We started off the month by seeing my MIL and GMIL off (back to Hawaii). It took me a while to get the two follow up blog posts for their trip up because we've had a few non-stop weekends since, but if you missed it, please check out what we did at DisneySea here and a fun and relaxing weekend in Hakone here. Meanwhile, December has been filled with lots of fantastic winter fun with friends :)
Iwakuni work trip
Two days following my MIL and GMIL leaving at the beginning of the month, I left myself - for Iwakuni! My work group was already there and had been working for the week previous, but I joined late because of our guests. It was a simple train ride over to Haneda Airport and then a short plane ride via ANA. 
We stayed at the Green Rich Hotel near Iwakuni station (very convenient) and among quite a few restaurants and stores as well. The room itself was reasonably nice for the cost per night and it had a large window on the wall between the bed area and the bathroom that helped make the room feel larger (and was no problem to me as a single person using the room). 
There was also a public bath on the first floor. It wasn't very large, but when it was empty, it was quite nice to be in there. Once there are 3+ others (especially if they're grouped together), it's not quite worthwhile in my opinion.
Most days we worked through the day until the sun set (around 16:30 - 17:00), often out in the car or in the field. I'm glad I had my EATME double belt boa coat that I got at a really good outlet sale price a little earlier in the year. 
I hadn't really understood how or when I was going to wear it initially since I'm still relatively new to understanding layering and dressing for cold, but I really love this coat now and it worked out so well for what we were doing. It's my go-to casual coat now once the temperatures are in the 50s. That plus the EATME knee high garter boots made me feel casual but still a little stylish at the same time.
I didn't get to do a lot of exploring after working hours, but we did end early enough on the last day for me to make it over to Miyajima Island and Itsukushima shrine just as the sun was setting. I visited this area during low tide once before (Spring 2017), so I knew it was a simple ferry ride and walk.
I did have to race the sun to get to the torii gate before it was completely dark, but it was a nice and simple stop on my way further into Hiroshima.
I continued on the train and a tram to get to the Hiroshima Dreamination along Peace Boulevard. It was a pleasant walk along the street with lots of different large light displays and I stopped to enjoy each one on both sides of the road which actually took a decent amount of time.
It was a nice way to close out the week long trip where I could walk at my own pace and randomly stop whenever I felt like it.
Snowboarding 2x
We did two weekend snowboarding trips this month/year accompanied by friends. It was my husband's first time getting back out there after breaking his collarbone last year at an early season Thanksgiving trial run and being done for the season. And it was my first time snowboarding aside from a quick day trip I took with some friends back in college (over 10 years ago). Luckily I already had a snow jacket and pants from a failed skiing experience as a early teenager, and I also was passed a hand-me-down pair of snowboarding boots (4th owner now lol), but I still needed a few more things. We prepped by going to a Book Off Super Bazaar and was able to find a cheap board, bindings and a helmet for me.
Naeba Ski Resort, Niigata
For December 18 & 19, we drove to Niigata with new snow tires on our car and stayed at the Prince Naeba Hotel for a convenient beginning experience for me.
Once arriving at the hotel and storing our things in a locker, we headed out into the snow, got our lift tickets and off we went.
Despite the actively falling snow, there wasn't quite yet enough of it everywhere and only 1 run was open and it was fairly short. We were both fully equiped with our own gear, so no need to rent anything. My husband helped remind me how to strap the bindings on, scoot to the ski lift and ride for a bit and then we just went for it!
Our friends (M&M) met up with us a little while later, and we just kept going up in the lift and down the short run for the rest of the day.
We took a very late lunch at close to 15:00 at the resort, went to officially check-in at the front desk and then relaxed and used the public bath in the hotel before meeting up again for dinner at a buffet restaurant also in the hotel.
For Day 2, we got a little bit of a later start, but it was much less crowded than the previous day, so we still able to get quite a few runs in in the same amount of time and hardly had to wait for the lift at all.
Our friends worked with me a bit more about using actual technique to move towards carving, but I didn't quite get all the way there. My husband and I decided to leave around 13:00, packed out stuff into the car and just drove home in time for an early AYCE yakiniku dinner after skipping lunch.
I didn't quite master anything except heel stops for this trip, but I knew I would likely be able to stay on a snowboard for any beginner run on a mountain, albeit in a braking position for most of the way down.
Hakuba, Nagano
For Christmas weekend, we piled into our friends' (J&A) car after work on Friday and carpooled to Mojo Lodge in Hakuba where M&M were already checked in, arriving just after 22:00. It had been snowing earlier in the day, but stopped for a bit, so the roads were dark and slightly icy.
We woke up to steadily falling snow outside the windows and had a 07:00 breakfast at the lodge and then decided to all head over to Hakuba Goryu Snow Resort, meeting D there (7 of us total).
This was J&A's first time snowboarding for the season and I was definitely still a beginner, so we wanted to make sure there were some decent beginner runs in addition to some more interesting courses for everyone else.
After a couple of hours at Goryu, we decided to switch over to Hakuba 47 at lunch time which uses the same lift ticket and is a free shuttle ride away.
This ended up being a good decision because it was much less crowded and had a few more interesting runs for beginners in addition to a good number of intermediate ones that weren't super separate from the beginners. I think most, if not all, of us enjoyed the 47 side a lot more. 
On Christmas Day, we again started with breakfast at the lodge, but got a little bit later start and headed over to Tsugaike Kogen Ski Resort where most runs (including quite a few beginner choices) were open except the Skyline route. It wasn't snowing nearly as much this day, but it seemed like there was still a lot of fresh powder on the mountain.
We ended up splitting into smaller groups for the morning before meeting up again at lunch and heading out together for one last run starting from the top area. The bottom of my 4x hand-me-down snowboarding boot ended up separating from my back foot (left boot because I ride goofy) which I temporarily remedied by just putting 3 hair rubber bands on it and resolved to scooting around when necessary by switching my lead foot so my left was always strapped in. This was a bit hard to adjust to for getting on and off the lift but otherwise didn't affect my ride at all.
I enjoyed the beginner run we did here because it was pretty long (so no need to constantly catch the lift and worry about my broken boot), but there are some flat portions that are really hard to get through because I was scared to carry too much speed!
It did really help me adjust to turning and finding my balance, and I really got the hang of it in the last 30-45 minutes before we left.
Two days at a time definitely seems like a good amount of snowboarding for me. Anything more and I think my body would feel a bit too tired, but maybe I just need to get used to it more.
Now that I feel like I can finally ride more "properly" maybe my muscles will fatigue at a different rate. We're done for the year, but have two more snowboarding trips planned in 2023. I'll need to get a new pair of boots, and I hope I can remember how to ride until then!
Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park
Before returning home from Hakuba, J&A wanted to make a stop at Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park. I had previously visited in January 2017, but they and my husband had never been before, and this was a great opportunity. We left the lodge at around 08:30am and got to the Jigokudani Yaen-Koen beginning trail at 10:30 (with free parking just down the hill).
With a brisk walking pace, we got to the park entrance, where you pay, just about 20 minutes later.
The path was quite icy and slippery in some places, even in my hiking shoes, so I was constantly looking at the ground and didn't take too many photos along the way, but nothing seems to have changed from about 6 years ago.
There were quite a few people gathered anywhere the monkeys were, but if you're patient, you will eventually get a turn. We stayed for about 30 minutes, enjoying the view and observing the monkeys in the snow and in the onsen bath.
I made sure to try to replicate seeing myself on the park's live camera (snaps a photo every 60 seconds) in the same area from my previous visit. I was even wearing the same beanie, coat and tights.
 |
| Top photo from Jan 2017, bottom photo from Dec 2022! And some other side-by-side comparisons below. |
If you have some time/are in the area and won't have difficulty with the 2km walk (including stairs), definitely recommend checking it out. If you can time it for when they feed the monkeys, even better!
What we ate
There was a bit of variety this month as each weekend we were doing something a little different and because of the traveling around.
Yakiniku King
Sukiya
伝兵衛 Denbei (Yokohama)
Kaisugi Ramen (Iwakuni)
岩国今津食堂 (Iwakuni)
Kura Sushi
Bangkok (Iwakuni)
Esola (Iwakuni)
寿栄広食堂 Suehiro Shokudo ramen (Iwakuni)
Musashibo ramen 武蔵坊本店 (Hiroshima)
Ippudo ramen
Katsu-ya
Jolly Pasta
Beef Kitchen ビーフキッチン (Yokohama)
Kamisato service area
Edelweiss (Naeba)
a very tiny sample of the offerings at Restaurant Azalea buffet (Naeba)
I was too lazy to try to walk around for a photo of each food area tbh
Yakiniku King again
Dangozaka service area
Uncle Steven's Tex Mex restaurant (Hakuba)
Mojo Lodge breakfast (Hakuba)
New Year's soba and mochiko chicken (from our last meal of the year!)
Personal life/miscellaneous
We had a some friends leave this month (returning back to Hawaii), so we all met up for one last dinner and hurrah in Yokohama. This is the first set of friends leaving since I've arrived, so it was definitely sad to see them go (this was their 5 year mark in the country).
There was also a small early Christmas party hosted at a friend's house where we played a dice version of White Elephant, DIY Christmas Pictionary, the plastic wrap unrolling game and had smores on the roof!
Outfit photos continued to be a little bit challenging this month because of the lighting (or lackthereof) in the morning, but I did make somewhat of an effort to take photos in the afternoon when I could as I attempted to put some variety into my outfits by not constantly wearing the same coat and boots lol.
Check out the full set of outfits for December here. There was 1 full week where I was doing field work and two full weekends where I was only in snowboarding clothes, so I don't have as many coordinates to share as I'd like, but I still love some of the ones that I put together for this season. Let me know what you think!
I think I got the hang of applying the ohora semi-cured nail stickers a little bit better so I decided to order a Christmas themed set. They actually shipped from Korea and came in about a week before Christmas, which was perfect for what I wanted.
I got a haircut! After putting it off for literal months because I convinced myself I would try to find a more local salon I'd want to go to, I finally caved and just booked the first appointment I could get at Number76 in Omotesando. It's not extremely convenient to get to, but there was a time that worked (after my working hours) and it's near to EATME and Garrett's, so at least I can stop there as well.
Arisa, who is a freelance stylist at Number76, was patient and kind with me, and we basically just decided to chop the length and fix my fringe a bit. It's not a super exciting cut, but it feels a lot better and I'm happy with it.
We didn't take too much leave this month and actually worked through the week between Christmas and New Years in a mostly empty office. We didn't do anything really specific for the aside from taking advantage of the three day weekends for snowboarding and relaxing/cleaning. This is our first holidays away from our families, and we definitely miss being with them, but wanted to take advantage of our time here.
For NYE, we ended up hosting a small group of friends who were in the area at our house for a casual dinner potluck-ish night and midnight countdown and that's how we ended the month and all of 2022!
Check out my 2022 recap here if you haven't seen it yet! A lot of different stuff for me this year :)
December did feel like a go-go-go month with all of our weekends occupied with something, but it was pleasantly full and filled with different experiences. January and February will be colder and slow us down a little bit (in a good way), so I'm looking forward to staying warm and cozy inside.
No comments:
Post a Comment