Skiing in Nowazaonsen

We spent the March school holidays in Nozawa skiing and also a couple of days in Tokyo. Instead of Club Med which we have been going for the past 2 years, we decided to check out this other place in Nagano where godma's friend Uncle Eugene has a lodge there. Apparently he says there are more ski slopes at Nozawa and we will enjoy it more. 

We flew into Tokyo Narita and from there we took the high speed train to Iiyama station via Tokyo station. It was a 2 hour journey and it was a very smooth ride. When we got to Iiyama, Uncle Eugene was there to greet us and took us shopping for ski equipment which was on massive discounts as it was nearing the end of the season. By the time we arrived at the lodge, it was quite late and we ended up playing snow in the open while the adults planned for the next few days activities. Compared to Club Med where we were constraint to the resort itself, Nozawa has a village where we could go explore and try out different types of cuisines. There are even onsens which only the adults are allowed to go. I believe they will head there tonight after we kids are asleep.

We spent the next day skiing and cos we were not familiar with the terrain yet, we had to join the lessons so that they can orientate us to the different ski slopes. The adults also had their lessons and they were lamenting that the lessons are very expensive compared to Club Med where it was all included so we don't feel the pinch. It was nonetheless a good place to ski and we enjoyed it. 

On the second day, we decided not to ski but to check out the famous snow monkey of Nagano. Uncle Eugene drove us there and after alighting at the entrance, we had to walk in the cold for about 1.6km or almost 20 mins. The walk was pleasant if not for the biting cold. At some point, it looked like it was snowing but it was actually the wind blowing the snow which had settled on the trees. We took some pictures of the monkeys which surprisingly were very well behaved unlike those in Bali which stole my grandpa's glasses and then someone requested for a small fee to help recover the glasses. It was obviously a set up.

After spending 5 days on the ski village of Nozawa, we descended to Tokyo via the high speed train again and because of different timing in confirming the trip, godma had to stay in a different place while godpa and our family stayed in an AirBnB house in Okubo, one station away from Shinjuku. 

We spent the next three days in Tokyo and explored places like the Tsukiji market which was really interesting, Harajuku, Shinjuku where we found the world's best ramen, Asakusa Temple and Ginza. We even managed to spend some time with hedgehogs in a cafe in Roppongi. 

We moved to a hotel near the Haneda airport on the last night cos our flight our was very early and we didn't want to risk getting lost in the morning to the airport. It was a very interesting airport hotel where we get to make our own coffee at the hotel lobby and also to take what we want from there. 

We got to the airport really early that morning and bought our favorite Tokyo Bananas and other local favorites. We were really sad to leave Tokyo as we had a lot of fun there and now we have to get back to school next week. We look forward to the next holiday.