Okay, I am behind on these blogs. I had this one written for a bit, but I’ve been distracted by a stop in the USA and now I’m straight chilling in Central America. But I still need to recap my excellent time in Japan. Let’s get to it:

My final stop on the first almost half of my journey was Japan. Last fall, I booked a weeklong all women’s skiing and snowboarding retreat in Hakuba, Japan. I knew that the logistics would be tricky since I would be coming from summer with absolutely no gear or proper snow clothing. I was able to easily rent all of the gear, plus a pair of walking boots. Then I bought a new outfit (which will be pictured below) and it was absolute fire, which is important to me.

Vibe of the moment: the skiing/snowboarding retreat and lots of new friends

When I arrived in Japan, I had the benefit of only a slight time change. I arrived at the hotel at Narita airport and went to the local mall, where I proceeded to be amused by the sweatshirts and the quirky fashion for an hour. Then I had some ramen, which felt like a requirement. It was delicious. The ramen in Japan is just built different, which makes sense.

The next morning, we were off to Hakuba on a private bus bright and early. We all started to chat and get to know each other over breakfast and on the bus, and I knew that we had a solid group of gals. Once we got there, we all had a nice lunch and got settled into our hotel rooms. We had the whole hotel to ourselves for the retreat, and it was adorable. My room was comfortable, and the bath was my favorite part. It came with a variety of nice bath salts too, which really came in handy after long days out on the slopes.

There is something special about a ladies only group like this where we all got to know each other really fast and became fast friends. After a week it felt like we all knew each other’s secrets and life stories. Which is fun, because I love to learn the tea. I felt comfortable enough with these women to talk about my divorce, my troublesome relationship with food, my commitment issues, and more. Perhaps I’m just an over-sharer and a consistent yapper (sorry, y’all). Even the lighter things, for example when we were talking about foods that we do not like, I said “mushrooms, except the fun ones,” and it got a good laugh. 

I don’t doubt that I will keep in touch with several of these women, and a few of us met up in Tokyo after the retreat too. We have talks of a reunion already. We were all a variety of ages, and there were a couple of Canadians, then mostly Americans – and within that, mostly from California. That does make sense because it is a relatively easier journey from California to Japan than from other parts of the country. 

The amount of snow they get is truly insane. It was also more beautiful than I expected, and we were lucky to have a couple of good powder-y days (though not as much as I would have liked, but I will live because I got to snowboard in Japan and will probably go back at some point). The mountains and the views were stunning on the sunny days we had as well, which I heard isn’t as common – so we were lucky to have those. 

Here’s some photos from the mountain and the snow around the resort (and my new purple outfit, duh):

My first snowboard lessons:

A fun fact about me is that I have been snowboarding since 2017, but I never actually took a lesson. I went with some law school friends and just got on a shitty rental board and went up a lift at Winter Park in Colorado. I watched a few Youtube videos and figured it couldn’t be that hard. It was hard though, at least at first. I remember being in a lot of pain. So, kudos to the women on the retreat who were just learning how to ski or snowboard for the first time – all the way in Japan. It was also smart of them to take a lesson.

Apparently my posture on a snowboard kinda sucks. So I worked on fixing that. The instructor that I had for a couple of days, Nathan, who I dubbed ‘Hot Nathan’, was enthusiastic, kind, patient, and helpful. He was also – you guessed it – hot. He honored my request to get to the ungroomed gnarly double black part of the mountain on the second day, too, which I appreciated. The other people in the group probably didn’t appreciate it as much. My bad, but shoutout Hot Nathan. It was also fun to go with a group and work on different skills and watch others. Perhaps I should have taken a lesson eight years ago. Alas!

Unfortunately, for my last lesson I had a new instructor, who I dubbed ‘Mean Cameron.’ He put a damper on a good chunk of my day and shook my confidence, and I think I was close to a concussion after a fall doing one of his switch 360 drills. Ouch. I am too old for this. When we all got together at the retreat for a final happy hour to drink the various sake and wine that we had all stocked up on, we had to name a rose and a thorn from the trip. My rose was twofold – first the fact that I met so many incredible women – and second…. Hot Nathan. My thorn was Mean Cameron. I got the whole room of my new friends to boo him, drank a little too much sake before dinner, and I was feeling better.

Fireworks Bar: One of the first nights of the retreat, five of us went on a treacherous snowy walk to a local bar recommended by one of the instructors called Fireworks Bar. They had fireworks for sale that you could set off in the parking lot, really delicious sake and mixed drinks, beer, merch (which I regret not getting), and two fantastic dogs who liked people and didn’t seem to give a shit about fireworks. IF you know me, you know that fireworks scare me. So the merch would have been funny for me. I did not partake in any fireworks shenanigans.

The bar was in a yurt and had cool, friendly owners, and a bunch of couches to sit on (with the dogs if you’re lucky). The gals I went with were also cool and hilarious. A drunk Aussie guy (there are many of them in Japan, and everywhere, really) came and sat with us, followed by a quiet guy from New York. One of the gals thought it would be funny (and it was) to make the Aussie guess all of our names, what states we were from, and our Zodiac signs. We kept making him think that he was right (he was not right) and adopted our new names for the night. I was Courtney from South Dakota (random, but I embraced it). 

I kept the name Courtney the second time that we returned to Fireworks Bar, which was our last night in Hakuba. We had mostly the same crew as the time before. I regret skipping the other bar trips on the other nights, but I was just so sleepy and wanted baths instead of alcohol. I do have lasting FOMO though. The second night at the bar, I was a bit toasty and continued to go by Courtney and troll a bunch of Aussies (there were a ton of drunk Aussies there that night). A few of them complimented my looks and so my ego was feeling good. I challenged one of them to a flexibility competition, which I won, then to a competition of who could kick higher in the snow, which I also won. Winning is one of my favorite things! And so is changing my personality because I am a Gemini.

Here’s some some photos from all of the fun we had in Japan, featuring many new pals:

Snack of the moment: 7-eleven – we are so back: Although I still have to say that I prefer the Thailand 7-Elevens, the Japanese stores aren’t far behind. Many people actually prefer them. But I think I had some sticker shock in Japan compared to Thailand and Vietnam, and Japan’s 7-Elevens do not have the sniffers, the iced coffees, or the cheese toasties. What I did love about the Japan stores though were the rice snacks – especially the tofu skin rice rolls. Delish. They also had really good fresh fruit and delicious instant noodles.

The ramen in Japan is also fantastic, and I had some good salmon and some surprisingly delicious burgers (probably because their beef is elite). 

Here are some various food pics from Japan (I did not take many because I kept forgetting, MY BAD):

Tokyo:

After the retreat, I headed to a cute little hotel in Akasaka, Tokyo, to spend three nights. I found the recommendation on Reddit, and I’m glad that I took it. It is closer to downtown than Shibuya or Shinjuku, but still about a ten minute metro ride to either of those busier destinations. I didn’t get to explore Tokyo as much as I wanted, in part due to my body being completely exhausted from six full days of intense snowboarding – and in part due to it first pouring down rain, then sleeting, then snowing on my second full day. I spent most of that day hibernating and eating pizza instead of exploring. Sometimes you gotta. 

The first full day in Tokyo was a blast. I met up with several of the gals that I met on the snow trip who were also in Tokyo and we went around some of the more popular and eccentric areas in Shinjuku. One of the gals tried fish for the first time. We drank seltzers and beers from 7-Eleven on the streets, because apparently that is fine in Japan. That surprises me given all of their other rules. For example, I had to apply and send ample documentation in order to bring my ADHD medication with me to Japan. You also can only bring certain ADHD medications. Adderall isn’t allowed, even with permission. Straight to jail. Right away. They also never jaywalk.

Rules aside, all of the locals in Japan were absolutely lovely, warm, and helpful people. I loved it, and I certainly want to go back. Next time, I’d love to hit Niseko for more snow and Kyoto for more fun culture. 

The train station near me was also Harry Potter themed, for some reason. I walked out of it for the first time and was greeted by the sweet sounds of my childhood – random Harry Potter music – in the main subway underground for that station. There were the flags for all the houses. Then, after I exited the station after sending a video to my sister, there was even more Harry Potter shit. It was hilarious and so ornate.

Here are some miscellaneous photos of Tokyo and the Harry Potter station (also a random bumper sticker mentioning Knoxville which blew my mind):

Song of the moment: Sally, When The Wine Runs Out – Role Model

Why? Because this kept coming up on my TikTok album until I got obsessed. I’ve never listened to Role Model before, but he’s adorable, he’s quite the perform, and this song is such a bop.

Featured lyrics:

Aw, shit, here we go again, I’m falling head first

Ankles hit the two-step, Sally makes my head hurt

Heard through the grape vine she can be a diva

Cold like Minnesota, hotter than a fever

Now listen to the song!!!

Next stops: Costa Rica, Nicaragua (I know that’s quite a big geographical and weather change, but I am chaotic).