12th October, 2006 - Needing a bit of time together, T-chan and I headed off to Maeda Shinrin-koen, where we'd done our X-country skiing way back in 2003. In Autumn the place looks completely different... instead of a wide expanse of snow, we see an environment of green, with a just a few splashes of red as the weather cools and Autumn starts to take hold. The clouds roll through, but there's no real threat of cold/wet weather coming. It's the perfect place to have a chat about things like parenting as there's plenty of space to let your thoughts go free.
It's a great park to walk, and in spring and summer it's also a great locale to see a veriety of blooms. Now there's not much to see flower-wise. Winter approaches.
In this part of Sapporo, Teine-yama dominates the skyline. It's not the most mountainous of mountains - yet it's still stands at over 1,000m in height. There's something imposing about the mountain top. Perhaps it's the winter memory from the last trip - or perhaps it's simply the dangerous looking array of antanae spikes that run down its spine. It always seems to be keeping a watchful and protective eye over all that happens beneath it.
The walk on this day may not have been enough to get our heads around our soon-to-be-parent-status, but it helped. It was also a nice place to just get out and walk in the open. To get there is about 30 mins drive from the centre of Sapporo. Entry is free.
View Larger Map
Back at home... we had a typical cook-at-the-table meal ready for us - this night was Oden, which is a very traditional Japanese winter food. In fact, you often see it in convenience stores nowadays during the colder months. This is not my favourite however.
With T-chan pregnant, it was a common for her to be the last to leave the table. When you can't taste what you're eating though, there's not much enjoyment in it.
Everyone was full...Even T-chan's cat. What a life.
.JPG)