Friday 17 October 2014

Guide to hiking Mt. Yotei for beginners


I did something crazy. I can't believe that I actually managed to hike Mt.Yotei, alone!

By all means I am not athletic at all, I'm just a little crazily determined.

Before taking on this crazy challenge, I actually did a lot of research online as this is my first hike up on such a high mountain! The reason I did it was not really because I'm a hiking fanatic but it's just because hiking Mt.Yotei is a 'must do' in Niseko especially during summer. I've been telling my colleagues about my plan to hike Mt.Yotei since June and my colleague advise me to do it during September when the weather's less hot and there's less flies (?). So I waited till September and planned to hike it with my friend but the weather was bad on that particular day so plan's off! In the end, I decided that it's either I'm gonna have to brace the cold and do it on October or I'll not have the chance to do it at all. I didn't wanna miss out on it since it'll be my last summer here, so I just did it!

I'm so glad I did it, it was really challenging but I wouldn't say it's an impossible feat. If a beginner like me could do it, a beginner like you could do it too!


5 Tips before the hike:
1. Check the types of trail & weather 
Big thanks to 360Niseko for their detailed Yotei trails explanation!
I had a hard time deciding between Hangetsu Trail (Most difficult) or Makkari Trail (Easier). Eventually decided on Hangetsu because taxi fare would be cheaper (Saving money is more important for me)

Click for Hangetsu / Makkari / Kimobetsu / Kyogoku & Mt.Yotei Hut

THIS weather forecast website is the best in my opinion, you could see at what time will the temperature be and such. I planned a week ahead by referring to this website and thankfully it was a sunny day on my particular off day.

2. Plan on what to wear
A good hiking shoe is important! If it's a newly bought shoe please wear it around first before hiking as you wouldn't want blistered feet during the hike! Since it's autumn and I planned to hike early in the morning, the weather was freezing. I wore 3 tops and just 1 legging. During the hike it was okay but I couldn't stay at the peak for more than 20 minutes. Make sure to bring extra clothes if you are planning to circle the Mt.Yotei crater.



(Top left) I wore a Forever 21 Athletic top similar as shown. 
(Top right) Wore the exact shown Forever 21 Sports legging / pants. 
(Bottom left) Layer with Uniqlo Basic Gray Hoodie similar as shown. 
(Bottom right) Finish off with a black waterproof jacket similar as shown.  

3. Buy or prepare food
It'll be a minimum of 6 hours hike so bring enough food to keep you going. I bought 2 onigiri from the convenience store the night before.

4. Inform others that you'll be doing the hike
Especially crucial if you do not have a mobile phone that could make calls (Yes I don't and can't make calls). I would encourage you to inform others even if you are planning to hike with 10 other people. Really, you may never know what might happen.

5. Get enough sleep
I went to bed at 9pm the night before so I could wake up at 4am. I should have slept earlier than that but I had some last minute preparation to do. Well, please get as much sleep as you can.

- - - - -



5 Tips on what to bring:
1. Sufficient water in separate bottles
I brought 1.5 litres of water but only drank 1 litre. It's okay to bring more water than risk being dehydrated. I usually don't drink much water so 1 litre was enough for me. If you are easily dehydrated, please bring more!
Also I brought 1 large bottle and 1 small bottle. Once I finish with the small bottle I simply fill it up from the large bottle. This provides easy access to the small bottle rather than yanking out the large bottle whenever you want a sip.

2. Bring an extra jacket / pants, gloves, socks
Bring light weight jacket or pants if you have space. I learnt the hard way by freezing at the peak.
Socks was a just-in-case thing. I wore gloves just for 30 minutes at the beginning of the hike.

3. Trekking pole(s) 
I brought my skiing pole instead, hey, get whatever pole you can find will do. I didn't use it for my ascend but I used it all the way for my descend. I can't stress enough on how important and useful the pole were for me. I slipped once during my descend but would be worse if I didn't have my pole. I might as well slip all the way down!

4. Band aid / Medical tape / Other necessary medication
In case of emergency, bring it. It's not even heavy.

5. Money & ID card
Again, just in case.

- - - - -

5 Tips during the hike:
1. If you're hiking alone, observe where the other trekkers go. 
I hiked a wrong way near the peak and good thing I spotted other hikers on another path so I found my way back. Should have waited a bit and followed other hikers instead of risking it.

2. Keep track of the time you started, reached the peak, arrive back at base
I recorded it in my Iphone Notes app. You could use the Stopwatch function but it will drain your battery.
Another way would be to save a screenshot of the time. I wanted to record the time I reached each marker so used the Notes app instead.

I missed a lot of markers though, oh well..

3. If you're bored, listen to songs. If you're anxious, calm yourself by listening to songs.
It definitely helped me during my descend as I was quite impatient on why haven't I reach the bottom already?! While during my ascend I was breathing so heavily I couldn't really hear the music clearly anyway.

4. Encourage yourself to keep pushing on.
I asked myself a lot during the hike on 'Why am I doing this????' 'Oh my gosh when am I ever reaching???' So, please calm yourself down and keep pushing on! I succeeded and I don't see why you can't!

5. Don't just keep your eyes on the ground. 
I banged my head twice because I was so focused on maneuvering my legs that I failed to avoid those tree branches. May I add it was once while ascending and once while descending. Look up (even when descending) once in a while. You might scare yourself silly if you suddenly realise someone is in front of you as hikers are descending.

- - - - -

Pictures time!


This is at the very beginning where the trail was nice and easy. I remembered I haven't even reach the first marker yet at that point.


Almost missed the first marker! This was taken when I arrived at a difficult section and was wondering where was the first marker, I looked back and saw it.


From first marker to the sixth! I missed a few marker and there were some people at certain marker so I passed on taking pictures.


Towards marker 7, you can notice some frost! So exciting!!


And it gets more and more!!


Thumbs up for comfy hiking shoe!



Arrived at marker 9! You could use the help of the ropes if needed.


Turn left for the peak and turn right for the hut.


Beautiful autumn meeting winter.




Finally!!!


Perfect weather indeed, no fog and no clouds to block the amazing view.


Fanciest lunch location I've every had! Munching on my onigiri at the peak of the mountain~



Guys don't forget to jot down your details before the hike and after the hike at this little booth. You won't miss it but you might miss it if sky's still dark. Side note: I used the leftover gloves in the booth, so thankful for whoever that left it there, I returned the gloves after I arrived and hope it'll help someone else like it did to me!

- - - - -

Before the hike, I was worried that I'll be the only one there. But there were other people there too (Less than 10) so I was so so glad. Would say majority of hikers would prefer to start the hike sometime around 7am. But I wanted to avoid the sun so I went as early as I could.

Besides worrying whether I could actually complete the hike or not, I was quite worried if I needed to take bathroom breaks. There's no bushes for me to do my business! Thankfully I didn't need to use the bathroom at all.

I guess the hardest part of it all was to actually decide to do this hike. I took months to plan and even though I had no companion and my friend was advising me not to do this hike, I did it anyway. I'm so glad I safely completed the hike!

Hiking Time Frame:
5:30am - Started
6.00am - Marker 2 (Forgot to record Marker 1 & many more as you read on)
6.18am - Marker 3
6.56am - Marker 5
7.15am - First sight of someone descending
7.19am - Marker 6
7.45am - Marker 7
8.26am - Marker 9
9.00am - Peak
9.19am - Left peak
9.52am - Marker 8
12.19am - Arrived at base (I missed the rest of the marker and was too tired to record too)

I took 3.5 hours up and 3 hours down.
I could descend faster but I didn't wanna hurt my knee and ankle so I took my time and I'm glad I did.

Well, this sums up my longest post ever! This hike could possibly be the most challenging and extreme thing I've done in my life!

Wednesday 15 October 2014

Diet Recipe #2 - Stir Fry Cabbage and Egg

Cabbage is one of my favourite vegetable. It goes well in soup, stir fry, raw or many more!
Cabbage soup diet is a popular recipe too but I can't commit to it due to work hours so I just did a stir fry cabbage during lunch break and it's quick, simple, and delicious!

Ingredients:
Cabbage
1 egg
Soy sauce
Oil

Steps:


1. Shred about 3 cabbage leafs 


2. Pour a little oil and start to cook the cabbage


3. After 2 minutes, push the cabbage to the side and crack an egg on the empty corner.



4. Mix the egg around once it's half cooked and pour some soy sauce in.

Stir it and you're done!

It's so delicious I promise, give it a try!

Sunday 12 October 2014

Sapporo Trip (October)

Previous trip to Sapporo I went because I had to renew my visa. Now I went back again to collect it.
Click HERE to view my previous Sapporo visit post.

I was so excited to go Sapporo that I almost forgot to include collecting visa in my itinerary. Glad I remembered if not I would have to go back to Sapporo again (Would be a good excuse though but all the money I'll be spending....)

As usual, my first meal would be fast food! I'm always fast food deprived as I'm living in a non-fast food existent place - Niseko.


Tried their Clam Chowder. Well, not too bad.


Had Tantanmen for dinner at 175 Deno.

北海道札幌市中央区南1条西6-20 KYビル 1F

And can I just describe what a bad experience it was?

It was my first time eating tantanmen and all I was expecting was noodle in spicy broth but I was so wrong. Tantanmen gives a numbing effect to the tongue and mouth so once I had my first bite, I was very shocked on why is my whole mouth numb? What could they have possibly placed inside this?

It wasn't spicy at all, and my whole mouth was numb. I could taste a whole lot of pepper. (Which I'm not a fan of) I took a bite, then drank a lot of water and kept going but I wasn't enjoying at all. So all in all, I gave up.

I looked around me and everyone was slurping their tantanmen joyously while I was really really suffering.
I doubt I'll be trying any kinds of tantanmen any soon.

Then I moved on to my next restaurant - Horumon Shokudou.
They have many branches so do visit their website for more info.


Most people would go for the Tabehodai - All you can eat. It is indeed very very affordable! Only 2,380yen for everything shown above. I didn't go for that as I know I'll over-stuff myself... Next time I'll definitely go for that with an empty stomach.


The must order - Horumon. Which is intestines. In the white bowl were thickly sliced horumon while in the black bowl were thinly sliced horumon.


I'm a HUGE fan of the thickly sliced horumon as it was just more juicy.


Order the beef short ribs too (Beef Kalbi)


After the barbeque, I just sat and chill in Starbucks.
Was pretty bummed when my favourite Matcha Brownie Frappuccino weren't available anymore...



Next day's brunch! My all time favourite Tokyo Tonteki, only 1,000yen =)

札幌店
〒060-0061
札幌市中央区南1条西5-17-2 プレジデント松井ビル100 1F



Then I had dinner in JS Pancake House in Stellar Place.

札幌ステラプレイス店
011-209-5121
北海道札幌市中央区北5条西2-5 札幌ステラプレイス イースト3F

I know this placed is usually packed and raved about, I just had to try!
I ordered their autumn special - Chestnut & Nuts Mont blanc Pancake 1,100yen

It was very good, now I know what this place is popular.



Had Tokyo Tonteki again the next morning! Heaven on a plate.....


Went to Otaru as a stopover and did a little sight-seeing.
The above is almost a replica of Malaysia's Kaya Ball!

I miss Kaya Ball so much after seeing that so I ordered one.
I know it won't taste anything like Kaya Ball but.... I had to try it anyways.

It was pretty good though.


Had my final meal of fast food before I head home. 

What makes it memorable was the squid ink burger!! 
It is indeed very Halloween themed and it tastes way better than expected. 




Even the cheese is Black! How can I get this in Malaysia??

It was really really good! Made fresh and it was still smoking hot, surely burgers are best enjoyed fresh and hot.


Kopiko candies!!! This was my childhood favourite and of course I had to buy it home!


Giant sized potato chips! Inside it are 5 or so small sized potato chips.

This would be a great gift for friends but it's too huge to bring home...



I HAD to try this cute little balloon pudding. How smart are they to come up with this idea?




Poke the balloon with a pointy object and out come the perfect round pudding!

It was very nice and milky, I hoped they had given more sauce though..
* The caramel sauce was in sachets. You can see it in one of the picture above.



Ending the post with a creepy face mask. Oh the typical things you find in Don Quijote.