I grew up in Northern Michigan, so needless to say, I am accustomed to dealing with cold weather. The average year in Upper Michigan can be characterized as 9 months of winter, and 3 months of bad skiing.
Well, maybe it’s not quite that bad, but the winter snows can start snowing as early as late October and the snow is not usually all melted until well into April.
I even remember one time when I was a kid, it actually SNOWED on the 4th of July. True Story! That was before the record snowfall winter of 1978-1979 when 390.4 inches of snow fell in one winter season. That’s 32 and a half feet of snow!!! Pretty crazy.
But seeing that I have not spent a winter there since 1994, I have started to get a little soft when it comes to cold weather. Just today I took a trip to Kamakura, via Yokohama. (Pictures from Kamakura to follow on the next journal entry) The day was really overcast. A thick blanket of clouds had set in the night before and the whole day was dim. Kind of like fluorescent lighting outdoors.
Without any sunshine it never really had a chance to warm up during the day. And after the sun went down it really started to get cold, relatively speaking.
I spent most of the day walking around Kamakura taking photos, climbing a lot of temple stairs and bobbing and weaving my way through the crowds. I kept moving enough so I was able to stay warm.
After taking a couple hundred photos I then swung through Yokohama on my way home. I stopped at Yokohama station so I could do some “guy shopping” as I like to call it. Guy shopping is just like girl shopping, the only difference is the type of products that are being looked at. I checked out all the major camera and electronics stores around the station. I always like to poke around and check out the latest gadgets to hit the shelves, just in case I happen to find something that I just can’t live without.
I found a couple of neat things, but not anything I had not seen before. I expect that with the holiday season coming there should be some new gadgets entering the stores in time for the holiday buying rush. I’ll check again in a couple of weeks to see if there is anything new.
After the sun had gone down it really started to get cold. (Not that I actually saw a sunset, it just got dark, like a big dimmer switch being applied to that outdoor fluorescent lighting) Since I was no longer hiking around and generating enough of my own internal body heat to keep me warm I stopped by one of the ever-present vending machines to get myself something hot to drink.
The great thing about vending machines in Japan is that they vary the selection depending on the season. While there is always a wide range of flavors to choose from, in the winter the increase the number of hot items for sale and also add a couple of interesting choices.
One of the most odd, at least before you get the chance to try it, is hot Corn Soup in a can.
I know it sounds a little weird, but believe me. Nothing hits the spot when your cold like a can of hot corn soup. The only gripe I have is that the can is really small. The word “dinky” comes to mind when I start to describe it. I am able to suck the entire thing down in one gulp. I guess I could buy a few more, but at 100 Yen a mouthful, it could get pretty expensive to fill yourself up on the stuff.
In addition to warming you on the inside, the hot cans also serve to warm your hands up. Many times I have seen people buy a can of hot corn soup or hot coffee and use it primarily as a hand warmer. Only drinking it after they have transferred most of the cans heat to their hands.
I hope you enjoyed this journal entry….^_I grew up in Northern Michigan, so needless to say, I am accustomed to dealing with cold weather. The average year in Upper Michigan can be characterized as 9 months of winter, and 3 months of bad skiing.
See todays pictures HERE.
I grew up in Northern Michigan, so needless to say, I am accustomed to dealing with cold weather. The average year in Upper Michigan can be characterized as 9 months of winter, and 3 months of bad skiing.
Well, maybe it’s not quite that bad, but the winter snows can start snowing as early as late October and the snow is not usually all melted until well into April.
I even remember one time when I was a kid, it actually SNOWED on the 4th of July. True Story! That was before the record snowfall winter of 1978-1979 when 390.4 inches of snow fell in one winter season. That’s 32 and a half feet of snow!!! Pretty crazy.
But seeing that I have not spent a winter there since 1994, I have started to get a little soft when it comes to cold weather. I recently spent a day in Kamakura, via Yokohama. The day was really clear, but there was still the definite chill of approaching autumn in the air.
I spent most of the day walking around Kamakura taking photos, climbing a lot of temple stairs and bobbing and weaving my way through the crowds. I kept moving enough so I was able to stay warm.
After taking a couple hundred photos I then swung through Yokohama on my way home. I stopped at Yokohama station so I could do some “guy shopping” as I like to call it. Guy shopping is just like girl shopping, the only difference is the type of products that are being looked at. I checked out all the major camera and electronics stores around the station. I always like to poke around and check out the latest gadgets to hit the shelves, just in case I happen to find something that I just can’t live without.
I found a couple of neat things, but not anything I had not seen before. I expect that with the holiday season coming there should be some new gadgets entering the stores in time for the holiday buying rush. I’ll check again in a couple of weeks to see if there is anything new.
After the sun had gone down it really started to get cold. Since I was no longer hiking around and generating enough of my own internal body heat to keep me warm I stopped by one of the ever-present vending machines to get myself something hot to drink.
The great thing about vending machines in Japan is that they vary the selection depending on the season. While there is always a wide range of flavors to choose from, in the winter the increase the number of hot items for sale and also add a couple of interesting choices.
One of the most odd, at least before you get the chance to try it, is hot Corn Soup in a can.
I know it sounds a little weird, but believe me. Nothing hits the spot when your cold like a can of hot corn soup. The only gripe I have is that the can is really small. The word “dinky” comes to mind when I start to describe it. I am able to suck the entire thing down in one gulp. I guess I could buy a few more, but at 120 Yen a mouthful, it could get pretty expensive to fill yourself up on the stuff.
In addition to warming you on the inside, the hot cans also serve to warm your hands up. Many times I have seen people buy a can of hot corn soup or hot coffee and use it primarily as a hand warmer. Only drinking it after they have transferred most of the cans heat to their hands.
