I woke up naturally today without feeling tired, something I've not experienced for a long long time. The sound of rain falling on top of the traditional Japanese roof at Sumica was music to my ears. A quick shower later, it was another desperate attempt to find a sit down breakfast place. I eventually found one beside Sumica, and it was bad. The pancakes were fresh from ready made bags, the hot chocolate was not rich enough, and at YEN 950, just not worth it. But then again, there are VERY limited options around.
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| misty Nikko |
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| breakfast |
Headed back to Sumica to pack and check out. The lady boss was at the reception and she told me she was living in Commonwealth, Singapore for 4 years not too long ago! We had a great chat as well as the mandatory kawaii photo shoot with a cat ear hair band.
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| kawaii with lady boss |
I head for the shuttle stop and back to the Nikko heritage site for one more temple which I missed the day before. The Futarasan Shrine, I was told, is a temple of love. Apparently people go there to pray for love. Can't really find any love objects there, but rain there was plenty. I finally utilized my umbrella while exploring this seemingly lost ancient paradise.
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| Futarasan Shrine |
My last shuttle ride back to Tobu Nikko station and I had to grab that salty sweet red bean fried dough again (3 of them this time) before boarding my train back to Asakusa. This will be my lunch for the day.
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| lunch on board |
As I didn't check clearly the train ride, I ended having to change the train 6-7 times before arriving at Shinagawa Station. Along the way, a drunken old 63 years old (yes he told me his age) even gave me wrong directions. Luckily I found an English speaker to help direct me correctly.
Almost 4 hours later, my landscape of peace and tranquility transformed into a buzz of sound and crowd as I made my way back to Shinagawa Prince Hotel to check into my room. This will be my sleep for the next 5 nights, although the first 2 nights will be a single bed room while the last 3 will be a double bed room. Dead tired from hours of train commute, I refreshed myself before heading out for my first Tokyo onsen experience for this trip. I transferred from Yamanote Line to Meguro Line to alight at Musashi-Koyama station, walked around 10 minutes and arrive at Shimizuyu Onsen. The entrance fee was YEN 490, and it was one of the cheapest in Tokyo. You have to bring your own towel though.
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| Prince Hotel single bed room |
The Shimizuyu Onsen can be considered a neighborhood onsen serving the residents living in the vicinity. In the men's section, there were the sauna room, a cold pool, a black water onsen with jacuzzi jets, a hotter outdoor black water onsen and a mud color 'gold' onsen. The waters were so dense you really couldn't see anything once you were submerged. This is good for people who are shy about being naked. The outdoor onsen was nice, especially with the ongoing cold, misty rain 'fluttering' that night.
After onsen, it was a nice walk back to the train station. Unexpectedly, I discovered a shopping arcade nearby that contained many eating establishments as well as shops selling interesting Japanese stuff. I settled down with a ramen store and ordered a set. It was a big set and I could hardly finish it. However, 2 ladies beside me ordered a larger set, and they gobbled down effortlessly even with their skinny frames.
After some shopping, I headed back to hotel. However before I could call it a night, work called and I was forced to undertake some spreadsheet calculation on the insistence of the European colleagues. This regardless it was
Friday night and they couldn't do anything much since the next day was weekend. It was a sleepless night on bed as I tossed and turned with my mind filled with the aftermath of work.
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| in my Yukata |
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