False Spring

Although the hills look quite beautiful today, I must admit to being rather sick of winter. Today was supposed to be the first day of spring!
Oh well, Ichinoseki can be quite beautiful even with snow!

Snow good!

Hey folks. Just thought I'd give a quick blog with some photos. This is the most snow I have seen in Ichinoseki since I arrived. Last night we must have had more than two feet, it was quite something. I basically needed a shovel to get out of my car park, although I managed somehow anyways!
Coming soon - The final of my Top Ten Destinations, probably Tuesday or Wednesday. Until then, keep warm!

Chusonji in Winter

Good evening all. Unless where you are it's morning or afternoon or just in time for brunch. Just thought I'd quickly blog a few photos for you all taken on Saturday at the local World Heritage Site, Chusonji. I was there at about 4 in the afternoon when the light was a bit dull it must be said. I visited (and blogged about) this place back in the first month of moving to Ichinoseki. In winter there were less people there and all but one temple was closed. Still, it made for a decent walk - the weather THUS FAR has been much milder than last year and as you can see, not a lot of snow about. Which may have added to the photos, but c'est la vie.

Today is a special day in Japan, 'Setsubun', where people apparently throw beans at trolls and the winter runs away and hides. Yes, it's regarded as the first day of spring, laugh out loud, roll on the floor etc etc. I remember from last year when it was sub-zero and snow was everywhere thinking that was a bit early, but today it actually hit around 11 degrees and was warm! Yes, I know Australians, 11 is FREEZING, but after two winters here, well, it ain't anymore. 

Life is rolling along, I will have some information soon about revisiting some of my first ebooks on a new platform for those who are not so Kindle-inclined. Don't forget to follow me on twitter to -
 @WorldJourneys75 where I will mention any free Kindle deals and stuff.
Until next time!

Melbourne versus Ichinoseki

Today in  Melbourne it hit 42 degrees I believe. Ahhh my hometown. Even 42 I could do right now. Why? Because here in Ichinoseki it:s around minus 8. Yep. That:s a whole 50 degree difference! If you don:t believe me I have a bunch of photos for you today.

Last week whilst having my car serviced I went for a walk around the hills here and found my way up to a lovely little temple. Next to a graveyard and a path into the forest. It wasn't too cold up there, that day, not like this week. I got some nice photos I wanted to share. Coming this weekend - the next in my countdown of my favourite destinations! Watch this space.

PS. Now mirrored on http://worldjourneysdiscover.wordpress.com/

And a very snowy new year to all!

Ice over the gutter on our cabin.

It's evening here in Japan, with just over four hours left for 2013 in Japan. You find me in Yokohama with the inlaws, having taken the Shinkansen down last night. It was around 12 degrees here today and lovely sunshine. It's a far cry from Ichinoseki, which got a sizable dump of snow on Friday night last week. I woke up on Saturday morning heading to Hachimantai.

Hachimantai, where as you may recall I have already visited this year, is home to some creepy apartments and the Lava Flow. The Lava Flow, set lava from an old eruption of Mount Iwate, is known locally as Yakehashiri. And not too far from it is an onsen and a group of cabins. In fact there are something like 48 4 or 8-person cabins in the woods next to the lava flow. The place has an English translation which is somewhat baffling to say the least - Iwate grilled run international exchange Village.

Inside the cabin.

Yes, not only is it a mouthful and a half, it makes no rightly sense at all! But the cabins were WARM! You have to pay an extra fee to use the heater incidentally, but you wouldn't in your right mind not. Despite it being something like minus 7 outside, we were toasty and warm inside. We were there basically to shoot a short little film as I am want to do from time to time, but if I thought we had had a lot of snow in Ichinoseki, I was to see more than double that at Yakehashiri. Never the less, a very beautiful place indeed, and as we had a lot of fun. It wasn't so cold whilst we were active.

The Onsen turned out to be cooler than the last one I visited. I enjoyed it much more as I could bear much longer in the water in one go. The only issue was the driving - three hours each way on the snowy roads. In fact it wasn't nearly as bad as I feared it might be. Snow does not pose the same issues (slipping, sliding and crashing) as ice on the roads does. There's far more traction. I hope you enjoy the photos. 

And the curtain sets on 2013, and 2014 dawns. Please watch this space for more blogs and of course, the top five of my top destinations. Wherever you are this New Years' Eve, stay safe and all the best for 2014!

Merry Christmas and all that! (a little bit about surviving winter in Japan)

Dear everyone,
Merry Christmas to you all, if indeed you celebrate Christmas. The world is a big, wonderful place and I hope that 2014 will offer me more chances to explore, perhaps back in Australia around mid-year! Here in Japan Christmas is quiet I guess. I havent really done anything today at all. I took receipt of my new computer at least. The old one died last week which is why you haven't heard from me of late. Expect that soon the blogs will be coming again, as I will finish up the last five top destinations of my top ten, write more about Japan and do my best to brave this winter.So far we have had a bit of snow, but not a lot.
To keep the place warm we need to winter-proof the apartment. Unfortunately Japan is not as well equipped for winter as you might expect - for starters, double-glazed windows aren't that common. So, bubble wrap is the order of the day to provide a small bit of insulation.
Here you can see my attempts at insulating the doors/windows. Even the front door, not made of glass, gets a going over in an attempt to keep the cold out. Nevertheless, we find that after turning off the heater, the temperature plummets pretty quickly.

A cold winter's day, through the bedroom window.

Bubble-wrapping in progress!

Last night in Ichinoseki it was around -3 or -4 degrees celcius outside. The temperature inside when we woke at about 6am was plus 4. When we went to bed it would have been around plus 15 or so, which is freezing in Melbourne, but really quite toasty here! It's amazing how your outlook changes.

Front door with bubble wrap and kerosene tank.

Our kerosene heater.

We use a kerosene heater, popular in Japan. Last year we used the reverse cycle heater/air conditioner, and it took ages to start giving us warm air. The kerosene heater has been much better, and only a little more expensive to run. The difference is well worth it. We were fortunate that someone had a spare and very kindly and generously let us borrow it. We have to fill it up from a tank every few days because we are burning fuel, and it's not the best on the eyes, we need to ventilate the apartment regularly. But that's the price you pay for warmth.
Melbourne, my home town, enjoyed a 31 degree Christmas day, we were about 30 degrees less for a maximum here. Next year we hope to go back to a hot Christmas. Everyone here says a hot Christmas is just not right.Speaking as an Australian, I have to disagree...

Winter driving me crazy. Or Miss Daisy.

Well folks, another blog back in the cold reality of Iwate, Japan. Winter here is long. I was informed that they call winter over on the 4^th of February. This seems a tad hopeful. That was three weeks ago, and it has snowed the last three days! Things are certainly warmer in Tokyo and the south, but still colder than a Melbourne winter!

Here in Iwate the hardest thing of late has been adjusting to the winter. I’ve had to organise a few things like a new visa recently, and in particular a Japanese driver’s licence. My international driver’s licence is good until the 2^nd of March. That’s this coming weekend! So anyways after one year you need to organise a Japanese licence.

Well, it’s not so straight forward, however comparatively for myself it’s not too bad. If I was American or Canadian, I would need to sit a proper driver’s test. Thankfully that wasn’t necessary – I understand it’s almost impossible to pass on the first attempt. To be thorough the driver testers almost feel obligated to fail people on their first attempt!

Then there is a huge pile of paperwork. Basically I had to prove I had been in my home country for three months in a row since I got my licence. One thing they look for is the issue date of the licence. Well, the state of Victoria doesn’t put that on the licence! So, I had to get a ‘driving record’ sent here. The fact that in the past five years I have had two speeding tickets (both for less than 10 km over the limit!) worked in my favour. It proved I had been driving in Australia. I also submitted over 30 payslips to prove my continuously being in the country. However, it still wasn’t enough to grant me a full licence.

I am on a beginners licence for a year now. I have the special mark/sticker/magnet on my car to say I am in my first year of driving. I think I have less demerit points to lose, but I am not sure. I’ve only been driving since 1995!

Anyways, such is life and if I don’t speed I should be ok. The roads are something else I’ve had to get used to. I woke up one day in January and the usual 35-40 minute drive to work suddenly took 75 minutes! I had allowed for delays thankfully and made it on time by five minutes. When there’s snow, the roads are slow. When there’s ice, they are dangerous.

What tends to happen is driving on snow churns it up, turns it to water etc. Then at night the temperature drops, maybe to minus five, sometimes colder. Last night was more like minus ten. The water, even though there’s not a lot, freezes. The winter tyres don’t grip very well the next morning. Breaking is something to be done very carefully. I’ve experienced a little bit of skidding on the ice. The key is not to break hard, but gently, and leave plenty of space between you and the car in front.

I was driving home one very cold day when it didn’t reach 0 and this post van zoomed over the hill the other direction to me. The downhill slope (for him) was iced, and suddenly he lost control. He went from side to side, desperately swinging the steering wheel (which I’m sure was a bad move) and I thought – I was a goner! Somehow he missed me and regained control.

Downhill is the worst, the scariest part of driving when the road is icy. Usually people are painfully slow on those parts. Hence a 35 minute trip turns into over an hour. Patience and being careful is the only remedy here.

The forecast is for more snow this week.