As mentioned in my post last week, i went for a weekend trip to Minakami Onsen in Gunma Prefecture. Here are some pics from it!
FYI Minakami is approx 2.5hrs drive from Tokyo or 70mins via bullet train from Tokyo
Minakami is famous as a hotspring town [hence minakami onsen is its name] and is popular as a winter sports destination too [snowboarding etc]
Website: http://www.minakami-onsen.com/
Roadstop [kinda like visitor's centre?]
They have an aquarium but we didnt visit it
I was there to have lunch
Tonkatsu! it was so cheap! the whole set lunch of tonkatsu [fried pork cutlet], rice, soup and salad was 550yen [About USD$7]
The roadstop is right next to the river so we went for a nice walk
There is so much snow here! Cant believe its just 2.5hrs drive from Tokyo. Tokyo was so NOT snowing [no snow at all!]
Piece of advice, if you are going to walk along a snowy river bank, do consider wearing boots or shoes with some grip and keeps your feet warm. Do not wear sandals just because you “thought” it would be comfortable in the car ride. You will realise your thin layer of socks does not keep your feet warm. And trying to constant dig/rescue your sandal that has disappeared in the snow…not fun. I’m just saying….
It was a really nice walk. There were a lot of kids playing in the snow etc. But due to an unfortunate “sandal” incident.[See above paragraph] We had to go to the ryokan before i got frost bite in the foot.
Ryokan = japanese traditional hotel [sort of]
I love this kotatsu!!
You best believe i was hiding under this kotatsu constantly XD its sooo much bigger than the usual ones XD
And when i wasnt hiding under the kotatsu, i was in the onsen tub!!
The husband doesnt like the public baths so i always get a room with a private onsen tub.
The spring water here is really good. Really helps with my skin eczema!!
And its super hot here XD which is really comfy cos the onsen is an outdoors one. So whilst its all cold out, you get to sit in a nice hot onsen. So comfortableeeeeee….!
And best part of a ryokan trip..the meal!
Here is dinner
Sashimi [this was amazing]
Chawamushi. i adore this dish. And they made this with duck meat. omg it was good
Best part. Husband doesnt eat chawamushi. so i got to eat TWO bowls. SWEET.
Udon miso nabe
For some odd reason, one of the courses was STEAK! But i aint complaining!
Incredibly high quality wagyu steak. omg it was GOOD. Every bite melted in my mouth.
There was a few more courses [rice and soup, dessert etc etc] but i didnt get round to pics. Sorry!
The next morning i got up around 4am [force of habit] and it seems it had been snowing overnight!! I opened the door and i could not see the footpath!!
There was about 8 inches of snow overnight! I went back to sleep cos i figured they would shovel it before breakfast XD
Note: Do not attempt to test how much snow there is by sticking your bare foot into the snow. You might not have been 100% awake at 4am. But afterwards you will be.
Around 9am….they had kinda cleared the foot path [see pic below]
But it also started to snow like crazy XD
Quite a difficult walk [cos it was cold and i was wearing sandals. For explanation of why i was wearing sandals. Read the stuff above XD]
Ok so i made it and here is breakfast!
After breakfast….
Yup the footpath was completely covered so we had to wait for them to shovel before i could make it back to the room
Of course, I know this is nothing compared to a lot of you overseas who are getting tons and tons of snow daily!
I did a few other things on this trip but this entry is kinda long so i’ll do the rest in another post ok?
In non related news, its Setsubun no Hi in Japan tomorrow. For those unfamiliar with Setsubun no hi, dont worry, i will be doing a blog post about this day and what we do, sometime next week.
Also its Lunar New Year for those of you who celebrate it, so to all my readers who celebrate it, Happy Lunar New Year! I wish you a happy and prosperous year of the rabbit.
XOXO Yumeko
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awwww…ok if u fedex urself, let me know! will wait for the package HEEHEE
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hahah yes after i soaked my foot in the hot tub to warm it up hahaah [its like 45 or something degrees C that water]
i just realised the pic of the steak looks way bigger than the actual item XD its about the size of my palm!!
it only snows on one half of your city!? is it warmer in the other half??
u should build ur own kotatsu!!!
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stay safe!!!!
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oh yes! i went to look for u on twitter! found u, msged and added ^^
yes i should have brought my uggs or something. i am sooo silly sometimes!
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nope! u kinda float when u are in it. how to explain XD u arent really sitting on the ground of the tub
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i want one at home too! my husband doesnt want to sit on the floor so we dont have onesadly
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its nice and warm indoors though ^^!
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1 inch is better than nothing heehee we dont get any in tokyo!
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u didnt leave ur blog url XD i know its hika-p something but i am on iphone and cant check XD linky me and i’ll follow!!
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i hope u get to come back soon! ^^ i think u will love going to a ryokan and enjoying some onsen!
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Nikko is about 3hrs away from Tokyo so actually Gunma is closer ^^
yes they have onsens of course! i went there last year, here is my blog post on it and the ryokan
http://bittenbefore.com/tokyolife/2010/11/08/roadtrip-to-nikko-tissue-box-mini-diy-project/
hope this helps ^^
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ah its kinda difficult for me to discuss how mnuch it is XD but i can tell you its in the range of 240usd per person for one night.
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it comes with the room fee , you pay for it like a package. ^^
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