Headed over to hilly Shiroishi yesterday to go to the big outdoor store in search of Snow*Peak stuff. It was easy to find, but a bit of a walk from the chikatetsu eki. It was a bit chilly out for my old-school Polartec fleece, but too hot for the jacket I left behind. Definitely time for some Windstopper fleece. They had everything I needed, and the dude was helpful even though my Nihongo was terrrible. Part of the issue was pronouncing things “American” and not “Japanese”, like Nalgene as “nal-jean” as opposed to “na-ru-gen”. I guess it’s no worse than Americans pronouncing “Tokyo” with three syllables. Continue reading ‘Gear Hound’
Archive for the 'Travel' Category
Page 27 of 32
I dropped off Fabio and Root at HNL this evening, then came back home to finish packing to head out to Ezo tomorrow. There was no electricity from H3 to Fabio’s due to that red crane stored in the vacant lot after the Maunawili intersection toppling and taking out the powerlines and almost crushing two tourists in a Jeep. Root and Fabio were waiting in the dark. The crew balked at joining me in Sapporo when the return of fuel surcharges raised the JAL ticket prices above the $800 USD mark., so they headed off to Salt Lake City to check on the conditions there instead. Sapporo has been pretty snow free for the past few weeks, so things were looking rather dire, but it started snowing in the mountains about a week and a half ago, so I should find a half-meter base at Kokusai and Teine, and about 30cm at Kiroro. There doesn’t seem to be a high likelyhood of fill-in snow next week, so I may end up riding krunk.
Got back in just after 10 this morning. Ckucke picked me up from the airport and gave me a lift in to work. I did manage to sleep on the plane ride back from KIX since it was the same movies as on the outbound flight, and I had already watched everything interesting then. There were lots of open seats on the way back, but not as much as on the way out – I had a row to myself as did almost everybody else! The HNL-KIX food was the same “Kalua Pork Curry/Oyster (sauce) Chicken” that they have had catered in Hawaii for a while. The KIX-HNL fare was better with an omurice and wonderful roll cake, but no other choice. I only got offered the snack bag once on the outgoing flight, whereas they used to push the stuff like it was going out of style at every possible opportunity before. I was unable to get Suntory Malts Premium either way, having to settle for Asahi outbound and Yebisu inbound. The outbound snack is the same ham and cheese roll, but the inbound snack is now a sweet roll and a small anpan, which is superior to the weird Danish and hideous vegetable/fruit juice that they used to have.
I think the worst is over with the bronchitis after getting a different antibiotic. That’s over a month I’ve been out of action and off the bike with this! The lung tissues are still sensitive, so any minor irritation or reaction brings the cough back – I’m sure this will persist for a while like usual. Tomorrow I’m headed to Kyoto for some historical exploration, so I hope I survive this trip without too much trouble… It’s a short trip, so I’m not going to bother taking the laptop with me, and I don’t know if I’ll find a workstation at the hotel, so I’ll see y’all when I get back.
This Stout from Hokkaido Beer Pirkawakka brewery in Chitose, South of Sapporo, is a thickly rich example of the variety. The aroma is mildly hoppy, and the flavor malty, with an almost chewy mouthfeel. Since Guinness is the base standard by which other stouts are often judged, let me compare the two. Being in a non-widgeted can, this stout is slightly carbonated so it can form a head, not unlike the Guinness Original Extra Stout. Similarly, there is the associated bitter, dryness from the carbonation, and less of the creaminess of the nitrogen enriched Guinness Draught. When poured, it forms a 15mm head, but beyond that, there is no “bubbling” from the light carbonation. The color is almost opaque dark chocolate. The chosen hops are more bitter than flowery, so like Guinness, the dark roasted malt flavor takes the forefront. The initial taste is smoky, with a malty middle with a bitter back-throat undertone, with a unbelievably smooth, sweeter malty finish. The taste is generally more bitter when cold, and more sweet as the temperature rises. Insofar as Japanese Stouts go, this is the best I’ve experienced, although this is a more uncommon variety amongst Japanese brewers. Compared to the most recent example that I tried, Kirin Stout, this one is significantly better. I would rank this one closer to the Irish Beamish, Guinness, or Murphy’s counterparts. This is a delicious, well-balanced stout. After this and the Pirkawakka Pilsner, I have become thoroughly impressed by Pirkawakka brewery! Continue reading ‘Beer Is Good – Hokkaido Beer Pirkawakka Stout’
This Pils from Hokkaido Beer Pirkawakka brewery in Chitose, South of Sapporo, has the distinct bitter flavor common to the variety. The aroma is richly malty. There is a mild flowery aroma from the hopping, but no sweet taste. If you enjoy a good bitter Pils, then you will like this one. It is the most bitter Japanese jibiiru I have tasted to date. The color is a medium amber. The initial flavor is clean and malty, and the finish crisp. The malt and bitter both fade evenly in the aftertaste. The carbonation is moderate. Although richly flavored, this is an easily drinkable, refreshing Pils. This is the best Pils from Japan that I have tried! It is not unlike a Lowenbrau or Wernesgruner with more flavor. If you like your Pils a little less bitter, try the Otaru Beer Pilsner jibiiru. Continue reading ‘Beer Is Good – Hokkaido Beer Pirkawakka Pilsner Jibiiru’
Hmm… randon thoughts…
I think I definitely gained weight on this Japan trip. Ususally I lose weight from all the activity (snowboarding, walking all over the place) and generally healthy fare and correct portioning, but the crab dinner and several viking (buffet) meals have added up to extra centimeters around the waistline.
Let’s see… my flight is at 18:30, so I should be at the airport by say 16:00, so I should leave here at 15:00… If I finish packing by 10:00 when the stores open, I should have around 4-hours to hit all the book stores, Mandarake, the big Book-Off , and maybe swing by the toy levels of the two big electronics stores. I don’t think there are any new tankoubon out that I need right now, but there are a couple of figures that I’d like if the packaging fits in my luggage. I saw a Nogizaka Haruka figure at Yodobashi, but the box was a 30cm cube! That’s not going in my suitcase or boardbag!
That reminds me – I have to leave room in the boardbag for canned microbrew beers from the shop at the airport…
Time’s a wasting! Time to pack!
Okay, maybe not hate, but I don’t think I’ll be eating any for a while anyway! A few years back, I got a whole Hanasaki-gani with dinner at an inn in Rausu. It was split between two people, but was still quite a challenge to eat all of it. This time around, in a visit to Kawayu-onsen, the crab dinner came with crab sashimi, crab sunomono, crab nabe, crab miso soup, crab rice, crab tofu, and of course, a platter of whole crabs! There was no way we could possibly eat all of that crab. Even with a valiant effort, we didn’t even get through half of it. Only the dessert didn’t have crab in it! Unfortunately, it was the first day of a multi-legged onsen tour, so we couldn’t bag the unfinished crab and take it home with us. Zannen, desu… Continue reading ‘Journey to the East – I Hate Crab!’
After I’m not sure how many years, finally making it to Hokkaido Japan in quest for some true powder. Perhaps a little late in the season, but there’s as good a chance on this trip as any before. Anyway, packed the new enourmous travel duffel with gear, more than I usually take. This will be a test of my iPhone in Japan and how well it’ll work as a Net device. I’ll attempt to use it to post to the blog. Be leaving in about 45 mins!
This is the Fartmaster. He was in the seat a row in front of Fabio and me on the plane ride back from Vancouver. Throughout the flight, he issued forth the heavy feculent blasts of an impending dump, but waited until near landing before he actually got up and heeded the warning of the turtle head and went to the washroom. Even after deplaning, his inconsiderate actions continued. At the baggage claim carousel, he did a panic-grab for his bag, reaching over a family that was waiting patiently for their lugggage. As he tugged his bag from the upper part of the carousel belt, it swung down like a pendulum of death, hitting the family’s toddler boy in the arm and almost knocking him down. In the verbal exchange that followed, he refused to apologise, and intimated that it was the family’s fault because they were blocking his access to the carousel. Continue reading ‘Die Rektumblähungmeister’