JTJ - Journey to Japan #2

Today's our last day in Niseko before we head out to Asahidake, the highest mountain on Hokkaido.
Niseko was pretty good and we had some fun times. The snow isn't as much as we hoped to be but definitely enough to shoot.
Yesterday we had a guide who took us up on a peak in the backcountry where we found loads of spots to shoot. Since the snow situation in Europe is so crappy, just about every film crew is here in Japan right now. We met the Pirates yesterday at one spot which they wanted to hit but couldn't cause the Salomon crew was already there too. And I heard there are about 5 or 6 other film crews in Asahidake right now. Gonna be a fight for the spots.

Anyways, Japan is great, crew is great...looking forward to the rest of the trip.

Me, being a tourist.

Niseko backcountry.

Ullr is always with me on my avalanche beacon.

Fips cruising.

Peter in the most sketchy chairlift I've ever seen.

Kevin and me in the chairlift.





"Caution! A waterfall is there!" Thanks for the hint.

Kampai!

Sushi heaven.

The Grand Papa Lodge which we are staying in.

Peter in the 3D lights.

This is the view I woke up to every morning.

Peter and Fips doing some yoga.

The Mt. Yotei volcano in the sunrise.

The lodge.

Our little car and our little crew.

Niseko backcountry after the hike. Weather like this is very rare in Japan. The guide told us they have about 5-10 days of bluebird maximum every season. So we lucked out with 1 sunny day.

Fips, ready to drop in.

Kevin and Mt. Yotei.

Me, all sweaty after the hike but glad to be on top.

Updates will follow.

Sayonara!

JTJ - Journey to Japan #1

I arrived in Niseko today after flying to Tokyo and then spending another night in Sapporo on the northern island Hokkaido. The crew (Markus Fischer and Christian Öfner from Pleasure Mag, Kevin Bäckström, Philipp Strauss, Peter König and I) crammed in to a tiny van that supposedly fits 10 people. 10 japanese people maybe, but not 6 Euros with boardbags and trolleys. After a 3 hour drive, Fischi got us safely through the lefty traffic and we checked in the "Grand Papa Lodge" in Niseko. It's pretty funny cause it's a japanese hotel trying to look like an alpine lodge. But it's a nice mix of japanese and euro style.
We arrived in the afternoon and took advantage of the illuminated slopes here in Niseko and went for a night ride. It's snowing alot and I hope we can get some stuff done in the next days. The crew is perfect and everyone is happy and motivated.
So far I'm really loving Japan. It's always been my dream to come here. It's actually not as weird as I expected it to be. Nobody really speaks english but everybody is super nice and helpful. And you can't read ANYTHING. But it's possible to get around and communicate with hands and feet. I was just hoping everything would be super weird and different here, but it's quite humane. Especially Niseko is very european. But I'm sure once we go to Tokyo things will get to the weirdo-factor I've been looking for.

Here a few pics from the last days.

Night riding in Niseko.

On the way to the resort.

Öfi and me trying to fit 12 bags in a minivan. This photo was stolen from Fischi (yeah Fischi, I know how much you love it when we steal your pics. But nobody except my parents read my blog anyway;-)

Öfi and me experimenting with the butt-spray tech toilets (shot again by Fischi)

Öfi, Fischi, me, Peter, Fips and Kevin at the Tokyo airport.

Sayonara! Öfi, Fips and me in Tokyo. Shot by Malkus Fischel.

Two turds in a sardine can. Öfi and Fips on the way to Niseko.

Swedish supermodel and newest addition to the Isenseven team: Kevin Bäckström

Me and one of my two little Strauss brothers.

Updates will follow. But first it's time to get shots!

Sayonara.
Alex-san.

Beatmaker 2 x iPhone 4 x ME!

I just bought Beatmaker 2 for the iPhone and I am hooked. This sequencer & producing app is more than just cutting a bunch of loops after each other. You really need to start from scratch and you have endless possibilities. I'm just getting in to it and learning and this is kind of complicated, espacially with no music producing experience. But I'm getting there. This is so much fun!

Check out my very first track called "Nippon". I still have a lot to improve and need to dive deeper in to all the possibilities this app offers. But for a first try I think it sounds ok. I'm definitely going to get an iPad JUST for this app.

Nippon by AxlSteez

I'm off to Japan next week for two weeks...so I'll probably have loads of new tunes by the time I get home.