Winter Collection 07/08

- Never Stop Dreaming -

Alrite here are the "lost" pictures that I have consolidated till now and have been edited and resized. Or otherwise, give your eyes a break after those long hours of Edison, Cecilia, Bobo, Gillian and Vincy. The last few pics were taken at Asama2000 ski resort.

Right now I am working on my "custom" snow chair masterpiece...will post the pics when it's done. Hmmm...I need to add a little snow table to the side so I can put my coffee and bread. Oh yeah, I should also decorate it and add the finishing fine touches...

Greetings...in my abscence

- Never Stop Dreaming -

So today is Chinese New Year and all the Chinese around the world should be celebrating and partying except for those folks stranded in China and me who is working day and night with no off or leave.

Well who cares for I am not complaining as I enjoy more than anyone else I guess, it's just a fact that I am stating. Ok point taken and besides it's because I had deliberately chosen this path so of course I am delighted. Somehow it is here in Japan that I really learn to appreciate my roots and respect my own culture...no no no don't ever get me wrong but when I say roots and culture, it's simply means being a SINGAPOREAN CHINESE so don't even try to convince me about the bigger picture.

Maybe I can implicitly infer that I, being the odd one out seems to be the way for me afterall, I am the middle child, the defiant and rebellious one. While in SG, I try to be different from the norm, to stand out among the bland population for all the wrong reasons and now that I am here in Japan, once again I try to stand out among the Japanese. And it's from there that I really really appreciate being a SINGAPOREAN CHINESE. I would have confidently proclaim that if I had never chosen this path from the start, I would still be complaining and whinning about the flaws of the little red dot.

Great great great, I am different and well liked here and I love it. From me, the "Martian", I bring forth new experiences, cultures and values to flood the Japanese, Americans and other foreigners here. I represent a paramount influence on the folks here and the attention I get is simply overwhelming.

Happy New Year peeps back home and have a crazy year ahead!

Progression

- Never Stop Dreaming -

As I made my way up to Nozawa Onsen for a second time on Sunday with the same gang less the 2 other Japanese, I was in for more thrills and spills than the week before. Snow was much heavier, road conditions were more severe and I rode even harder. Saturday night after dining at a local Izakaya at Komoro, it started to snow and it did not stop snowing till Sunday night at around 10.

The initial plan was to drive my little blue car up to Nozawa but eventually the 4 of us took another friend's 4WD manual car up instead. The highway conditions were severe with the entire road covered in thick sludge, driving was reduced from the usual 120km cruising to a mere 60km crawling. Eventually we made it to Iiyama where every structure was covered in at least 15 inches of snow. There was just too much snow everywhere and I was just laying in the back seat of the car enjoying the view.

Upon arrival at Nozawa Onsen, I was persuaded to tackle a much harder and steeper run which was deemed fit for the level I am at. As usual, I took a couple of plunges, rolls and flips but eventually after seeing the sky flash 5 or 6 times and having eaten a mouthful of snow, I was ready to fly. In fact I flew so hard, my rusted body couldn't keep up and I was left once again eating snow. It was then I came to realise that I was actually riding pretty well and those falls were the result of my body not being able to keep up. I really wished I had kept my aching body in prestige condition after army...but it's all too late now so I have to start conditioning my "Tofu" body (ring a bell Law?).

Connecting the turns between the toe and heel edges of the board, I gracefully glided down the runs...It had to be one of the most orgasmic experiences in my life...Whooo and not to mention the "outta this world view" from the top. Well, the view was great as overlooking the entire plains and tiny cities below from almost 2000 metres above sea level but in my definition of "great view" with reference to Sunday, what I saw was nothing more than a dense obscure blizzard of white pellets smashing into my face. Unfortunately, I am still unable to haul my camera up the hills so you will just have to imagine it.

After one too many tries down the new run, I switched to the easier run from the previous Sunday to boost my confidence once more. This run became a leisurely and faultless run for me and on 1 particular instance, I took it so hard and with my confidence level floating above my head, I rode the heavy powder. Bad bad bad decision as I was no where near the level of riding powder yet and I badly regretted my naive decision for I spent the next 10 minutes "climbing" out of the mess. You see powder in snowboarding context simply means fresh untouched snow which is almost impossible to ride for an amateur like me. The reason being simply you will sink faster than you can recall your own name and every effort to "climb" out will only make you sink faster...sort of like a quick sand. Eventually, I dug deep enough to free myself from my board, only to struggle to walk in the knee deep snow which is harmlessly portrayed as a mere curb height on the surface. Nonetheless, it was really fun but I would not want to do it anytime soon.

To sum it up, I was really really worn out by Sunday night after pushing myself beyond my physical limitations. Even this morning when I woke up to go to work, I kinda wanted to call it a sick day since I haven’t taken a sick leave since last August but I decided against it in the end.

Snowboarding, I would recommend anyone who wouldn’t mind falling in soft cottony snow to pick it up as it’s pretty easy to learn. But watch those knees for they will hurt real bad initially. The first few trials will determine if you are destined to stay in the sport and of course if you do pull thru the initial learning phase, then you will understand the gracefulness of the sport.

Latest Japanese Street Wear

- Never Stop Dreaming -

Well this might just seem to be a random picture taken of the streets of Japan which is infamous for vending machines in every street, corner and alley you can find.



But take a closer look and you will find that in fact the latest street fashion is the brainchild of Japanese Designer Aya Tsukioka and is IN the picture itself.

Nozawa Onsen

- Never Stop Dreaming -

Last weekend was a great snowboarding trip at the ski resort beside Nozawa Onsen. Despite the name Nozawa Onsen, we ended up skipping the fantastic onsens altogether which was a pity. By far this place had the best facilities, overtaking Shirakabako which was great for snowboarding previously. Eventhough Sunday was only my 3rd day of snowboarding, I was flying across the hills and crashing into white, soft snow that keep piling up as it snowed rather heavily from early morning till the time we left at around 4 pm.

Given that fresh snow was stacking up rather rapidly and visibility was greatly reduced, the long runs were mostly abandoned and I had almost the entire run to myself. Ample space to practice and great snow to cushion the fall and this accelerated my improvement from a retard greenhorn to an amateur. It was by far the best snowboarding session of the 3 that I had. The only set back I had was that I had missed the last gondola down and had to take the intermediate route down the mountain. Scary but I made it with all the basics I had...not willing to attempt it again unless I miss the gondola again.

Alrite, here's the more indepth entry...

26 Jan Sunday, the beeping of my Casio's at 0545 hours followed by alarms from various cellphones broke my light sleep. Curled up on a lightly padded seat not wider than my body's width, I went downstair to wash up and prepare myself for the big day. Crashing in the same 2 storey school in Komoro (My Boss's school) was Grant, Eric and Ashley. We had all staked out the nite in Komoro since Sat for the much anticipated snowboarding trip in Nozawa Onsen on Sun.

Maki and Kosuke joined us at around 0630 in Komoro and from there we roll out in 2 cars to Nozawa Onsen. I was riding in Grant's car which was equipped with 3/4 worth of snow tyres as he was too lazy to fit the last one so we were pretty much fine for the journey. Took the Joetsu Highway which was THE fastest route to Nozawa Onsen as we were flying thru 6km long tunnels and greeted by unbelievable Alpine Glows from the mountains in the distance. Cruising at 110 to 130 km per hour, the 2 lanes highway became nothing more than an endless guiding line to our destination. As we approach Nagano City, it began to snow and somewhere along the end of the highway, there was a road block to turn away vehicles not equipped with snow tyres as the last part of the journey, black tarmac roads were simply non existence.

As we exited the highway which took us 1 hour odd and a total damage of ￥1850, it was simply a time VS. money battle as the normal route would have taken us more than 4 hours and God knows how much fuel. Alrite now we are in a little town called Iiyama which will lead us to some of the best ski resorts in Japan, namely Shiga Kogen and Nozawa Onsen and I have come to love this little town more than anywhere else in Japan. The reason being snow of course. There was simply so much snow here in Iiyama, the roads thru towns were sunk between 2 ice walls on both sides of the road towering at a metre odd. Huge Caterpillar machines with wheel diameter above the roof of my car was shoveling the snow off the road which expalins why the metre high snow walls. Other weird machines were dropping salt pellets on the roads to melt any black ice and everywhere else was a scenery of lush white trees, houses and mountains.

As we approach our destination, the raging snow storm refused any mercy and we were forced to drive up the winding mountain passes covered in more snow. And yep I was delighted as usual and I closed my eyes and whispered, "Please don't stop snowing till I tell you to."

As soon as our 2 cars pulled up into the parking lot, I was strapping up in my new boots and ready to fire up with my new bindings and tuned up board. It would be my first time riding in my own set of equipment other than the hefty rental and long queue times. The only essential gear that I was missing were my gloves...you see the mid range gloves that I got from Burton, which supposedly was the best snowboarding company SUCK BIG TIME. And if Jake Burton were to read this I would tell him, "Go back and pitch snowboards. Quit churning out MADE IN CHINA crap that rip!"

Once again I have proven my point and have justified myself that stuffs that are Made in Crap China just don't make the cut. They are simply a waste of time, money and effort so if I can avoid, I would definitely boycott crap like these. My gloves ripped on the 1st day I use them and I had to send them to the shop to get it replace with hopefully not the same crap model.

Yep I am pissed but let's go on...borrowed Eric's mitts (shells only) and took the lift up to the mid section only to find myself getting my ass whipped as going down the winding mountain passes proved too much for me after my 2 weeks break. Finally after much struggling, I managed to reach the mid section where I went to the "Lost and Found" section, first to bluff for a pair of gloves and when it failed, try to pitifully borrow a pair of gloves. Well the bluff failed but the pathetic act worked so I ended up not paying only for the lift tickets and nothing else.

Too bad I can only take the memories of this wonderful place with me as I simply wasn't good enough haul my camera up. But I am pretty sure if anyone who comes visit me in winter would have a chance to come up here...

And so that was it, an entire day of snowboarding in heavy snow to put a nice smile on my face for the entire week. This Sunday I suppose we are going up to Nozawa Onsen for another round of crazy snowboarding...haha.

White Affiliation

- Never Stop Dreaming -

Snow always seems to fall a ton late at night when the temperature is lower than in the day. So far I have caught numerous night snow fall and only 1 major day snow fall but today I was lucky.

Peered through the window at 0700 hours and was utterly disappointed as the sky was overcast and the ambience was grey. There weren't any rays from the morning sun piercing through the clouds. But at 0730 hours, snow started falling and till now, 0844 hours registered on this computer, everything outside the windows were just acres and acres of white with nothing visible further than a hundred metres. It's still snowing and I am really happy gloating over all the other Japaneses' frowns as they simply hated the snow.

Consolation, consolation and more consolation for me...the snow is falling slowly and constantly in little pellets no bigger than a grain of rice. Yet it's this kind of snow that will continue for a prolonged periods of time which will hopefully reward me with a foot of snow.

There are numerous inferences where the phrase "Be careful of what you wish for" does grip me and instil a sense of fear but at a time like this, I would still say without a slightest second thought, "I wish for a blizzard now!"

Snow had progressed from a mere novelty to a sense of affiliation so strong I simply can't stop yearning for more. Greed would be a serious understatement.

???????

- Never Stop Dreaming -

As a Nimbostratus of uncertainty gathers over my head, I can only brace myself for the recurring aftermath. Things are not within my control, much less are affected by the decisions I make. But precautionary planning before hand would be strongly recommended to eliminate absorbing the full impact of an inevitable disaster. No I am not taking any natural disaster of nature for reference here but rather, man-made disaster probably in just a state of unrest.

It's really out of the blue, sudden, blatant and cardiac-arresting for such uncertainty to befall from nowhere, especially when things are going so smooth. Maybe the phrase "Beware of the calm before the storm" is a more suitable line to represent the situation.

I am gearing up, hopefully enough to tide through this rough storm calmly, rationaly and politely. Afterall, it would definitely be catastophic if I do discard the goody side of me and emerge from within, the ugly and chaotic devil that only see ruthless rampage.

God Bless