Lake Towada and D-Fly's birthday

A hearty "hullo" to my dear readers.

As we are currently balls-deep into Fe-brrrrrrrrrr-uary I hope you are all keeping nice and toasty warm. (Or nice and cool, for my fans south of the equator). If memory serves, this was the most brutal month weather-wise last year for me It strikes me that it's a month of extreme weather no matter where you live on this big blue ball.
... okay, that's enough with the scrotal references. Jeebus. Where is my mind?

*looks around*
Ah yes. She's in the gutter right where I left 'er.
*Ahem*. Anyhoo...
After last weekend's shenanigans, I was pretty happy to have a quiet weekend lined up with a dose of Team Canada curling and hockey games to keep my eyeballs entertained. Please understand I'm not suddenly a hockey fan. I'm a Canada fan. It's got it's share of problems and stupid people, but it's a pretty great place to have on your passport. As far as the curling goes, that's part of my upbringing. Curling and Bagpipes. They remind me of family and happy childhood moments. Since I've been out here I haven't been able to watch any curling. Depending on what time the games start, sometimes I even get to watch them 'with' someone back in Canada. Modern technology, I can't thank you enough for helping me cope with the isolation that gets to me sometimes. //justification of increased fbook posts regarding Canada.


I was invited to join Towada folks as they went to lake Towada for the winter festivities. I was *so* excited to see them, that I even stopped watching women's curling to head out to meet them.
With one end to go.
In a super close game against Japan.
Thank you once again to Alex for giving me the play-by-play on my fbook so I would get notifications while I was en-route. Hands free, you understand (don't worry Mum).

Mel and Takehiro rented a van for us to pile into, and once I arrived we headed out into the blustery whiteness. The forecast was for snow this weekend, but I'll get to that later. The festival was just as pretty as last year, and just as chilly on my toes. However *this* time I was armed with a much nicer camera and I feel I got some nice pictures of some of the attractions.  Once we arrived we grabbed a bite to eat. I had some 黒豚 shaapin which was so good. It was basically a pancake with meat inside. After we'd filled our bellies, it was time to make a round of the festival grounds. The wind was blowin' pretty good, so we sought shelter in a couple of the bars. The first one we visited had a whole bunch of kotatsu set up so we could warm our tootsies. We sat in there until it was time for the fireworks display. I think the weather had been much nicer at Tokyo Disneyland, but they called off those fireworks due to inclement weather. I suppose northern hanabi are more hearty.

Pork Shaapin, all steamy and delightful

 

The giant Nebuta mural was really cool, and I couldn't help but laugh at the kids climbing into the mouth.

The next bar we went into was awesome. Made completely of ice and snow, except for the chairs, the joint was jumping. Stings of lights adorned a giant dinosaur carved into the wall behind the bar. Even the glasses were made of ice, however one had the choice of plain ice or to have your bevvie served in a cored apple. I opted for a cranberry juice inside an apple cup. It was delicious, especially the cup itself with a thin layer of frozen juice coating it, which I consumed most happily.

  

The man of the hour

Having had enough fun in the snow for one evening, we went back to Flynn's place and threw him a little birthday celebration. Mel supplied the most delicious cake. The evening wound down with boardgames, which, sadly, I had to decline participating in because I wanted to be able to drive myself home at the end of the night... and the snow was already about a foot and a half deep around my car. I did, however, get to enjoy a couple of rounds of "King of Tokyo" at a later date. Beastmaster, you should probably look into getting this game... ;)Glad I threw my shovel in back of my trusty steed.

I came home and couldn't find my driveway... so I tried to dig one out... then decided that Bete Noire could handle backing through and plough her own way to the door.