Rise and shine, today was another early day. A day earlier, the ticket for Nikko was purchased and now it was time to board the limited express train towards Nikko. I went there last September during early autumn and took the normal 2.5 hours train. This time, it was an upgrade to the SPACIA train that took 1.5 hours with assigned seats. This was especially crucial since unless my last trip of 2 days 1 night, this round it was a day trip. Breakfast was purchased at 7-11 nearby and it was cold soba with a fish roe side. The scenery started with the dense built up of Tokyo city, to the residential suburb, and into farmlands and woods. Snow scape started to take over as well.
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| my express ride |
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| my fantastic breakfast from 7-11 (it's really a store and more!!) |
After an hour's ride, it was a transfer at Shimoimachi station towards Nikko station. As the train door opened, a whisk of brisk cold air hit the face. It was minus 4 degrees that day, and snow was evident everywhere!
First stop: the bus stop to hop into the Heritage Bus. The Nikko Pass includes unlimited rides on this Heritage Bus around Nikko. After 10 minutes of bus ride, a stop was made at Stop 82. It was a nice walk down a slope that was lined with tall trees, and I felt the same awesomeness I had 6 months ago. Only this time, the place had turned into a winter wonderland. At the base of the slope was the same red bridge over a gushing river gorge. It was a magnificent view with the bridge covered with white snow and the surrounding hills now turned white.
Since this was my 2nd visit to Nikko, I decided to take another side route up to the main attractions. This side route that was long amongst the magnificent cedars was nice and shady, with sides of thick white snow by the road. It was a nice time 'rumbling' in the virgin snow and with no one around at all!
I visited the same temples as I did back in September 2015, and although they are the same buildings, they looked so different under a blanket of snow! I shall let the photos do the talking here.
After the day of temple touring, it was time for lunch. But this time, instead of taking the bus back to town, it was all on foot to explore the Nikko township better! And was it not a great idea as the peacefulness of the township was greatly felt! Along the way were several small establishments selling food, and I picked Maruhide Dining & Cafe. I had the pasta with salad, plus their local speciality raw tofu skin (they call it tofu sashimi). It was a pleasant lunch and well needed after a full day's worth of walking!
As there was still time to kill while waiting for the train to arrive, it was yet another natural stop at the town's supermarket: Lion Dor. This is a massive mall selling items at much lower rates than Tokyo! I got my soju here (amongst many other items) and lugged it back to Tokyo!!
Just before boarding the train, I had to stop by the same store which sells the crispy red bean dough for a bite. This time it was especially nice eating it as the weather was much colder and the dough was steaming hot!
After a long and tiring ride back to Asakusa, it was a 500m walk to the nearby Snake Onsen. This was a very small establishment with 3 pools (including one which had electricity currents pulsating in the water!!). I did not spend too much time here, more of refreshing myself after a day's outing.
After onset, it was straight to the nearby supermarket to pick up some dinner. It was decided that dinner will be home cooked to save cost. Not that the ingredients were cheap. Grade 5 premium wagyu was purchased along side a box of salmon roe plus Japanese Tang O vegetables. And to add from 7-11, MaPo Toufu rice!
The beef was beautifully marbled, and costs only a fraction as it would in Singapore. It was sliced thinly and evenly. Once back at the apartment, the only thing required was to pour boiling water over the beef and you get a thick and flavourful beef broth! Yes, nothing additional was required to add taste to the wonderful beef soup, it was really that good!
Yet another satisfying day in Japan!
I visited the same temples as I did back in September 2015, and although they are the same buildings, they looked so different under a blanket of snow! I shall let the photos do the talking here.
After the day of temple touring, it was time for lunch. But this time, instead of taking the bus back to town, it was all on foot to explore the Nikko township better! And was it not a great idea as the peacefulness of the township was greatly felt! Along the way were several small establishments selling food, and I picked Maruhide Dining & Cafe. I had the pasta with salad, plus their local speciality raw tofu skin (they call it tofu sashimi). It was a pleasant lunch and well needed after a full day's worth of walking!
As there was still time to kill while waiting for the train to arrive, it was yet another natural stop at the town's supermarket: Lion Dor. This is a massive mall selling items at much lower rates than Tokyo! I got my soju here (amongst many other items) and lugged it back to Tokyo!!
Just before boarding the train, I had to stop by the same store which sells the crispy red bean dough for a bite. This time it was especially nice eating it as the weather was much colder and the dough was steaming hot!
After a long and tiring ride back to Asakusa, it was a 500m walk to the nearby Snake Onsen. This was a very small establishment with 3 pools (including one which had electricity currents pulsating in the water!!). I did not spend too much time here, more of refreshing myself after a day's outing.
After onset, it was straight to the nearby supermarket to pick up some dinner. It was decided that dinner will be home cooked to save cost. Not that the ingredients were cheap. Grade 5 premium wagyu was purchased along side a box of salmon roe plus Japanese Tang O vegetables. And to add from 7-11, MaPo Toufu rice!
The beef was beautifully marbled, and costs only a fraction as it would in Singapore. It was sliced thinly and evenly. Once back at the apartment, the only thing required was to pour boiling water over the beef and you get a thick and flavourful beef broth! Yes, nothing additional was required to add taste to the wonderful beef soup, it was really that good!
Yet another satisfying day in Japan!
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