Flight to Chitose was supposed to be almost an hour late, but the winds weren’t strong all the way across the Pacific, so got in at the scheduled time. Too bad the baggage took forever to come off the plane. My bag is all wet from sitting in the rain at HNL before getting loaded. Wonderful.
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Okay, I’m back in the land of cinnamon-scented urinal screens. The old HAL 767-3G5 ER, tail number N586HA had to return to the gate to get the brakes worked on. This is another one of the three Lufttransportunternehmen transfer aircraft. Apparently, the ABS light came on while taxiing to the runway, and that’s a mandatory checklist fail, so we had to come back in and get it looked at. It was probably a bad sensor, mabye affected by the cold temperatures, as they cleared it up in short order and we left only one hour late. I guess that’s what happens when you actually depart the gate early!
With temperatures of -6 to -8C and wind at around 3 to 8 m/s, I tried Propper softshell pants (no laminate membrane nor fleece inner layer) over Patagonia Capilene 1 long underwear. The cold could be felt more than less-breathable pants, especially when the wind blew. These pants would probably be OK in these temperatures for highly aerobic activities like snowshoeing or skinning up on a splitboard, but the urban comfort level gives out around 0 to -3C or so without a heavier baselayer.
Other than two bottomless powder days in Niseko I only got in one craptastic day at Sapporo Kokusai. Things timed out rather well this time at Niseko with a big storm preceeding me and continued snowfall while I was there. Things timed out poorly at Kokusai, with my visit bracketed by good days. The steeper powder stashes were all tracked out, and the unridden areas were still a little too soft to be able to carry speed on the shallow slopes. Monday would have been epic, and today (Wednesday) would have been not so suckariffic. Eh, sometimes you just have to chance it. You can’t nail the timing all the time. I guess I could have tried to hit there today then head straight to the airport and jump in the onsen before boarding, but there was the chance that heavy snows could have snarled ground transportation and I would have been stuck. As is with the holidays, traffic on the major highways has been pretty bad.
Okay, I’m off to Niseko tomorrow morning for some snow ripping and onsen dipping. I hope this time the stars are in alignment and I get snow, no wind, and cold temperatures. There better be some payoff for surviving the end of the world. Dammit!
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Well, “like” Mexican. As I experienced many years ago at Sombrero in the basement dining arcade in the Paseo building adjacent to the JR Sapporo station, it looks right, but doesn’t taste right. The fried chicken and fries weren’t really “Mexican”, but the chili con carne and enchilada were… somewhat. They did a lot better than last time. To this day I don’t know what that white stuff that came with my burrito was, but it wasn’t sour cream (I think it was cream cheese). Continue reading ‘Mmm… Mexican’
Okay, temperature around 0 to -2C, windspeed around 3 m/s, TAD Ranger fleece with Stealth LT uninsulated softshell was fine over just a tee-shirt on 20-minute walks. It did get hot inside heated stores, and my tee-shirt did get sweaty where my pack was against my back, but the highly breathable materials did allow for a decent amount of moisture transport, so I didn’t chill out once outside again. I’d probably have been a little wetter with the eVent jacket. Could probably take this combination down to about -10 to -15C before adding more layers underneath. A technical baselayer and midlayer would easily extend the temperature down another 10-degrees, or extend exposure time.
For S&G, I tried wearing a Patagonia Capilene 3 half-zip long sleeve top over the same tee-shirt, and put a Patagonia Nano Puff vest and TAD Stealth LT softshell over that. The temperature and wind were still about the same, but it was night, so no warming effects of sunlight. Fail. Cold. Colder than the heavyweight Polartec Wind Pro TAD Ranger hoodie alone. The Cap3 and Primaloft are pretty good insulators, but I guess nowadays I’m not pumping out as much heat as I used to. After a moderate amount of activity, my core did warm up, but my arms were still cold.
Okay, the conditions this afternoon were -3 to -4C with winds between 5 and 7 m/s. I had on my TAD Ranger fleece (heavyweight Polartec Wind Pro) over a tee-shirt, and TAD Covert pants (50/50 NYCO ripstop) over Patagonia Capilene 1 underwear. The wind was what killed this setup. I would have been otherwise about right if it wasn’t for the wind cutting through the outer layers. Capilene 3 long underwear and a shell layer would have fixed things, but that would have made it hot when transitioning into interior spaces, and the resulting sweat would have made returning to the outside even colder. Had to put on gloves. Wished I had hat. Had keffiyah, but didn’t bust it out, as I looked suspicious enough as is.
From the internet, this Suntory 100% malt beer appears to be a Japan 7-11 exclusive. The name, Fukumi no Zeitaku means literally “depth of extravagance”, intending to convey the over-the-top rich experience of flavor the drinker is supposed to encounter with this beer. Of course, as has been shown in the past, the best intentions and best technique and best ingredients can still yield a marginal product. I wouldn’t say in this instance the product is sub-par, but it is really just average. On first taste, there is a sweet that hits you – not quite the painful sweet of like the gnasty Sapporo Fuyumonogatari “Winter Tale” beers, but a sweet nonetheless. I’m thinking this is an unattenuated sweet and not a hop sweet. There is a decent amount of hops, as the bitter in the finish is evident, but the sweet really seems like a sugar sweet, indicating unmetabolized sugars from the strong decoction. That’s strong, considering the yeast managed to hit 6.5% ABV and still had sugar leftover when they died. Considering the little yeasty beasties went whole hog on the sugars, it is surprising that the carbonation level is so low. The 100% malt part is borne out in the rich malt flavor that overtakes the sweet through the middle and finish, with that hop bitter co-mingling at the end. It’s a bit of a shame that the initial taste is rank, since the finish is so nice. It’s tantamount to going from homeless smell to frying bacon. Continue reading ‘Beer Is Good – Suntory Fukumi no Zeitaku’