In Or Out?

Indoor?

 Give me a bath with a view anytime! You?

One more question. Mixed or segregated onsen for you?  There were mixed onsens at Nyuto Onsen but none at Bessho Onsen. Don't get too excited about the mixed bath though. When we were there, there was nothing for us to see except each other, and the odd shriveled old guy. Hmph!

 Despite the hot weather we are having, it would be nice if I can go soak in the hot water again. Oh well, I have to make do with a western bath tub for now.

I Miss This... The Food

Need I say more?
Gosh, I'm making ME hungry. ^^!

Contrary to what many believe, Japanese food is not all raw food. I love these too!

 

 

 

Must. Eat. Now.

Akita On The Move : View From The Resort Shirakami

Apart from the awesome ride on the Akita Shinkansen, we had a ball of time taking a on the Resort Shirakami (Buna). We intended to travel from Akita to Aomori but decided to stop short our trip and hop off the train at Hirosaki Station just in time to catch the sleeper train Akebono back to Akita.

Rain accompanied us on this trip

And rain sure makes one particularly hungry. An early dinner for Raimie (or was it a late lunch?)

 

I wish I had taken better photos of the coastline, on the Gono Line. Oh well... I was torn between looking at them and being glued to the window and yet wanting to take photos of them, lots of it.

Just like on the Akita Shinkansen, we saw more paddy fields.

Villages located right by the shoreline

Then, we saw a giant apple upon arriving Hirosaki Station which Raimie tried to nick, but he can't roll them away. ^^

Got our last minute booking for the L'Ex sleeper train Akebono and went down the platform to wait for it.

Our train arrived!

Just When I Booked My Flight To Japan

Look at what I received this in my inbox this morning.

A promotion from Japan Airlines.

Experience "Colorful Japan" -First wave -
** Available at your travel agent in Malaysia **
Do you want to feel autumn & winter in Japan? JAL is offering very affordable air fare to Japan(Tokyo) with 3person or more travel together at RM600.00 per person on economy class.(excluded surcharge and taxes)

At the same time, we are offering business class fare at ONLY MYR5,000 per person.(excluded surcharge and taxes)

Of course with JAL, you can extend your destination to Japan domestic cities such as Hokkaido, Osaka and Kyushu.,etc "one world YOKOSO/Visit Japan Fare" (10,000 yen per sector).
Don't miss this opportunity!

Other terms & conditions apply. For more information or reservation, please contact your travel agent.

Period : Until July 31, 2011
Outbound travelling Period : September 01, 2011 - December 10, 2011 

I would've booked this JAL's promo airfare in a heartbeat if not for the fact we already have bookings with budget airline, AirAsia.  Why? I don't mind budget hotels - I've slept in buses and trains too just to keep accommodation cost down, but I don't really do budget airlines! XD

But of course I just had to "disturb" my travel agent and check the total fares. Those planning to fly to Japan this coming year-end school holiday (or the Raya week, for that matter) can take advantage of the promotion. 

What can I say? I'm such a sucker for Japan Airlines.

Arcade Game For 10Yen?

And you can still find it in Hanayashiki!

 Wanna have a go?

A slightly new version at a slightly higher price. 20yen per play, folks!

If you want to be nostalgic, head over to Hanayashiki. Plenty of fun games and rides there and they need not be high tech for you to have fun.

Akita On The Move - On The Akita Shinkansen

We didn't sight-see much in Akita. We went there a couple of times, true but it was mostly because of the trains that we wanted to take and that of course includes the Akita Shinkansen. What we saw in Akita were mostly through the trains' window. Maybe next time, we can actually plan to stop at a few towns and set foot on them!

At Akita Station. We didn't venture far from the station, what with our hotel for the night being right next to the station!

We arrived Akita Station way past my lunch time, so the first order of business that day was to look for a place to eat. We were supposed to arrive at 12.00pm actually, but I made the whole gang missed our train because I was busy taking photos (of trains) at Ueno Station. The next train that we got on arrived Akita station at around 2.00pm. I was famished!

We encountered a "toshigami" or two along the way. Those two are the "Namahage", right? They  sure are everywhere!

The Akita we saw on the Akita Shinkansen (on the Komachi, to be exact) was a breathtaking view of

crystal clear rivers

green mountains

vast expanse of paddy fields, all yellow and ready for harvest

a bit of these too...

Next - view from the Resort Shirakami Buna and the odd view from local trains and buses too. ^^

My 7 Links Of Nonsense

Here I was reading the blogs of people I have links on my sidebar, and noticing the 7 links thingy that's been cropping up recently and happily noting that nobody mentioned me. Just when I thought I was safe, I head over to David's Ogijima and what did I see there? I was nominated to join this 7 links  meme/initiative. Argh! Argh! But I am touched that he nominated me. ^^ Thanks for the thoughts.

It took me 6 days to come up with this post because, I may have hundreds of posts but they are mostly my own ramblings of my family's trip to Japan. If you ever came across the others doing it, you might have noticed the quality of the others' 7 links are so way above mine.

Still, I present you my 7 links. W00T W00T

My most beautiful post - Mojiko Station

This post is about a train station that I had always wanted to visit and we made it there in 2008. Not only did I get to see a beautiful train station, I met up with a beautiful person too. A lady whom I've never met generously took us around Mojiko Retro and spent her precious time with us. To me, that is beautiful.

My most popular post - Toilets, In Trains

I ranked my most popular post by the amount it generated comments and the most with comments is about a toilet. In trains. In Japan. Shows how important answering nature's call in a nice and clean environment is to everyone.

My most controversial post - Still eating sushi

This post was written about a month after the March 11 earthquake in Tohoku. I wrote that post to state my view on those who are panicky about the radiation and contamination in Japan. I should be scared about the radiation in Japan while living in Malaysia and all that nonsense I suppose, but will that really help any of the people who suffered from the earthquake and the tsunami? Not really. By the way, the whole of Japan did not turn into a radioactive wasteland after March 11. And I'm still going to Japan.

My most helpful post - Applying A Visa To Japan

a helpful post to Malaysian readers was I think about the visa requirement to Japan. It got a lot of hits everytime AirAsia (a budget carrier) offered super low airfares to Haneda Airport.

Receiving a lot of comments from people wanting to know about the visa requirements, I was surprised (I shouldn't be, but still...) by the lack of courtesy these people have when asking for information. No hi, no please and no thank yous. Just direct questions and I was expected to answer. I don't work at the Embassy. I am also not a travel agent. Get that?   

My post whose success surprised me - I need my meals on time

is about me being hungry and needing to be fed! I should be silly on my blogs more often!

My post that I don't think got the attention it deserved - Nighttime in Asakusa

I posted up a photo of a homeless guy sleeping in front of a shop in Asakusa, my  "subtle" way of showing Japan is just like any other countries with their fair share of problems. I love Japan and all things Japanese, but I am well aware of them not being the perfect society some people always talk about. We are all human. Malaysia has homeless people, Japan has them too.

My post I'm most proud of - An onsen & ryokan experience at Taenoyu Onsen

no particular reason for being proud of it. But that this was our first ever stay at a ryokan that has a mixed bath section and my first ever experience of cavorting naked all around the bath area. I was proud of that. ^^!

And the hard part of this...passing the baton to these lovely people:

London Calling
Ristinw
Kak Lela
Bananaz
Eastcoastlife

Mommy, I Need A Lift!

Carrying a tired/sleepy/sleeping boy while out sightseeing may not be so easy, especially when the boy flops around a lot while being carried. Even when Raimie was a baby, we didn't use the stroller much. He just can't sit still in it, like ever. So, we always ended up carrying him; that is until he learn to walk and run. Even so, the boy would need us when he started to get tired.

I carried him for a bit while hiking up Mount Mitake. Not to mention when climbing up all those pesky stairs at train stations while on our vacation in Japan. Had to do it because we usually are out sightseeing for the whole day and only return to our hotel room at night so it was inevitable Raimie would get really tired.

Zaini on the other hand, won't do it unless it's absolutely necessary because he wants Raimie to toughen up!And he usually had a whole load of stuff to carry anyway. Well, Zaini is also the one with the map. He can't read a map when both his hands were holding our son, can he? Give me a map to read, I'll probably get us lost despite having it. I wouldn't notice I'm reading a map upside down, even! I still get lost walking around Sg Wang Plaza! Hahaha

Me, how can I refuse when my Son is making puppy eyes at me, asking me to take pity on him? No wonder I kept losing weight when I'm in Japan! Anyway, it's not as if I want to raise a ''sissy'' boy or anything but I am just too impatient to deal with tantrums and whining. So rather than make everyone's life miserable, I'll just give in and gave him a piggyback for a few minutes or maybe when we need to walk up a flight of stairs. What? You don't think I'd let him be carried around the whole time, do you?

Funny though, Raimie wouldn't dream of asking me to give him piggyback rides here, just in case his school friends see him. He has his ego too! xD

At The Station : Akita

Early morning at Akita Station, waiting for a local train bound for Detohama. 

What were we doing going to Detohama? 

To visit Kagaya Orchard and picked grapes and pears ourselves there. Check out the posts here, here and here.

Waiting for the train is never boring, especially if you can find stuff to occupy your time or if you really enjoy looking at trains. For my son, waiting meant clowning around. For his Mommy that meant an opportunity to take lots of photo of him doing just that. *^-^*

Mentioning about Kagaya Orchard, I miss the sweet, fragrant grapes there. Not to mention the juicy pears. We were too early to pick any apples.

Wouldn't you? ^^