Snow in Misawa Base

Main Entrance Right after the main gate

BX Parking Lot

Base jets display

Bldg 653 Parking Lot

Burger King

Abandoned car at the BX Parking Lot

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This post is a bit too late, sorry but I've been busy lately. These photos were taken 2 weeks ago when we had heavy snow. But now the snow is melting no slippery roads anymore.

Snow in Misawa

Rice field and the green houses covered with snow

We had a heavy snow last January 13. For the past 2 months we just had some light snow showers and flurries. But last Wednesday was like a 12 hour (or more) of non-stop snowing. The weather warning that day was 4 inches or more of snow. The Misawa Base had to allow "non-essential personnel" (like me) to come in 2-hour delay and even the DoDDs students too. I wasn't lucky enough to hear the news earlier neither I wasn't aware that I can call the snow line to check if there's a delay :-) so I came in early in the office. My boss was surprised and said "how come you're here, you're not essential (LOL) ??" Dangg I should have stayed home for 2 hours and went back to bed hehehe.

The kids were really waiting for the snow to come down so they could play outside and my son was one of them complaining of not getting enough snow ;-)

I have to shovel our driveway when I got home from work. They let us go home 2 hours early too! My back hurt! Hmmmm I miss Hawaii now!

Sutamina Taro (All-You-Can-Eat) Restaurant

Sutamina Taro Restaurant

Yakiniku (Barbecue)

Yummy barbecue!

Make your own pancake or crepe (just follow the pictures)

Cotton Candy Machine

How to make a cotton candy

Pour the sugar into the hole

Get the paper stick and grab the cotton, simple!

My son, getting the cotton candy from the machine

Inside the restaurant

Desserts

Sushi

Tako yaki (octopus ball), shrimp tempura, chicken karaage

Orange, apple and lychees

The food section

Sutamina Taro Restaurant- Jan 2, 2010

Last week we're supposed to go to Oki Doki Recycle Shop but we found out that it was closed already, it's actually permanently closed maybe out of business or they moved to a different place (I don't know what's the actual reason, I'm just guessing hehehe). We thought that we missed the store so we even turned around and saw no sign of Oki doki, it's really closed. We saw the actual store with no signs and no displays inside and it's empty (I should have taken that picture too LOL).

Anyways, we were hungry that time so we ended up going to a yakiniku restaurant which is a few blocks away from that store. I just found out the real name, while I'm writing this post I asked my daughter if she can read the name of the restaurant. So there you are...it's Sutamina Taro! Thanks for having a daughter who's taking Japanese class ;-)

This restaurant is an All-You-Can-Eat, it offers a lot of varieties of dishes such as sushi (of course hehehe), ramen, udon, soba, tako yaki, chicken karaage (fried boneless chicken), salad, french fries, fruits, desserts such as cheese cake, mochi, strawberry cake and many more. You can make your own cotton candy and crepe which are the 2 favorite things that my son like to do here.

I think this was our 5th times eating in this buffet restaurant; some of the pictures above were taken last August and last week ( I combined them).

Price: (this is weekend and holiday price only)

Adults- 1980 yen (~$22)
Children- 1340 yen ($15)

The weekday's price is cheaper but forgot the price probably 1000 yen for adults

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Directions (for US military newcomers here in Misawa):

Using back road not the toll road : (We always use this route since we are far from the toll road entrance and to save from toll fees hehehe)

1. Go out from the Falcon or POL Gate
2. Go straight and make a left on Universe
3. Go straight (pass Eneos gas station and family mart), make a right when you see Lawson on the right and Esso gas station on the left
4. Go straight all the way to Hachinohe (approximately 30 minutes or more from this intersection), this is route 45
5. At the end of the road is the T-intersection ( so you won't worry of getting lost) where you will see the Sega World, make a right on this T-intersection (you may get confused but this is still route 45)
6. Go straight (pass Popeye Pachinko and you should pass the Yellow hat on your left side)
7. Make a left on Route 29 (going to Kabushima), the landmark intersection is the Cyber Pachinko & Slot
8. The restaurant is on your right (you would pass Uni Q Glo on the right hand side)
9. You will make a U-turn when you see the Pachinko Parlor on your left hand side (be careful the road is a bit narrow for a van to u-turn)

Using Toll Road:

(Note: You should know how to drive going to Hachinohe using toll road before you can follow this directions since I'm too lazy to type hehehe)

1. When you exit the Hachinohe toll road, turn right onto route 45
2. Go straight until you hit the T-intersection (You will see Sega World)
3. Follow steps 6 to 9 on above directions

ENJOY!!!

Naqua Shirakami Hotel and Ski Resort ( Formerly known as Ajigasawa Ski Resort)

Naqua Shirakami Hotel

The Gondola station (??)

The parking lot

The gondola lifts

The Tubes

Another view of Gondola

My son lying on the snow, feeling its soft powder LOL

The snow mobile

That was........a Japanese guy (I wish it was me LOL), overlooking Sea of Japan

Our dinner

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Dec. 25, 2009- We went to Naqua Shirakami Ski Resort, we had no potluck parties to attend and no prepared foods at home so we just decided to go skiing and snowboarding there. I knew it would be few people (because it's Christmas Day) and that would be a good timing for beginners like us :-) to practice skiing and snowboarding!

As usual we didn't plan this trip ahead of time, what else do I expect with my husband (hehehe); Dec. 24 when we decided to rent ski and snow board gears at Outdoor Recreation Center on base, it would be cheaper than renting at the ski resort. We paid ~$60 for 2 skis and 2 snow board equipments. Our plan was to drive up there in the morning and return in the evening. We went to ITT to ask for hotel package overnight but it's so expensive, it's 13,000 yen (~$148) per person maybe because it's short notice already (2 days before Christmas). My husband didn't get it.

While driving there, again......we got lost! I was the GPS of my husband and I just followed Misawa's insider's driving directions. It says there that we have to exit at the end of Tsugaru's Expressway but I noticed that they extended the expressway and the exit should now be before the end of expressway but I don't know the name of where should you exit then (that directions should be updated!!). After 30 minutes of driving around we finally found the main road, the 101 route.

We had a nice weather that day, it didn't snow nor rain, it's really perfect timing! But we were hungry, so we ate lunch first in their food court around 1pm. My husband had a terrible headache and tried to check available rooms so we could stay overnight and he won't have to drive back that night (because I won't too hehehe). We were lucky, they have rooms available. They charged as 11,000 yen (~$125) per adult and 88,000 yen ($100) per child. We took it and we paid 42,900 yen for 2 rooms, 2 adults and 2 children and they added 500 yen each room for the choice of connected rooms . The package includes dinner and breakfast buffet plus lift tickets for 1 day (Dec. 25 and 26). Lift ticket costs 4,000 yen each person if we didn't get the package. I don't know why Japan hotels are charging per person and not per room. So we didn't waste our money we ate a lot of crab legs during our dinner LOL.

This was our second time to go skiing and snowboarding and until now we're not that good at this sports hehehe. When we reached the peak of the mountain by riding the lift, (it's 921m or 3021 ft high and took us 10 to 15 minutes) we were very scared, the slope was too steep for us !!! And we even asked the Japanese guy that if he's sure that's for beginners' course and he said the same thing, "hai" (yes) so we stayed for few minutes, taking pictures and then.....we didn't convince ourselves to take the chance. We decided to take the lift going back down the hill (don't laugh! LOL) and said to the Japanese crew, "kowai" (scary) hehehe. Lucky nobody was around to see us going riding back in the same lift of course that Japanese crew only hehehe. So we ended up staying on the foot of the hill trying to ski, our kids learn snowboarding that quick. But my husband and I ....never mind hehehe. I was just posing for a picture and my ski slid all the way down...and can't control my skis so I just let myself hit the snow with butt first LOL

By the way I did try the onsen (hot spring tub), we were only few people there it was uncomfortable going to onsen ...naked! I think that would be my first and last try, it's a good experience though.

Dec. 26- Driving back home, I still used "The Insider's directions" fortunately we hit the right roads and saw the Jusco mall, we stopped by and did quick shopping for our friend's daughter's gift, we were invited for a birthday party that night (short notice too hehehe). It took us 2 hours to reach Misawa Air Base and just in time to return the equipments. What a trip, so tired, my legs were sore.


Driving Directions:

Just ask Japanese friends or co-workers, we got lost going up there hehehe.

Making Of Soba Noodles

The following pictures say it all on how to make soba noodles. These were taken during the Salmon Festival in Rokkasho Town. We have to wait for this Japanese guy to finish making soba noodles without saying anything. I will do the same thing.....enjoy browsing the photos!






















Finally he smiled :-)

I should have brought my video camera rather than taking pictures of each steps hehehe, sorry I forgot to bring it.

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According from Wikipedia:
Soba is a type of thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour. It is served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or in hot broth as a noodle soup. Moreover, it is common in Japan to refer to any thin noodle as soba in contrast to udon which are thick noodles made from wheat. It takes three months for buckwheat to be ready for harvest, so people can harvest it four times in a year; it is harvested mainly in spring, summer, and autumn. In Japan, buckwheat is produced mainly in Hokkaido. People call soba that is made with buckwheat that has just been harvested "shin-soba". It has more sweetness and taste than soba.

In Japan, soba noodles are served in a variety of situations. They are a popular inexpensive fast food at train stations throughout Japan and are served by exclusive and expensive specialty restaurants. Markets sell dried noodles and men-tsuyu, or instant noodle broth, to make home preparation easy.