February 8, 2014 night
We didn't end up leaving Otaru until after 3pm. I am shocked that we managed to walk around for 4 hours! We got back to the hotel around 4 and watched some of the Olympic figure skating. Then we got extra bundled up to go see the Odoru Park snow sculptures lit up at night. My getup included: 2 pairs of socks, uggs, thick tights, jeans, snowboarding pants, 2 long sleeve/ sweaters, 1 jacket, and a coat. I even gave in and bought a mask (the kind Japanese people wear when they are sick, to keep others from getting sick) with the hopes of keeping my nose from freezing (and it really did help!). Add gloves, a scarf, and beanie to that list... I'm surprised I could still walk. I actually was pretty warm for the first hour we walked around.
There were a lot more people out tonight than we'd seen in Sapporo. The Japanese are so good at organizing and being organized that you wouldn't even know there are a million people coming through the city for Yuki Matsuri. The sculptures were lit with colored lights and white lights. Some of the big sculptures had performances on the ices stages in front of the sculptures. The Winter Sports Paradise sculpture had a colored light show with music to go along. I knew the sculptures would be lit up but I wasn't expecting colored lights and a light show. We've basically had nothing but carbs since we got here, so we planned to eat at the Indian food booth on block 8. The sculpture from India had the best light show of all. There was "projection mapping" on to the sculpture with music to go along that was incredible. I had no idea such a thing was possible. We had veggie curry, naan, and samosas for dinner. We walked all the way to the 12th block- by then I was getting cold- to see the finished international ice sculpture contest. All in all it was a beautifully and night, but we are completely exhausted!
We didn't end up leaving Otaru until after 3pm. I am shocked that we managed to walk around for 4 hours! We got back to the hotel around 4 and watched some of the Olympic figure skating. Then we got extra bundled up to go see the Odoru Park snow sculptures lit up at night. My getup included: 2 pairs of socks, uggs, thick tights, jeans, snowboarding pants, 2 long sleeve/ sweaters, 1 jacket, and a coat. I even gave in and bought a mask (the kind Japanese people wear when they are sick, to keep others from getting sick) with the hopes of keeping my nose from freezing (and it really did help!). Add gloves, a scarf, and beanie to that list... I'm surprised I could still walk. I actually was pretty warm for the first hour we walked around.
There were a lot more people out tonight than we'd seen in Sapporo. The Japanese are so good at organizing and being organized that you wouldn't even know there are a million people coming through the city for Yuki Matsuri. The sculptures were lit with colored lights and white lights. Some of the big sculptures had performances on the ices stages in front of the sculptures. The Winter Sports Paradise sculpture had a colored light show with music to go along. I knew the sculptures would be lit up but I wasn't expecting colored lights and a light show. We've basically had nothing but carbs since we got here, so we planned to eat at the Indian food booth on block 8. The sculpture from India had the best light show of all. There was "projection mapping" on to the sculpture with music to go along that was incredible. I had no idea such a thing was possible. We had veggie curry, naan, and samosas for dinner. We walked all the way to the 12th block- by then I was getting cold- to see the finished international ice sculpture contest. All in all it was a beautifully and night, but we are completely exhausted!
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| The stage is actually all ice |
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The moon rising
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| Motmotaro fighting the Demond |
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| The Motmotaro scene was really elaborate |
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International ice sculpture competition- Thailand 3rd place
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| Portland |
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| Korea 1st place |
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| Malaysia |
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| Hawaii |
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Hong Kong 2nd place
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Location:Sapporo
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