Author RenegadeTourist
I wrote my last post a few days ago, since then most days have been more or less similar; my wife has been practicing pretty much on her own while I have been up on the higher slopes searching for powder. We always end the day with the open air hot spring in our hotel.
In most Japanese bathes men and women are separated but here at Niseko Grand Hotel they have a mixed part. You can, if you want, borrow some kind of fabric swimwear at the reception, but it seems to be optional since a lot of the … Read the rest
Today it was time for Renegade Wife to learn how to ride a Snowboard. She actually tried a bit two years ago, but I doubted she would remember much. I know beginners often get tired easily, what with using muscles that normally don’t get much exercise and so forth, so we took it easy, and didn’t get to the slopes until around ten thirty.
The wife did remember the very basics and she managed to stand up, but it was slow going at first and she needed a long break every time she fell. Eventually though, she started getting the … Read the rest
The warm, slightly murky greenish water envelopes me, steam rising from its surface, billowing into the cool air. There is snow all around me, large drifts on the ground, clinging to the branches of trees, a large clump atop a conical rock in front of me. Slightly to the left, sticking out of the water like a small island, is an ornamental Japanese stone lantern. A single, street light style lamp bathes the scene in warm yellow light. Large snowflakes float lazily down to melt as soon as they touch my skin… Total relaxation.… Read the rest
I have promised my wife I will teach her how to ride a snowboard, but she was kind enough to let me go out on my own and enjoy myself the first day. So I got up bright and early and went out to rent some equipment. Like any ski resort, Niesko has plenty of ski rental places but I selectd one called Rhythm Sports because it seemed like they might have some higher quality stuff. Sure enough, with the premium package I got high quality equipment from Burton.
Geared up and ready to go I hit the slopes and … Read the rest
I’ve longed to go skiing for quite a while now so for this year’s winter vacation Renegade Wife and I decided to go to a ski resort. Since we live in Taiwan the best choice seemed to be Japan which suited me nicely since I’ve wanted to ski in Hokkaido for several years.
Today we set off to Niseko, one of the largest ski resorts in Japan. We flew to Sapporo then took a bus that trundled along the small roads for about three hours and we reached our Hotel around six in the evening.
It was much too late … Read the rest
I should have written this last week but I kind of forgot about it for a few days and after that I’ve been too lazy. Anyway, here goes.
When we woke up on Saturday morning it was freezing cold, it must have been some kind of record for Hsinchu city. We went out for lunch and as we were waiting for our food to arrive the restaurant owner started shouting “It’s snowing, it’s snowing” so we went outside to check it out. It turned out it was indeed snowing, although it melted as soon as it hit the ground. Of … Read the rest
It’s just pouring down, heavy drops patter incessantly on the visor of my helmet and although I’m dressed for battle with elements, rain jacket, rain pants, and big floppy shoe covers that are impossible to walk in, there is till considerable discomfort. The drops sting my lips every time I accelerate, my gloves are already wet through and through, and there is a coldness in my crotch which I sincerely hope isn’t water soaking through my pants. Sometimes, on a good road in good weather, riding a motorcycle can be thoroughly enjoyable; swooping smoothly from turn to turn as you carve your way through a … Read the rest
Since it was raining heavily the night before we had started to plan some indoor activities for the day, but when we woke up the rain had subsided and there were some blue patches in the sky so we skipped those plans. Instead we decided to go to the beach, because that’s what you do in Kenting. Yini had ferreted out information on some kind of secret beach so of course we had to go there. It doesn’t really feature on the maps and there are no clear signs but after some searching we found it. It’s between Maobitou beach … Read the rest
The thing about driving across Taiwan is, you have to get back somehow, and taking the same road back wasn’t all that interesting, so we decided to go south, round the tip then back north along the west side.
We did a similar trip a couple of months ago but that time we were in more of a hurry, this time we made a couple of stops along the way. First up was an interesting, seemingly abandoned house just on the side of the road. It turned out that all the doors had been padlocked so I couldn’t go inside … Read the rest
A couple of months ago, Renegade wife and I climbed the peak of Hehuanshan, which is roughly half way along the Cross Island Highway. Due to time constraints we were unable to drive all the way to the east coast so we promised ourselves to come back another time. Since the government has given us new years day off, we took the opportunity to go this weekend. On New years eve we drove south to Puli, a small town just on the edge of the central mountains, and celebrated new years eve in our hotel room (sad perhaps but never … Read the rest