Back From Tokyo

I'm interrupting the continuity of our trip posts to inform you guys that we arrived Malaysian soil safely yesterday evening in one piece despite a few hiccups along the way. A near accident and a flight delay; again on our way back to Malaysia.

We didn't exceed our baggage allowance, with just 50kg of checked-in luggage to bring back home. We brought three bags from home to Japan. A backpack with our laptop inside and our travel documents, the silver colour bag for our clothes and toiletries and that big orange bag that we filled with festive cakes and cookies for friends in Japan.

We brought back the same three bags; the orange bag now filled with souvenirs, clothes and stuff we bought in Japan, a 730mmx440mmx360mm (or something,I forgot the correct dimension) box filled with newly bought toys for Raimie, a new Nike bag laden with stuff like keychains, phone straps, etc. And a plastic bag for a Gundam model (we bought two Gundam models). And don't forget, Zaini bought a bicycle in Japan. @_@

Security at Narita Airport wasn't as bad as last year. We've got to went through two scanners last year instead of the usual one before going through Immigration. There were still people who still seem oblivious to the liquid prohibition and still brought in bottles and bottles of water and drinks. Do you know that miso paste is considered liquid too? Don't bring any miso paste in your carry-on luggage!

Zaini met our ex-supervisor in the plane. We used to work under him years and years ago. He still recognised Zaini but I don't think he recognised me. ;D

I had fun watching a few Japanese movies and TV shows on the plane. I got to watch "The Proposal" on our way to Japan two weeks ago, and for this return trip, I just watched everything Japanese! I watched a particularly sad movie titled "Dear My Love" and actually cried in the plane! Sappy me! LOL

Do come and visit often and there'll be plenty more posts on our trip to Japan soon!

An Onsen & Ryokan Experience At Taenoyu Onsen

After much research prior to our trip to Japan, we finally decided to make a reservation at Taenoyu Onsen which is one of eight ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) in Nyuto Onsen located in the Tohoku region of Honshu.

We were raring to go to Tsurunoyu Onsen at first. Tsurunoyu Onsen is the oldest operating ryokan of Nyuto Onsen. A ryokan so rustic that it does not have plumbing or electricity. But Taenoyu Onsen wins over because of the fact that we actually managed to communicate with the ryokan staff via e-mail.

Taenoyu Onsen is a modern, well equipped ryokan that sits beside the Sendatsu River. Special characteristics of Taenoyu Onsen is the dark golden brown waters. There are seven baths visitors can enjoy at the onsen and we tried them all.

For first timers visiting both an onsen and a ryokan, Taenoyu Onsen comes highly recommended by us (and you know how fussy I can be, right?). The staff there, while not thoroughly conversant in English, know enough to explain their services, giving directions and food offered to guests. Of course, knowing a little bit of Japanese doesn't hurt either. It may not be a luxury ryokan, but still, the service that was accorded to us got us a little bit flustered because we don't get to experience this kind of service often (make it almost never!)

From Lake Tazawa, we took a bus to Taenoyu onsen (bus fares from Lake Tazawa: 350yen , from Tazawako Station: 800yen) and there was a bus stop directly opposite Taenoyu Onsen. Make sure you press the bell when you hear "Taenoyu Onsen mae" - which meant in front of Taenoyu Onsen; being announced in the bus. If you missed the stop, don't worry because the next stop is just a few metres away so you can easily walk back.
Immediately after we alighted from the bus, we were greeted by a staff who was already waiting in front of the ryokan (took a few seconds to alight from the bus as we need to pay for our fares upon exiting the bus). I guess the staff there are well tuned to the sound of stopping vehicle to know that guests are coming. Funny thing was, we were mistakenly thought to be a Hong Kong couple that were also checking in that day. (Yeah, we get that plenty of time in Japan. We were always thought to be tourists from China)

Exterior of Taenoyu Onsen. We were quickly ushered in, asked to change our shoes to indoor slippers and completed our check-in.

The lobby area. The ryokan was fragrant with the burning of incense. Soft, soothing music was played continuously making guests feel relaxed and stress free. There were slippers for indoor wear (green colour), toilet slippers and slippers to be worn outside. Our shoes were safely stashed away out of sight.

Our room. We were shown to our room and tea were made and served. While we were enjoying our tea and sweets, the staff explained to us about the amenities at the ryokan. Earlier, she had shown us the communal sink, toilet and dining area. (Yes, we didn't have a bathroom in our room).

Reservation for private bath time and dining arrangement were done too, all while sipping our hot tea.

View from our room. We slept while listening to the sound of the stream. It was so relaxing. Of course, with such a nice view, we couldn't resist taking a photo. How do we look in our yukatas? The ryokan even has yukata for children of all sizes. Raimie tried a couple on, until the staff found the right size for him.

Toiletries provided which includes a small towel to be used in the hot spring. Facial cleanser, body wash, shampoo and conditioner were available in the shower room located at the changing area.
Slippers to be worn in the toilet. It is a no-no to bring in your indoor slippers in to the toilet. Leave them outside the toilet, OK? :)

The communal sink and sink inside the ladies toilet. Two stalls available downstairs and one in the changing room. I preferred the one in the changing room as it had a bidet there. Toilet seats in both places were nicely warmed so my butt didn't felt cold.

Not having a bathroom in our room was not an issue here. For me, it just felt that I was staying at one of my relatives' (albeit wealthy one) place. Our room was located on the same level as the toilet so that helped too,I suppose. Though walking to the toilet at night, one have to tread lightly as the wooden floor creaks and make sounds. Wouldn't want to disturb other guests. For info, there are rooms with in-room bathroom available but they were more expensive than ours.

The room felt very small when we first entered it (it was a 6 tatami room), but after settling in, we felt the room was just nice and cosy for us. While we had dinner at 6.00pm, our futons were laid out ready to be used. Even the tea sets were changed and wet towel were provided too for us.

Raimie absolutely love the futon, rolling around and playing hide and seek under the blanket. And it was so hard to coax Raimie to wake up the morning after (Raimie is an early riser normally and would wake up way earlier than us!)

Me, the next morning before breakfast pretending to be a Japanese guest of yesteryear. LOL

Next up - our onsen experience; mixed bath and all and our Japanese meals in a ryokan.

Naked In Tawazakohan (Lake Tazawa)

What? Do you really think I'd be naked in the lake? ;)

I was posing as the statue of Tatsuko. The legend was, a beautiful girl called Tatsuko wished for her youth and beauty to be preserved forever. She thus drank the water of a spring, as she was advised to, and turned into a big dragon, which sank to the bottom of the lake. During the winter months, her dragon husband joins her in the lake, and the warmth of their passion causes the lake never to freeze.


Lake Tazawa is located in Akita prefecture and is the deepest lake in Japan at 423mtrs (by comparison, Tokyo Tower is 333mtrs tall). The lake is an almost perfect circle of 20km of circumference and is also know for the clarity of its water (2nd in Japan).

We took the Akita Shinkansen Komachi (reserved only cars) from Tokyo to Tazawa-ko station which was about a 3-hours trip and then took a bus to the lake area. More exhaustive posts and photos of the shinkansens will be up later. We used our JR East Pass to reserve seats and board the train at no additional charge apart from the 10,000yen per adult we paid when buying the 3-day pass.

Bus to Lake Tazawa. Bus fares was 320yen per adult and took exactly 13 minutes. Don't worry about not knowing where to stop. Buses in Japan have announcements on all approaching bus stops. Pretty helpful for first time visitors.

View of the lake:
We decided against taking the ferry around the lake as we didn't want to be late for check-in at Taenoyu Onsen afterwards. Boats depart from the Shirahama beach and cross the lake to Katajiri, where the Tatsuko statue is located. Return tickets are available from both places (1,170 yens, 40 minutes, 4 times per day). There were pedal boats too, but the rental was too high for us. At 1,000yen for half an hour and looking at the choppy waters of the lake, we settled for a walk instead.
After walking by the lake shores, we decided to head to the souvenir shops at the rest area nearby and looked at local specialties. Almost everything in the shop has a sampling box, so you get to try them all even if you don't plan to buy anything. We bought a postcard of the statue of Tatsuko to send back home.
If you have more time to spend, why not rent a bicycle and ride them and enjoy the scenery.
After that, we board the bus and head to Taenoyu Onsen for our overnight stay there. We were greeted with more awesome scenery along the way. Yellow paddy fields, ready to be harvested. And breathtaking view from the mountain area. We passed by forest of pine trees before arriving to our destination.

My next posts will be of the ryokan we stayed in, Japanese breakfast and dinner and our onsen experience (being naked and all). Though no nudity will be shown in this blog!

Eating In Tokyo - Day 2

Day 2 started with some bread for Raimie which we bought at a nearby Lawson's. There was a Lawson's outlet literally at Nikko Hotel Ginza's doorstep.

Then, Raimie had dango (dumplings made from rice flour, served on a skewer) for snacks in the late morning. We paid only 85yen for 3 sticks of dango. The actual price was 105yen, but there was a 20yen discount sticker on the packaging so we saved 20yen. Any savings counted! LOL

For lunch, Raimie had some bread; rich in chocolate taste, some grapes (which he said tasted like mangosteen) and drank Calpis. The grapes were awesome. We had some later, and we will never look at the grapes sold in Malaysia the same again. Love, love, love the grapes. :D

For dinner, we head off to Yayoi-Ken, located nearby Tawaramachi station.

Here, you buy your food ticket from the vending machine. No worries if you don't understand Japanese because there were pictures of the food on the machines to help you decide on what to eat.

After we were shown to our table, a staff asked for our food ticket and left a stub of it for us. See how much our dinner was. Just 1,380yen. We didn't order another set for Raimie because at Yayoi-ken, diners can eat as much rice as they want.

While waiting for our food to arrive, we had some tsukemono (Japanese pickles). Raimie loves them. He ate all the pickles that I put on the plate for him, then...

he nicked some of mine too!

I chose the Sanma set at 790yen. A bit more expensive than Zaini's set due to the lotus root dish seen in the photo.

Zaini went for the Saba set at 590yen

Some photos of the restaurant:

I was too busy eating, I didn't notice Zaini taking this photo of me. :D

By the time we finished dinner, we were completely full. We ordered only two sets between the three of us, but immediately upon being seated, Raimie was given a kiddie plate and fork and spoon without having to ask for it. Good service eh? And the portion was enough to be shared with Raimie.

Just want to add another memorable experience at the restaurant. After we bought our food ticket, we had to stand around as all tables for 3(or 4) were already occupied. A man, sitting alone at a table for four shifted to the next table and motioned for the staff to wipe the table and gestured to us to sit down. Despite our language barrier, he was really helpful showing us the tsukemono, the rice refill area and generally being kind enough to make sure we eat right. A nice man...