Monday, December 24, 2007

Hokkaido Trip
Day 4 (15/12) - Rusutsu Snow Resort
(Part 1)

Before breakfast, I snapped pictures of Jap kitsch:


Horses


"Daniel and the Dixie Diggers"
The previous day they'd been moving and playing. The accents weren't quite right, but at least they weren't totally wrong (or worse, speaking in Japanese!)


"Olde World Carnivale"


Fako Greek stuff


Pseudo-Europe

Given how insular and xenophobic the Japs are, the way they bring in strange versions of the world to Japan is interesting.


I still had time before breakfast started.


Carriage

Then it was breakfast time at disgusting Oktoberfest. We'd have breakfasted somewhere else (even if not at the French place, which was not open before dinner), but we were on a schedule, so.


Band

Perilla juice is disgusting, with a bitter aftertaste which hits home very quickly.


Their 'sauteed bacon'









A last window view.


The largest snowball I'd ever seen (bigger than my killer snowball, twice the size of this).




There's something incredibly alluring about defiling virgin snow by walking in it and sinking calf-deep into it.


Log cabin


Skis and snowboards


Cabin
I wanted to catch the snow falling off the eaves, but was too slow


Snow plain


Empty ski lift

While checking out of the resort, I snapped even more pictures of Jap kitsch:




'Alpenhorn Toys & Crafts', Suit of Armour and Vintage Car


'Adeleiss Yoghurt & Sandwich Shoppe'


'Le Bazaar'


Carousel


The driver of another Singapore tour group dressed up as Santa. I wonder if he went like that the whole day.