Sapporo Snow Festival

Alex and I along with our friend Liz went to the 61st Sapporo Snow Festival. The first night in Sapporo we headed out to an all you can get shrimp and crab restaurant. We had a great time feast on king crab legs and shrimp tempura. We didn't care for the egg seaweed custard. After dinner we went on the ferris wheel that was on top of a seven story building. We decided to walk back to the hotel and got a little lost and little cold. We finally made it back to the hotel and headed up to the lounge on the 26 floor. We had a great view of the city.
The second day we had a full day of fun. We ate breakfast at the hotel, it was a Japanese American buffet. Some interesting thing on the menu. I had soup, salad and a baked potato. We went to Otaru for some sightseeing. We walked around the canal and stream clock. We ate lunch at a ramen house but was actually a covered alley between two restaurants . After a few hours in Otura we headed to the Chocolate Factory. We watched them make cookies. We had a snack at the end of the tour. Then we went to dinner at the Sapporo Beer Factory, all you can eat and drink for 90 mins. Alex made sure not to waste a minute of all you can drink. We got back to the hotel and hit up the lounge again for a Violet Fizz and Alex found a new drink Charlie Chaplin.
Day three was the start of the festival . We headed to Tsu-Dome site via subway and bus. Alex called it a snow and ice park. We rode on raft being dragged by a snowmobile then waited in line for 45 mins to slide down the snow slide. While we were standing in line it started to snow and got very cold!!! So Liz and I did the Cupid Shuffle to stay warm. After the slide we went to Odori Park to see the snow sculptures. Some of the sculptures were huge. We walked the 12 blocks. We took the subway to Susukino site which has the ice sculptures. Before we left the station we stopped in Starbucks for a hot cup of coffee. We walked the three blocks of ice sculptures and then headed back to the hotel to warm up and eat dinner. We decided to splurge for dinner so we ate at the teppan-yaki restaurant. We had our own personal chef to make a 6 course meal. The meal was amazing.
We had a great time with a great friend.

Nirai and Niche

Angeline is PCSing later this week and she wanted to hit up a couple of places before she leaves. We all decided to go to Nirai for the bruschetta and violet fizz (new favorite drink). After a few drinks we headed over to Niche, which is a martini bar. We all know how I love a martini. I had a pink flirtini, which was outstanding. It was a nice night just hanging out with friends.

Pizza in the Sky

It was a long Sunday. I tagged along with the Cisneros, Liz and Angeline as they went to Pizza in the Sky (Alex left earlier in the week and got delayed). We have been trying to plan a trip up there since New Years. We left to meet Angeline up in Nago at 12. Three hours later, two anxiety attacks, one bout of motion sickness, three calls to the Schilling and two calls to Veronica, we finally made it to Pizza in the Sky. It was really busy so we had to wait 45 mins but it was worth the wait. I ordered a salad, 7 inch pizza and acerola juice. I was being daring and tried the juice without knowing what it was and I was pleasantly surprised. The salad is huge and dressing is awesome. They only have one kind of pizza Japanese pepperoni, ham, green pepper, and corn. The main reason everyone wants to go the Pizza in the Sky is for the view. The restaurant is on top of a mountain with a great view.

New Years Eve

New Year's Eve Alex and I started out the night at the Cisneros house baptizing the bar. Lonnie used his bartending skills to work. Then we headed to the O'club to celebrate with a bunch of friends. We had about 20 people in our party. It was a lot of fun. The club served heavy appitizers for about two hours and breakfast after midnight. The DJ in the ballroom kind of sucked so before midnight we headed over to the lounge for the countdown.

Northern Highlights

The day after Christmas Alex and I went on a tour with MCCS to visit some places that we needed to see before we left the island. Liz, Lonnie, Raquel, Juan, and Emilio joined us for this fun filled day. The first stop was at the Nago Glass Factory. There the girls made their own glass with help from the professionals. I was unable to multi-task on the last step. We had to roll with the left hand and use the tongs in the right hand to make into the cup shape. After glass blowing we went to Fruit Land for lunch also while there we feed the birds and goats and walked through the butterfly area. Then we headed to the Pineapple Park. We skipped the ride since we already been on it before and went straight for the free samples. We tried wine, cookies, candy, juice and even a pineapple pickle(NOT GOOD). The last stop was the well anticipated stop for the guys, Orion Beer Factory. They didn't care much for the information given on the tour but could not wait for the two free samples.

Christmas Day

I woke up around 630 and laid on the couch for a little bit since Alex was still sleeping. We opened our presents. Alex got a wedge set, golf bag, and two jackets for Sapporo. I received a Mintpad but was later returned for an IPod Touch since the mintpad would not work with our computer. Santa also brought me a pair of Coach flip-flops since he knew my feet would be hurting half way through the New Years Party at the O'Club. Alex and I headed over to the Browne's house for waffles and ham. We have been going over there since the first year we were here. For dinner Liz had us over. We had lasagna, manicotti, salad, and garlic bread. I also brought over the chocolate fountain for desert. I sure have put the fountain to use this year. It was a fun time for all of us to be together and remind others of what happened the previous night. We exchanged gifts and watched a few movies.

Christmas Eve

This Christmas Eve we went to Raquel's house for the 2nd Annual Christmas Eve Beer Pong Tournament. The week before we made tamales. Now we got to eat out creations. Santa came for a visit to drop off some presents for everyone. We all sat on Santa lap. Then the fun started. We played several games, the first was unwrapping kisses with oven mitts relay. Alex, Lonnie, Kayleigh and I were all a team and we won (thanks to Emilio doing the Captain pose). We also played a round of beer pong.