13 Mar 2010 - Went to Plum Festival at Yoshino Plum Garden (吉野梅郷), located next to Hinatawada Station, only 30mins from my place. Entrance Fee was 200 Yen.
This was my 2nd time visiting the garden, I went there 2 years ago in 2008 and the old photos taken using with my Lumix can be found here.
My equipment this time was:
Canon Kiss X2 (or 450D) with EF70-300mm F4-5.6 IS USM Lens and sometimes DMW-LC55 close-up lens for Macro shots.
Landscape shots
Surrounded by Beauties
Mother and Son
Zig-zag
Just Colors
Steps by the tree
Macro shots
1st Born
Cold Plum
Fallen Angel
Other than Plum
Non-macro Flower shots
紅白対戦
Painting with Light
Other Misc shots
The Painter
This was my 2nd time using my 70-300mm Telephoto zoom. Just in case that I needed to take scenery shots, I brought my 10-22mm along as well. But...wow 70-300mm did a great job at taking landscapes and I didn't really have to switch to my super-wide. 70-300mm, I'm lovin it!
11-13 Feb 2010: Joined the Hokkaido Ski and Snow Festival Tour organized by Toshiba's Workers' Union.
We reached Hokkaido in the afternoon and we went straight to Lake Shikotsu(支笏湖) Snow Festival. Lake Shikotsu is the 2nd largest lake in Hokkaido and is one of the 2 only lakes that are not frozen despite the extreme cold. It was not frozen because of its huge surface area.
Before going in to the Snow Fest Park, I went around taking some scenery shots. It was so Beautiful!
She was alone waiting...
Standing strong
Above All
Now entered the Snow Festival Park...
The Shikotsu Snow Festival Park
Ice covered Jinja
Sun Vs Bridge
Frozen Tree
LED Ice
This place is great for families and kids...
Skating Rink? Not sure...just a place for kids to slip and fall, yet have fun
Kids compete to eat the biscuits hung on the string. That's wrong boys, you aren't supposed to use your hands!
Slides!
Ouch!
That place was so slippery that I fell too and hurt my butt real hard.
Hokkaido==Horse
After Shikotsu, we checked in at our hotel at Susukino, Sapporo, and then visited the Ice Carving Festival at Susukino.
I am going to eat you later, dear crab
A tunnel made of ice
Ice vs Fire, Yin vs Yang
Falcon
Dragon, this carving got the 1st price.
However, it was the 3rd and last day of the festival and due to the hot weather, some parts of the carving have already melted away.
Welcome to Susukino
We proceed to the main highlight, Sapporo Snow Festival.
An-pan Man
Stage made of Snow. Sponsored by Disney
Another stage. performers aren't afraid of cold
Wow, majestica
Weather at Hokkaido was really unpredictable. Suddenly, it started snowing heavily
There were hundreds of snow carvings on exhibition.
Tooottthhh! Kasuga, one of the most popular comedians in Japan now,
Performances on Stage. Damn it's -10 deg guys!
It was the last day of the festival. Those workers really had fun demolishing the exhibits. But we felt ouch!
That was the end of the 1st day of the trip.
We went snowboarding at Kiroro Ski Resort on the 2nd day. And after a day of fun sliding on soft powder snow, we treated ourselves with a luxurious crab feast. We chose the middle priced course but still it cost us 6000 yen, (around 100 SGD).
The prawns were great as well!
Woah look at the meat!
Oh yah, forgot to mention that just one week before the trip, I had a Fugu (Puffer Fish) Feast that cost me 6500 yen. What a way to spend money!
BTW these are the pix... (They are not part of this Hokkaido Trip though)
Fugu Karaage, this is damn good!
Here comes the steamboat...
OMG! Paper Steamboat?!!
3rd Day, we went to Teine Ski Resort for snowboarding. The powder snow was so damn good there that I went faster and faster at each runs. I went so fast that I finally lost control, had a really bad fall and broke my wrist. The patrol at the resort advised me to go to the hospital straight away but I had a plane to catch. So I was put on icing and I had to bear with the pain until I reached Haneda Airport before I went to the clinic. What an experience..
Thanks Ansley for helping me carry my luggage back.
