Shakotan Peninsula with HUISA

Yesterday we went out to the Shakotan Peninsula with HUISA (Hokkaido University International Student Organization).  We started out at Shimamui Beach.  It is a stony beach with many partly eroded pillars of rock rising out of the sea.

Here is a panorama photo of Shimamui beach with many of the other HUISA trip participants.

The water was very clear and there was lots of marine life to watch.  I accidentally kicked an anemone when I went swimming with my friend Anton.  Good think it wasn't one of the many sea urchins!  I also saw many hermit crabs, snails, mussels, and starfish.

Here is one of the starfish out of the water.  It is very brightly colored.  Anton found a starfish that was digesting something.  When he picked it up it's stomach was sticking out, but it quickly pulled it back in.

After the beach we went on to Kamui-Misaki.  Kamui-Misaki is a narrow peninsula with a lighthouse on the end.  Unfortunately due to landslides the path to the lighthouse is now closed.

Photo credit to Anton for this photo of Bre and me by the sign for the lighthouse trail.

The last stop on our trip was the Nikka whiskey factory in Yoichi.

I like the sign saying,"The legend of whisKy to you."  I think it means that if you buy a single malt whiskey you will be purchasing the legend of whiskey.  I also like how every K in the sign is a capital K for no apparent reason.  The room indicated by the sign had a very pleasant whiskey smell.  I never thought that I liked the smell of whiskey until I went into that room.  In addition to the little bottles of whiskey that they were selling they were also storing hundreds of barrels of whiskey, which is probably what gave the room its smell.

They had this funny little scene of two dolls drinking whisky together.

Here Anton and Bre are at the tasting room trying out the apple brandy blended whiskey.  It turned out to be our favorite.  However tasting whiskey can be a very intoxicating experience so we only tried two other flavors.

On a different note, I have noticed that this is the 100th blog posting on Kyle-and-Bre-in-Japan.  It is amazing to me to think that we have managed to write 100 times.  I have recently come to calling Kyle-and-Bre-in-Japan "Kabij" (sounds like cabbage).  Way to go Kabij!

If any of our loyal readers have a blog request please let me know.  I'll write about anything (within reason).  Our time in Japan is nearing an end.  We will be returning to America in November.  So if you have a request don't delay in dropping me a line.

That's all for now,

Kyle (and Bre)

Homemade Ice Cream with Peaches

It has been hot in Sapporo.  Bre and I decided to make ice cream last night.

We found a homemade ice cream recipe that does not require an ice cream machine.  After our first trial I learned that it is too sweet for me.  I cut the sugar in half.  Now it is pretty good.

Vanilla Ice Cream recipe

2 Tbs sugar (I prefer 1 Tbs sugar)
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Combine in a pint sized plastic bag and seal.

1/2 cup salt
about 1/2 gallon of ice cubes.

Combine salt and ice in a gallon size ziplock bag.  Carefully place the ice cream mix in the larger gallon bag so that it has ice on both sides.  Shake for 5-15 minutes until the ice cream is hard.

Make sure to get the salt off the ice cream bag before opening, or it may taste salty.

For those who prefer a metric measuring system you can find easy conversions here.

Hokkaido cream.  See those Japanese lessons paid off, I can read Katakana!

We found some very ripe peaches at the grocery store for a discount.  They were delicious.

Here is Bre peeling one of the peaches.  I was told by one of my Japanese friends that Americans don't peel their peaches.  Really?  Do any of you eat your peaches without peeling them first?

The Vanilla.

Here is the bag of ice cream mix.  I squeezed out most of the air before sealing the bag.

Bre is measuring out the salt in this photo.  The salt combines with the ice cubes to make it really cold.  Cold enough to freeze your fingers if you aren't careful.  We used mittens to handle the cold bag.

Here is the ice cream after 10 minutes of shaking and rolling.  It is frozen!

Squeezing out the ice cream.

Bre is blowing on her hands to warm them up after holding the cold ice cream.

And here is the final product.  A tasty treat for a hot day.

That's all for now,

Kyle (and Bre)

Nippon Hamu Faitazu aka The Hamfighters

Last Sunday, Kyle and I went to see the local professional baseball team with our friends Anton and Mami.  The game was also played in the Sapporo Dome, the same stadium where we watched the soccer game.  However, they configure the field and seats differently for the two different sports.  There is a really cool video about how they change between the two fields here.  It's in Japanese, but the transformation starts at 45 seconds.  The baseball field is artificial but the soccer field is grass.  The soccer field lives outside the stadium (so it can get sunlight) and only comes inside for games.

Sapporo's baseball team is called the Nippon Ham Fighters, which is possibly the awesomest name for a baseball team ever.  Tragically, they are not Fighters-of-Ham, but rather they are sponsored by the Nippon Ham company.  But we English speakers prefer to call them as the Hamfighters.

Baseball here is much more popular than soccer.  The soccer game we went to had 12,000 people, while the baseball game had 30,000. However, there were many similarities to the soccer game, including continuous organized chants (whenever the Hamfighters were at bat) with drums and horns, and a dedicated visiting team seating section.

On Sunday, the Hamfighters were playing the Lotte Marines from Chiba.  Their mascot was a big chicken, so we called them the "Marine Chickens"...  which sounded funny to us.

Here is the opening pitch of the game.  We were completely baffled by all the people on the field.  It looked like 2-3 people were at each position.  We couldn't tell who they were.

Here is a panorama of the whole stadium.  We sat in nose-bleed seats above 1st base...  the same approximate place that Kyle and I usually sit for watching the Seattle Mariners. 

At the beginning of the game and halfway through the game, a very large group of cheerleaders came out and performed for the audience.  These cheerleaders were all children, which we found surprising since cheerleading for professional sports in the U.S. is done by primarily by scantily-clad women.  We later saw two of the cheerleaders at the restaurant near the stadium, where we went for dinner.  I estimate that one was 10 and the other 5 or 6 years old.

Kyle made a video of the cheerleading and the blimp that circled the stadium in the 5th inning.

A panorama of the play.

In the 7th inning or so, people around us started to inflate these large blue balloons with little hand-pumps.  In the transition between one team's at bat and the other's, everyone released the balloons in unison.  It looked pretty cool.  I don't know what happened to the balloons afterwards. 

This video showcases some of the organized cheering for the Hamfighters when they are at bat.  It was less energetic than the soccer game was, but significantly more than what you would find at a U.S. baseball game.

In general, the game was pretty slow.  The Marine Chickens managed to score 2 runs in the 6th or 7th inning.  The Hamfighters rallied to score one run in the 8th, and they almost, almost, almost scored again in the bottom of the 9th, but no luck.  It was very intense.

Here is the video of the one run the Hamfighters scored.  The crowd was very happy.

Bad luck for us to watch them lose.  They won the two other games in the series with the Marine Chickens, and they won yesterday 13-3!  That would have been exciting!

Well, that's all for now. Until our next adventure,
-Bre (and Kyle)

Teine in summer

We went for a hike with up Mt. Teine on Sunday.  It was a very nice day for a hike.  We took the subway and caught a bus to the base of the mountain.  From there it was about 2.5-3 hours to the top.  The trail is not too steep, but some sections are quite rocky.  You can check out my friend Leon's website about hiking Teine for more info.

We started out by this very symmetrical hill that reminded me of the pyramids at Moerenuma Park.

There were hundreds of giant moths hanging out on this post and the wall behind it.  I think they imagine that they blend in with the concrete.  I noticed that they are densest where the light at night is brightest.

Not sure what this thing with the giant tires is about.  It reminds me of the funny things that people do to their yards when living in the country in America.

What was this?

Even your buddha statues are dressed differently in the country.

At the start of the trail there is this great waterfall.  We stopped to take a group photo.  Our group from left to right: Anton, Mami, Daniel (but the Russian version of Daniel, technically), Natasha, Bre (with blue hat), Olga (green hat), and Kyle (kneeling).

A kilometer or so up the trail there is this man-made dam that appears to be designed only for flood control.  Shortly after this point the trail starts getting steeper and more difficult.   The area around the dam was actually the most difficult for me.  There was not much of a breeze.  The air was warm and humid.  There were lots of insects buzzing around my head.  It got much easier once we got up on the rocks where it is more exposed.  There is more of a breeze and fewer insects.  

I took this video to give you a sense of how difficult the trail is when hiking on talus or skree slopes.

Here we are near the summit.  The sign between us says 980 because the elevation is 980 meters.

I found this fuzzy guy near the man-made rock pile.

Here is a photo of me pretending to ski.  This is the top of the double diamond run that I skied last winter.

Above is a photo of one of the chairlifts in summer.  Below is a photo of Jody standing in front of the same chairlift in winter.

Above is a photo of one of the ski runs in summer.  Below is a photo of Adit standing in front of the same ski run in winter.

Anton enjoy's Geocaching.  Here he is placing a geocache while I watch.

In this last panorama photo you can just see the top of Daniel's camouflage hoodie on the right side of the photo.

It was a fun hike.  Thanks to Mami and Anton for organizing it!

That's all for now,

Kyle (and Bre)