from the twisted minds of snm
Mad dash to get out of condo to catch bus. Close to a foot of fresh fluff on village walks. Early in the morning, I entertained the thought of putting the board back together, running downstairs, and ninja a run down the stairs and down the mall. I think if they catch you it’s a healthy fine though.
Anyway, we are at YVR BK with the farewell poutine. No travel issues, down here it’s rain.
So does the 25cm flu work on airplane tickets? Of course overnight before the day we leave, 24cm has fallen and it is still going, winds are calm, the day is forecast for partly sunny, it’s a weekday with deserted village. Curses!
Can’t complain, we got some decent stuff, but man, this looks so choice.
So yet again the fire alarm has gone off at our accommodations. There are a bunch of unhappy cold people mulling about.
Everytime this seems to happen.
So we were fooling around Bigfoot’s Jump Playground, and for some reason I decided to video capture Taro riding through some fun tracks, but instead caught this:
[flashvideo file=media/P1010896.flv /]
Good job! Thankfully the previously wrist injury wasnt made more serious.
One of the fun things about travelling around Japan is trying out regional food and beer. While in Iwanai on the Southwest coast of Hokkaido on the Sea of Japan, I had a chance to try this local offering. Considering that the farming belt above the coastal town of Iwanai was where hops were first cultivated in Japan, and this is where Sapporo Breweries sources the hops for their “all Hokkaido” Hokkaido Meibutsu “gold can” lager, I was expecting at some kind of mind-altering hops experience from this beer, particularly since it was labelled a “pilsner”. I was disappointed. Perhaps I should have been expecting something more from the “deep ocean seawater” also called out on the bottle labelling of this rather watery beer. This is another case like the Otaru Bakushu beers where you can start out with premium ingredients and still produce an unremarkable beer. The initial pour and good head excited me, but the first sip fell flat. There was a good carbonation dry bite, but as that faded out, it was replaced with neither a malty richness nor a hoppy bitterness. There was a faint flowery hop aroma if I tried really hard to detect it, but it was otherwise a rather bland beer. I guess I should be glad that it was mild and easily drinkable, as opposed to being strongly flavored in a negative way. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either. Continue reading ‘Beer is Good – Iwanai Ji-biiru Lager’
As a follow-up to the review of the “green letter” Sapporo Classic, I dutifully tested a “blue letter” Classic. Between the two, I can say the 2010 Vintage “green letter” has a stronger malt flavor with a more Pilsener-style bitter. The “blue letter” is more of a traditional Japanese dry pale lager. I am now curious to see if the difference between the “blue letter” Classic and regular Sapporo Black Label is primarily the point of origin. Whereas the two Classic varieties and the “gold can” are brewed at a facility in Hokkaido and are set for retailling only in Hokkaido, the standard Black Label sold nationwide could have been made in any number of regional breweries. Both Classics have a similar color and level of carbonation, but remember, this wasn’t a side-by-side test. Although I said the “green letter” Classic had a more pronounced maltiness, the “blue letter” was not without a solid malt flavor. The Classic will be available beyond the production cutoff of the 2010 Vintage Classic, so it will be available into the forseeable future. Give one a try when you’re on Hokkaido! Continue reading ‘Beer is Good – Sapporo Classic lager’
Not like I could go snowboarding today anyway, but seeing as there is 3 to 6cm of snow in town, it must be off-the-hook at Kokusai! I’m so salty about the deletion of the early season weekday buses, that I don’t want to even go look at the webcams until I’m back in The States. I don’t need the aggrivation!
(0)
The dark version of Suntory’s premium Malts lager, this dunkel arrives with the same high quality ingredients and solid taste foundation. If given the choice between all the standard offerings from the major Japanese mega-breweries, I’ll usually reach for a Suntory Malts above all others. The moderate hoppyness and full malt flavor makes it my favorite. This dark version has a slightly different flavor than the regular Malts. The obvious difference is the smoky flavor imparted by the darkly roasted malt, but there is a hint of a sweet note, perhaps from a stronger decoction resulting in a less complete attenuation: I’m not convinced that the sweetness is from something different in the hopping, and the mouthfeel does feel a little thicker than regular Malts. This dark is an interesting change from the regular Malts, so if you see one, give it a try! Continue reading ‘Beer is Good – Suntory Malts Kuro lager’
Ok, beyond the usual third day aches this morning, the wrist sprain is now quite obvious.
No new snow, no announcement of the alpine opening, so it looks like it’s going to be a lazy morning.
Undergoing the recommended treatment for sprAins. Ice, Compression, Elevation, Beer. Sprained my wrist avoiding a Flaily boarder that kept riding into my path just before the Red Chair lift base, where all the traffic packed and scrubbed the snow down to concrete. Caught a heel edge and went down hard on my back. Didn’t even notice after collecting my wits a bit and moving to the side that my Flow highbacks had become flipped open. When I tried going again, I was pretty close to freeboarding and super wiggly!
Anyway, aside from that it was a good day on slopes, some soft stuff still was to be found on runs.