Japan adventures - Yamagata
Okay, so it is totally awkward that you are all reading posts about my life approximately four months ago - and it has remained like this for a while but oh well. I have yet to sort out half the things I need to in life so this will have to suffice.
We set off from Tokyo and took our first bullet train ride to Yamagata, which is a city in the Tohoku region in Japan (area affected by the earthquake few years back). Actually, we didn't have much planned because the plan was mainly to splurge on something fancy experience a Japanese ryokan (inn).
We arrived at the city and managed to find our way to Yubou hotel Ichiraku with the help of some Japanese locals we met on the bus. They were so cute, asking us about Australia and giving us directions to the hotel once they learned where we were going.
After we settled at the hotel, we called up a taxi to take us to Yamadera (Risshakuji) temple as it was just a bit too far for a walk, not to mention freezing. With my broken jap, I managed to have half a conversation with our driver and they were nice enough to agree to pick us up after we were done.
My two adorable minions. As you can see, my gloves were stolen by somebody...
After some miserably snuffling and blowing into our hands for warmth, we eventually made it all the way to the top and the view was so so worth it. We did manage to see some spots of snow collected in the corners, but not enough to start a snowball fight or anything. That being said, you can definitely see some snow in the mountains.
We headed back to the hotel to clean up afterwards. Upon learning that our room did not come with Yukatas, I decided to try ask if we could rent them; I opted for the female yukata range which was slightly pricier but under $5AUD if memory serves me correctly. A girls gotta be shallow sometimes eh?
Our hotel package came with complimentary dinner and buffet breakfast. I tried Natto and actually didn't mind it, I got told to pop an entire pickled plum into my mouth with some rice but to everyone's surprise I actually enjoyed it (everyone else spat it out I think). On my way to becoming a true japanese ;)
We proceeded to the dinner hall and was presented with a huge banquet, and this wasn't even all of the food... our waiter was super nice and could speak chinese and Japanese which was convenient.
Vincent, Pk and I were too pansy to go into the public Onsen (hot springs), since you know, nudity is compulsory so we booked a "private" onsen. It was like $20 to book the entire spa to ourselves, no limit in the number of people. Look at this.....
It was so goddam amazing. We went against tradition and wore our towels into the spa. This was the outdoor area with two hot spring pools, a bamboo garden and washing area.
There was even a bamboo room mirrors, featuring a bathroom, massage chair, high class shampoos, hair dryer, water and other assorted items.
Of course, the night wouldn't have been complete without some Japanese cherry wine and the likes :3 It has always been a dream of mine to stay at a Japanese Inn, experience the hot spring and have some cold drinks afterwards.
It was only one night, but it was great to just unwind after the busy schedule in Tokyo. Actually the following two nights were spent in Hakone and Takayama respectively, both of which were meant to have a less city-like feeling as we wanted to just soak up the Japanese culture. But... more on that later since I'm kind of running out of time (again). My bad. I'm kind of doing placements on the gold coast, so please excuse me for my laziness.
Until next time!! x
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