With the first hint of spring in the air and the cherry blossoms beginning to bloom, it’s the perfect time to take a step back and appreciate Japan for what it offers… five consecutive days of holidays and a chance to leave Japan and travel abroad. In other words, Golden Week is upon us once again! Last year took me on adventures throughout Hong Kong and China. This year took me a little further south to explore the Lion City – Singapore. With an unprecedented 10 days off (in Japanese standards), Eliza and I decided to travel down to this exotic Asian city-state to taste the food and see the sights.

We spent a total of four days in this hot, equatorial city, each day offering a bounty of sunshine, beautiful weather… and oppressive humidity. Singapore is infamous for its stringent rules such as being fined for jaywalking, spitting, or chewing gum. As one touristy T-shirt said, “Singapore is a FINE city.” In reality, some were jaywalking left, right, and everywhere (despite the signs politely asking to use the crosswalks) and other were just finding clever nooks and corners to spit. It does, however, live up to its reputation for cleanliness, comparative to Japan.

We explored our surroundings and took in famous landmarks on our first day – the durian-esque Espalanade theatre hall, the trendy nightlife area of Clarke Quay, and the famous Merlion fountain, the symbol of the city. Having grown up in northern climates, the heat and humidity quickly took a toll on us, sapping our strength and producing a constant sheen of sweat. Being an equatorial country, the temperature rarely drops below 30°C. The only safe-havens were the cool, air-conditioned confines of the hostel or one of the many shopping malls that dot the city.

Singapore is one of the largest, wealthiest cities in SE Asia. Being so, it’s no surprise that it attracts many kinds of people from all different cultures to live and work. This is evident in the widespread use of English as the de facto language of communication, but it’s not uncommon for a typical Singaporean to know two, or three different languages. It was interesting being an Asian tourist when shop-keepers addressing us would switch from Mandarin, to Cantonese, to Malay before realizing we spoke English. The diversity of cultures also brings with it a unique blend of asian cuisines, and the Singaporeans love their food! The plentiful “Hawker stalls”, as outdoor food courts are called, are the cheapest and the easiest way to sample the variety of foods Singapore has to offer, whether you feel like Chinese congee, Indian briyani, or spicy Malaysian mee goreng noodles. The mix in cultures also brings with it religious diversity. In certain parts of the city can you find a Buddhist temple, Catholic church, Islamic mosque and Hindu temple all within walking distance.

Being a rich, affluent nation and tourist destination, Singapore had plenty of tourist attractions to offer. In the southern-most tip of the country is a small island entirely dedicated to family attractions – Sentosa Island. Eliza and I spent an entire day on Sentosa, spending a half-day at the newly opened Universal Studios Singapore before exploring the different sites, including a second Merlion statue with a brilliant, multi-colored tiled walkway called the Merlion Walk. On Silosa beach, with its fine sand and dotted with palm trees, can you find the famous aquarium and historical Fort Silosa. As the sun set, we walked the length of the beach to ride the famous night luge with its rainbow-hued lighting, making it feel like you’re in Mariokart on Rainbow Road.

Our time in Singapore was amazing. Even with four days of exploring, we weren’t able to visit the sites we wanted to go to on the outskirts of the city, like the infamous Night Safari or Bird Sanctuary. Whether it’s from the amazing variety of delicious food to the friendly locals to the endless amounts of things to see, Singapore is definitely a city worth visiting.

In a last-ditch attempt to experience Winter before it - and I - leave Japan I revisited Fukiage onsen, the small mountain onsen I went to last year for a short weekend of snowshoeing and outdoor adventures with outdoorsy, like-minded friends. Last year consisted of an epic snowshoe hike up Maetokachi-dake in gale-force blizzard weather (ok, not quite) and an amazing snowboard through untouched, back-country powder to the onsen. This year was, well, quite a bit tamer than last year. But by choice. One of the other activities we did last year was build a snow cave for the hell of it. This time, we set out to purposely build a snow cave, and not just any snow cave, a Snow Grotto! Muahaha!

Armed to the teeth with three snow shovels and the knowledge of snow cave-building from YouTube videos, we departed the onsen with snowshoes strapped to our feet and hiked up a small nearby hill. Staking out a good place to build our snow cave, we chose to conveniently use the same spot as last year. Buckling down against the heavy falling snow and occasional patch of sunlight in the cloudy sky, we carefully engineered the cave’s layout and then started digging, and digging… and digging. That's all there really is to building a snow cave. After a few hours of cold, hard work we finally had enough room to fit seven people in the newly dubbed “Yuki Grotto”. Not a group to be satisfied with just having enough room... we built seats and a table too. And a nice sloping roof. After chilling inside the snow grotto for a bit (literally), admiring our work and having pretend nabe (all the while wishing we’d actually brought real nabe) we headed back down to the warm, inviting onsen, secretly hoping a bear would find the snow cave and take up residence. Next project: Snow Love Hotel!

After missing two seasons, I was finally able to see my first Japanese baseball game! In Japan, they take their baseball seriously. Baseball is a serious sport. Sapporo’s baseball team is called the Nippon Ham Fighters. Notice the clever company advertising subtly inserted into the team name? As a bonus, everyone receives a free stick of ham from their sponsors upon entry! I’ll be honest, baseball isn’t all that really interesting to watch. There’s the occasional grand-slam and moments of excitement, but mostly it’s waiting around for those exciting moments to happen (unless you really like the pitching). Give me a good hockey game any day. What I was looking forward to about watching a match wasn’t the baseball… but the crowd! Japanese fans are all kinds of awesome and completely justify the sole reason for going to a game. First off, each team has their own section where everyone is decked out in their team’s color weaving the ubiquitous plastic noise-makers. Heaven forbid you wear a white jersey in the yellow section, but this being Japan you would probably be politely relocated to your ‘proper’ section, free of charge, of course (compared to other countries and sports where you’d get beat down for this). Secondly, there are music sections! Each team has their own dedicated ‘band’ of taiko drums and brass instruments that blare out unique rhythms and chants for each player. I especially like Keisuke’s (or was it Ishii’s?) chant where, with a cue from the band, the audience all stand up and jump on the spot. Accompanying the rumble throughout the stands is the trippy feeling you get watching the thousands of people bobbing up and down. It’s like doing The Wave but getting seasick at the same time. Aside from the game itself was the constant barrage of entertainment - from the cheerleaders, the mascot B.B., the plethora of colorful, dancing (and random) mascots promoting something or other, or the audience itself. The Fighters lost, unfortunately, but there was plenty to watch and it was an exciting game nonetheless. For my first baseball game in Japan, I give it two 'hams up.

Part 4
Continuing our road trip of Eastern Hokkaido, I took her to all the natural locations of Eastern Hokkaido I’d explored in the Summer but had yet to see in the Winter. The first, beautiful view of frozen Lake Kussharo was enough to stave off the wind that battered us from all directions. Following the shore around Lake Kussharo brought us to Sunayu with its Nessie-like mascot, Kusshie. In the summer, Sunayu is a famous destination to have foot baths in the sand, as you can read here. In the Winter, the warm sands prevent the ice from melting and hordes of swans come to be fed bread crumbs by easily-amused tourists! In this hotbed of geothermal activity, just further up the road was the onsen town of Kawayu and sulphuric gas mountain, Iozan. I’d planned on making a visit up to serine Lake Masshu but, unbeknownst to me, the mountain road is closed and unplowed during the Winter months. We carried on to Abashiri (where I was the week before for Queens of the Drift Ice) to have a late lunch at a tiny train station café that served home-made hamburger and katsudon. We’d planned on going drift ice cruising and snowmobiling but the warm weather still kept the drift ice away and we’d arrived too late to go snowmobiling. After a round-trip tour of Eastern Hokkaido and a few hundred kilometers later, we made our way back home to nap off a leisurely day of sightseeing.

Part 3
A few weeks later, Eliza came out of of the city again to spend the weekend exploring more of rural Eastern Hokkaido. The first place we went after picking her up from Asahikawa was Sounkyo gorge, an onsen town nestled deep in the mountains, to catch the tail end of the Sounkyo Ice Waterfall Festival. In the middle of winter, on a frozen lake an ice castle magically springs to life (actually, after months of preparation and “growing” the castle with water hoses) complete with turrets, winding passageways, precariously sharp icicles, ice slides, ice stairs (I think unintentionally icey), and a 15m tall ice tower. Walking inside of a living ice sculpture is like building a Lego castle when you were a kid and wanting to shrink down and walk through it. Awash in multi-colored lights and joyous laughter from all the tourists, it was like a freezing version of budget Disneyland. If you get the chance, the Sounkyo Ice Festival is a definite must-see. Check out Crystal's great blog for her experience of the festival.

Part 2
When there isn’t a festival going on, it’s always a good idea to throw one yourself! This year was the 3rd Annual Queens of the Drift Ice (here's what happened last year), a time to showcase Eastern Hokkaido’s famous 流氷 (ryuuhyou), or drift ice. It’s a good reason, and usually the best time of year, for those who live in other parts of the island make the long trek out and explore Abashiri for a weekend. Surprisingly, a record number of people made the half-day journey out to Abashiri in what was probably their first, and last, time to the far east. Unfortunately, due to a sudden Chinook just mere days before the weekend, all of the drift ice retreated back to Siberia and the drift ice cruise we had booked was cancelled. But there was still a lot of winter fun to be had, including snowmobiling on frozen Lake Abashiri, onsening, eating Nepalese food for lunch (nothing like keeping warm with curry!), and visiting Abashiri's Drift Ice museum (it's not quite the same..) or many other museums. That night saw a football-sized team of us, over 55 in total, taking over the Abashiri Beer Gardens for two hours of all-you-can-yakiniku. After eating our body weight's worth in meat, we headed to Tokoro to party the night away in Caroline’s ‘mansion’.

It’s been a busy past few months; Winter just flew by, it seems! The sun sets later, the snow is melting (in between random spurts of blizzards) and it’s undeniably, no matter how much I try to deny it, turning into Spring. With the imminent changing of the seasons, I’ve been trying to enjoy the remaining days of Winter before it evaporates, leaving the green buds of leaves, blooming flowers, and warmth in its wake. The next few posts are a recap of my Winter adventures over the past few weeks.

Part 1
Winter, as with all seasons, brings a bounty of festivals to Japan. The Japanese love to celebrate, whether the reason is big, small, or made-up, festivals are always great times to see the Japanese at their best. A few came to Hokkaido the past few months, including the biggest and best – Sapporo’s Yuki Matsuri. This year it happened to fall near my birthday (which is on another Japanese holiday, Setsubun). A few days of paid holiday turned a long-weekend into one of the best times I’ve ever had in Japan! I spent this week-long combination Birthday, Yuki Matsuri, and early Valentines weekend in Sapporo with Eliza. She surprised me with a night date up scenic Mt. Moiwa and a flambé-style steak dinner where our meal was cooked right in front of us. The next few days were spent looking at the always-impressive snow and ice sculptures of Yuki Matsuri, then heading to Niseko (where I spent most of my Christmas holidays) for good times with friends and an amazing powder day on the slopes. Upon returning to Sapporo the next day, we immediately went snowboarding again at Mt.Teine (site of the 1972 Winter Olympics) with some Japanese friends of ours. On Valentine’s Day, I took Eliza out for 5-course meal at a French restaurant in Otaru where we had the entire cozy restaurant to ourselves. We strolled along the famous Otaru canal afterwards, taking in all the glowing snow sculptures for the last day of the Otaru Lantern Festivals for a perfect evening to cap off an awesome weekend, and 24th birthday.