Tokyo Marathon 2012, WhyNot!? Japan's Nagano Ski Trip and Hinamatsuri!

Tokyo Marathon 2012: Completed!



Victory photo!



Last weekend I went skiing in Nagano, the week before that I was showing Dad around Japan, and the weekend before THAT we were in Tokyo for the 46km run.

It hurt afterwards and for the last 10km, where I really couldn't see the point in running, why not just walk? But I managed to at least jog-limp the last bit. Here's the weekend in photos:

We stayed at the Khaosan Asakusa Tokyo Guesthouse - a very good, cheap, friendly, easy to find hostel

I highly recommend staying at the above hostel if you're in Tokyo, Asakusa the place itself has the shrine dedicated to the god of thunder as a tourist attraction, good eats and a little market road for tourists too.



Dad brought these finger trainers at the marthon expo after registration

Dad took most of the photos of the whole trip, so here are some just of the race:

Luffy! Wait for me!





out of 36,000 people at the tokyo marathon, another Sherlock fan. Yes!

The oldest person to finish a marathon was 84 years old, and I did see people who looked that age looping ahead of me, so I should really have trained more. Next time!

Victory meal

It all went surprisingly well. Navigating the Tokyo subway was the biggest hurdle but we had no real problems, so this entry on the marathon, despite it being a looooong weekend, is pretty short.

Skiing in Nagano with WhyNot!? Japan.

WhyNot?! Japan (http://www.whynotjapan.com/hey) hold meet-ups and field trips throughout the year for anyone interested. The events are a great opportunity to meet new people from all over the world and different parts of Japan, and visit new places you might not have had the opportunity to go yet. The whole trip below cost me less than 30,000yen (around £230) and best of all, was all organised for us.

This trip was definitely a great way to relax and see another different side of Japan, and go skiing for the first time!

Nagano is a beautiful, snow-covered area of Japan.

meeting place

the resort room had two floors, six beds and a sofa for caroline

the gang, still dry and full of energy after the 6 hour bus ride

one should note that I HATE the cold, not a fan of snow, but the excersise you get is intense enough that you never really feel the cold. Gloves are a must, though.

It was mine and matts first time skiing, so we spent a lot of time just lying in the snow -_-

my mini heart attack - at one point Alister claimed there was a beginners route at the top of a ski lift, I didn't realise how high it went until I actually got on it though.

We stayed at a type of hotel/lodge resort. This is us chillin' after skiing all day

A party was held at night, and was kicked off by the mayor of Nagano himself. A rock-paper-scissors contest was held for snow gear and two snowboards (I lost), people could pound mochi if they wanted, and there was plenty of dancing/talking into the night (including in other people's rooms/a massive tatami room somewhere on the ground floor of the resort).

mochi pounding and party with limitless free drinks!

Jigokudani Monkey Onsen

The next day, a group of us split off from the main group and went to Jigokudani, where we walked to an area where monkeys live (and relax in the hot springs). After that, we visited a hot springs town where some of us ate and others visited a hot spring for themselves.

the amount of snow in places...

the boss monkey welcoming us to his abode

Other happenings this week:

Laura made these! Sanji's leg broke :'(

An orange fell from the mikan tree as I walked passed! A dream come true!
It smelt great but tasted gross.

All you can eat for 1500yen in nishinomiya gardens and sannomiya xD good food and tea, too ~

another tacoyaki party at ryousukes' ^^

Caroline's kanji for me - not sure what she meant by it.



hahaha



Hinamatsuri!

I guess the english equivalent would be like fathers or mothers day, but this is for daughters. I don't know much about it except that the dolls are traditionally put out in a hope that ones daughter will be happy and healthy. If the dolls aren't put back in time the daughter will marry late!

We got to celebrate this with Carolines awesome host family:

And the food! So much food! I definately recommend shirozake btw (soy milk sugar and sake), it was all so beautiful...



Hinamatsuri dolls had incredable detail...




Also I've booked Golden Week in Japan to Hokkaido for some hiking with Air Peach (http://www.flypeach.com/home.aspx) , which has new, very cheap flights and the date for the Leeds Kanji exam is May 7th. So I won't be doing much until then (saving money and studying).

Sorry this entry is so brief - I have a lot to be getting on with.

Only a few months left in Japan :-(

Still, looking foward to seeing home again!



thanks for the gif of me with my medal, Amy ;)