Day 10: (Kobe) Arima Onsen Town
my breakfast from daimaru the day before:
this one was delicious:
this one wasn't (yeah, don't let the strawberries fake you):
it was time to leave the biggest, cheapest and most value for money accommodation we've had. goodbye carpe diem. we'll be back someday. *sniff*
i only saw this on the second day of osaka - WOW THEIR SEWER COVERS HAVE PICTURES ON THEM!! alvin said the tokyo ones had as well. argh! must've been too busy avoiding knocking into people to have noticed. :(
this one's even coloured!
again, dragging our luggage to the subway was an absolute killer BUT NOW that i have my nike duffel, everything was easier! alvin took my nike duffel, i put my other duffel on my shoulder (so much better than leaving it on my luggage and pulling everything coz my fingers feel like they're breaking off after some time) and pulled my wheelie.
we went all the way to the NEXT subway (morinomiya) instead because the line we wanted was right there, instead of going to our usual station and stopping one stop later. it was a pretty long walk, but it was scenic exploring another part of our neighbourhood...
AND WE FOUND AN ATM!! all thanks to a konbini aunty. :D
we quickly got more cash (thank God for alvin and his extra cash - you'll see why at Hyoe), which we really needed as we were down to our last few 1000Y notes. from here... we had 4 trains to take (to osaka, to kobe, to one line in kobe, and then a changeover to a one stop train towards arima onsen town). zzz.
at one interchange, alvin got some black sesame ice cream! did he know what he was buying in the first place?
wah it's damn nice!
onwards to kobe!!
waiting for the kobe train coz we got off too early, haha!
chuu finally eats the daifuku she's been keeping since yesterday.
i forget what i was munching on. i was stoning. and eating. it's a good combination.
and then we're here! almost missed the arima train, haha.
oh, on the way there was a insect incident which a very gung-ho japanese lady squashed it coz she thought chuuling and i were freaked by it. then she grinned at us. I LOVE THE OLD PEOPLE IN JAPAAAAAAAAAAAAN.
here's arima. MAN, IT WAS HOT. and we didn't know where to go, so we asked around and this bus driver was so good with his directions.
alvin was also checking the map so he double confirmed our route. off we went! up... the... slope... with our... luggage... :(
this is the FIRST hotel we've been to. IT WAS A VERY WELCOME CHANGE.
it wasn't time to check in yet so we waited for an english translator (a great help) and then left our bags there. we also poked around the souvenir store but bought nothing... YET. just before we left to explore arima town, alvin (smart boy) asked the counter staff if they could recommend a few places worth visiting and food spots in arima. once we got our map and directions to a very good soba shop, we started our trek.
ooh arima's sewer cover has a picture of a cable car coming up the mountains (likely to be mt rokko)
on the way out:
my cupcake brolly that seriously clashes with the bright red bridge:
the toy museum that was closed:
if you look closely, the doorways of this hotel/apartment buildings have a torii-like outer facade:
they have public baths (all onsens as well) on the streets of Arima.
a bit slope-y ah...
we see a beautiful temple at the top of the hill.
arima became an onsen town when a monk discovered it on his pilgrimage. arima was originally a pilgrimage site, hence many temples.
AH WE'RE HERE AT THE SOBA PLACE! :D
the air-con is so cooling. we were a bit blind though, coz we didn't see the main entrance and tried entering through the back garden. HAHAHA!
the soba chef who came out and greeted us personally. then he tried speaking japanese which we said, 'wakarimasen!!' then he switched to surprise, surprise: CHINESE!!!!! so he gave a bit of history, that he was on a taiwanese newspaper before. :D:D:D
he then went on to prepare our noodles - FRESH:
eh, handmade okay.
the outer gardens (where we tried to enter from):
while waiting for our soba, the chef came out, picked a few stewed vegetables and put them on our table. we were very paiseh, and shook our heads and said it was ok! but he insisted, and it was free! AND VERY GOOD. OMG WE WERE FAMISHED. i guess he could tell. hahaha!
alvin's (he loves his saba fish on it):
mine:
chuu's:
binbin's:
there was also this thing about adding some barley tasting stock to our left over soba dipping sauce which the chef's wife was trying to teach us how to prepare it. basically you have a cup of the barley thing and mix it with the soba sauce until you're satisfied, then you drink it up. i was ok with it only but the rest of them were slurping it up like fiends. 'WAH SO NICE! SO NICE! XD'
YAY UNCLE WE LOVED YOUR SOBA! it's al dente and handmade - absolutely a treat!!
after our soba which was a light but very satisfying meal, we walked towards a small convenience store right next to the soba store and saw: KOBE ICE CREAM.
there's something famous about the kobe ice cream, it's really creamy like hokkaido ice cream, and after trying the black sesame ice cream at one of our transfers, i really wanted to try this. hanbin did not hesitate - he went straight for it. alvin too.
i didn't see what hanbin had, only alvin - vanilla. when he opened it, it was hard as a rock man. but somehow alvin managed to dig a sizable amount out and fed me - WOW THE VANILLA!!! *_*
i made a u-turn and i was just thinking how it'd be great if they had strawberry ice cream with little bits in it (not just pink flavouring)...
and i saw hanbin's ice cream - IT WAS STRAWBERRY. WITH BITS IN IT.
i made another turn back to the ice cream cooler and grabbed a strawberry while chuu had macha (woah it's like macha powder mixed with cream, not the other way round).
we're all enjoying our ice cream (hanbin can't even be bothered to turn around):
wah kao damn good.
but still hard as a rock:
the ice cream cost us about SGD4.
after our ice cream session with all the mmms and aahs, we waved to the soba uncle one more time and left for more exploration while getting back to Hyoe.
Hideyoshi Toyotomi (same historical figure at Osaka castle - apparently he loved coming to arima onsen town. not surprising, it's one of Japan's top 3 oldest onsens.)
A CAT!
we followed the cat to a pretty building, but it seemed very private so we left quickly after taking a couple of shots:
we found another cat! we started stalking it:
there was actually two other cats sitting with this ginger one but hanbin scared them away. -_-"'
a shrine:
going back to the hotel:
probably a source of the onsen waters:
i remember hanbin telling alvin 'hmm that pipe looks hot.'
AND THEN ALVIN TOUCHED IT.
after he got burnt he said 'yeah it's hot.'
WHAT THE. OF COURSE IT'S HOT! IT'S A HOT SPRING! THERE'S STEAM!!!
omg.
the cute little arima bus:
oh this little place really piqued our interest:
because it's named 'jiang hu hui':
the boys were rather reluctant to go in (what if it's full of yakuza!!!) so chuu and i headed up to check it out. it was quite deserted... then our bravado escaped us and we left.
the boys went up next for some pictures, and then we left, alvin bought some arima wafers made from their slightly radioactive spa water and we headed back towards Hyoe.
when we arrived, the front desk welcomed us with bright smiles and slowly brought us up to our rooms - boy, it was one convoluted way to our wing man! the hotel was near empty because it was off-season and in kobe H1N1 was currently raging the population. it was really nice, walking with the manager as he spoke a little english, and brought us around, and mentioned where our dinner and breakfast would be.
then we reached our room.
IT'S HUGE.
they might have upgraded us, i'm not sure, BUT YEAH IT'S HUGE!!! the front door opened, leading us through a short stone pathway into a inner japanese door, and past it, there was a upper deck which was where the tatami flooring started. our luggages had already been stacked neatly along the walls and we took off our shoes before going in (which they kept for us later and arranged slippers in our shoes' place).
everyone took their shoes off and ran in while either squealing or going 'WOW!' - i sat at the step taking off my damn boots slowly. -_-
the manager patiently waited for me, and said it was ok coz i was so paiseh for making him wait. then when i was done, he kept my boots for me (i didn't let him take my socks too, it's too much!) and we went in for a short orientation.
he brought us around the mini-house (haha) because there was a dining/sleeping room, a tv room, a tea room (where we played games), and then the toilet was split into three main parts - a washing area, the bathroom (bathtub or stool, up to you), and the toilet which had a urinal (the boys were amazed) and a separate (complete with door) toilet bowl with full bidet functions. WOW!!!
once the manager left after showing us where our yukatas were, and arranging what time to have dinner and making sure we were settled it, he left us on our own. WE WENT MAD. we all gathered around the balcony coz the view was insane.
MOUNTAINS!!!
THEN SOMEONE CAME TO OUR DOOR AND PREPARED TEA FOR US!!! NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!
i was over the moon.
it was such an excellent tea!!!
totally being absorbed by the view. and the room's so beautiful and classically japanese:
trying to decide where to go after this:
we actually wanted to go and see the water fountain and maybe walk around arima town, etc. BUT ONCE WE SAW THE ROOM... it was unanimous - 'I WANT TO STAY IN THE HOTEL AND NUA. IT'S NUA TIME! OMG! I DOWANNA LEAVE!!'
or as hanbin put it very simply, 'LET ME DIE HERE.' then he promptly fell asleep on the FLOOR.
hahahahahaha!
chuu very quickly put on her yukata -
and then we kicked hanbin awake and made everyone wear their yukatas and leave for the onsen. EH GUYS NO TIME ALREADY LET'S ONSEN AWAAAAAAAAY...
when we got downstairs, we split up into the single sex onsens, so the guys went on their way. i was getting increasing shy and nervous until i got a stomachache. so chuu waited for me while i experienced the best japanese bidet in my LIFE (the toilet bowl had a sensor so the cover lifts up once u step into the loo. WOW.)
when i came out i just stood at one corner. wah lau damn paiseh can. but chuu was like, AH SCREW IT LA, and shrugged out of everything then ran out to take a bath. then she shouted THERE'S NO ONE HERE!!!
awesome.
i got over my panic attacks and went in. they had a line of showers (complete with all the bathing stuff) so you could wash off before stepping into the onsen. i sat next to chuu (it's like a bathing cubicle with only half a wall and no doors). i don't know why but she kept yelling in pain so i asked her 'eh what's going on with you?'
apparently she was bathing in onsen temperature water. 'HELLO IT'S DAMN HOT CAN, please just use normal temperature and then acclimatise yourself LATER.'
'ohhhh.'
then she started washing her hair. -_-"'
'eh you're supposed to wash your hair after, so that nothing from your head goes into the water.'
'ah never mind la wash already means clean liao.' -____________-
ONSEN ETIQUETTE = FAIL.
this next part was super funny. we needed to bathe ourselves with the super hot water before going in (if you suffer from high blood pressure and you go straight in you might faint) so we were both kneeling at the edge of the pool and pouring tubfuls of water over our limbs and yelping. it's torture man, chuu would yelp, then i'd yelp, and it's just a bloody cycle.
once we were done, we started on our torso WHICH WAS SO PAINFUL WE STOPPED YELPING AND SCREAMED INSTEAD.
then i had a smart idea. 'eh i pour for u and u pour for me on the back la.'
'ok.'
i took one tubful of water and without aplomb i poured it down her back. chuuling yelled so loudly there was a reverb and she almost fell head first into the pool. WHAHAHAHAHAHA.
SHE OF COURSE DID THE SAME TO ME.
ok la after all the fooling around we got in very slowly (took us about 5 minutes to immerse ourselves in) - i'm just really glad it was just two of us, without a bunch of japanese to wonder what these two girls are shouting 'ITAI!!!' about.
we tried the silver bath, then the spa bubbly in the silver bath (we just stuck our feet at the jet. which felt wonderful.), then hopped over into the golden bath, then the outdoor golden bath (which had DROWNED insects, YUCK), then back into the indoor golden bath, silver bath spa, then i started to see stars and we left. WOW. ONSEN ROCKS MAN!!!
but the bath was even better. we sat back down on the stools and i used my foot to keep the water from the showerhead flowing (step it like a trishaw rider, yo!) and their shampoo and conditioner was this horse oil (Ba-Yu) treatment thing. i love it. i'm going to change my shampoo brand STAT. it's just very good. i cannot explain. you have to try it.
problem is - it's only available at onsen hotels. T_T
everything else was great; they had this facial foam, face peeling masks, foot scrub, foot file... EVERYTHING.
then when we were done drying ourselves and wearing our yukata, we went into the dressing room and there were rows of hairdryers, hair lotion, facial lotion and EVEN BB CREAM. they also had combs for you to use. of course we used everything.
and the shampoo made my hair so soft and fluffy!!! XD
we met back with the guys and while we were just lounging and deciding our next move, we were served tea!!! XD
it even had a gold film inside. i am so pampered. T_T
i can really stay here for a few days man. i love it so much.
we went back to our room to unwind before wreaking havoc in the hotel.
hehe. you'll see.
AND NOW. TIME TO ROAM THE PLACE IN OUR YUKATAS AND CAM WHORE LIKE NEVER BEFORE!!! SO EXCITED CAN!!!
THIS IS MY FACE WITH THE IN-HOUSE BB CREAM.
here we go!
haha, fat ass.
any corner in the hotel room is fit for photo taking. i'm totally digging this.
origami!
pretending to be demure:
nuts!
the gorgeous outdoor garden we could see from our balcony, it's right outside the restaurant:
koi pond:
the absolutely picture of cutesy:
the absolute picture of a weird couple (and a lousy photographer... HAHA KIDDING LA CHUULING.)
the huge hedge:
the sunset:
what's all that buzzing... EH THERE'S A HUGE BEE BEHIND ME
*scared face*
here you go - the BEE:
so foggy and pretty:
there was a little shrine in the outer gardens:
this shot looks creepy. with my 'eeps' creepy face. i don't know what i was trying to do, really.
much better:
ok the point is to run so fast my sleeves flapped out. do you see it?
we're right outside the restaurant and the patrons were pretty amused at our antics.
it's the guys' turn.
1. gruff + comic relief
2. we're tough JAPANESE MEN!!!
3. 'amai, amai... amai, amai...'
(watch DMC to understand what the heck they were doing and why i LOL everytime i see this.)
eh what you want.
-________-
the other spa (hyoe has 3 of them):
the path between the main hotel and the 3rd onsen area. so very pretty, no?
i'm trying to look gruff and tough, and let out one leg... but i failed.
where's vivien?
THERE YOU GO!!
as you can tell, the rest have abandoned us and gone ahead. :(
we wanted to go to the foot bath, but it was already closed (i.e. no more water)!! :(
oh well.
'viv let's take a picture together!'
alvin: eh someone blinked. must take again.
chuu: I KNOW IT'S ME LA.
dusk:
hanbin is eligible!!!
hyoe is so beautiful.
we were famished after our photo shoot - it's time for kobe beef!!!
once we entered, most of the cold dishes were prepared and ready already. no wonder they asked us what time we'd be having our dinner! the hostess couldn't speak english but more than made up for it when she really tried her hardest to help us. she gave us instructions on which dish to start with first, and when we really wakarimasen she'd just help us to do it.
the staff at hyoe are TOP-NOTCH.
bloody professional. *shakes head in admiration*
dessert wine:
happy happy faces:
miso sauce:
sashimi:
our plate of food (for grilling):
oops the prawn fell... and stuck itself upright from the hand towel plate LOL!!
chuu laughed so hard her prawn fell face forward too! hahaha!!
KOBE BEEF. KOBE BEEF. KOBE BEEF!!!!!!!!
alvin cried coz it's that great.
wah lau - this is happiness.
there was also a male host serving our table who was super polite and more raucous. he came in and tried for very long to make us understand that this was not desert... it's to cleanse our palate for the udon later. OHHHHH...
WAH YUZU SORBET!!!!!!!!!! YUMMEH!!!!!!! T_T
wow this is just heavenly.
our hostess:
the brinjal is friggin' sour. my face just clenched up when i crunched into that. *shudder*
the udon bowl:
you see the pot they used? it's not hot at all! amazing!! you can absolutely lift the whole thing up using your bare hands! we were so concerned when the hostess and host kept moving the pot for us but they assured us it wasn't hot by asking us to touch it. WOW!!! O_O
our dessert - watermelon (every part of it is sweet. it's mind blowing.) plus a tofu like jelly and something similar to ice jelly which we at first mistook for ice.
I DOWANNA GO :(
as we were leaving, the host and hostess kneeled down and bowed!! argh, so paiseh, so we kept bowing back and wearing our slippers and bowed and left and kept waving. these 2 wait staff are the best IN MY LIFE I TELL YOU. the service rocks to the core in japan. T_T
we walked to the lobby to use their computer and find out if firefly season has started... it hasn't. so while chuu and hanbin were checking their emails (i absolutely refused to, hehe. i'm on hol!!) alvin and i headed toward their in house store and bought cakes, biscuits, mochi etc for the family.
i also mused for a long while before i decided to buy 2 bottles of hair treatment cream and 2 tubes of bb cream. thank goodness for alvin's extra wad of cash. :D
there was also a lady there who spoke to us in chinese (she's interning at hyoe as part of her translator course; she's studying to be an international translator, how cool is that!)
this is what my bunned up hair became after shampooing, conditioning with Ba-Yu and the hair treatment gel:
:D
hyoe is a 5 star hotel ok (if it's not obvious by now).
we found an arcade and watched hanbin for abit:
by the time we stumbled back to our room... OUR BEDS WERE ALL SET UP! actually they set it up while we were at dinner. :D:D:D
ahhhhh looks so fluffy, that futon.
osaka that's beyond the mountains (it was absolutely glittering with lights):
we played saboteur for abit after we packed our bags, then...
they taught me...
how to play...
BRIDGE!!! finally!! after 7 years someone FINALLY teaches me to play bridge.
so what if i lost all 7 rounds? hehe. :D
alvin's hand:
after this we all just curled up in our futons and fell asleep. tmr will be a rush to get to the airport man. soon to be leaving hyoe. :(
this one was delicious:
this one wasn't (yeah, don't let the strawberries fake you):
it was time to leave the biggest, cheapest and most value for money accommodation we've had. goodbye carpe diem. we'll be back someday. *sniff*
i only saw this on the second day of osaka - WOW THEIR SEWER COVERS HAVE PICTURES ON THEM!! alvin said the tokyo ones had as well. argh! must've been too busy avoiding knocking into people to have noticed. :(
this one's even coloured!
again, dragging our luggage to the subway was an absolute killer BUT NOW that i have my nike duffel, everything was easier! alvin took my nike duffel, i put my other duffel on my shoulder (so much better than leaving it on my luggage and pulling everything coz my fingers feel like they're breaking off after some time) and pulled my wheelie.
we went all the way to the NEXT subway (morinomiya) instead because the line we wanted was right there, instead of going to our usual station and stopping one stop later. it was a pretty long walk, but it was scenic exploring another part of our neighbourhood...
AND WE FOUND AN ATM!! all thanks to a konbini aunty. :D
we quickly got more cash (thank God for alvin and his extra cash - you'll see why at Hyoe), which we really needed as we were down to our last few 1000Y notes. from here... we had 4 trains to take (to osaka, to kobe, to one line in kobe, and then a changeover to a one stop train towards arima onsen town). zzz.
at one interchange, alvin got some black sesame ice cream! did he know what he was buying in the first place?
wah it's damn nice!
onwards to kobe!!
waiting for the kobe train coz we got off too early, haha!
chuu finally eats the daifuku she's been keeping since yesterday.
i forget what i was munching on. i was stoning. and eating. it's a good combination.
and then we're here! almost missed the arima train, haha.
oh, on the way there was a insect incident which a very gung-ho japanese lady squashed it coz she thought chuuling and i were freaked by it. then she grinned at us. I LOVE THE OLD PEOPLE IN JAPAAAAAAAAAAAAN.
here's arima. MAN, IT WAS HOT. and we didn't know where to go, so we asked around and this bus driver was so good with his directions.
alvin was also checking the map so he double confirmed our route. off we went! up... the... slope... with our... luggage... :(
this is the FIRST hotel we've been to. IT WAS A VERY WELCOME CHANGE.
it wasn't time to check in yet so we waited for an english translator (a great help) and then left our bags there. we also poked around the souvenir store but bought nothing... YET. just before we left to explore arima town, alvin (smart boy) asked the counter staff if they could recommend a few places worth visiting and food spots in arima. once we got our map and directions to a very good soba shop, we started our trek.
ooh arima's sewer cover has a picture of a cable car coming up the mountains (likely to be mt rokko)
on the way out:
my cupcake brolly that seriously clashes with the bright red bridge:
the toy museum that was closed:
if you look closely, the doorways of this hotel/apartment buildings have a torii-like outer facade:
they have public baths (all onsens as well) on the streets of Arima.
a bit slope-y ah...
we see a beautiful temple at the top of the hill.
arima became an onsen town when a monk discovered it on his pilgrimage. arima was originally a pilgrimage site, hence many temples.
AH WE'RE HERE AT THE SOBA PLACE! :D
the air-con is so cooling. we were a bit blind though, coz we didn't see the main entrance and tried entering through the back garden. HAHAHA!
the soba chef who came out and greeted us personally. then he tried speaking japanese which we said, 'wakarimasen!!' then he switched to surprise, surprise: CHINESE!!!!! so he gave a bit of history, that he was on a taiwanese newspaper before. :D:D:D
he then went on to prepare our noodles - FRESH:
eh, handmade okay.
the outer gardens (where we tried to enter from):
while waiting for our soba, the chef came out, picked a few stewed vegetables and put them on our table. we were very paiseh, and shook our heads and said it was ok! but he insisted, and it was free! AND VERY GOOD. OMG WE WERE FAMISHED. i guess he could tell. hahaha!
alvin's (he loves his saba fish on it):
mine:
chuu's:
binbin's:
there was also this thing about adding some barley tasting stock to our left over soba dipping sauce which the chef's wife was trying to teach us how to prepare it. basically you have a cup of the barley thing and mix it with the soba sauce until you're satisfied, then you drink it up. i was ok with it only but the rest of them were slurping it up like fiends. 'WAH SO NICE! SO NICE! XD'
YAY UNCLE WE LOVED YOUR SOBA! it's al dente and handmade - absolutely a treat!!
after our soba which was a light but very satisfying meal, we walked towards a small convenience store right next to the soba store and saw: KOBE ICE CREAM.
there's something famous about the kobe ice cream, it's really creamy like hokkaido ice cream, and after trying the black sesame ice cream at one of our transfers, i really wanted to try this. hanbin did not hesitate - he went straight for it. alvin too.
i didn't see what hanbin had, only alvin - vanilla. when he opened it, it was hard as a rock man. but somehow alvin managed to dig a sizable amount out and fed me - WOW THE VANILLA!!! *_*
i made a u-turn and i was just thinking how it'd be great if they had strawberry ice cream with little bits in it (not just pink flavouring)...
and i saw hanbin's ice cream - IT WAS STRAWBERRY. WITH BITS IN IT.
i made another turn back to the ice cream cooler and grabbed a strawberry while chuu had macha (woah it's like macha powder mixed with cream, not the other way round).
we're all enjoying our ice cream (hanbin can't even be bothered to turn around):
wah kao damn good.
but still hard as a rock:
the ice cream cost us about SGD4.
after our ice cream session with all the mmms and aahs, we waved to the soba uncle one more time and left for more exploration while getting back to Hyoe.
Hideyoshi Toyotomi (same historical figure at Osaka castle - apparently he loved coming to arima onsen town. not surprising, it's one of Japan's top 3 oldest onsens.)
A CAT!
we followed the cat to a pretty building, but it seemed very private so we left quickly after taking a couple of shots:
we found another cat! we started stalking it:
there was actually two other cats sitting with this ginger one but hanbin scared them away. -_-"'
a shrine:
going back to the hotel:
probably a source of the onsen waters:
i remember hanbin telling alvin 'hmm that pipe looks hot.'
AND THEN ALVIN TOUCHED IT.
after he got burnt he said 'yeah it's hot.'
WHAT THE. OF COURSE IT'S HOT! IT'S A HOT SPRING! THERE'S STEAM!!!
omg.
the cute little arima bus:
oh this little place really piqued our interest:
because it's named 'jiang hu hui':
the boys were rather reluctant to go in (what if it's full of yakuza!!!) so chuu and i headed up to check it out. it was quite deserted... then our bravado escaped us and we left.
the boys went up next for some pictures, and then we left, alvin bought some arima wafers made from their slightly radioactive spa water and we headed back towards Hyoe.
when we arrived, the front desk welcomed us with bright smiles and slowly brought us up to our rooms - boy, it was one convoluted way to our wing man! the hotel was near empty because it was off-season and in kobe H1N1 was currently raging the population. it was really nice, walking with the manager as he spoke a little english, and brought us around, and mentioned where our dinner and breakfast would be.
then we reached our room.
IT'S HUGE.
they might have upgraded us, i'm not sure, BUT YEAH IT'S HUGE!!! the front door opened, leading us through a short stone pathway into a inner japanese door, and past it, there was a upper deck which was where the tatami flooring started. our luggages had already been stacked neatly along the walls and we took off our shoes before going in (which they kept for us later and arranged slippers in our shoes' place).
everyone took their shoes off and ran in while either squealing or going 'WOW!' - i sat at the step taking off my damn boots slowly. -_-
the manager patiently waited for me, and said it was ok coz i was so paiseh for making him wait. then when i was done, he kept my boots for me (i didn't let him take my socks too, it's too much!) and we went in for a short orientation.
he brought us around the mini-house (haha) because there was a dining/sleeping room, a tv room, a tea room (where we played games), and then the toilet was split into three main parts - a washing area, the bathroom (bathtub or stool, up to you), and the toilet which had a urinal (the boys were amazed) and a separate (complete with door) toilet bowl with full bidet functions. WOW!!!
once the manager left after showing us where our yukatas were, and arranging what time to have dinner and making sure we were settled it, he left us on our own. WE WENT MAD. we all gathered around the balcony coz the view was insane.
MOUNTAINS!!!
THEN SOMEONE CAME TO OUR DOOR AND PREPARED TEA FOR US!!! NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!
i was over the moon.
it was such an excellent tea!!!
totally being absorbed by the view. and the room's so beautiful and classically japanese:
trying to decide where to go after this:
we actually wanted to go and see the water fountain and maybe walk around arima town, etc. BUT ONCE WE SAW THE ROOM... it was unanimous - 'I WANT TO STAY IN THE HOTEL AND NUA. IT'S NUA TIME! OMG! I DOWANNA LEAVE!!'
or as hanbin put it very simply, 'LET ME DIE HERE.' then he promptly fell asleep on the FLOOR.
hahahahahaha!
chuu very quickly put on her yukata -
and then we kicked hanbin awake and made everyone wear their yukatas and leave for the onsen. EH GUYS NO TIME ALREADY LET'S ONSEN AWAAAAAAAAY...
when we got downstairs, we split up into the single sex onsens, so the guys went on their way. i was getting increasing shy and nervous until i got a stomachache. so chuu waited for me while i experienced the best japanese bidet in my LIFE (the toilet bowl had a sensor so the cover lifts up once u step into the loo. WOW.)
when i came out i just stood at one corner. wah lau damn paiseh can. but chuu was like, AH SCREW IT LA, and shrugged out of everything then ran out to take a bath. then she shouted THERE'S NO ONE HERE!!!
awesome.
i got over my panic attacks and went in. they had a line of showers (complete with all the bathing stuff) so you could wash off before stepping into the onsen. i sat next to chuu (it's like a bathing cubicle with only half a wall and no doors). i don't know why but she kept yelling in pain so i asked her 'eh what's going on with you?'
apparently she was bathing in onsen temperature water. 'HELLO IT'S DAMN HOT CAN, please just use normal temperature and then acclimatise yourself LATER.'
'ohhhh.'
then she started washing her hair. -_-"'
'eh you're supposed to wash your hair after, so that nothing from your head goes into the water.'
'ah never mind la wash already means clean liao.' -____________-
ONSEN ETIQUETTE = FAIL.
this next part was super funny. we needed to bathe ourselves with the super hot water before going in (if you suffer from high blood pressure and you go straight in you might faint) so we were both kneeling at the edge of the pool and pouring tubfuls of water over our limbs and yelping. it's torture man, chuu would yelp, then i'd yelp, and it's just a bloody cycle.
once we were done, we started on our torso WHICH WAS SO PAINFUL WE STOPPED YELPING AND SCREAMED INSTEAD.
then i had a smart idea. 'eh i pour for u and u pour for me on the back la.'
'ok.'
i took one tubful of water and without aplomb i poured it down her back. chuuling yelled so loudly there was a reverb and she almost fell head first into the pool. WHAHAHAHAHAHA.
SHE OF COURSE DID THE SAME TO ME.
ok la after all the fooling around we got in very slowly (took us about 5 minutes to immerse ourselves in) - i'm just really glad it was just two of us, without a bunch of japanese to wonder what these two girls are shouting 'ITAI!!!' about.
we tried the silver bath, then the spa bubbly in the silver bath (we just stuck our feet at the jet. which felt wonderful.), then hopped over into the golden bath, then the outdoor golden bath (which had DROWNED insects, YUCK), then back into the indoor golden bath, silver bath spa, then i started to see stars and we left. WOW. ONSEN ROCKS MAN!!!
but the bath was even better. we sat back down on the stools and i used my foot to keep the water from the showerhead flowing (step it like a trishaw rider, yo!) and their shampoo and conditioner was this horse oil (Ba-Yu) treatment thing. i love it. i'm going to change my shampoo brand STAT. it's just very good. i cannot explain. you have to try it.
problem is - it's only available at onsen hotels. T_T
everything else was great; they had this facial foam, face peeling masks, foot scrub, foot file... EVERYTHING.
then when we were done drying ourselves and wearing our yukata, we went into the dressing room and there were rows of hairdryers, hair lotion, facial lotion and EVEN BB CREAM. they also had combs for you to use. of course we used everything.
and the shampoo made my hair so soft and fluffy!!! XD
we met back with the guys and while we were just lounging and deciding our next move, we were served tea!!! XD
it even had a gold film inside. i am so pampered. T_T
i can really stay here for a few days man. i love it so much.
we went back to our room to unwind before wreaking havoc in the hotel.
hehe. you'll see.
AND NOW. TIME TO ROAM THE PLACE IN OUR YUKATAS AND CAM WHORE LIKE NEVER BEFORE!!! SO EXCITED CAN!!!
THIS IS MY FACE WITH THE IN-HOUSE BB CREAM.
here we go!
haha, fat ass.
any corner in the hotel room is fit for photo taking. i'm totally digging this.
origami!
pretending to be demure:
nuts!
the gorgeous outdoor garden we could see from our balcony, it's right outside the restaurant:
koi pond:
the absolutely picture of cutesy:
the absolute picture of a weird couple (and a lousy photographer... HAHA KIDDING LA CHUULING.)
the huge hedge:
the sunset:
what's all that buzzing... EH THERE'S A HUGE BEE BEHIND ME
*scared face*
here you go - the BEE:
so foggy and pretty:
there was a little shrine in the outer gardens:
this shot looks creepy. with my 'eeps' creepy face. i don't know what i was trying to do, really.
much better:
ok the point is to run so fast my sleeves flapped out. do you see it?
we're right outside the restaurant and the patrons were pretty amused at our antics.
it's the guys' turn.
1. gruff + comic relief
2. we're tough JAPANESE MEN!!!
3. 'amai, amai... amai, amai...'
(watch DMC to understand what the heck they were doing and why i LOL everytime i see this.)
eh what you want.
-________-
the other spa (hyoe has 3 of them):
the path between the main hotel and the 3rd onsen area. so very pretty, no?
i'm trying to look gruff and tough, and let out one leg... but i failed.
where's vivien?
THERE YOU GO!!
as you can tell, the rest have abandoned us and gone ahead. :(
we wanted to go to the foot bath, but it was already closed (i.e. no more water)!! :(
oh well.
'viv let's take a picture together!'
alvin: eh someone blinked. must take again.
chuu: I KNOW IT'S ME LA.
dusk:
hanbin is eligible!!!
hyoe is so beautiful.
we were famished after our photo shoot - it's time for kobe beef!!!
once we entered, most of the cold dishes were prepared and ready already. no wonder they asked us what time we'd be having our dinner! the hostess couldn't speak english but more than made up for it when she really tried her hardest to help us. she gave us instructions on which dish to start with first, and when we really wakarimasen she'd just help us to do it.
the staff at hyoe are TOP-NOTCH.
bloody professional. *shakes head in admiration*
dessert wine:
happy happy faces:
miso sauce:
sashimi:
our plate of food (for grilling):
oops the prawn fell... and stuck itself upright from the hand towel plate LOL!!
chuu laughed so hard her prawn fell face forward too! hahaha!!
KOBE BEEF. KOBE BEEF. KOBE BEEF!!!!!!!!
alvin cried coz it's that great.
wah lau - this is happiness.
there was also a male host serving our table who was super polite and more raucous. he came in and tried for very long to make us understand that this was not desert... it's to cleanse our palate for the udon later. OHHHHH...
WAH YUZU SORBET!!!!!!!!!! YUMMEH!!!!!!! T_T
wow this is just heavenly.
our hostess:
the brinjal is friggin' sour. my face just clenched up when i crunched into that. *shudder*
the udon bowl:
you see the pot they used? it's not hot at all! amazing!! you can absolutely lift the whole thing up using your bare hands! we were so concerned when the hostess and host kept moving the pot for us but they assured us it wasn't hot by asking us to touch it. WOW!!! O_O
our dessert - watermelon (every part of it is sweet. it's mind blowing.) plus a tofu like jelly and something similar to ice jelly which we at first mistook for ice.
I DOWANNA GO :(
as we were leaving, the host and hostess kneeled down and bowed!! argh, so paiseh, so we kept bowing back and wearing our slippers and bowed and left and kept waving. these 2 wait staff are the best IN MY LIFE I TELL YOU. the service rocks to the core in japan. T_T
we walked to the lobby to use their computer and find out if firefly season has started... it hasn't. so while chuu and hanbin were checking their emails (i absolutely refused to, hehe. i'm on hol!!) alvin and i headed toward their in house store and bought cakes, biscuits, mochi etc for the family.
i also mused for a long while before i decided to buy 2 bottles of hair treatment cream and 2 tubes of bb cream. thank goodness for alvin's extra wad of cash. :D
there was also a lady there who spoke to us in chinese (she's interning at hyoe as part of her translator course; she's studying to be an international translator, how cool is that!)
this is what my bunned up hair became after shampooing, conditioning with Ba-Yu and the hair treatment gel:
:D
hyoe is a 5 star hotel ok (if it's not obvious by now).
we found an arcade and watched hanbin for abit:
by the time we stumbled back to our room... OUR BEDS WERE ALL SET UP! actually they set it up while we were at dinner. :D:D:D
ahhhhh looks so fluffy, that futon.
osaka that's beyond the mountains (it was absolutely glittering with lights):
we played saboteur for abit after we packed our bags, then...
they taught me...
how to play...
BRIDGE!!! finally!! after 7 years someone FINALLY teaches me to play bridge.
so what if i lost all 7 rounds? hehe. :D
alvin's hand:
after this we all just curled up in our futons and fell asleep. tmr will be a rush to get to the airport man. soon to be leaving hyoe. :(
posted by feline @ 8:54 AM
