The Constorium of Greater Minds

the last major stop after hong kong was the northern japanese island of hokkaido. the blue ridge pulled into the port town of otaru. sapporo, known for its beer and on this special occasion the sapporo ice festival, was an hour train ride away. although we later found out that we’d missed the actual ice festival competition- it was a few blocks away – what we did see were some awesome snow sculptures. the first night some of the fellas and i went to an onsen or natural hot spring. so relaxing – i felt like a greek emperor strolling around soaking in the various inside and outside hot baths. the final day in town we hit the slopes for some boarding. as you’ll see the views were quite spectacular. still more to come – slowly rounding up the cameras.

sapporo

konbanwa

tossing back the sake before getting back in the baths

jeff creating a great impression for the japanese

some of these sculptures are better than the ooooothers

ice-scream…i’m here all night, folks

japan, creating 80% of the world’s weird shit since 1975

80%

that’s the pacific in the background

the alps are more impressive but there’s something awesome about looking down at the ocean from the top of a snowy mountain

jeff rockin’ the euro spandex pants look

after the slopes we hit the local otaru brewery for some weiz

getting a little prosti!

along the otaru canal with the old breweries on the opposite side of the water

random giant crab photo – otaru had some crazy good sea food and sushi

what would a photo collection from japan be without some octopus tentacle

there she is

peace