JAPAN Jan 2016 - Feb 2016

Japan was amazing.
4 weeks, 10 amazing people, 3 mountains, 18 days of boarding and infinite laughs and good times.

Started in Tokyo staying at the Prince Hotel in Shinagawa for 3 nights.
I would recommend this area highly.
Super easy to navigate around, and only a few stops on the Yamanote line to:
Shibuya - Great place to see the famous intersection you see in all the movies plus little treasures such as the Cat Cafe.
Harajuku - Not as Anime and Cos Play orientated as it once was, but has plenty of crazy little shops full of bizarre and cheap souvenirs and gifts and a great atmosphere
Shinjuku: Great place to go at night for the night life and excellent eats!

From Tokyo, we caught the Bullet Train to Hakuba Mountain. We spent 7 days snowboarding there mainly at Happo 1.
This place was pretty great for beginners, but it did have a lot of black and double black runs also for those looking for something a little more challenging.

We then headed to Myoko for 9 days of boarding.
This mountain is where I sort of came into my own. After about 7 days boarding at Hakuba, I was feeling a lot more confident, so it didn't take long before myself and the two other beginners I was with to get the confidence to go from the Beginner runs, to the Intermediate runs, and then attempting our first two Advanced runs.

The last mountain we went to was Madarao. We only had 2 days of riding here, but it was excellent fun.
Madarao has heaps of tree runs and a natural half pipe, so we would cruise as a group through those runs. Great end to the snowboarding part of the trip.

Then headed back to Tokyo for another 3 nights.

Such a fun trip.
Few things I would like to note:

• Vegetables are hard to come by. 
• I carried all my money in cash form as the ATM situation is not great. Theft is not a huge problem in Japan, the risk is more if you lose your money.
• If you want to go to Studio Ghibli, book before you travel. I was so excited to go, but it was booked out months in advance
• Suki cards are highly regarded in Tokyo. And you can spend money from your Suki not only on public transport, but Starbucks, Mc Donalds and 7/11's too!
• The Japanese do not walk and eat or walk and drink
• If you want to do a snowboard trip, I would recommend Mint Tours. They sorted us out!
• I fell in love with an egg also! His name is Gudetama!!

Anyway, that wraps up our experience in Japan.

Photo Diary to come

-Capri