Go Native

If you're ever down in Hakodate tubby head into Lucky Pierrot and get yourself one of the Hakodate yama burgers.

We had our daughter in a hospital in Sapporo and it was a good experience. Our obstetrician had been trained in the US and had pretty good English. They also had an anesthetist who was qualified to do an epidural (and spoke English) which I understand is pretty rare in Japan. I was encouraged to be in the delivery room. My wife was in labour for almost 24 hours and the midwives were fantastic with their support. Don't think it would have been any easier having her back in Australia and they certainly allow the mother to stay in hospital longer after the birth in Japan.

Personally I wouldn't consider that one a farmers market as such, more just a local green grocer.

Sometimes they have a farmers market out at Takahashi Farm (Niseko Milk Kobo) on the way up to Higashiyama. There's a good one that's always open at Niseko View Plaza in Niseko Town. I think there's a pretty good one out at Kyogoku these days as well.

Another cold front came through around lunch time today keeping temps barely above 5 degrees. Has been snow down to 400m throughout the state today. We had lots of hail down here at sea level.

Very windy today ahead of a strong cold front. Winds around most of the state exceeded 100 km/h and up to 130 km/h in the high alpine. Spent a fair bit of the day clearing downed trees and fixing fencing around the nursery. Temps dropped from 15 to 7 degrees in a few minutes as the front moved through. Snow expected down to 500m this evening which is pretty low for Aus.

You probably stop in Hakodate as well. I'd suggest staying there instead of Oshamambe. It's a nice city with many more hotels to choose from and plenty of restaurants for dinner.

Oshamambe onsen hotel looks to be the best option to stay overnight. Not too far from the station.

I don't know how much. I've never done the trip in a taxi. Oshamambe is about an hour away, maybe a bit more depending on road conditions. It would be expensive but probably not more than two of you spending a night in a hotel.

Some of us enjoy fancy dining now and again. Especially when we're away on holidays. Nothing wrong with that!

There really isn't much of anything at Oshamambe and it's certainly not a station you want to spend much time at. Very exposed and very cold in winter. I don't know of any hotels there. Are you alone or in a group? If there's more than one of you you'd be better off probably just getting a taxi to Niseko from the station if you can't organise a better connecting train service.

It alright snowdude. That ice age should be here any day now.

The chef at The Barn is really good too but I believe that Brett is moving the restaurant to the Tancho centre next season (where the Indian restaurant was). Not sure what he'll be calling the new restaurant.

They need it. Hasn't been the best season so far.

Nothing closes on Christmas Day. You do realise that Japan is not a Christian country? For something really fancy you can't beat Kamimura's. He now has a Michelin Star.

Can't say I'm scared even a little bit. Still probably about 100,000 times more likely to die in a car accident and I'm not scared of that.

We'll have to wait for snowdude to regale us with his amazing powers of weather forecasting. He always gets it exactly right. Although that ice age seems to be a little late...

The Bureau of Meteorology in Aus has downgraded the likelihood of a strong El Nino now. If El Nino conditions do develop this year they believe they are only likely to be weak.

This is an oldie but a goodie.

No point booking now. It's all booked out.

And in the era of things like Skype making international calls costs next to nothing.

I sometimes go off road as well to try and run over cats. Hate those things!

Was a beautiful day today. Cool start with a frost but completely clear with no wind. Got up to around 12 degrees.

How is the real estate market going in the UK? Has it recovered much since the recession? If prices are still significantly lower than pre GFC prices I'd think it would be a good time to get in. We did co-invest in a property development in Niseko pre GFC which did very well and somehow we managed to get away with not ever having to pay any capital gains tax on that. Didn't try and avoid it. Just never received a tax bill from the gov in either Japan or Australia.The bar we bought in Hakodate never made us any money but it was fun. I do know many foreigners who've invested in property in Sa

457 visa holders have no access to any social security or welfare payments. Can't access medicare either.