Spontaneous Kagura snowboarding day trip

Have you ever done something spontaneous recently, like riding a random train on a Sunday morning or watching a movie aboard the Yamanote Line? Sudden decisions or shifts on daily routines are the ones that are very memorable; like witnessing a fish jump out of the water in a calm lagoon (sidetracked. When I was a kid and during a party on a floating restaurant above the Loboc river, I swear I saw a head shaped that of a dolphin's poked out of the river surface!)

Anyway, I've had my share of spontaneous events in my life. One of them started on a February 2, 2018, a Friday night, when I scheduled a dinner reunion with my good friends Batari and Marco. Both were my friends back in the university. I haven't seen Bats in a while except when I visit Jakarta for work or visiting my former girlfriend. I see Marco almost every weekend at his house. Anyway, Batari was visiting Japan for the weekend so we were looking forward to dining together at Doma-Doma, an Izakaya somewhere in Shibuya. 

Batari arrived late and it was just me and Marco. After having our fill of Japanese food and a few glasses of beer, he mentioned that he will be going snowboarding with friends tomorrow and will be leaving Tokyo station for Kagura ski park by 6AM. I told him if it was alright for me to join them and he responded that he would confirm with the organizer. Finally, Batari arrived after her dinner with her lady Indonesian boss. Because we got too excited, we ended dining past 11 AND Marco said the organizer welcomes me to join. In spite the late evening reunion, I felt committed and excited to join the snowboarding trip the next day.

On the way home that evening, I realized my bicycle tire has lost air. I ended up sleeping past 1 after a later shower. Fortunately, despite drinking a lot the night before, I was able to wake up on time and actually had enough energy to get myself off the bed. Met w/ Marco and the others at the station and had no choice but to purchase a more expensive bullet train ticket form Tokyo to Echigo Yuzawa station. Didn’t know Marco had a discounted promo ticket that all foreigners/snowboarders should be aware of when going snowboarding. Tips to visiting Kagura can be found here. Basically, as a  foreigner living in Japan, I would have availed of the Tokyo Wide Rail Pass which requires advanced reservations. The pass covers travel to Kagura.

That morning, the train car I was in was very crowded. From Echigo Yuzawa station, we boarded a free shuttle to the rental shop. Upon arrival to the rental shop, we were greeted by a very hospitable Japanese staff. The staff was kind of loose about everything and didn't really mind if I had no advanced registration. He even gave me a discounted lift ticket for the day.

At the ski park, met a lot of friends and actually learned a few tricks from Berie, a French snowboarder. Snowboarded through trees and on the fresh powder that we often see directly below the lifts. It was a tough first experience to challenge the off-courses but it was quite fun and productive. The weather was also perfect; the sun was bright. I also enjoyed the long route traveling down Kagura, one of the biggest ski parks I have ever visited. 

We finished snowboarding around 4PM when the snowfall was getting heavier and the lifts were scheduled to close. After returning our rented stuff, we went to a nearby public ofuro near Echigoyuzawa station. The ofuro staff, probably annoyed with the presence of too many foreigners, was not very hospitable but it was fine. It felt really good to be refreshed.

After ofuro, we initially planned to have shabushabu for dinner but we couldn’t find a nearby restaurant. Returning to the station, we were surprised to see festival stalls selling Japanese (festival) omatsuri food (good deal and good portions too). We were especially drawn towards a sake (Nihonshu) tasting at the station! For only 500 yen, we were able to taste 5 shots of high quality osake. Eventually bought a bottle for my friends Carlo and Eden back in Tokyo. Of the 5 osakes I tasted, I liked Echigo Tsurukame.

On the less crowded bullet train back, watched Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency on Netflix. When we reached Tokyo station, we said our goodbyes to everyone. I thought of going straight home when Marco, Anahita, and Ai decided to go have drinks. I was so tired from the lack of sleep yesterday but I wanted to optimize the day of spontaneity. We found a nearby Mexican restaurant just beside Tokyo station. Had a shot of tequila while the others had cocktails and an avocado-based dish. We talked about many things; difference in Spanish dialects across Spanish-speaking countries, the importance of a company’s vision statement, and even a bit of chaos.

It was a fruitful day. I used to have many of these so-called spontanteous events which I often referred to as 風の向くまま、気のむくまま (kaze no muku mama, ki no muku mama; directly translated the where the wind faces or blows, my spirit faces with it.).

In closing, I highly do NOT recommend joining trips w/o being really sure of the risks (additional costs, possible delays). I somehow felt confident since I was going with my friends and did my own quick research (access, costs) on the train home the night before the trip. I encountered difficulties, such as the ones I have mentioned above. Nevertheless, we all deserve to surprise ourselves, be it a simple dessert or a ramen. I have to say that day was a great one.