Hokkaido Dec 2011

For the winter holidays, we visited Hokkaido. I have always wanted to ski in Hokkaido, and this year, I had the chance to do so.

We arrived at Furano (富良野), a small ski resort town in the middle of Hokkaido. Furano is not just famous as a ski resort, but it is also the setting of this famous Japanese television drama known as Kita no Kuni Kara (北の国から) which was shown on TV in the early 1980s, plus additional miniseries in the 1990s and the last in 2002. The drama and miniseries together follow the main characters through their lives as they grow up. Now, there is a small museum providing information about the series, as well as showcasing the items used in the filming.

Skiing was fun. It has been some time since I last skied, so I was a bit rusty, but I managed to ski without falling too much (only twice). It was also the first time that the little one got to see snow, and we also tried to ski with him, with him standing on the skis of my wife as she skied. Most of all, he enjoyed the sled.

After Furano, we visited Otaru (小樽), a port famous for glassware and music boxes. Otaru is also famous for its canal, which used to be lined with warehouses serving the harbour, but since then, the warehouses have been converted to restaurants.

Our last stop in Hokkaido was Sapporo (札幌), the main city in Hokkaido. We didn't do much here, since it was just a pit-stop before we catch our flight out of Hokkaido. We did visit the clock tower and television broadcasting tower, two famous landmarks in Sapporo.

Throughout our stay in Hokkaido, it was snowing, and snowing quite heavily at times. On the day that we traveled from Furano to Otaru, it was snowing so heavily that some trains were stopped, but luckily we were not delayed much. We were very lucky that on the day we left, the snow let up a bit and our flight was able to take off as scheduled. But at least we managed to have a white Christmas!

Kim Jong Il is dead!

Wow! It was reported earlier today that Kim Jong Il, the leader of North Korea, has died from a heart attack. See one of the reports here. I wonder how the situation in the Korean Peninsula is going to change because of this. Guess South Korean troops are going to be spending Christmas with their colleagues (instead of loved ones) as they step up in readiness level to prepare for anything that may happen up north.

Reading it again

The Chinese have a saying, to read again something and learn something new from it (温故知新). I think it is very true. I have been re-reading some books that I have read in the past, and come away with new knowledge and thoughts. While it may seem quite some work to gain so little from re-reading those books, what I learnt is that there is always value in re-reading something. When we first read a book, we only learn as much from it as our existing knowledge allows. When we re-read that same book again, with a bigger knowledge base, we can learn more from it. If you re-visit that book 10 years from now, you will benefit so much more from it, since in the 10 years, you would have increased your knowledge base significantly (compared to if you re-read it after a year).

Pearl Harbor 70th anniversary

Wow! Time flies. It has been 70 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor took place, drawing the United States fully into World War Two.

70 years since the attack, the US and Japan are now strong allies, guarding against a rising China. The British Empire is a thing of the past, and the Soviet Union has been dissolved.

Hashimoto wins election for Osaka City mayor

Hashimoto Toru, the previous governor of Osaka Prefecture, has won the elections for the mayor of Osaka City. It is one step towards his vision of changing Osaka into a metropolis like Tokyo. I feel that Hashimoto is an example of a politician that is rarely seen in Japan. Someone with a clear vision, and the ability to work towards that vision. Let's see how things turn out from here. What Japan lacks now is politicians who can set a vision for the country and execute a plan to achieve that vision. Hopefully, with Hashimoto elected to Osaka City, we will see more politicians like him step up and bring Japan forward.