Niseko's Hirafu Hotel Row Morning Walk
Niseko's Hirafu Hotel Row Morning Walk
Overview
John Daub and Peter von Gomm take viewers on a morning walk through Hirafu, the resort district of Niseko, Hokkaido — an area almost unrecognizable in summer compared to its world-famous winter ski season. Broadcasting live, John starts at the bottom of Yotezaka Street (Hotel Row), where empty luxury hotels and shuttered souvenir shops give the area a surreal ghost-town atmosphere. Peter joins mid-walk after sorting microphone logistics, and together they discuss the area's transformation over the past 25 years from farmland to a predominantly foreign-invested ski destination.
The walk culminates at a Percent Arabica (パーセントアラビカ) mobile bubble trailer, where Peter orders two coffees and chats with the English-speaking local barista who lives in nearby Kutchan. Throughout the walk, John and Peter tease out their upcoming motorcycle route around the Sea of Japan peninsula — a route they describe as "like a small intestine" of switchbacks — while referencing the ongoing crowdfunding campaign that will fund a return trip to Hakodate and other highlights of their 10-day Hokkaido adventure.
Highlights
- 00:00:37 John introduces Hotel Row in summer: empty luxury hotels, a Seiko Mart, and a surreal "rain from the left, sun from the right" weather moment.
- 00:06:34 Peter explains how Niseko transformed over 25 years — from farmland to foreign-owned ski resort — with investment groups building condominiums and ski infrastructure.
- 00:07:45 Peter confirms Niseko's reputation for world-class powder snow, with a playful exchange that draws laughs.
- 00:09:04 A ramen recap: tonkotsu (pork bone broth) with collagen chunks, and John's spicy karamiso negi ramen with chashu steak — ordered with katamen (hard noodles) and adjustable oil content.
- 00:11:11 A motorcycle rider passes with one hand on the handlebar in T-shirt and shorts, prompting alarmed commentary from both John and Peter.
- 00:12:47 A Kickstarter stretch goal milestone is announced: 500 backers unlocks a trip to Hakodate for the documentary.
- 00:14:06 John reveals the garage at Chalet Avi — their motorcycles parked inside because hot asphalt softens and can cause bikes to topple over.
- 00:19:13 Peter orders at the Percent Arabica bubble trailer: John's iced latte with condensed milk (nukamiso), Peter's hot cappuccino — with the barista's Percent Arabica tattoo noted.
- 00:22:47 The barista, who lives in Kutchan, learns about their 10-day Hokkaido motorcycle/RV trip and their filmmaking journey.
- 00:28:05 A dreamy reveal: Peter's lifelong ambition — to milk a cow and drink fresh milk — will be fulfilled at a famous farm near Lake Akan.
- 00:29:18 John shows the Kickstarter postcard featuring their melon-helmeted silhouettes, Mount Yotei, lavender, and foxes.
- 00:33:32 Peter pulls up a map showing their planned route: a squiggly switchback road around the peninsula to Iwanai on the Sea of Japan, then to Otaru for sushi, donuts, and the tallest ice cream cone in Japan.
- 00:36:09 John addresses international backers: Norway and Finland limited to sea mail due to the Ukraine war; airmail restored to Australia after nearly a year; Canada still closed.
Timeline / Chapters
- 00:00–05:00 — Introduction. John starts the live stream at the bottom of Yotezaka Street. Describes Hotel Row in summer, empty hotels, rain-and-sun weather. Peter is getting microphone set up.
- 05:00–09:00 — Peter joins. Microphone rigging comedy. They discuss the area, hotels, foreign ownership, and the reputation of Mount Yotei. Manhole cover sighting (Kutchan).
- 09:00–12:00 — Ramen discussion. Recall of the previous night's ramen in Kutchan: Peter's tonkotsu, John's karamiso negi. Summer ghost-town atmosphere. The Seiko Mart is closed.
- 12:00–15:00 — Coffee trailer spotting. Percent Arabica bubble trailer. Peter identifies the route to a larger coffee shop. Chat about Kickstarter stretch goal reaching 500 backers. Day four begins.
- 15:00–19:00 — Motorcycle logistics. Peter's bike in the garage. Asphalt warning. Brief motorcycle passing incident. John shows Chalet Avi hotel. Discussion of today's ride plan — Iwanai peninsula route with ocean views and switchbacks.
- 19:00–25:00 — Walk toward Percent Arabica. Peter orders two coffees. Barista (lives in Kutchan) speaks English well. Coffee tasting — John gets iced latte with condensed milk, Peter gets hot cappuccino.
- 25:00–33:00 — Coffee and trip planning. Discuss upcoming route, stretch goals, Lake Akan cow-milking dream, Kickstarter postcard reveal. Motorcycle talk (Yamaha Tracer vs. Speed Triple).
- 33:00–40:24 — Closing segment. Peter shows the peninsula route on map. International shipping updates for backers. Final motorcycle tips. John says goodbye.
Japan Travel Tips
- Getting there: Hirafu is accessible via Kutchan Station on the Hakodate Main Line, about 2 hours from Sapporo. From New Chitose Airport, take the JR train to Otaru or Sapporo, then transfer. Renting a car is highly recommended for flexibility.
- Best time to visit: For skiing, December–March (Niseko is one of the world's best powder destinations). For a quieter summer visit, July–August offers green landscapes, but many restaurants and shops are closed as the area is seasonal.
- What to eat: Ramen in Kutchan town near Niseko Station is excellent — try tonkotsu (rich pork bone broth) or spicy miso ramen. Order noodles to your preference (katamen for firm/hard texture). Be aware that ramen shops may ask about oil content and broth richness.
- What to look for: The manhole covers in Hokkaido are unique works of art — Kutchan's features local design motifs. Look for Percent Arabica coffee trailers at resort areas — they serve quality coffee with a distinctive bubble-window setup.
- Costs: Luxury hotels on Hotel Row can run ¥200,000+ per night in peak ski season. Summer rates are significantly lower. Hirafu caters primarily to foreign tourists, so prices reflect that.
- Tips for foreigners: Book accommodations well in advance for ski season. In summer, call ahead for restaurant availability. Motorcyclists should park in shade — hot asphalt softens and can cause bikes to topple.
Japanese Language & Culture Notes
- Kutchan (俱知安) — The town adjacent to Hirafu. The manhole cover John admires features local design elements, reflecting Hokkaido's tradition of decorated mamehshi (manhole covers) celebrating regional identity.
- Percent Arabica (パーセントアラビカ) — A specialty coffee chain founded in Kyoto, known for its minimalist aesthetic and single-origin beans. The mobile bubble trailer setup is a summer-season feature common at Japanese festivals and resort areas.
- Condensed milk (炼乳 / condensed milk, nukamiso) — Used in Vietnamese-influenced iced coffee popular in Japan. Vietnamese-style iced coffee (ca phe sua da) typically uses phin filters and sweetened condensed milk rather than regular milk.
- Hokkaido's ski resort development — Niseko's transformation began ~25 years ago when foreign nationals (Australians, Argentinians, and others) began purchasing land. Investment groups then built large-scale condominium and resort infrastructure, making it one of Japan's most internationally oriented ski areas.
- Motorcycle culture in Japan — Japan has a strong biker wave tradition: motorcyclists acknowledge each other with a wave or nod. John notes they only wave back to other motorcyclists, not to car drivers.
- Niseko's ghost-town summer — The stark contrast between winter's international crowds and summer's emptiness reflects the highly seasonal nature of Japanese ski resort economies, many of which depend entirely on winter tourism.
Food & Drink Guide
| Item | Japanese | Description | Price (if noted) | Timestamp | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tonkotsu ramen | とんこつラーメン | Pork bone broth simmered for days, breaking down collagen; rich, fatty chunks | ~¥1,000 | 09:47 | Peter's choice; very rich and filling |
| Karamiso negi ramen | 辛味噌ネギラーメン | Spicy miso broth with Welsh green onions and chashu steak topping | ~¥1,000 | 10:10 | John's favorite; ordered with katamen (hard noodles) |
| Condensed milk iced latte | 練乳入りアイスラテ | Vietnamese-style iced coffee with nukamiso (sweetened condensed milk) | ¥600 | 20:00 | John's order; sweet and creamy |
| Hot cappuccino | カプチーノ | Rich espresso-based cappuccino, no chocolate topping | ¥500 | 21:00 | Peter's order; strong espresso flavor |
People
- John Daub — Host. American living in Japan 30+ years, creator of Only in Japan Go. Warm, curious, playfully competitive with Peter. Provides travel context and cultural commentary throughout.
- Peter von Gomm — John's longtime friend and fellow American living in Japan. Experienced motorcyclist riding a Yamaha Tracer 900 GT. Provides knowledgeable commentary on Hokkaido, Niseko's history, motorcycle gear/tips, and trip logistics.
- Coffee Shop Staff (Kutchan resident) — English-speaking barista at the Percent Arabica bubble trailer. Lives in Kutchan, speaks excellent English. Engages warmly with Peter and John, asking about their trip.
- Nagoya John — Live stream commenter who appears as a regular in the chat. Corrects John's ego with humor.
- Lenny — Live stream commenter who joins the chat during the walk.
Key Takeaways
- Hirafu in summer is a ghost town — Nearly all restaurants and souvenir shops are closed. The area exists almost entirely for winter skiing, making summer visits peaceful but logistically challenging for dining.
- Niseko's ski resort history is relatively recent — The area began transforming about 25 years ago, driven largely by foreign investment and individual foreign nationals buying land and building chalets.
- Niseko has some of the world's best powder snow — Even in summer, the area's reputation for exceptional ski conditions is well known. In peak season, prices for top penthouses can exceed ¥200,000 per night.
- Percent Arabica bubble trailers are a unique coffee experience — These pop-up coffee windows offer quality specialty coffee in unexpected resort locations.
- Motorcycle touring Hokkaido requires preparation — Parking bikes in shade to avoid hot asphalt damage; weather can change quickly with rain suits needed. The peninsula routes offer spectacular ocean views and challenging switchbacks.
- Crowdfunding enables deeper documentary coverage — The Kickstarter campaign reaching 500 backers unlocks additional filming in Hakodate, enriching the final documentary.
Notable Quotes
00:06:28 Peter: "Mount Yotei back behind us. You can't see it. It's kind of shy, like Mount Fuji is awfully."
00:07:13 Peter: "This place really took off within the last 25 years. When I first came here, none of this construction was here. People had just started buying. A lot of foreigners started buying land and building like a ski chalet."
00:10:34 John: "Good ramen Hirafu. So there are some. The souvenir shops are all closed too. So it's kind of like a ghost town."
00:14:16 Peter: "Because the asphalt, when it gets hot, it becomes really soft and the weight of the bike pushes in and your bike will fall."
00:28:05 John: "One of his dreams since he was a little boy was to milk a cow and drink it right from the nub."
00:33:48 Peter: "As bikers know when you see a road that looks like a small intestine, you get a big smile on your face because that means awesome riding. Switchbacks and curves."
00:38:19 Peter: "I love the tracer. I like the riding position, the smooth acceleration. This is a nicer touring bike."
Related Topics
- Only in Japan Go Hokkaido motorcycle tour series
- Niseko winter skiing and powder culture
- Percent Arabica coffee shops in Japan
- Hokkaido food culture (ramen, dairy, fresh milk)
- Japanese manhole cover art and municipal identity
- Motorcycle touring in Japan
- Kickstarter crowdfunding for travel documentaries
Search Tags
#only-in-japan-go #niseko #hirafu #kutchan #hokkaido #hotel-row #yotezaka-street #mount-yotei #percent-arabica #coffee-trailer #motorcycle-tour #summer-hokkaido #ski-resort #niseko-ramen #tonkotsu-ramen #karamiso-ramen #yamaha-tracer #peter-von-gomm #kickstarter #hokkaido-documentary #live-stream #ghost-town #japanese-manhole-cover #condensed-milk-coffee #lake-akan #iwanoi #otaru #sea-of-japan
Full Transcript
00:00:09 John Daub: Oh, are we live? How you doing everybody? Welcome to Niseko. This is Hirafu, I believe, and I'm waiting for Peter. He was just getting the microphone set up. Good morning everybody. In this live stream I've got two microphones right here. We're going to take you on a trip around hotel row. This is Yotezaka Street. That's where our hotel is up here on the hill. Boom. And there's a coffee shop at the end of it that Peter would like you to see. Peter's actually walking down the hill right now. So let's take a look at this area of the bottom of Hirafu, which is a really neat place. I think it's different when the snow is here. So I think a lot of you probably if you've been here before, might not recognize it in the summer. And the weather is so weird, it changing so quickly. Do you see the clouds there? Those are rain clouds and there is like a... I don't know, like a mist of rain in the air right now. I can feel it on my skin. But then if you look to the right, it's like completely sunny. I love it when it happens. And there's sun hitting my face from the right side and there's rain from the left side.
This place is kind of closed. It's sort of a resort mostly for skiing. Because of the pandemic, there's even less people here. And despite it being the high season somewhere, this food looks pretty good. I think this restaurant was also temporarily closed. There's a Seiko Mart if you've never been inside of there. We did a live stream inside of the Seiko Mart yesterday and I came from this direction here and that's where the thumbnail is. The hotels here are top notch. A lot of them are foreign owned. They're really cool and very clean and almost nobody inside of them. So I like it. Peter's asking me where I am and he's saying I'm coming to the bottom of the hill. Where are you? I'm at the bottom of the hill and I have your microphone ready. Black Powder Roasting Company, so I guess that's also a coffee place. Wow, the wind is really picking up here. There he is, taking his leisurely time. Look at how small those strides are. You think you could walk slightly faster, not in a hurry. These hotels also look really cool. When we had to book a place in Niseko, we didn't know where is the best place to book and I guess Mount Yotei is in the opposite direction. But we are up on a mountain. So the views of Mount Yotei... You can look at this place. Big windows, nice balconies. So you get this amazing view. Looking at this volcano where everybody skis. It's pretty cool. A lot of those rooms are empty right now. Actually, we're going up the hill, so it doesn't matter too much. It becomes... meets us halfway. Burton, isn't that a snowboard company? Right. There's like an Australian club here for the Aussies that are washing. I thought that was pretty weird. We're in the middle of Hokkaido and there's an Australian club. I think it's right there, that yellow building. You can see part of the Aussie flag on there. I guess there's a bar in there. I'm not sure. And here he is. Lost his feelings. All sorts of unusual things through his mind. One thing I'm pretty sure he's thinking about is coffee shop. Oh, okay. How far up is it?
00:04:26 Peter von Gomm: The other bigger one is over there. Thank you.
00:04:29 John Daub: You're welcome.
00:04:30 Peter von Gomm: Is it all ready to go?
00:04:31 John Daub: Yeah, just, just... No, no. Attach it right there.
00:04:35 Peter von Gomm: Yes, yes.
00:04:37 John Daub: Well, it's the people that are listening that are...
00:04:40 Peter von Gomm: Yeah, I know. I'm listening too.
00:04:43 John Daub: All right.
00:04:45 Peter von Gomm: All right. How are we. Let me...
00:04:49 John Daub: You miked up there, sir? You want another stop at the Seiko Mart? No, no. Are you sure? They have hot chef. She's really beautiful.
00:05:01 Peter von Gomm: What is she? Well, she's hot, but I mean, what is she?
00:05:09 John Daub: I don't know. The picture looks like a cow. I would not. I'm not one to judge, though.
00:05:17 Peter von Gomm: Oh, that's okay. Is this staying on? For crap's sake.
00:05:23 John Daub: All right. Green light.
00:05:24 Peter von Gomm: Cushy. Tammy, jackets are not made for clipping microphones on.
00:05:29 John Daub: Well, with the wind, probably want it up as high as possible. Shielded by your chin. Chinny chin chin, doesn't go in the T-shirt. Yeah, yeah. Just clip it onto the lid of the... You want me to hear?
00:05:41 Peter von Gomm: Okay, okay, okay. Okay. We're in business. That looks like I have black chest hair.
00:05:51 John Daub: As though it were... It needed that. And as though I think that mic needed to be used as chest hair. Cannot complain.
00:05:58 Peter von Gomm: That is...
00:05:58 John Daub: Look at the tent cover. I've never seen a tent cover like that. It's floral. I love it. Oh, man.
00:06:04 Peter von Gomm: That's not floral. Those are cacti.
00:06:05 John Daub: Cacti. Cactuses. It's a close up.
00:06:07 Passerby: Not cactuses.
00:06:08 John Daub: Cacti.
00:06:09 Peter von Gomm: Cacti.
00:06:09 John Daub: Like octopi... cactus. You just want to irritate me.
00:06:15 Peter von Gomm: Yes, that's easy to do. Welcome everybody to Hirafu. This is Mount Yotei back behind us. You can't see it. It's kind of shy, like Mount Fuji is [too].
00:06:28 John Daub: We saw yesterday pretty good, right?
00:06:30 Peter von Gomm: Air of mystery. Yeah, we did. From a distance.
00:06:33 John Daub: Yeah.
00:06:34 Peter von Gomm: But this place is teeming with snowboarders and skiers in the winter, a lot of Australians come here, and Argentinians maybe, because this... it's a beautiful manhole cover. Kutchan is the name of the town, I believe.
00:06:41 John Daub: Kucha is the name of the town, I believe.
00:06:52 Peter von Gomm: Well, this is Hirafu. The area is Kutchan. The town is Hirafu and Niseko.
00:07:01 John Daub: Yeah. These are all mostly hotels and restaurants. So it's made for mostly tourism. Mostly foreign tourism, right? This area. So the prices reflect that.
00:07:13 Peter von Gomm: Well, this place really took off within the last 25 years. When I first came here, none of this construction was here. People had just started buying. A lot of foreigners started buying land and building like a ski chalet. But then bigger investment groups, foreign investment groups started building condominiums and ski resorts. So this here, there's also some other... Anapuri is another one. And yeah, it's awesome snow.
00:07:45 John Daub: It's...
00:07:45 Peter von Gomm: It's considered some of the world's best powder. Yeah, you wouldn't know.
00:07:50 John Daub: Well, I know that. What's considered the world's best powder. I know a little bit about Niseko. And that's one of...
00:07:54 Peter von Gomm: It's what I said.
00:07:55 John Daub: Yeah.
00:07:55 Peter von Gomm: I was like, yeah, I love tearing up the slopes. That was the tone of your voice.
00:08:01 John Daub: Well, and if it's true, why do you care?
00:08:04 Peter von Gomm: Because I'm just calling you out.
00:08:06 John Daub: Well, I have skied here many times before. You have not any... [laughs] Okay. But I know its reputation. There's a lot of powder. Yeah, but not right now.
00:08:17 Peter von Gomm: Well, now we've confirmed it. Look at these top two penthouses.
00:08:21 John Daub: Yeah, that would be enormous. Why didn't we stay there? Oh, right. Because they're like, not worth it. $2,000 for...
00:08:29 Peter von Gomm: Probably for...
00:08:30 John Daub: And we're in the room for 20 minutes, sleeping and waking up. What we have is more than adequate. And they light up the trees here. It's nice at night.
00:08:39 Peter von Gomm: Yeah, it's a cool little town.
00:08:42 John Daub: I think it's better in the winter. It's gotta be because it's just didn't get that feeling. And we couldn't eat dinner here. There were very few restaurant choices. We had to eat in the town near Niseko station.
00:08:55 Peter von Gomm: Right, Kutchan?
00:08:56 John Daub: Yeah. So that's...
00:08:59 Peter von Gomm: That was a great bowl of ramen. Oh, wow.
00:09:02 John Daub: Yeah, I'm still feeling it.
00:09:04 Peter von Gomm: Yeah.
00:09:05 John Daub: Rumbling around. Yeah, it's good ramen. Hokkaido's got some good ramen. He asked us for the... the noodle texture. We got katamen, which is harder noodles. Then they asked us for the oil content. Like, how much oil did he want? Yeah.
00:09:22 Peter von Gomm: Wow.
00:09:23 John Daub: I just said always. If you're not sure, just go futsu. But it was pretty oily on top.
00:09:27 Peter von Gomm: I thought it meant the volume of the broth, but it was the amount of oil.
00:09:30 John Daub: No, the volume of the broth you buy by the ticket in advance. They had that as an option. Interesting ramen place.
00:09:40 Peter von Gomm: Yeah. I had the tonkotsu, which is the... the bone... they... what do you call it? They...
00:09:47 John Daub: Pork bone.
00:09:48 Peter von Gomm: Yeah, pork bone. But they... they simmer the pork bone for days to break down all of the collagen. Collagen. And then you have these chunks of the fat and the collagen in there. It's just like... it's so good, so rich. And yours was a special spicy one, right?
00:10:10 John Daub: Oh, yeah. Karamiso negi ramen. My favorite. Spicy miso with negi — Welsh green onions — and wow, chashu steak on it. Yeah, has a works. You add a little bit of garlic if you want to. They had some extra miso paste, spicy paste that you could put in there.
00:10:34 Passerby: It's good.
00:10:34 John Daub: Good ramen, Hirafu. So there are some... The souvenir shops are all closed too. So it's kind of like a ghost town.
00:10:45 Peter von Gomm: But in the summer...
00:10:48 John Daub: I think if you're going to take your family somewhere, you wouldn't take here. You come here maybe for nice restaurants and nice rooms and... because the Lake Toya was just better.
00:10:59 Peter von Gomm: Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course, of course. But they have... they have like some summer activities. You can go down the slopes through the grass, like in sleds and things. They've got that.
00:11:09 John Daub: Is that the coffee place here?
00:11:10 Peter von Gomm: That's one of them, yeah.
00:11:11 John Daub: Whoa. It's like a coffee trailer.
00:11:13 Peter von Gomm: Yeah. I like the windows.
00:11:16 John Daub: I actually waved at you. I didn't...
00:11:20 Peter von Gomm: I only wave at bikers.
00:11:22 John Daub: What? That's true. I'm waving a lot. Everybody who rides a motorcycle, we wave. And we rented the car. I was still waving at the bikers, but they didn't wave back. So you have to be on a bike to get the wave.
00:11:33 Peter von Gomm: You order from outside or inside. How do you do it?
00:11:35 John Daub: I don't know, actually. Let's watch.
00:11:37 Peter von Gomm: This woman's gonna order.
00:11:40 John Daub: Step up to the trailer. Oh, her bubble opened. It's a half bubble.
00:11:46 Peter von Gomm: Oh, wait...
00:11:49 John Daub: So you order from the outside? Maybe she works out her money... No, no, she's grabbing her money.
00:11:59 Peter von Gomm: There's the... the other coffee shop is down this way and to the left, I believe. The bigger one.
00:12:03 John Daub: Oh, should we go there?
00:12:04 Peter von Gomm: Let's try it. This one looks good too.
00:12:06 John Daub: But hey, Nagoya John's here. Hello, magnificent legend. I'm... I believe he's talking to you.
00:12:13 Peter von Gomm: Well, hello, sir.
00:12:14 John Daub: There you go.
00:12:16 Peter von Gomm: There you go.
00:12:17 John Daub: So we're getting close to the 500 backers, which is crazy. Yeah, we're pretty close. We had 3.4 million yen, which means... 3.6 million yen, which means that we will be making a stretch goal. We are booking a ticket in the next few days to Hakodate, and we'll tell you when we're going. So we're going to come back to Hokkaido for you to add to the documentary another maybe five, six minutes to it, covering the Hakodate region, which would pretty much be Hokkaido mostly for this. So good.
00:12:47 Peter von Gomm: We're really grateful because it's such an amazing place to go and not to be missed on a trip to Hokkaido, but we just simply didn't have enough time.
00:12:57 John Daub: Yeah.
00:12:57 Peter von Gomm: On this trip. So that's very encouraging. So thank you, guys.
00:13:00 John Daub: That's going to be fun. Yeah. Can we rent motorcycles there for... for six, six hours or something?
00:13:06 Peter von Gomm: We could rental... 819 has offices in... in Hakodate as well, as far as I know. I'm pretty sure. And we can look into that if you want.
00:13:15 John Daub: Yeah, well, maybe just... yeah, just a few hours of riding just for the documentary. Maybe get a feel for it. And then up to the viewpoint. You know, stopping and starting on an incline is not one of my strong points, or turns... or... hey, it was a freak accident. It could have happened to anybody. But it didn't happen to me. All right, never mind. You gotta watch the documentary. So this is where we stayed. Chalet Avi. That's more Jamaican, right? [laughs] And you could tell we stayed here because... just look into the garage. What do you see in the shadows underneath there?
00:14:06 Passerby: Bikes.
00:14:07 John Daub: Two bikes. Motorcycles. That's where we had to park. Apparently they don't want motorcyclists outside in the parking lot here.
00:14:16 Peter von Gomm: Well, because the asphalt, when it gets hot, it becomes really soft and the weight of the bike pushes in and your bike will fall.
00:14:22 John Daub: Is that what they said?
00:14:23 Peter von Gomm: Yeah, it's happened to me before.
00:14:26 John Daub: That makes sense.
00:14:27 Peter von Gomm: That's the only time I've fallen.
00:14:28 John Daub: So where do you want to get the cafe? Because we have a limited amount of time, so we got to get on the road.
00:14:32 Peter von Gomm: Let's...
00:14:34 John Daub: And we're going to tell you what we're going to do today. And I think if there's a signal, we're going to take you to one of the most beautiful spots in Hokkaido on the Sea of Japan side. Not a place that a lot of people go to, but on this trip, we want to share this experience with a lot of you. So maybe that's something you're considering. Motorcycling around Hokkaido. That's sort of what the documentary is about. And probably we can stop by and get some of Peter's tips on motorcycling around Hokkaido. I think they're pretty cool. For the documentary. Peter lists some of the tips. I list some of the things that I learned on this trip, too. Five things that I learned. And Peter list five things that you need to know. Can you do that?
00:15:12 Peter von Gomm: How to plan and what to expect. Things like that. You bet. Absolutely.
00:15:16 John Daub: Yeah. I can talk about cornering, how to turn around at an intersection. Right. How to back in... I get it.
00:15:22 Peter von Gomm: Look at...
00:15:23 John Daub: Whoa.
00:15:24 Peter von Gomm: Holy... he's only got one hand on the handlebar. Don't crash, dude.
00:15:27 John Daub: Please don't crash.
00:15:28 Peter von Gomm: No, please don't crash. And T-shirt and shorts.
00:15:31 Passerby: Oh, my God.
00:15:32 Peter von Gomm: Madman.
00:15:33 John Daub: He's not from around here. Or maybe he is. I'm not sure.
00:15:36 Peter von Gomm: Stop at that red light.
00:15:38 John Daub: [inaudible] Rub her down. I just said rub her down. Did you get it? Nobody understands. It's like a motorcycle... rub her down. I was like, wait a second. At first I thought people were saying, rub her down. Who is she? You didn't get... you didn't get it? That was what I was thinking.
00:15:54 Peter von Gomm: Are you serious?
00:15:55 John Daub: Yeah, I said rub her down. Really? Gosh. Was that a motorcycling thing? I don't know.
00:16:01 Peter von Gomm: It is now.
00:16:01 John Daub: Should we get a coffee there? Bikers unite. Bikers unite to rub her down. Okay. Yeah, rub her down. Peter tips. I like that. Peter does tip. You do tip, don't you? Yeah, massage always tip. Right?
00:16:18 Peter von Gomm: So I'm looking for this place.
00:16:20 John Daub: How about this Arabica trailer then? Because I don't know.
00:16:23 Peter von Gomm: Okay, so the other place is down and to the left.
00:16:25 John Daub: Okay, well, we want to give a one minute... a nice view. I'm just disappointed. Look at... see the clouds? That whole area is Mount Yotei, and that's where the skiers go. But it's a beautiful... oh, they go there, too? Yeah, those are all the skiers. But that's the big one. That's the big one. Yeah. And you get a view of it.
00:16:45 Peter von Gomm: This is the mountain on the actual mountain. Well, there's other parts of it, other ski resorts on the other side. But all around here is our ski lifts and resort areas. But this is one of the main... one most popular.
00:16:58 John Daub: Yeah.
00:17:01 Peter von Gomm: And great powder everywhere, as John will attest.
00:17:05 John Daub: Nagoya John has amended his comment to "magnificent legends" with a big capital S. Thank you for clarifying. My ego was not hurt at all.
00:17:14 Peter von Gomm: Welcome to the club.
00:17:14 John Daub: I don't want to... I don't want to be a legend. I don't want to be a legend. Legends don't want to be legends. They're just... they become legends on the... I don't... I don't know. But thank you, Nagoya John. That means a lot to Peter.
00:17:29 Peter von Gomm: Yeah.
00:17:29 John Daub: And me.
00:17:30 Peter von Gomm: We like to be legends.
00:17:31 John Daub: We love legends.
00:17:33 Peter von Gomm: We love legends.
00:17:34 John Daub: All right. Shall I buy you a cup of coffee?
00:17:36 Peter von Gomm: You shall. Are we gonna do this one or the one around the corner?
00:17:39 John Daub: How far is it?
00:17:39 Peter von Gomm: It's one minute.
00:17:40 John Daub: Does it look better than a trailer with big...
00:17:42 Peter von Gomm: It's bigger indoor kind of place.
00:17:45 John Daub: Okay, let's go.
00:17:45 Peter von Gomm: Take... okay with this.
00:17:46 John Daub: Let's go. Let's go. Look at it.
00:17:47 Peter von Gomm: At least look at it. We have to come back.
00:17:49 John Daub: The bubble trailers. This reminds me of Okachimachi station. They got bubbles like this, except they don't open up. And a woman give you coffee, which is awesome.
00:17:58 Peter von Gomm: Yeah, I like bubbles.
00:18:02 John Daub: Guess who's here. Lenny.
00:18:04 Peter von Gomm: Lenny's in the house.
00:18:05 John Daub: Yes.
00:18:07 Peter von Gomm: Welcome, Lenny. Nice to hear from you.
00:18:10 John Daub: We are going to be getting on our rockets very soon. At least Peter is. Because he cannot control his speed. He said, oh, we're gonna go to speed limit. We'll be good then. He's way ahead. Hold on.
00:18:20 Peter von Gomm: We have to go down for... was this by car? One minute by car.
00:18:23 John Daub: Oh, no. One minute by car is like 20 minutes for me. Trailer, bubble.
00:18:28 Peter von Gomm: Yeah.
00:18:29 John Daub: All right. Do you want to hold the camera or shall I?
00:18:31 Peter von Gomm: I'll hold it.
00:18:32 John Daub: Or do you want to get the coffee?
00:18:33 Peter von Gomm: Pretend you don't have money again.
00:18:35 John Daub: I got money here. Two coffees, sir.
00:18:38 Peter von Gomm: I thought I was gonna hold the camera.
00:18:40 John Daub: I'm steadier. I got steady hands.
00:18:42 Peter von Gomm: Gimbal.
00:18:44 John Daub: Here, let me give you some change in case you get something fancy. You and your frappuccinos. Crappuccinos. All right, let's go.
00:18:53 Peter von Gomm: I want you to document the whole thing.
00:18:54 John Daub: All right. I'm watching from afar. I'm gonna do my golf voice.
00:18:59 Passerby: Peter is gingerly walking up the hill towards the coffee shop where he'll be purchasing two cups of coffee. And we'll see how he interacts with the lady behind the bubble. Will it be a very...
00:19:13 Peter von Gomm: Oh, it smells good experience. Smells really good. What smells good? You can smell the... the...
00:19:21 Passerby: They can hear you.
00:19:22 Peter von Gomm: Arabica beans being roasted.
00:19:24 Passerby: Okay. All right. Peter's now walking to the bubble. How will she approach him? What kind of coffee is it? Peter will describe as he tries to order in Japanese.
00:19:37 Peter von Gomm: What do you want, John?
00:19:39 Passerby: Coffee.
00:19:39 Peter von Gomm: Just plain.
00:19:41 Passerby: Good stuff.
00:19:42 Peter von Gomm: Cappuccino. You want a cappuccino?
00:19:45 Passerby: It's got milk in it. Okay, cappuccino, fine.
00:19:47 Peter von Gomm: Cappuccino with milk. Something with whatever. Okay.
00:19:52 Passerby: Iced coffee. Peter, do we have ice coffee?
00:20:00 Peter von Gomm: Huh?
00:20:00 Passerby: Ice.
00:20:01 Peter von Gomm: Okay, okay, okay, okay. Okay. So what? I'm sorry, what kind of milk is it?
00:20:21 Coffee Shop Staff: Condensed milk.
00:20:22 Peter von Gomm: Oh, condensed milk.
00:20:23 John Daub: Okay.
00:20:23 Peter von Gomm: Yeah, yeah, I know. It's thick and sweet, right?
00:20:25 Coffee Shop Staff: Yeah, just has a little bit. And then Spanish has a lot, so it's a sweetness.
00:20:30 Peter von Gomm: Okay, well, this guy likes sweet stuff.
00:20:31 John Daub: Yeah.
00:20:32 Peter von Gomm: So how about an iced latte?
00:20:34 John Daub: No, no sugar.
00:20:35 Peter von Gomm: No sugar.
00:20:36 Passerby: Okay.
00:20:37 Coffee Shop Staff: Not sweet.
00:20:39 Peter von Gomm: So how about an iced latte?
00:20:41 Coffee Shop Staff: Okay.
00:20:44 Peter von Gomm: 12 or 16. Small or big?
00:20:48 John Daub: Big.
00:20:49 Peter von Gomm: Big. All right, so because it might be more money and you need more money. And I'll have a cappuccino hot. A normal size? Yeah, it's fine. Thank you.
00:21:00 Coffee Shop Staff: And no sugar in there.
00:21:01 Peter von Gomm: No.
00:21:03 Coffee Shop Staff: 1100.
00:21:04 Peter von Gomm: Okay.
00:21:06 Coffee Shop Staff: We don't put chocolate hot on our cappuccinos. That's okay.
00:21:09 Peter von Gomm: That's all right. Yeah, no problem.
00:21:10 Passerby: The coffee, not underwear. Thank you, Gary.
00:21:15 Peter von Gomm: Okay. Thank you. Yes, please.
00:21:27 Passerby: See if I can get better angle.
00:21:30 Peter von Gomm: Smells great.
00:21:31 Coffee Shop Staff: Yeah.
00:21:32 John Daub: Yeah.
00:21:33 Coffee Shop Staff: Coffee is always what you need in the morning, right?
00:21:36 John Daub: Sure.
00:21:49 Peter von Gomm: We've got a really cool custom machine. The cappuccino machine, or the... what do you call it? Espresso machine. You see it? You can see from the side. It's got some really cool engineering to it.
00:22:06 John Daub: Why does she speak such good English? Does she live here?
00:22:13 Peter von Gomm: Do you live here in Hirafu?
00:22:15 Coffee Shop Staff: Yeah, in Kutchan.
00:22:16 John Daub: Kutchan.
00:22:17 Peter von Gomm: Okay.
00:22:18 John Daub: Okay.
00:22:21 Passerby: Thank you. What does that smile represent? Satisfaction. Uncomfortable.
00:22:35 Peter von Gomm: Yeah, we're doing a motorcycle tour, so... Yeah, just one night here, and then we're gonna ride to Otaru.
00:22:47 Coffee Shop Staff: How long is that gonna take?
00:22:49 Peter von Gomm: Well, with this guy, it's going to take...
00:22:51 John Daub: ...take...
00:22:54 Peter von Gomm: ...an extra hour or two, probably. No, we're having an awesome time. He's a new biker, so he's... yeah, learning.
00:23:02 John Daub: Motorbikes wave, too, just in case she's looking.
00:23:04 Peter von Gomm: We're making a documentary. So... yeah. So it's a 10 day trip here in Hokkaido. Five days on motorcycles, four days in an RV camper.
00:23:18 Coffee Shop Staff: Wow.
00:23:19 Peter von Gomm: Yeah.
00:23:20 Coffee Shop Staff: How long is the whole trip?
00:23:22 Peter von Gomm: Whole trip's about 10 days.
00:23:24 John Daub: Yeah.
00:23:25 Peter von Gomm: So we're on day four today. This is day four. Yeah, day four.
00:23:29 Coffee Shop Staff: Okay.
00:23:30 Peter von Gomm: Where did you start? Chitose? To Toyako. We stayed two nights around Toyako. And then the third night was... where did we go on the third night?
00:23:45 John Daub: Oh, here.
00:23:45 Peter von Gomm: This is the third night. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. So last night was the third night. Today's day four. And then Otaru, Sapporo, and back to Chitose to get the camper. And then to Nemuro, far east. And then up to Shire Tokeru and to Akan, Furano, back to Chitose. Then we're coming back. We just found out we're coming back to Hakodate. We're doing it. We have a Kickstarter. So our backers are helping to pay for the documentary and support us, and we're showing them all of the beautiful island of Hokkaido. Yeah, it's fun.
00:24:30 Coffee Shop Staff: Is it your first time in Hokkaido?
00:24:32 Peter von Gomm: No, this is my fourth time.
00:24:34 John Daub: Yeah.
00:24:35 Peter von Gomm: Yeah. Well, not all... no, definitely not all.
00:24:41 Passerby: She wants to echo back.
00:24:44 Peter von Gomm: Yeah. Thank you.
00:24:45 John Daub: Good luck.
00:24:45 Peter von Gomm: Thank you. Okay.
00:24:47 John Daub: Yes.
00:24:47 Peter von Gomm: We'll be back. Thank you.
00:24:48 John Daub: We gotta wave.
00:24:54 Peter von Gomm: All right. This place is called Arabica.
00:24:56 John Daub: Arabica. Percent Arabica.
00:24:58 Peter von Gomm: Yeah.
00:24:59 John Daub: Which one is mine?
00:25:01 Peter von Gomm: You like cold things?
00:25:03 John Daub: Well, what's with all this cream?
00:25:04 Peter von Gomm: It's a latte. Okay. Iced latte.
00:25:07 John Daub: All right. Whatever. I like the percentage.
00:25:09 Peter von Gomm: Yeah, that's cool.
00:25:11 John Daub: What percent is?
00:25:12 Peter von Gomm: I think she had... she had a percent tattoo on her arm.
00:25:16 John Daub: That's cool.
00:25:17 Peter von Gomm: Yeah. How is it?
00:25:21 John Daub: Milky.
00:25:22 Peter von Gomm: Yeah. Try mine. Oh, man, that's rich. That's a really rich cappuccino. I love that. That's the way you want it. You got to have a powerful espresso taste.
00:25:38 John Daub: What's with the hoodie? Look like a tech billionaire.
00:25:41 Peter von Gomm: Well, the sun was burning my noggin, so that makes sense. Sorry, just teasing. What do you want to do now? Let's see how fast you can run down the hill and back up. Flip flops. Who's with me? Hit the like button.
00:25:58 Peter von Gomm: New stretch goal.
00:26:02 John Daub: All right. You won't do it for just coffee.
00:26:04 Peter von Gomm: No, but I am looking forward to that. 500 backers and jumping into Lake Akan.
00:26:09 John Daub: Yeah, that's the new... that's the stretch goal. We get the 500 backers, we jump in the lake. Lake Akan is... when I was there last it was... it was ice. They were ice fishing. Is Jason here?
00:26:21 Peter von Gomm: He's there. He's always there.
00:26:23 John Daub: Yeah, they were ice fishing. It was minus 20 or 23 or something with the wind chill, even colder. It was like Canadian weather.
00:26:31 Peter von Gomm: That's... you know what, shrinking cold.
00:26:33 John Daub: Yeah. But in summer, I'm curious to see how cold it's not. So we're gonna jump in for impact.
00:26:39 Peter von Gomm: I bet you it's still pretty cold. It's still gonna be very...
00:26:43 John Daub: Icebergs floating in the center there. Well, we'll find out. But we'll make a stop on a cam... to jump in. We have the RV, so it'll be easier. We'll get some towels maybe. And we can't do it on motorcycles. You jump in with your gear and all that stuff. It takes forever to get back on.
00:27:00 Peter von Gomm: Yeah, yeah.
00:27:02 John Daub: And we gotta dig into the bags and stuff.
00:27:05 Peter von Gomm: It'll be easy with coming from the camper. You know, both... both legs of this trip have really special parts of this adventure.
00:27:16 John Daub: Yeah.
00:27:16 Peter von Gomm: Plenty of special roles. And they're both equally adventurous. We'll be covering a lot more territory in the RV, but it'll be a little more relaxed pace because we can get more things done while we're in the RV and one of us is driving, one's communicating with you guys and working on video, editing the video. But I'm so excited we got some more information about the cows.
00:27:45 John Daub: Oh. Oh. Yes. So this is... I'm very excited about it, especially Peter. One of his dreams since he was a little boy was to milk a cow and drink it right from the nub. Is that what you said to me? I'm pretty sure that's what it was. Right. You wanted to... you want to drink milk from the cow nub or teat. Teats. I don't... yeah, right. Anyways, we're going to... we're making a reservation on the third or the fourth. We haven't decided yet. But we're going to make a reservation at a famous milking farm where Peter can live out his fantasy dream. His milking dream. And drink fresh milk. And there's ice cream there too. So part of the... and if you back the Kickstarter and get the postcard, we have a time sale. So if you... if you get the postcard with the documentary, on that postcard, which is an original design by artist Dakota, are a bunch of cows, which represents our fascination with cows on this trip. But last night it was mostly deer. Oh, here's the postcard. That is so awesome.
00:29:03 Peter von Gomm: You haven't seen it yet.
00:29:04 John Daub: This is the postcard. Put it down flat. Yeah. Maybe you can see it better. Maybe up... how do you see digital screen. Is that as bright as it gets?
00:29:14 Peter von Gomm: Let me check. Yep, that's as bright as it gets.
00:29:18 John Daub: Really? Okay, well, hold on. I'll zoom in a little bit this way. Yeah, that's it.
00:29:25 Peter von Gomm: Okay, I got it.
00:29:26 John Daub: So you can see, there's Peter and I. We're wearing melon helmets because it looked better than making a melon and watermelon patch to represent that we just filmed the oni of Noboribetsu, the cows. Peter's gonna live that out. That's Mount Yotei, which is completely hidden right now. What a disappointment. We are going to Furano. That represents the lavender and the foxes.
00:29:50 Peter von Gomm: We saw some yesterday.
00:29:50 John Daub: We saw some yesterday. They don't mind the cars passing them too. They're pretty used to it. But it's an awesome design. Original, and it's coming your way. If you back get the postcard, which helps back in the trip, which we appreciate. Indeed helps to pay for the accommodations that aren't too bad, you know.
00:30:11 Peter von Gomm: And our drinks. Thank you, guys. Thank you for the love.
00:30:13 John Daub: Thank you, Brandonia. I saw that coming in. Nicholas asks about donuts. Peter, were you able to eat a donut?
00:30:19 Peter von Gomm: Nick's got a donut fetish.
00:30:21 John Daub: Is there nothing?
00:30:22 Peter von Gomm: We're joined at the hip because I do too.
00:30:25 John Daub: And creme brulee donuts, anyone? Jack in the box. Oh, my gosh. Yeah.
00:30:29 Peter von Gomm: Jack in the donut. Yeah. We haven't seen any donuts on this trip, have we?
00:30:36 John Daub: Not yet, but I have a feeling we will now. Yeah, Otaru looks like a place that would have good donuts. That's what we're stopping next. They've got good craft beer, a lot of good western foods like donuts and bakeries and whatnot.
00:30:50 Peter von Gomm: So donut and maybe... maybe a special surprise. That 30 centimeter thing I was telling you about.
00:30:56 John Daub: Oh, yeah. They have the highest ice cream cone in Japan. Supposedly higher than the daily chico in Nakano, I bet. Taller than Mount Yotei, which we will never know because it does not show itself. What a disappointment.
00:31:11 Peter von Gomm: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So things are going good. Day four is kicking off. We're going to be on the bikes shortly and we got quite a bit of riding to do, but it's going to be stellar. The weather's holding up until tomorrow. It looks like there might be rain between Otaru and Sapporo, so we may have to have our rain suits on.
00:31:32 John Daub: I'll get you on our balcony up here. We sun is burning into us. Ah, it's gonna be a hot one today. We better get on the road soon. Check out the back because you got the sweatshirt on. Oh, maybe that's why there's the motorcycles in there. If you missed it, there they are in the... in the garage. So you get the... pack it up in the... in the... in the shade, which is a good thing. And then we're riding towards... Hi, Naifu. What's the name of that town?
00:32:04 Peter von Gomm: Iwanai.
00:32:05 John Daub: Iwanai. Yeah, Iwanai, which is on the Sea of Japan. Beautiful town.
00:32:09 Peter von Gomm: And we're gonna go all around this peninsula. Shall I show them on the map real quick?
00:32:14 John Daub: Yeah, if you get... if you get that handy.
00:32:15 Peter von Gomm: I do.
00:32:15 John Daub: Show it around. Go around the peninsula and back in Otaru. We're not really in a hurry. We want to make sure we get awesome drone shots and get this tripod out and get some shots of us rolling around curves and stuff. And maybe a really nice picture which we could share with you. In fact, for the Kickstarter update, I put up about... I think I put one picture, but I'll put 10 or so pictures up there. From our cameraman who sent some screenshots. Windy going up this hill.
00:32:45 Passerby: Oh my God. I'm out of shape.
00:32:49 John Daub: Our room is the one with clothes hanging off the side. High class facility. That's our riding jackets which were drenched in sweat drying off.
00:33:01 Peter von Gomm: All right, here's where we're riding. Try to get it where blue dot is where we are right now.
00:33:08 John Daub: Okay.
00:33:09 Peter von Gomm: And we will hold it in the...
00:33:11 John Daub: In your shadow here. Yeah. Close to... close to your body. Sorry. Okay.
00:33:20 Peter von Gomm: Okay. So we are at the blue dot.
00:33:22 John Daub: It's not... it's hardly see.
00:33:25 Peter von Gomm: But can you see at that angle?
00:33:26 John Daub: No, it's... it's so dark. Let's go in the shade here.
00:33:31 Peter von Gomm: Here we go. That's probably...
00:33:32 John Daub: Treat yourself to a natto shake. What?
00:33:34 Peter von Gomm: Natto shake.
00:33:35 John Daub: Sergey's. Maybe not right away.
00:33:41 Peter von Gomm: Do you see it?
00:33:42 John Daub: Oh man, that look. It sounds healthy though. Angle a little bit down on the top corner right there. Okay.
00:33:47 Peter von Gomm: Okay.
00:33:48 John Daub: So Niseko and Iwanai.
00:33:49 Peter von Gomm: So there's a really squiggly road here. And as bikers know when you see a road that looks like a small intestine, you get a big smile on your face because that means awesome riding. Switchbacks and curves. Why turn that frown upside down? Johnny, what's wrong?
00:34:07 John Daub: Oh, nothing. I'm trying to get the curve scarier. Make sure the...
00:34:11 Peter von Gomm: Okay, so we're going to take this squiggly road up to Iwanai, and then that begins our route all the way around this peninsula, which is going to be awesome. It's the ocean riding all along the way. And then we're going to be stopping for lunch over here at hopefully a really good sushi place. And we'll show you guys that as well. I don't know if we'll be able to live stream.
00:34:36 John Daub: There may be a documentary, but we'll live stream on the route somewhere if we can get a signal. It's all about getting a signal out here, right? Hey, PG Crawford, thank you. By the way, just one last note. So we got a message from Norway. Actually, Norway airmail is not available yet, but if you're okay with sea mail, we can open up Norway as one for the rewards. If your country's not represented in the rewards, it could be because a lot of countries in Europe are not open to airmail. So the only option is sea mail. Norway and Finland are the two countries where sea mail is the only option right now. It's due to the war in the Ukraine. Good news, though, for Australians. Finally, after almost a year, airmail is back. So Carrie and Hana and we get a bunch of other backers on my Patreon site... been waiting for packages for such a long time. They're gonna be on the way the second I get back in. And Carrie's was an Olympic mascot and they canceled the mail... like, the day I was going to send it. I went to the post office and, "sorry, we can't accept it." And that was even though she's an Olympic mascot. No, I'm sending her an Olympic mascot. It's one of the little plushies. So, Jason, it is getting... it's gonna go in the mail after one year, and she's been sitting on my desk keeping me company. Congratulations. EMS is back. Food, a regular small packet is back. Basically, everything is back. So Canada is the one place that is a mystery. Canada closed airmail and...
00:36:09 Peter von Gomm: Yeah. Jason, look into that for us, will you?
00:36:11 John Daub: Yeah, I'm very disappointed in Trudeau's Canadian mail. He needs to go in there, barge through there and go, "what's up with that?" Let's get some flights to Japan. Japan is open, right? [laughs] Somachi is on the way down under. Yeah. To winter. An Australian winter. Thank you, Jason, for that and thank you everybody for supporting. So we will open up if Australia... Australia should be open because we... I figured they would open up the packages there. But if your country is not represented, there's a link also in the Kickstarter that shows if your country has airmail or not. Unfortunately, Norway is not one of them. But I'm constantly looking to see what updates are. I figure Canada will open up if Australia did in the next couple of weeks. Jason, they're part of the Commonwealth. Right. And by the way, I ate most of your... your goodies because they were going to expire, so Kanae and I might have nibbled on them.
00:37:05 Peter von Gomm: So.
00:37:06 John Daub: Gotta send you new ones, buddy. But they're... they're on the way. Well, what are you gonna do? I'm not gonna throw it away. Had to nibble on it. Sorry, Jason. So we'll get you... we'll get you some new stuff and that'll be good. Detail would cost more than the actual reward. It's like ridiculous. I know. Because I had to pay for DHL, for the kicks, for the fireworks. Oh, wow. Yeah. I ended up going into the red with that project. Another reason why we're hoping to make up for it with this one.
00:37:36 Passerby: Smoke.
00:37:36 John Daub: Yes, it did. But that's... but it was fun to do it. It was for a good cause. All right, say goodbye to this man who's very patient with me most of the time, which is always patient time.
00:37:49 Peter von Gomm: Yeah, I'm always patient.
00:37:51 John Daub: Speed limit 100 in first gear. 100. Yes, I understand. One wheelie. Have you used the sports mode?
00:38:00 Peter von Gomm: I did, I did. You weren't around because you were like...
00:38:05 John Daub: I had dust in my eyes. That's why. Yeah.
00:38:09 Peter von Gomm: Loving that bike. Loving that bike. In fact, I would almost consider... consider getting rid of my speed triple for the tracer. Yeah.
00:38:19 John Daub: Seriously?
00:38:20 Peter von Gomm: Well, I... it doesn't have the same power as the speed triple.
00:38:23 John Daub: Speed triple just was just...
00:38:24 Peter von Gomm: Yeah. Jaw dropping acceleration with the... the... yeah, but I like the tracer. I like the riding position, the smooth acceleration. Yeah. With the windscreen. Yeah.
00:38:37 John Daub: Just...
00:38:37 Peter von Gomm: This is a nicer touring bike.
00:38:39 John Daub: It's a cool looking bike with that purple trim on it, man.
00:38:41 Peter von Gomm: Yeah, it's sweet.
00:38:42 John Daub: What's an MT10? David Brown writes in here. Try the MT10.
00:38:46 Peter von Gomm: MT10. I'm not sure. What model is it?
00:38:49 John Daub: MT10.
00:38:50 Peter von Gomm: I know. Is it a thousand cc or what is it?
00:38:52 John Daub: Not sure. Who's the maker? I'm not sure, you're asking me. I only know Honda. A Yamaha. Yamaha.
00:38:58 Peter von Gomm: But what style of bike is it? MT10. Is it a... I don't like, you know, the... the cafe style or sport bikes? You know, you don't want to be comfortable when you're riding distances.
00:39:10 John Daub: Yeah.
00:39:12 Peter von Gomm: Speed triple is not right.
00:39:15 John Daub: Yeah. Thank you. Maple... Maple Cook is also Canadian, so I'm happy that... I'd be happy when mail returns to Canada. That'll be the best day. Mount Yotei is not in sight, but maybe will be later on. Thanks guys, for backing the Kickstarter, making this all possible and watching these live streams and I'm glad that we can take you with us a little bit and share this, the experience. We'll be in an RV in a few days, which will be cooler because motorcycles are cool. But it's really hard work to stop and film the RV. We got everything, all the gear. Yeah. Yamaha MT10. Hyper naked. Apparently this is...
00:39:52 Peter von Gomm: Sounds like a good buzzing around town bike.
00:39:55 John Daub: Yeah.
00:39:56 Peter von Gomm: But on long roads, long travel, I'd pass.
00:40:01 John Daub: Yeah, it's good for... yeah. I don't know, but I think you want a really comfortable bike. What we've been doing and we've got two pretty good ones right now. All right, everybody, see you on the road. We'll try to be back in a little bit later from somewhere really beautiful and share that experience with you another place.
00:40:19 Peter von Gomm: That's very beautiful.
00:40:19 John Daub: Bye, guys. Thanks a lot. Bye, Nicholas. We'll get some donuts.