An Afternoon in Tokyo

Hello My Dear Great Ones,

On our way back to Hong Kong from Japan we spent a few hours in Tokyo.  Metropolitan Tokyo has a population of 36 million.  The population of Canada is 37 million. While we only saw a minute fraction of this colossal city we left impressed.  

We walked through a busy pedestrian zone filled with shops and restaurants.

At a restaurant.  Menu banners hanging from the ceiling.

Sushi of course.

A kid's bakery.

Food kiosks battling for attention.

Fish on a stick.

Celia heading to a tree with remaining cherry blossoms.

Checking out a kimono.

Lots of color, lots of lights, lots of action.  Tokyo is a place that assaults your senses.

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk

More of Hakuba

Hello My Dear Great Ones,

Celia and her I phone are an awesome combination for great pictures.  So without further ado here is More of Hakuba from Celia:

Winter?  How many decades did I experience this back in Canada for months on end?  Way too many...

Happily riding the lift to the top of the mountain.

Some great costumes on the hill.

A classic Japanese meal.

Great ski times...

Lots of room to roam....

Celia in front of great views....

Celia!

Yeah

Trying to snowboard.  I did ok.

Have a great week everyone!

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk

Hakuba!

Hello My Dear Great Ones,

Celia and I took our annual Chinese New Year vacation ski trip in Japan this past week.  This year we went to Hakuba Valley located 44 kms west from Nagano.  It is famous for its incredible scenery and is called the  Alps of Japan.  The valley has several different ski resorts that you can access via free shuttle busses.  Our first day was rubbish as the Brits say.  Rain!  Slush, fog.  Celia just stayed at our lodge and I slushed around for a couple of hours.  The next four days however were

 decent with plenty of sun and fun.   On Tuesday we went to Happo One, Wednesday Tsugaike, Thursday Hakuba 47, and Friday Sanosaki.  All were excellent in their own right and it was fun to try a new area every day.  Celia and I both were astounded by the scenery.  Here are a few samples:

Hakuba is a wonderful place. 

Have a great week.

Love adios and ping on!

Dirk