Japanuary 2024 - the trip that nearly wasn't

[Seat0B]

I'm back!!! From the trip that nearly didn't happen because of my unexpected diagnosis with hairy cell leukaemia in August 2023. I feel very lucky to have been able to make this trip after all the medical stuff in between, and will now take a few days/weeks to happily re-live it as I post this trip report.

Our trip involved a couple of weeks skiing ( 9 days at Nozawa Onsen and 7 days at Shiga Kogen) and a bit of touring for 2 weeks visiting Nagoya, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Beppu and Tokyo. So sit back and join me on the sweetest trip of all so far.

 

[masco131]

Ohh yes, I am going to Japan in Sept. Looking forward to all this!

 

[Seat0B]

Background

Back in March 2023, we were fresh home from our COVID delayed trip to ski in Japan that we finally got to do in January/February 2023. It was fabulous and so when the then QF DSC offer landed in March 2023, we decided to just do it all again! We had paid about $4,500 in total for J tickets for two for the 2023 trip, and so I did a bit of a gulp when I saw that QF wanted around $6,000 for the same flights a year later for the planned 2024 trip. But we decided to just suck it up as we really wanted to go. I had a look, found the flights we wanted (CBR-SYD-HND return) and immediately sent off invitations to Seat Daughter and family and Seat Son to participate at parental expense. They were warned that I was booking in the DSC window and needed a quick reply.

First mistake. These pampered Gen Y's could not decide if it would suit them to take an all expenses paid holiday with us and stuffed around for 2 days, until I lost patience and sent an ultimatum requiring a decision by the next morning. They both got back with "no thanks".

So I went to book for Mr Seat 0A and me and learnt a good travel lesson - I will now also post this in the "travel mistakes" thread. When QF have that little banner saying "price nearly gone" they actually mean it. The flights that were about $6,000 were now nearly $8,000 and I decided it wasn't worth that to me. Boy, was I upset with the stuffing around. And angry with myself for not getting onto it to suit myself. It will be a long time before I offer those kids another free trip! So I steeled myself to no trip to the snow in 2024. If I analyse my feelings, I also really felt sad to miss the trip, which showed me how much I actually wanted to go and ski Japan agan.

For some reason, I then decided to see whether there were any better deals through other less convenient departure gateways. And lo and behold, I found seats, out of BNE, to HND and back home via MEL for just under $7,000 each (see how QF boils you like a frog into thinking that's value ). So I booked. A bit disappointed to have to spend $2,000 more than I expected ($1,000 per ticket) and also to miss the F Lounge experience, but at least I could go on my trip, that apparently I really really wanted to do.



And that's where the trouble started....

 

[Flyfrequently]

I'm back!!! From the trip that nearly didn't happen.

So sit back and join me on the sweetest trip of all so far.

Very much on board with this TR @Seat0B looking forward to it

 

[Seat0B]

The first round of trouble

In May, QF sent an email advising some flight changes. Our flight out of BNE, previously scheduled for 1150, would now depart at 0920, before we even left CBR. And even worse, given that I had already made connecting bus-snowfield bookings to suit the original booking, we were now flying to NRT not HND.

But in every adversity, there is an opportunity, and channeling my fellow AFFer @kangarooflyer88, but a bit more mildly, I called up QF Customer service and requested politely to be transferred to the flights that I had originally wanted (CBR-SYD-HND) that I dumped as too expensive. "Certainly Seat 0A", replied the lovely consultant from HBA. A lovely new booking ensued. Out of SYD, into HNF and plenty of time after last year's connection issues (see here) to connect CBR to SYD in leisurely way and enjoy time in the F Lounge. Happy as!!!! For a couple of months at least.





Edit: typo

 

[Seat0B]

Things get grim

I'd been feeling very tired for ages, and had these weird blotches all over my arms, but my first 4 attempts to get a GP to care failed miserably, as did a visit to a dermatologist. In the end it was a gastroenterologist I was visiting in April for test results who said "you need a blood test" and things progressed from there.

I won't bore you all with the details, but the path to diagnosis of hairy cell leukaemia was long and involved zillions of blood tests, many scans of various types and a bone marrow biopsy. Each test yielded "concerning results" and necessitated more tests, lots of waiting for appointments, more doctor's visits and finally in mid August, a diagnosis.

Ever the AFFer, one of my first questions to the haematologist at the diagnosis sharing appointment (after hearing the magic words "indolent" and "treatable") was whether I could still take this trip.

"Ah, sorry, no", he said. "You won't be well enough to travel".

Dang it! I was really looking forward to the trip. The DSC for the trip would see me retain WP. And of course, I had leukaemia, which really I think I can safely say that no one actually wants to have.

Bless him, Mr Seat 0A read the room and said "let's not cancel just now - you can do it in January if need be. You never know, you might make it but if you cancel, you definitely won't". Wise words indeed.

 

[Seat0B]

QF Annoys the Hell Out of Me

In between making the original booking on 27 Mar 23, and final departure, QF made 10 (yes you read that right, 10) changes to our various flight legs. Some of these were minor, just shifting departure times by 10 or 15 minutes, but some were quite major and annoying, and I vented about that at the time on here.



My biggest issue was with the connection CBR-SYD. QF kept on making the connection shorter and shorter, and after 2023 experience, I was not happy about that. I just wanted to go on my booked flight of QF1442 - yeah, I know, a Dash-8, but the timing suited. I was told all sorts of nonsense by various overseas customer service agents:

• the flight was cancelled - no it wasn't. It was available for purchase, they just kept kicking me off it. Well unless it was a ghost flight?
• Qantas does not fly to Sydney from Canberra except at the offered time - ah, no, Qantas actually flies between CBR and SYDNEY pretty regularly, like about once an hour. Here have a look at these flights. - Oh I can see those, now, but your booking is not eligible for that flight. Why not? It's a paid business class ticket? Disconnected.
• hung up as soon as I said what the problem was (twice)

I persisted until I finally got through to HBA, and funnily enough, the desired QF 1442 flight was NOT cancelled, and my booking WAS eligible for that flight. The consultant just made it happen and my new ticket arrived before the phone call was completed.

Well, at least this gave me something to focus on other than chemo. But it was a lot of effort for a trip I was not even sure I would actually get to take. And pretty poor customer service for a WP with paid business class tickets.

 

[Seat0B]

All Trip Planning on Hold

So given the diagnosis and the emphatic "no way" from the doc, I put all trip planning on hold.

All I had booked at that point was the air fare, 9 days accommodation at our favourite place in Nozawa Onsen and the connecting Nagano Snow Shuttle.

I like to plan and book accommodation and other major parts of the trip in advance. This is based on previous experience of being unable to get the ski accommodation we wanted on the dates we wanted, trains being booked out for special holidays I didn't know about at the time (eg Japan Foundation Day), and price increases if things were in top demand. So I found sitting on my hands pretty stressful, especially as I was not really sure whether I was going or not. And of course, another mistake I made was not having travel insurance, which I also found a bit stressful, although in the context of a serious illness and not much money at stake, I didn't beat myself up too much.

I always have travel insurance, and I usually get it as soon as I start making non-refundable bookings. For this trip, the ski accommodation was refundable, and the airfare was only $400 per person to cancel, so I did not immediately sort out the travel insurance when I made those bookings in March/April 2023. Anyway, I had Amex credit card cover. Which all turned to custard as a result of my thwarted attempts from late 2022 to get a GP or a specialist to look at my exhaustion and blotches and give any diagnosis other than "menopausal woman". The leukaemia was now technically pre-existing (as it was under investigation (ha!)/was the subject of a medical consultation etc).

As a side note, I've just booked a DSC to have Christmas in the UAE with Seat Son, and as soon as I made the booking, I got my travel insurance and declared all the conditions - Easy Travel - a delight to deal with, only added $500 for all my conditions.

 

[Seat0B]

8 December 2023 - a Red Letter Day - All Systems Go

Off for yet another appointment with my haematologist. But this one was different - in a very good way. He pronounced me in remission! This was very fast , and he was rather surprised at my very good blood readings - just three months from starting my chemo. He said that my immune system was now "as good as anyone's" and that he would be happy for me to take my trip to Japan. Oh I floated out of that appointment.

And then the trip planning resumed in earnest. We had previously planned to do 2 x 1 week skiing (1 week each at Nozawa Onsen and Shiga Kogen) followed by 2 weeks touring visiting Nagoya, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Beppu and Tokyo. But at this point, all I had was the flights, one week's snow accommodation at Nozawa Onsen and a bus transfer from Haneda to Nozawa Onsen. There was a lot to do.

Before Christmas, I managed to:

• check out whether the new, more expensive JR Pass was worth it for our trip (it was, given how many trains we planned to catch in the last part of the trip)
• purchase the JR Pass exchange voucher
• investigate my insurance options now as a person with cancer - as mentioned above, went with Easy Travel as none of my credit card insurances would touch me, and neither would any of the usual suspects (Allianz, Covermore, Chubb) or any of the recommendations from AFF like Travel Insurance Direct, World Nomads etc. It was really odd because the Easy Travel policy is actually with Covermore, who declined to insure me directly
  
• secure some (now very expensive) accommodation at Prince Hotel East in Shiga Kogen for our second ski week
• arrange transfers between Nozawa Onsen and Shiga Kogen, and Shiga Kogen to Nagano JR station
• arrange accommodation in each of our 5 touring locations
• investigate and plan out sightseeing and activities for our touring section of the trip
• sort out e-SIMS
• get our skis waxed (ski waxing is weirdly expensive in some places in Japan, although not in Nozawa Onsen where you can get a cheapie hot wax like we get here in Australia) so we did not have to waste time or money on arrival
• arrange some discounted ski lift tickets at both resorts. I suggest anyone going to ski check out what offers are available from time to time at these sites
  • Go Nagano
  • Special & Discount Tickets | Lift ticket | NOZAWAONSEN PORTAL
• be thrilled that I kept up my Japanese study all through chemo
• keep pinching myself that it was actually going to happen

 

[Seat0B]

Departure Day - 22 January 2024

I was as excited as if this were my first overseas trip! I did not sleep well the night before, running through checklists in my mind. Passport - check! Phone - check! Wallet - check! Glasses - check! Suica card - check! Cash yen - check! Ski boots- check! Winter coat- check! Medications/personal pharmac_ - check! On OCD loop all night.

Arrived to the airport in good time, dropped off by Seat Friend, who came with us on the 2023 trip and was planning to come this time too, but my health delays and ultimately a dear little dog needing end of life care ( RIP Milo) meant she bugged out.

Check in straight forward and off to the CBR Business Lounge for a celebratory drink. All on track for 1610 departure and a leisurely visit to SYD F Lounge. Some of you will have followed along with my dramas about this connection last year, and my stress and frustration getting onto this flight as mentioned above.

But then the text messages about delays on QF 1442 started to roll in....

OK 30 mins, I can cope, but I am glad I did not accept the QF offered flight that only allowed a bit over 2 hrs to connect in SYD. Have another glass of bubbles. "Ding". Check phone.



Another 25 mins delay. Hmmmm. Anyway in the end, we were 1 hr 15 mins delayed out of Canberra. So I was very glad of the time buffer I had insisted on building in.

 

[Seat0B]

I visit the SYD F Lounge

Transit over to International was really smooth. Literally walked straight onto the transfer bus at Gate 15. Passed quickly through security and immigration without any incident. As a person with 2 knee replacements, I love the new scanners. So much faster for me than the previous palaver. In fact, I was faster through security than Mr Seat 0A who has no metal implants.

No need for any duty free. We are headed to Japan, the land of cheap alcohol. So straight up to the F Lounge where I enjoyed a shower followed by a joyful reunion with Salt and Pepper Squid. Oh the crispy goodness!



Then for main I had a snapper with a delicious tomato and bean cassoulet style sauce. Tasty and juicy, but I would have preferred the skin to be crispy rather than gelatinous.


Mr Seat 0A had the salt and pepper squid, followed by ggal-bi jim brisket (which he did not really like -said it was quite bland and a bit dry), followed by the honey flan which he enjoyed (no photo sorry) although he felt the serve was very small.



So then we both had a deconstructed pavolova and accompanied it all with some bubbles (can't remember what) and a glass of dessert wine. Yummy!


Feeling very happy now, not the least because I have barely touched alcohol in the past few months due to the chemo, an enlarged liver from the leukaemia and the changed taste following the chemo .

So I settled in with a glass of sparkling water to watch the aviation parade. Saw some Emirates birds and thought longingly of Seat Son.



Saw our aircraft at the gate.


And then...nothing. Boarding time of 2100 came and went. 2120, 2130, 2140, 2150...No announcements, no changes to the departure board. Went to reception and they said "yes it's delayed" - no cough Sherlock - but did not know when it would be ready. Finally called for boarding at 2205. OK, that's a bit stressful as we have only 2 hours after scheduled touch down to be on our ski shuttle bus, but maybe it will work out. And anyway, surely half that busload of passengers is stuck here waiting for this flight.

Went down to the gates for boarding - which turned out to be a complete shambles.

 

[HirafuHeartAttack]

8 December 2023 - a Red Letter Day - All Systems Go

Off for yet another appointment with my haematologist. But this one was different - in a very good way. He pronounced me in remission! This was very fast , and he was rather surprised at my very good blood readings - just three months from starting my chemo. He said that my immune system was now "as good as anyone's" and that he would be happy for me to take my trip to Japan. Oh I floated out of that appointment.

That's my birthday so this almost feels like a belated present after seeing how much you went through after your last trip last year, it makes me so happy to read this thread knowing your trip went ahead!
I hope everything is still going in the right direction health wise and I am excited to read the rest of your trip report!

 

[Seat0B]

That's my birthday so this almost feels like a belated present after seeing how much you went through after your last trip last year, it makes me so happy to read this thread knowing your trip went ahead!
I hope everything is still going in the right direction health wise and I am excited to read the rest of your trip report!

Happy Birthday!!!

 

[Seat0B]

To Quote a Thread - Qantas Does Not Care About Priority Boarding

Arrive at the gate, only to find that boarding has not commenced and there are hundreds of people milling around aimlessly. No information from QF. So we all just stand there, for 15 minutes. Chanelling @Captain Halliday's family, I like to be there ready and waiting to board, whilst Mr Seat 0A is perfectly happy to have another drink, visit the facilities, take a quick phone call and walk like a Sunday stroll to the gate - all after boarding has been called . So he was not happy with me .

Then comes the announcement " economy cabin passengers may now board. Please use all available lines, including premium boarding. We will not be boarding business class passengers at this time." To quote comedian Stephen He "what da hail??"

All the people correctly lined up in priority were told to get out of the line unless they were travelling economy, and boarding commenced. No explanation of what was going on. Then an announcement "passengers x and y in Seats 2 E and F, please contact staff". Anyway, cutting to the end of a very long chase, turns out there were issues with the tray tables for these seats, they had engineers on board to attempt to fix, and were keeping all business class pax off the aircraft until this happened. I found this out by eavesdropping, rather than an announcement from QF. After we had been 30 minutes at the gate and the bulk of the economy pax had boarded, there was a short announcement "we expect to board business class passengers shortly", and indeed they did board us shortly afterwards, so I guess the tray tables got fixed. However, we were all just told to get in line behind the last of the economy pax - so not really a priority boarding experience.

I understand the operational decision to try to get the aircraft away closer to time, but honestly, an announcement would have helped!

On board I had a further glass of bubbles, requested the cheese plate for dinner (was still full after my F Lounge meal), settled back and watched Barbie,






then slept remarkably well until:

and hey presto....


we were there!


Breakfast was not a great meal. It sounded lovely, and looked nice on presentation but....the hard boiled egg was very hard boiled, and the sour dough toast was IMPOSSIBLE to cut, and the fruit salad extremely under ripe. So I ate the tomatoes (delicious) and scraped off the avocado. Overall I thought the food on this flight was sub par.

 

[Seat0B]

Oh I forgot to say that there must have been one hell of a tailwind, because after departing about 1 hr and 40 mins late, we landed 20 minutes ahead of our originally scheduled time. So I breathed a deep sigh of relief knowing that we now had oodles of time to make our bus connection.

 

[Seat0B]

Easy As Arrival - Tuesday 23 January 2024

I love the long walk from the gate to immigration at Haneda - gets the blood moving again after all the sitting - but I always wonder what the immigration lines will be like as I round the final corner. Sometimes they have been loooooooong. Today, the travel gods were with us and the hall was all but deserted. We had done the Visit Japan Web entry formalities and screen shot the QR codes before leaving home, and that worked a treat. We breezed through all formalities, collected our bags and were out in the terminal in abput 40 minutes. And most of this time was spent waiting for our oversized luggage (our skis). By the looks of it, half the retired population of Australia is currently skiing in Japan!

As this is our 7th trip to Japan, we have an arrival routine pretty well sorted. We take our bags on trolleys down towards the Haneda Gardens area and snavel a couple of seats there - often most of these seats are taken up with people in various stages of exhaustion trying to nap. Mr Seat 0A does all our tech things - such as removing and inserting SIM cards (or on this trip for the first time activating e-sims- worked really well once the slightly complicated activation process was correctly completed), sorting suica top ups, and other admin. I go to the konbini and buy bus snacks and also any snacks and drinks we may want for our first few days at our ski destination just in case we ski our legs off and can't be bothered to go onthe hunt after a big ski day. Some of our favourite snacks are nori shio (seaweed salt) chips, rice crackers with black beans baked in, bourbon biscuits, flavoured kit kats, meiji nut chocolates (macadamia, hazelnut, almond), and bakery items. And drinks including Choya umeshu, Mio sparkling sake, hojicha.



Thus fortified, we had a few minutes to relax before checking in for our bus ride to Nozawa Onsen. Bus departs at 0730, arrives at Nozawa Onsen 1315.

 

[drron]

Oh I forgot to say that there must have been one hell of a tailwind, because after departing about 1 hr and 40 mins late, we landed 20 minutes ahead of our originally scheduled time. So I breathed a deep sigh of relief knowing that we now had oodles of time to make our bus connection.

I think they must have a fair leeway built into the flight time as we arrived in Tokyo a day before our son who flew QF.
the HND website said the QF flight was on time so we figured the time that they would probably arrive at the hotel and be in the lobby to meet them. It was nearly an hour before said time when there was a knock on the door and there was our son and family. They said they left very soon after the scheduled departure time but it got in over an hour early.

 

[Seat0B]

We Arrive to Falling Snow - 23 January 2024

The bus trip with Nagano Snow Shuttle was, as always, organised, straightforward and pleasant.

There was a LOT of luggage loaded onto this bus! Based on learnings from our last couple of trips, this time, we packed a bit differently.

Previously we each had a medium sized checked bag for clothes etc for our touring part of the holiday. Mr Seat 0A had a ski bag with both our skis and poles, and his ski boots, snow boots and his ski clothes (a very heavy bag, often around 30kg) and his helmet as a loose item attached to his large backpack (carry on); I had a purpose built ski backpack for my ski boots, helmet, snow boots, goggles etc (about 13 kg) that I had to carry by its handle as I also had a smallish back pack (carry on) and a roller carry on (for computer,ipad etc, which we have to take for running our business like digital nomads while we are away and my ski clothes) and so things were always a bit awkward to carry and also a challenge around the "2 pieces of luggage per person" for the bus. At the end of our ski holiday, we always send the ski items by Yamato/Black Cat direct to the airport so we don't have to lug them around. This time we went with:

• medium sized suitcase each with everything for the touring part weighing around 15 kg ea at the start of the trip
• ski bag with only skis, poles, Mr Seat 0A's ski and snow boots -much lighter at around 24kg
• medium sized suit case with my ski boot, snow boots, both our helmets, both our ski clothes, goggles gloves etc - around 20kg
• a backpack each as carry on

Sounds a lot, but this is how it looked in the beautiful falling snow that greeted us at the Nozawa Onsen Chuo bus terminal on arrival. It was very easy to move around a we each had 2 wheeled items and a back pack. Simples! The other big bonus was that we only had to pay for 2 items to be shipped to the airport, not 3, but that is a whole other story (she foreshadows).

Nagano Snow Shuttle has a new staging point in Nagano at Oyaki Farm, which is a beautiful new wood and glass structure with a commercial kitchen making oyaki fopr shipping around Japan. Oyaki is a traditional food of the Nagano region - a steamed bun made of buckwheat, with various sweet or savoury fillings. Quite delicious and very popular in the area as an affordable, traditional street food. The bus fare included a sample oyaki for each passenger - we had mixed vegetable. There were barrels with cheerful winter flower displays all around and it was a very refreshing stop.



There was also a small coffee shop there, selling proper coffee, but it was totally slammed and it is unlikely that you would get served and drink your coffee before your onward bus departure. So hot tip if you are going there is to get someone into the line to order while the rest of the party visit the ablutions, see the view etc, and be prepared for takeaway. The reason I mention this is because it van be very hard to Australian style coffee in Japan, and the clientele of Nagano Snow Shuttle to the ski fields is predominantly Aussies - so everyone on the multiple buses wants coffee! The other (quite acceptable) alternative is to go to Starbucks at the earlier highway service centre stop on the trip. I'm not usually a fan of Starbucks, but when in Japan, needs must. See how happy I look in this photo at the road house stop!



I decided to wear a mask when out in public in Japan just out of an abundance of caution as I'd had a couple of lowish WBC readings just before we left and I did not want to get sick. Mask wearing in Japan is back to what it always was - a personal choice if you are sick or want to avoid sick people in crowds - maybe a little more people wearing masks than pre-COVID, but not as many as this time last year!

We were collected by our hotel Altitude Nozawa, and taken up to settle into our room. I forgot to take photos - which will become a recurring theme of this TR! But it's a spacious room by Japanese standards, and we have a lovely view. When the cloud lifts, you can see right across the valley to the mountains on the other side. But fellow skiers will understand just how lovely the view I've posted actually is.



Didn't feel like dinner so ate snacks and had a very early night, ready to tackle the mountain tomorrow.

 

[Seat0B]

Skiing, Skiing and More Skiing - Plus Some Food and an Onsen - Wednesday 24 January 2024

Up early, breakfast and on the 0830 shuttle to the Gondola (about 3 mins by car, but a long walk uphill in ski boots!)

We bought 2 x senior (60+) lift and lunch tickets for a total of ¥11,200 (Wednesday special) - this is less than $120. Other days ¥12,000 for the two of us. Non-senior price ¥7,300 per person per day, and kids ¥4,800 per day. This includes a ¥1000 voucher towards lunch, and you just pay the difference if your total is more. So cheap. A single day ticket walk up like this at Perisher last season was over $200 - yes I know it's cheaper if you buy a pass, but I want to compare apples with apples. So for 60% of the cost of a single day in Australia (where the snow cannot compare) for one person, we got 2 people, excellent snow, no lift lines other than the initial gondola, plus lunch. So happy!

Skiing conditions a mixed bag. 40 cm of fresh snow . Windy . Poor visibility . But that snow!!!! And a good temperature at -8.



Delicious lunch . Overall, an excellent day.

This is what ¥1,200 (=13) will buy you for lunch.

At the end of the day, I walked to the public onsen in heavy falling snow (beautiful) and channeled my inner @OZDUCK by immediately slipping over on an icy road. No damage done, other than to pride, thank goodness. But actually quite hilarious that the only fall I took after a day of solid skiing in poor visibility was on the walk to the onsen at the end of the day.

Ate at the hotel bar - kara age chicken and wedges with sour cream and chilli and called it a day before 8 pm.

 

[ShelleyB]

Skiing, Skiing and More Skiing - Plus Some Food and an Onsen - Wednesday 24 January 2024

Up early, breakfast and on the 0830 shuttle to the Gondola (about 3 mins by car, but a long walk uphill in ski boots!)

We bought 2 x senior (60+) lift and lunch tickets for a total of ¥11,200 (Wednesday special) - this is less than $120. Other days ¥12,000 for the two of us. Non-senior price ¥7,300 per person per day, and kids ¥4,800 per day. This includes a ¥1000 voucher towards lunch, and you just pay the difference if your total is more. So cheap. A single day ticket walk up like this at Perisher last season was over $200 - yes I know it's cheaper if you buy a pass, but I want to compare apples with apples. So for 60% of the cost of a single day in Australia (where the snow cannot compare) for one person, we got 2 people, excellent snow, no lift lines other than the initial gondola, plus lunch. So happy!

Skiing conditions a mixed bag. 40 cm of fresh snow . Windy . Poor visibility . But that snow!!!! And a good temperature at -8.

View attachment 373128

Delicious lunch . Overall, an excellent day.

This is what ¥1,200 (=13) will buy you for lunch.
View attachment 373127
At the end of the day, I walked to the public onsen in heavy falling snow (beautiful) and channeled my inner @OZDUCK by immediately slipping over on an icy road. No damage done, other than to pride, thank goodness. But actually quite hilarious that the only fall I took after a day of solid skiing in poor visibility was on the walk to the onsen at the end of the day.

Ate at the hotel bar - kara age chicken and wedges with sour cream and chilli and called it a day before 8 pm.

I am not a skier but I can see why Aussie skiers head to Japan. Better value, better snow, better food