ironic

The snow is good times here in Japan. But apart from the occasional random ice cream and the lifties saying "dozo" and "arigato" there isn't much you would see here in Niseko that you couldn't see at any snow place in the world. It's all fairly generic. Until you go to where more people are.

Sapporo was fun. For me it was the first time I'd seen a built up city with snow filling the streets. For the others, it was the first time they had been in a Japanese city. Remember, Sapporo is big, but not compared to places like Osaka and Tokyo. The boys really loved it. We went shopping at Uni Qlo, which is one of the MUST GO places for clothing in Japan.

The very next floor down was Mandrake, a crazy Anime and video game place of worship. Luke found it and subsequently ran up the stairs looking for someone to tell. Anyone. Luke's excitment centred on what he had just found: a Virtual Boy, a Nintendo console featuring 3D goggles which failed within 6 months of release back in 1995. However, it a very cool idea and the one Luke found was Brand new, never been used still in its box with 11 games. We've all had a go at it, and it is cool. But just like Japanese Seizure Robots, it hurts your head after a while.

One thing that may or may not have been lost in translation is irony. The place we're staying (pension white bear) has a doorbell that plays "Lonely, I am so Lonely". Aside from conjuring up images of Kim Jong Il from Team America, the irony of proclaiming one's loneliness as someone arrives to visit is quite funny. However, after visiting Sapporo I have reassesed this...

.