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A Warm Afternoon at the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens
We visited the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Northern Virginia this afternoon. As usual, we saw many beautiful flowers as well as a variety of birds. The highlights of this visit were seeing an Osprey catch a fish as well as spotting Baltimore Orioles.
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DC Cherry Blossoms Peak Bloom
We headed to DC to see the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin this morning as the NPS declared peak bloom yesterday. Although the sky was mostly overcast, it was warm and the flowers were beautiful as usual. And, of course, it was busy!
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Just One Day in Sapporo
After breakfast at the Crowne Plaza Sapporo, we headed to Maruyama Park and the Hokkaido Shrine. After, we explored the city center where we saw preparations for the annual Sapporo Snow Festival. We had lunch and dinner and saw some of the city’s winter illuminations.
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Niseko to Sapporo
After ten nights at the Hilton Niseko Village, we had our last breakfast at the property and headed out to ski one last time. After draining our last 12 point passes on the Banzai Chair, we returned our skis to Village Sports and returned to our room to clean up, pack, and check out. We then took a bus to Sapporo where we checked into the ANA Crowne Plaza, walked around the city a bit, and had dinner at Sapporo Kanihonke.
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Skiing at Niseko
After New Year’s Day, we’ve spent 7 of the last 8 days skiing here at Niseko Village and the adjacent Grand Hirafu. We’ve experienced quite a variety of conditions as well as a bit of the region’s famous Japow.
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Niseko Village
We’ve been staying at the Hilton Niseko Village since arriving on New Year’s Eve. Other than skiing, we’ve done a tiny bit of exploring in the area and have had some food from restaurants nearby as well as various snacks from the konbinis here.
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New Year’s Day at Niseko
We woke up early for Hatsuhinode, the viewing of the first sunrise of the year, up on Niseko Annupuri. No sun was to be seen. We returned for breakfast at the Hilton and then headed out for our first ski day of the trip. After, we headed to Hirafu for a very late lunch and % ΔRΔBICΔ before returning to Niseko Village.
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New Year’s Eve at the Hilton Niseko Village
After waking up at the ANA Crowne Plaza Chitose, we had breakfast and checked out to take a bus from the JR station to the Hilton Niseko Village. Once we arrived, we checked in and did a bit of exploring before our room was ready. After getting our room, we picked up our rental skis and had dinner. In the evening, we saw a taiko performance and fireworks at midnight for the new year.
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From Tokyo to Chitose
We checked out of the Mercure in the morning and headed to Tsukiji for an early seafood donburi lunch. After we visited the Namiyoke Inari Shrine, had some sushi, and spent some time at Hibiya Park. We then headed to Haneda, getting our bags from the Mercure on our way. We flew to Chitose on JAL and took a bus to the ANA Crowne Plaza Chitose for the evening.
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Cats, Planes, and More in Tokyo
After waking up at the Mercure, we visited the nearby Haneda-jinja, popular for aviation safety, before going further away to Gotokuji, a temple with thousands of Maneki-neko. We then came across a fantastic Mount Fuji view, had lunch, and checked out the new Azabudai Hills before dinner nearby. We ended the day by viewing winter illuminations at Roppongi and the Meguro River.
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Here and there but not quite everywhere!