'll reassess our situation.

Though we are not physically affected by the disaster, I am heartbroken by the devastation in Tohoku. I wish I could do more to help. I have given what I can to the relief efforts and am joining a walkathon to raise more. In case you want to donate as well here's a good link.

The Japanese spirit says that we should all accept what has happened and work together now to move beyond it. There is no pity party, no dwelling on things lost. They are stoic and courageous in this disaster and I think we can learn quite a few things from their reaction.

Earthquake and Tsunami

Just thought I'd put a note on the blog letting our readers we are OK! (Though most of our readers probably already know.) It was business as usual here today except for a little shaking. We even went to BJJ class and discussed how the building we were in probably wasn't earthquake safe.

We are pretty horrified by all the destruction going on elsewhere and are thankful that we are safe in Sapporo. Don't worry about us!

Rusutsu Revisited

From Rusutsu Revisited

Last weekend we went back to Rusutsu and it is still awesome! Just looking at the pictures now, I'm blown away. Again the forecast was for light snow and this time it was true. We had a pretty nice "greybird day" (not quite bluebird but close). It wasn't the powder wonderland/nightmare we had first experienced but it was quite nice especially considering the warm weather we had been experiencing.

(On a side note, it has been snowing like crazy in Sapporo recently which bodes well for skiing this weekend, I think. And I love snow so let it snow!)

So, without the knee deep powder, how was Rusutsu? I'd say that it definitely stands out among all the resorts we've been to. It's probably in my top 3 along with Furano and Tomamu. I don't really have much to add that I didn't already say about it before- it's a big resort, nice long runs, great snow, and some steepness. I do have to add a little bit about the view though!

From Rusutsu Revisited

Rusutsu has it all- a view of Mt Yotei (considered Hokkaido's Fuji), Lake Toya AND the Pacific Ocean. Yotei was in full effect that day. It was so grand and majestic with its peak cutting right through the clouds. But even more breathtaking than that was seeing Lake Toya in the distance, shrouded in mist and mountains like a fairytale and just beyond it the flat serenity of the Pacific Ocean. Ah, it was spectacular!

From Rusutsu Revisited

From Rusutsu Revisited

We had a good day. Ryan was even able to realize his dream of being a "human sled," which was just as fun for me. I was also able to ride the carousel this time AND we had ice cream. Also, I think my skiing is much improved. But in case you're thinking I'm probably a pro skier now, think again. I was totally schooled by two little girls on an expert course. Hahaha. At first it looked like they were being forced by their dad, one of them was even sitting down at the trailhead in what I thought was defiance. A few seconds later, they had gained on me and were carving like racers right past me. I have a long ways to go before I can catch up to those 8 year-olds. Haha.

From Rusutsu Revisited

Here's the album:

Rusutsu Revisited