My trip to Jeju

In early February, I had the opportunity to visit South Korea for the first time. I was really lucky that I went there before the pandemic started. I stayed in Seoul for 5 days, and then I went to Jeju island. Personally, Seoul didn’t impress me as much as Jeju. Seoul was really similar to Tokyo in terms of the weather, the people, and the vibe it gives. However, Jeju holds a very deep place in my heart. It’s one of the places I want to go back. The island is quite small and so is the population. Everywhere I went was relaxing, no one was in a hurry. It’s a really nice change compared to the busy city like Seoul or Tokyo. One of my favorite places is the Camellia Hill, the view there was breathtaking. Seeing snow falls on the Camellia flowers was something I couldn’t forget. If you guys have the chance, please go see this loveliness yourself.

Sliding Down a Slope of White →

Since most of us would probably be at home right now, I’d like to throwback to some other experiences I had when I was back in Japan. Around the beginning of March, I went skiing for the second time in my life. This time, I went to a renown resort called Gala Yuzawa. It only took around 1 hour from Tokyo with Shinkansen. Surprisingly, the ski resort is very tourist-friendly and provides various outstanding services, living up to its reputation. As I have learned the basics from my first ski experience in Hokkaido, I was able to ski on my own. The main slope for beginners is very wide and smooth. Going up the slope was much easier as well since we can use the chair lift as we like. Overall, it was a worth the experience.

Snow in the late March!

3月下旬に雪!

数日前に東京で雪が降りました!私の近所の子供たちは雪だるまを作り、お互いに雪玉を投げ合っていました。このニュースは、3月下旬に32年ぶりに雪が降ったという。コロナウイルスの巨大な広がりがあるこのような重要な時期に、私たちの心を明るくする素晴らしい瞬間があります。桜の上に雪が降り、とても美しかったです。2020年の私のお気に入りのイベントの一つ。

Snow Monkey Park

Since, this is already my second year in Japan, I already had the chance to visit quite a few places in Japan . I was counting it the other day and I came to realisation that I visited almost all of the prefectures already. Hovewer, this Tuesday, I could finally go to a place, which was for a long time on my bucket list yet, I never had the chance to visit. This dream palce was for me the the Snow Monkey Park in Nagano.

I was actually, quite surpised to see that most of the tourusits who visted the park were foreigners.

I think, that in Europea countries and in the US, this Snow Monkey Park has a very great reputation. It is the only national park in the world where you can see monkeys taking a bath in hot springs. In addition, it also offers a unique experince because it is possible to observe monkeys in their natural habitat while they are in a reachable distance. Although, it's not allowed to touch or the feed them they come so close to you as they were ordinary cats or dogs.

The only thing you need to pay attention is the cold weather and the slippery path the leads to the Monkey Park. in order to preserve the natural isolation of the park it’s not possible entirely approach the park by car or public transportation. From the closest parking lot it takes around 30 minites to arrive to the small national park.