Rizza Camus Caminero ...: ski..ski..ski...

jay, lily ann, and lloyd arrived around 430 this morning. they took the 11:35pm bus from ikebukuro last night. when they arrived, we still talked, so we were able to sleep at 5am, saying we had to wake up by 7am. my cellphone's alarm is set for 7am, 730am, 8am, 815am, 830am. but, just like any other day, i woke up at 8am (it had to be before 830am if i need to throw the garbage). after taking a bath and getting ready, i checked the train schedule for echigo yuzawa. our plan for the day was to ski somewhere there. we haven't chosen any ski area yet. we will just go and inquire there. anyway, the train schedule is 1032am. the next is around 1230pm. and since we would still be buying the train ticket, we had to go to the station as early as possible. we must ride the 934am bus. we had to rush to the bus stop. fortunately, we arrived before the bus.

at the station, we discovered that they have a 2-day pass that you can use for regular trains from somewhere near echigo yuzawa until niigata. it costs only 2,500 yen. when we checked the fare from nagaoka to echigo yuzawa, one way costs 1,280yen. so, we decided to buy the echigo 2-day pass. we then planned to fully utilize it by going somewhere by train tomorrow. travel time to echigo yuzawa is around 1hr and 20minutes.

at echigo yuzawa, we went to their information office to ask for recommended ski areas. lloyd and jay talked to the lady, and asked for directions. lily ann and i bought a pin. we went to the bus stop to wait for the 1240pm bus that will go to iwappara skijou. the bus fare cost 300 yen. there, we went to find a restaurant 'coz we were already very hungry. i ate karaage, lily ann ate gyuudon, lloyd ate katsu, jay ate some kind of pork dish. after eating, we went downstairs to rent ski equipment. that building was also a hotel/inn. we asked first if they have available rooms. they didn't. so, we proceeded to the rental shope. lloyd and jay rented ski equipment and wear. since lily ann and i will not ski, we just rented the ski wear, so that we can play outside.

it was raining that day. we went to buy lift tickets for jay and lloyd. 1day pass costs 4,500yen. lil ann and i just bought the pass to the kids playground, which cost 500yen. we made a snowman. lily ann has the pictures. after making the snowman, we went to the side near the skiers, looking for jay and lloyd. but, we couldn't see them. (we later found out that they were just going on the lift at that time and were waving at us). so, we left the ski grounds and went inside to rest, because it was raining very hard. although our body didn't get wet because we were wearing ski attires, our heads were unprotected. after resting for a while, we went out again and tried to look for our partners once again. we found them and waited for them to ski down (it was very cold!) so that we can take pictures. it was very cold, so we decided to go back inside again. jay took the camera so that they can take pictures at the top. lily ann and i returned the rented wear and waited for them at the waiting room, talking. they finished before 6pm, changed, returned the things they rented, and tried to catch the 6pm bus to the station.

at the station, we found out that the next trains leave at around 645pm, and 830pm. the guys decided to try out the onsen in one of the shops at the station. we ladies just window-shopped at the station and waited for our partners to finish taking a bath. after they finished, we ate some food we just bought at the station. they have some food stalls, selling crab soup, siopao, bbq, oden, ramen, and others. lloyd didn't like their food so he went outside to buy spag from 7-11. we then took the train and arrived in nagaoka eki around 10pm. no more bus that passes by kibougaoka. so, we took the bus that passes by nishi-nagaoka annaijou(?), and walked about 15minutes to my apartment. on the train on our way home, we were thinking of dropping by mae's apartment, just to talk. but, we changed our plans because it was raining.

now, we're at home. we will not sleep yet. we'll still play tennis on jay's wii. i don't know what time we'll sleep, but it surely won't be anytime soon.

updated with pictures: