woke up early this morning and went for a nice walk. all the time i was walking in the snow, i was singing to myself the “Frosty the Snowman” song. i was enjoying a late christmas all alone.

again, i was tempted to make a snowman but i’m waiting for the right timing. this mound of snow looked so inviting that i wanted to jump into it!

only crazy foreigners like me are walking in the streets at this time of year. haha.

passed by a cool temple. felt so real!

at times, the snow was almost knee high. after this, my shoes and socks got all wet. my feet got cold, so i had to end my lovely walk.

hundreds of years of history. so beautiful!

i still don’t know the proper way when visiting temples, but i’m doing my best to remember.

cool!

was walking around the neighborhood watching people shoving snow. looked never ending.

this is cool! i wanted to write a message on the window but realized i’m not a teenager anymore.

did you hear about the 6 people that got the death sentence in indonesia? earlier today, they were executed by a firing squad. all from different countries caught for smuggling drugs into indonesia. didn’t they read on the customs form before entering “Drug trafficking will be punished by death.” most of the world leaders are angry for the indonesian government to execute the drug dealers. my opinion is they knew the consequences when smuggling the drugs. yeah, in america, you get caught smuggling drugs, you will go to jail for only about 10 years. in third world countries such as indonesia, there is absolutely no tolerance for drugs. if you smuggle, you die. and that’s probably why those countries don’t have as much drugs as america. my advise is “don’t smuggle drugs, and don’t even do drugs.” then you will have nothing to worry about. pretty simple.

the people here are so nice. i asked a man at the fish market if there was a good ramen shop nearby. he said “oh yes, come and follow me.” we walked 8 minutes in the snow and he led me here. he even opened the door for me and told the ramen shop owner i came from hawaii so make me a good ramen. that was cool.

i love ika so i ordered the ika ramen. it was so good!

then i went to check into my hotel. i was so happy when i got to my room. the most magnificent view! fresh white powder snow everywhere! i laid down on my bed and just gazed out the window for a couple of hours.

people from hawaii don’t get to see snow, so seeing so much snow like this amazes me. it’s exactly what i came here for.

they have a girly basket and even a bath robe for their guests. this is how you are supposed to go to the onsen. the onsen is on the 12th floor rooftop. there is an outside one and an inside one. i went to the outside one first and after 3 minutes, my hair froze. but omg, my body felt great! i ended up going 3 times yesterday and i’m going again right after i post this.

4:30pm is sunset here. that’s pretty dam early.

then i went walking up and down the lonely streets. slipping and sliding everywhere. i felt like it was christmas again! it was a very happy lonely moment for me.

then i finally found the shop Yuki-san recommended to me.

i have no idea what it’s called, but i went in anyway.

first i ordered a draft beer, then i ordered ika, then i ordered grilled fish, then i ordered another beer, then i ordered hot rice.

the lady told me that not too many tourists come here. mostly local people and that was the kind of place i wanted to eat at.

they brought the ika out and it was still alive! the legs were moving as it was trying to get up and walk. couldn’t have been any fresher than this.

one of the best ika sashimi i’ve ever eaten in my life.

then as i was about to eat the legs, the lady asked me if i wanted to eat it grilled. i said yes.

so she grilled it and brought it back. omg, it was awesome!

then my hokke. i love eating this fish with hot rice. everything was 4200 yen. not too bad.

then as i was walking back to my hotel, i seen people on the road working hard. i was thinking to myself what a hard life it must be living in the snow. then i was thinking about walking up and asking the man if i could build a snowman. but i think i’m a little too old for that.

there is a little train running in the streets. it’s super cute and hopefully will get to ride it today. but first, the onsen!

hokkaido is experiencing a very cold snow storm now. this is exactly what i wanted. tomorrow i move more north, more deep into the snow. i know there is powder everywhere and i’m looking forward to playing in it. maybe i can finally build my first snowman! keep warm and have a wonderful day!

i leave tokyo this morning, close my eyes for 20 minutes, open it and all i see is white snow. i was super happy to see such beauty!

then when i get to aomori to change trains, i couldn’t believe how deep the snow was. and yeah, i started to freeze from the bones.

this was only aomori and i knew hokkaido was going to be a lot colder.

i was waiting at this station feeling like a fool. four people already asked me where i’m from and when i told them “hawaii,” they looked at me as if i was weird. am i?

then once i seen the ocean, i felt warm again. it’s amazing how the ocean can produce such a powerful vibe. i actually felt like surfing.

6 hours later, i finally arrive to Hakodate. it’s my first time here and after all this snow, i’m not sure if i want to come back. haha. one guy told me that the snow storm started 2 days ago. when i got out of the train station, my hotel was a 25 minute walk. i was slipping and sliding while pulling my suitcase. nobody else looked as stupid as me. but i refused to take the easy way out and ride a taxi.

i got my low cut $40 sketchers and it’s not doing the job at all. when the powder snow gets in the side, my feet freezes. and to make things worst, i’m slipping all over the place. it was one of the most dangerous walks of my life.

check out this monster crab! i almost ordered one but after they told me $300, i said no thank you.

i was walking around all day dragging my suitcase in the snow. there are absolutely no other tourists walking on the streets except me. frozen hands, feet, ears, and soul, i’m kind of enjoying this kind of travel by myself. makes me really appreciate life.

i look like a terrorist. but when it’s this cold, i don’t care what i look like. i have 3 layers of top and 2 layers of bottom and i’m still freezing cold. how do people live like this? i miss hawaii already. haha.
anyway, heard all the flights into sapporo airport were cancelled yesterday and today. luckily i rode the train! it was an amazing ride so far. i can’t wait to go deeper in hokkaido and deeper in snow. keep warm.