After arriving back from the beaches of Thailand, we repacked our bags and headed to the mountains of Nagano, Japan for a ski weekend with friends. Erik and I actually never made it up there before so we were excited to check that box before we leave Japan.
We stopped off on Friday evening for a fire festival. Pure craziness. Every year on Jan 15, the village of Nozawa Onsen holds the Dosojin Fire Festival. The 42 year old males of the village construct a wooden shrine and sit on top and drink all evening in the snow. The 25 year old men protect the shrine at the base while other villages light torches and rush forward to try to burn the whole thing down. Lots of free sake flows around for all. One of the craziest things I've seen in Japan.
The actual fall of the shrine is a bit more controlled; they first let the 45 year old men get down first. In this video, one of the ceremonial sake stands is being fed to the fire. Don't worry - they extract the vat of sake first and continue handing that out - no alcohol was injured in the making of this video. You can also see how fast the snow was coming down - probably about 6 inches in 3 hours.
As for the ski weekend itself, I surprisingly had a good time. I'd never been skiing before and hadn't so much enjoyed earlier attempts with snowboarding over 10 years ago. But Erik was a great teacher and very very patient. After a couple hours, I finally made it down some beginner slopes, fall free. After lunch, though, I quit while I was ahead and Erik went to join friends on the more advanced slopes.
Also, a shout-out ("hey oh!") to Atsugi base's Outdoor Recreation department - we rented all of our skis and snow gear for 3 days for about a $120. I will miss these little MWR perks!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Thailand Adventures
Wow, what a great trip we had to Thailand! I'm so glad we snuck it in before we leave Japan. The first 2-3 days were spent in and around Bangkok and then flew down south to the beaches of Phuket. Everyday offered a new adventure!
Our first night was a leisurely hang out at the Suan Lum Night Bazaar. They had a nice food and beer garden in the middle of it all. This is where Erik tried his first Thai food and thankfully he really liked it! But who doesn't like pad thai? Seriously, its good stuff. This is also where we taste tested the local beer offerings and made personal allegiances. I preferred Tiger ("Its like the Miller Lite of Southeast Asia!") but Erik seemed to order the Chang a lot. I think that's just because he liked saying it.
The next day was spent visiting some floating markets and a tiger temple in which the monks care for orphaned tigers. They are very docile in the afternoon heat and after a nice hearty lunch - in combination with being raised by humans, this means you can pet them:
The rest of our days were spent on the beaches of Phuket. Our resort had a private beach which was very key - this means no one bothered us and it wasn't overcrowded. It was a nice constant rotation of read, nap, swim and repeat. Our hotel even had a baby elephant that came down to the beach in the afternoons to say hello!
One day we did venture out to go on a kayak adventure - also a great day, of course! We had wonderful food on the boat, saw lots of neat caves and lagoons and then ended our night with creating a "kratong" and setting our wishes to sea.
If we were ever stationed again in Japan, I would be excited to create another Thailand journey. There are so many other beaches and areas - I would love to see more!
Our first night was a leisurely hang out at the Suan Lum Night Bazaar. They had a nice food and beer garden in the middle of it all. This is where Erik tried his first Thai food and thankfully he really liked it! But who doesn't like pad thai? Seriously, its good stuff. This is also where we taste tested the local beer offerings and made personal allegiances. I preferred Tiger ("Its like the Miller Lite of Southeast Asia!") but Erik seemed to order the Chang a lot. I think that's just because he liked saying it.
 |
| From Thailand January 2010 |
The next day was spent visiting some floating markets and a tiger temple in which the monks care for orphaned tigers. They are very docile in the afternoon heat and after a nice hearty lunch - in combination with being raised by humans, this means you can pet them:
 |
| From Thailand January 2010 |
The rest of our days were spent on the beaches of Phuket. Our resort had a private beach which was very key - this means no one bothered us and it wasn't overcrowded. It was a nice constant rotation of read, nap, swim and repeat. Our hotel even had a baby elephant that came down to the beach in the afternoons to say hello!
 |
| From Thailand January 2010 |
One day we did venture out to go on a kayak adventure - also a great day, of course! We had wonderful food on the boat, saw lots of neat caves and lagoons and then ended our night with creating a "kratong" and setting our wishes to sea.
 |
| From Thailand January 2010 |
 |
| From Thailand January 2010 |
If we were ever stationed again in Japan, I would be excited to create another Thailand journey. There are so many other beaches and areas - I would love to see more!
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