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.

2010 Christmas Ski Trip And End of the Year Recap

Hello, readers! Jane here. It is an unusual weekday night for us- we decided to stay in and relax instead of going to BJJ. Winter is in full force now- it has been snowing everyday for the last 10 days and the forecast is for more snow every day for the next 5 days. And after that? Probably more snow.

We definitely didn't get this much snow in such a short period of time last year. We are running out of places to put the snow! The snow in front of our apartment building has reached the first floor balconies and the building is occasionally shaken by accumulated snow falling off the roof. The school next door already has quite a sizable ski hill for the kids to practice on. The sidewalks and the streets are now separated by 5 foot walls of snow and pedestrians are side stepping each other on the narrow pathways. It is a true winter wonderland! I only hope that this keeps up because it is tons of fun for me and bodes well for an awesome ski season.

So how much skiing have we done so far? Well, admittedly not as much as we should be doing. But we'll be remedying that soon! Actually, the season was delayed by about two weeks at most resorts and if they did open, courses were limited.

The best time for us to go on an extended ski trip was for the Christmas/New Year week. We visited our favorite ski resort, Furano and tried out a new place for us, Kamui Ski Links. Both resorts had basically opened around the week before we came and conditions were less than stellar- certainly not up to par with last year's conditions. Still, it was great to be back skiing at our favorite ski town (even though our favorite runs were closed still!). One shouldn't really complain when there's good hard pack on the ground, no lines at the lifts and good weather.

After skiing three days in Furano, we transferred over to Asahikawa city. This is the second largest city in Hokkaido, boasts a fine ramen and is home to the northernmost zoo in Japan, which is the first place we visited after we checked our luggage into our hotel. (And beyond those three things, Asahikawa offered little else.)

Asahiyama Zoo is an extremely popular zoo. I even read that it is often competing only with Ueno Zoo in Tokyo in annual number of visitors. They even have a special zoo train that runs between Sapporo and Asahikawa, complete with cars named after animals and animal shaped chairs. Have you ever seen a giraffe in the snow? How about a lioness in the snow? Maybe this happens in zoos in America but we never thought about it?

In the winter, the zoo's most famous attraction is, of course, the penguin walk. It is actually as awesome as it sounds. Twice a day, they open the penguin exhibit and march the penguins around. The penguins walk right past you. Watch the video- I am not zoomed in at all. Those penguins are IN MY FACE. (You might have to click the picture and have another window open up to watch the video.)

From Christmas Ski Trip 2010

Two other features I really liked was the vertical tube that the seals would swim through and the underwater view of the penguin exhibit.

From Christmas Ski Trip 2010

From Christmas Ski Trip 2010

We spent the the next three days skiing at Kamui Ski Links. The conditions were similar to Furano. The resort is bit small- could have spent one day exploring it but it was pretty fun and relaxing. I especially liked the link run between peaks. It was a slightly narrow, ungroomed run that caused me a lot of anxiety but was also a lot of fun. We watched some guys practicing some competitive mogul skiing and pulling some awesome tricks. Kamui was also full of racers of all ages. Overall, a pretty nice mountain and is probably great when the conditions are better.

We arrived back in Sapporo on New Year's Day, after an uneventful New Year's Eve. (We watched Dynamite MMA on TV until we got sleepy and dozed off as some drumming and cheering floated into our room from outside.) New Year's Day in Sapporo was hectic. I don't think I've ever seen the station so lively. There were huge sales in all the stores and fukubukuro (lucky bags) aplenty. Basically you buy a fukubukuro at a set price (usually somewhere between 5000 Yen and 10000 Yen for bigger stores) and you can't see what's inside until after you buy it. You might end up with something you already own or something you wouldn't ever wear but you'll have gotten it at a killer bargain price!

Christmas takes a backseat to New Year celebrations here in Japan. Oshogatsu (the beginning of the year) is a time for visiting with friends and family, going to the temple, eating symbolic food and drinking lots of sake. On January 2nd, we were invited to eat and drink with the family of one of the teachers Ryan works with. I ate whale soup and salmon jerky. Ryan drank lots of "demon killer" sake and was even able to meet a maiko (apprentice geisha).

From Oshogatsu Celebrations

And to round out my oshogatsu, I visited the Hokkaido Shrine with a friend of mine and paid my respects to the kami (spirits/natural forces/gods).

It was a whirlwind trip and a whirlwind new year...and it didn't end there for me- I went to Hawaii less than a week after coming back. But that's for another post.

Please enjoy our new layout! The background is Ryan in Furano, patiently waiting for me to stop taking pictures and start skiing! Some of the new pages are still under construction but it'll all be done this week. Thanks for reading! And please view the rest of the pictures at the links below:

Christmas Ski Trip 2010

Oshogatsu Celebrations