For the love of everything FRAGGABLE, it’s farkin’ COLD in here…
Today’s reading is warning against being reckless with money with new interests.
Considering I mentioned I should try getting into scrapbooking… yeah.
I woke up at around 1am kinda cold, something I didn’t appreciate after my experience in new year’s. So I go check the thermostat and turns out it was off.
Why didn’t I notice it was off? Because the numbers were already on! Traditionally if I can see the numbers I’m gonna assume that the thing is on.
I went back to sleep with a couple extra clothes on. I was thirsty but if I drank anything I’d snap fully awake.
When I properly woke up, my body was definitely feeling the effects of Actually Resting for once. First thing I did was unpack and actually take stock of the room instead of blindly crawling to bed.
It’s an old hotel. Clearly refurbished over time with things like keycard locks, very conveniently attached to a super long strip mall which is handy to grab food or supplies without venturing in the cold.
By the way the view from the room is killer.
I walked outside for a bit and there’s supposed to be a scenic square but it’s predictably buried in snow. There’s definitely a couple of interesting photo spots though.
Out of curiosity I went to the station because I wanted to get a sense of where I was in relation to last time I came here.
Turns out I’m two stations away, which explains why there were no familiar landmarks I could see.
I walked around Otaru Station to have a small refresher of the area and such. I was surprised at how many people were by the docks considering the candles festival thing that I came here for last year is still a couple of weeks away. But it makes sense when you consider that Otaru is basically the foot of a bunch of ski resort mountains so people leave from here.
Heck, I arrived here on my way back from Niseko.
I stopped by a souvenirs shop I remembered and I was getting hungry so I got a burger on a nearby spot. It was neat because the patty had potato salad in the middle. The patty was good on the whole because it wasn’t a frozen patty but meat put straight into the pan.
After this I returned to the hotel. I wanted to drop the stuff, ready for a bit, and then go to Sapporo with Luna and Sol.
So girls and cameras on my back I had to the train station and there was a kinda ominous amount of people by the station.
Then I see the schedule and they still had trains from around 4pm on display while it was almost 6pm.
I go to the ticket window to leave and I hear a conversation between the clerk and the lady in front me. Turns out they’re clearing snow on the tracks and the man says in his experience it’ll probably be one more hour at least.
I shift plans and just take photos near the mall by the hotel. I did find neat spots there earlier. Although admittedly the selection became narrower thanks to it being dark, meaning a lot of the backdrops like ships were out of the question.
I ultimately found a neat spot so let’s get to taking some pics.
First was Sol. I wanted her standing but predictably there weren’t many options over the snow, so I instead used this one pillar.
It was kinda hell to find a good balance where the background showed but I’m happy with the results, it’s also easily adjustable in post but as I’ve mentioned before I like fixing as much as possible before that point.
I remember seeing a lady going out and coincidentally going back in after I ended these shots. I don’t mind having a crowd but this was probably just her taking a coincidental smoke break.
I then chose to take pics with a different pose and magic happened.
I keep forgetting that this specific pose is one of Sol’s strongest, there’s definitely something good to be explored with it.
Later I’d realize that the pose reminded me of something specific.
I’ve had a tab with this Rikka Gridman figure open back home for ages because I really REALLY like the pose and I guess it stuck subconsciously.
Afterwards it was Luna’s turn and she was easier because I decided from early that she’s the kind to just lay on the snow.
These shots came easy, so I moved to the next one.
These were hilarious because she just sank into the snow and I had to pull her out and gently put her back in. It did create the body outline though.
I then adjusted the pose a little bit and BAM.
I was really happy with the results so I stopped because I was losing feeling in my fingers from the cold.
I bought some toiletries on the way back and grabbed a delivery thing from the post office by the hotel. I’m seriously considering mailing one of my bags home and return lighter. Though emphasis still in “considering”.
The moment I get to my room to relax all the pain kicks in at once, my feet hurt and I’m like man whatever did I do end up like this?
…oh right, that.