Apres-Ski...

Skiing… is fun. Yes it is great to stand on the peak of a snowy slope, look down at where you are going and then let your skis take off. The excitement is high; you feel your adrenaline rush. But at the same time you can’t ignore the bruises and bumps you sustained in the process of it... me I mean.

Steph and I went off to meet the rest of the people going off to ski too with great anticipation. And much to our delight... heh heh it was 2 guys as we have both wished. Haaa… Yeah, we were saying how good it will be to be in a nice resort with the company of 2 cute guys. Well the 2 of them are not too bad though, both from America, Chris and David. So the 5 of us, including the director of the International Student’s office, Declan took off to Nagano in Yamasa’s van.

It was a long 6 hours ride. And by the time we finished dinner and on the last part of the journey up the mountains. It was really snowing hard. I mean, I have never seen such heavy snowfall in my entire life! It was so much like those you see in Kung-fu shows in ancient china. Snow falling like heavy rain fall, the roads all covered with snow with “snow walls” about 6 feet tall already being formed at the sides. And the sight was really beautiful. Besides the kung-fu shows, it looked like a picture of a Christmas card too. Those where you can see little houses lined up beside each other and then with lights illuminating them. It was well over Christmas but really the atmosphere was just so great.

Anyway we were really grateful that it was 2 guys who came along and not 2 girls. You will see why in a minute.

Firstly, we needed to fix chains on the wheels before going up the mountains to prevent slipping. And in the heavy snowfall, the guys had to lie on the floor to do that! It was easy as Declan needed to move the car every few second so as to get the wheel to move and the chains around it. Steph and I were also shivering like mad in the car when the guys were outside. So can you imagine if they were not here? Then we will be the ones outside fixing the chains on.

Anyway, we finally got to the resort about 12 midnight and that was the end of that day. Tired and dead beat.

Second day, skiing day! Of course being kiasu-photos mad Singaporeans, 2 of us were out for a photo shoot the next morning. Hee…

Finally got all the skis and things on but cus of some mistake, I went back with Declan to the rental store while the 3 of them went ahead to the ski place.

Ok so I got Declan as my personal coach for the first part of the day. And when we took the lifts up the mountains, I tell you, my breath stopped for a moment. The scenery was truly magnificent. It was amazing! It was as if you wish your eyes were a good camera to capture those shots. Yes, that was the moment I realized my camera was still in David’s pocket.

But well, I was so thrilled by the endless snow-capped mountains I saw that I almost didn’t get down the lifts. But well, of course I did. And I did such a perfect jump that Declan exclaimed, “hey that was a perfect jump! I’m sure you will do great in skiing too!” I beamed at that but why do I feel such a feeling that bodes ill inside me? Frats… ignore that feeling.

Next Declan taught me to move forward and then brake. Perfect. Could do almost all he said. I was born to ski isn’t it? Yes! I am skiing and Skiing is me! Who ever told me it was hard?

Now challenge no1. Down slope. And I let my legs go. And for the next 8 seconds my mind was in a blur. The people and sights wheeze passed me in a flash. I was going at maybe 60 km/hr? Nope.. maybe not but hey that’s too fast for me! I can’t even control my thoughts. In probably the worst thing to do, I induced a fall. Yes, I INDUCED my first fall. After, when I shared this thought to the 3 guys, they looked at me with unbelievable eyes.

The rest of the morning was spent falling down, wearing the skis after they dropped when I fell down and swearing not to ski every again. Nope, I don’t hate it like I said, just can’t ignore the pain I am accumulating throughout the whole body.

Anyway, was almost pass lunch time and Steph and I were still quite stuck up the supposedly beginners’ bunny slopes. Declan decided to give us a help by getting us to hold on to him while he skied down. Whooh… that was a great sense of relief. So once again, thank God it was 2 guys who knew how to ski who went along. Imagine 4 beginners… Declan would have probably collapsed. And we suggested he add a clause to the next skiing trip. “ No beginners allowed unless accompanied by strong, professional skiers.” And he nodded with much agreement.

After lunch, we decided to take a break and to get the guys to go ahead. They were pretty pleased at the suggestion though they didn’t specifically said it. Well, we held them up the whole morning and this is the best we can do for them. So they were skiing while we went to play with the children’s play. A mini slope where you slide down while sitted on little trays... heeeee that was fun!

At night, Declan took all of us to a cozy pub. Atmosphere not too bad. It was cold outside so drinking a little helped to generate some heat. Had lots of fun listening to Declan’s endless stories of his travels including Singapore. On the way back, was a whole journey of the guys throwing snow balls at each other and of cus us at times…

WOoh…. Day 2 did nothing much, decided not to ski so just walked around a bit…

Was a great experience overall. Did skiing and of course see what snowboarding is like too. Probably wun go again for a long time. But well, I truly enjoyed the trip nevertheless.