Spa Haven- 筋湯温泉
Our journey with the Hanasakis continued the second day as we rented a car and drove from Sasebo to this hot spring location called Sujiyu Onsen (筋湯温泉)in Oita.
Actually we weren't intending to stay at another Japanese inn this time round since we visited one in Kumamoto last year. The Hanasakis however planned to drop by the next prefecture for a relaxing soak and invited us along. Recalling what an ardious task it was for us to get to our ryokan (most of these Japanese inns are located in hot spring areas which are really off limits if you do not drive), the thought of not having to take any form of public transport and simply sit back and enjoy the drive was simply too tempting an offer to resist.
As suspected, the drive to the ryokan was no ordinary route. We had to wind through mountain roads, zig-zagged through Kumamoto occasionally before reaching the inn which is nestled among another range of mountains. No trains or amount of planning would have been able to get us all the way there!
It was late afternoon when we finally reached the cosy little inn where we would spend the night at. There are only 8 rooms in all and so even if there is maximum occupancy, there will not be too many guests at any one time. While this is not my first visit to a hot spring, it is the first time that I am staying at a room that comes with an attached outdoor bath. For the price we paid, I must say this place is quite a steal!
Having a break and enjoying tea in our room before dinner at the common room.
Looking forward to the sumptuos spread awaiting us!
What can I say? 本当に幸せだね。。。Typical Japanese style dinner consisting of one main course, usually a pot dish or grilled meat and many other smaller and nicely laid and prepared dishes, not forgetting dessert at the end, my fav! Perhaps i was looking forward to dinner too much but it was somehow not as good as it looked. Everything was nice but that's it, just nice, nothing too outstanding that I can recall now.
Leaving the lovely inn the next day, not before taking a picture outside our room.
Where fairy tales came to life
3 weeks ago Alvin visited Japan for a second time. And the most unbelievable thing happened soon after he touched down at Fukuoka airport: we won the grand prize at a local convenience store 15th anniversary lucky draw and got ourselves a pair of tickets for a 1-Day trip to the Netherlands! I am serious and i have pictures to prove it!
Amsterdam looks beautiful by day or by night doesn't it? Too bad we only had one short day before having to fly back to Japan.
Nah... for those who hasn't heard of Huis Ten Bosch in Japan, I was just pulling your leg (erm, that is for those who even bought my story in the first place! :P). Of course we didn't fly to Amsterdam overnight, we were just in Japan alright.
The morning he landed, we wasted no time and took the train to Sasebo, a city located in northern part of Nagasaki prefecture to meet the Hanasakis at Huis Ten Bosch. On hearing Alvin's second visit, they had generously offered to bring us to the Dutch-themed resort for an all expenses paid one night stay! Thanks to Teruko's brother who used to work on the project while the resort was being built, we could all get free one day admission and accomodation :)
In Dutch, Huis Ten Bosch means 'house in the woods.' It was born in 1992 as a replicate of a 17th-century Dutch town. Essentially, it's a theme park and residential-style resort with amusements, museums, shops, restaurants, hotels and more (think Disneyland but this place is more suited for adults).
As always, the Japanese managed to do what they do best i.e. imitating and coming out with an end product that is almost always better than the real thing. Whether it is technology or cuisine we are talking about, the Japanese have this historical knack of learning and borrowing from its source and perfecting it to another higher level. And Huis Ten Bosch is no exception for when we stepped into the spacious and lushly forested 150-ha site with 6 kilometeres of canals winding through it, we certainly felt as if we had stepped into another world. For a split second, I thought we were at the scene of a Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale and Alvin echoed my thoughts when he commented that he felt like eating one of those Hansel & Gretel lookalike houses and cottages!
There was the annual tulip festival going on and I've never seen so many different colors and varieties of fully bloomed tulips in my life. I'm sure Mommy would have been exhilarated at the sight of endless sea of flowers and a mental note was made to return to this place with her.
Flowers flowers everywhere!
It really looked as if we went to Holland doesn't it?
Taken at the garden of Palace Huis Ten BOsch, a faithful reproduction of the palace used by Queen Beatrice of Holland.
Because it was the second time Alvin were seeing the Hanasakis, there was not much need for getting used to. It was like a meeting between old friends and even though they could not communicate directly for most part of our trip, we still had a good time hanging out together.
The 'evasive' Hanasakis
On Wednesday it was a public holiday in Japan and as they did not have to work on that day the Hanasakis readily offered to show Ros around the island. I could not be happier for without a vehicle (in my case it's more like a license) it is indeed quite impossible to get around the island and appreciate the nature that Goto has to offer.
First stop was this viewing deck near Narao which offers a good view of the surrounding area and beautiful scenery of the many islands/islets that made up Goto. It was a good day with just right temperature but the sea was blanketed with a layer of mist that prevented clear vision.
Top down view of the little town of Narao with a population of about 3000.
Finally a nice and complete photo taken with the camera-shy Hanasakis. I've mentioned them in numerous entries and I'm glad to have a picture to show now. Hanasaki sensei and wife Teruko-san are the really nice couple that had been taking great care of me. They brought my parents and Alvin around when they visited, had me over at their place during new year, helped me weed my overgrown garden when i just arrived, unclogged my kitchen sink, gave me tons of bread and apples, took me groccery shopping on weekends...it's proving to be impossible to list down all the things they had done for me and I really thank my lucky stars to have met such nice people during my stay here.
Ros and the Hanasakis inspecting a Camelia tree; The Hanasakis making their way down to the foot of the hill.
Next we visited this little church that was situated in a really secluded part of the island. Just the drive itself took almost an hour and it was a lucky thing that we had the beautiful scenery along the way to keep us occupied. Like me when i first arrived, Ros found it hard to believe too that the water that we saw at every turn of the road is really seawater and not a flowing river. It's really difficult to explain without a picture (I am not even sure if any photo will do justice to the actual sight), you've really got to see for yourself to understand what we mean by the sea pretending to be a river!
And finally we reached our destination and found ourselves facing a most quaint little chapel. Set against the mountains and fronting the sea, it's got to be one of the most peaceful and beautiful spot I've seen thus far on this island.
Ros taking a picture of the interior of the chapel; Ros posing at the chapel yard.
Another shot with my Narao papa & mama, that's what they call themselves :D
The Hanasakis had something on in the evening and were apologetic for not bringing us out for dinner. What they didn't know was that me and Ros had greater dinner plan awaiting us, a belated Lo Hei in the middle of March! Ros got her mom to send her a packet of yusheng which she brought all the way to Nagasaki just so we could lo hei together, haha :)
And here's a look at the dish that brought much comfort for 2 Singaporeans seeking a little taste of home :)
Ros' Cheesy Birthday
The next day was a Monday so I went to work as usual. Before leaving the house, I woke Ros up to lock the door behind me. I remember vaguely calling out repeatedly as i made my way downstairs to be careful as my stairs is quite steep. Before i even reached the landing I heard a loud "THUD" followed by groans of pain... She lost her footing and tumbled down the stairs, dog in arms! Aside from a huge and black bruise that grew almost instantaneously on her leg, she was perfectly alright though poor Variel seemed to be in a momentary state of shock due to the sudden fall. What can I say, it's so my friend to start off her birthday with a bang :P
I left work on the dot and rushed home in the soonest time possible as we agreed to whip a fantastic meal for our much talked about, 2 person birthday bash! :)
The special birthday menu included the birthday gal's all time favorite food-CHEESE! And hence the cheesy menu for the day: cheese and pumpkin gratin, mixed beans salad with baby cheese, fried fish and of course cheesecake!
I absolutely love the salad (the baby cheese added a nice twist to it) and Ros picked the fish as her favorite dish for the night. While we thought the gratin tasted fine, both of us agreed that it would have been better had my microwave oven function been able to live up to its task better. It's just not as baked and browned as would like it to be.
We rested a while after dinner before progressing to Ros' highlight of the day- The birthday cake!
Ros trying to take a bite of the undecorated cake; My first attempt at decorating a birthday cake.
Ros taking the decorated cake out delicately from the cake box and looking dangerous as she prepared to cut the cake after we sang the birthday song :P Notice Variel peeping out from beneath the kotatsu?
The completed Oreo cheesecake.
Personally i wasn't too pleased with how the cake turned out though i had a lot of fun decorating it. Taste wise, it was up to expectation thanks to the recipe I got from Rosie but once more my less than dependable oven did not produced the desired result. What came out was a mixture of a baked cheesecake on the outside and what the Japanese would call 'rare' cheesecake (those with soft center) as the inside just could not hardened nicely. The birthday gal though seemed to like this 'best-of-both-world combination' cake very much and oh well I guess that's what matter :P
Arriving in fashion
The much anticipated visitor from the north arrived in good fashion and I mean it literally. Look at those boots and the trench coat, what a far cry from the hand-me-down jumper her island dwelling counterpart has been wearing throughout the long, wintery days! :P
You bet I was looking forward to Ros’ visit after months of chatting over Skype and the occasional sms using our Japanese hand phones.Our fashionable friend arrived on a Sunday afternoon, giving me enough time the day before to give clean my house and sunned the blankets & mattress. On the day itself, I spent the entire morning and afternoon preparing for the welcome feast and baking a surprise birthday cake. Actually we were supposed to bake her cake together but it proved simply impossible to get her any decent present on this island that I decided to bake one in advance as her birthday gift.
I must have been working so hard in the kitchen that I completely missed out the sound of the horn that signaled the arrival of the 3pm ferry. I dashed out of my house 10 minutes later upon realizing that my poor friend and her dog must have been left stranded at the port wondering where was her warm welcome! *grinning sheepishly*
And this was the welcome feast! The menu had been specifically designed to include only local dishes, namely curry chicken and fried beehoon together with pineapple lassi and salad. A truly Singaporean meal to welcome a Singaporean friend :)
And here's a toast to our friendship which transcends all boundaries! Hey it's true you know, Ros got to take the plane from Sapporo to Fukuoka, the bus to Nagasaki and the ferry to Goto, hiding the doggy and lugging her luggage, before we could be reunited once more :P
After shower and changing into our startling combination of baby blue and pink pyjamas, we had tea and feasted on the yummy omiyage Ros brought from Japan's land of dairy product-Hokkaido! Crispy chocolate wafers, butter-cream sandwiched cookies and a cup of hot coffee, a sinfully delightful way to end the day on a real SWEET note :)
Spring has arrived, finally!
What simple joy and sheer happiness to lift your head and be able to see such a beautiful foliage!
I've been waiting for these days longer than i can remember. The day i get to experience the changing of season and view the flowering of the cherry blossoms.
Having lived in the tropics for most part of my life, my knowledge of the 4 seasons was limited to what we learnt in school and the short holiday trips we made to nearby countries during winter season. It was no wonder I used to compartmentalise the 4 seasons as each spanning a period of about 3 months. And i realised I wasn't the only one when i had well-meaning friends asking me sometime back in February if it was still very cold.
Of course it was! In fact, February was the coldest months of all. Some might wonder like me that isn't it supposed to be spring time already? Why do the Chinese celebrate new year during this period and call it 'Spring Festival' when it is still dead cold wintery days?
I've since realised that the changing of seasons is not this clear-cut but a rather subtle affair. Many would have expect the weather to be relatively warmer when the cherry blossom bloomed during mid-March but the short-lived sakura season had seen nothing but chilly days. How many times did the weather seemed to finally be turning for the better,raising my hopes for a warmer days only to have the cold return in bouts lasting for another few weeks!
The last 2 weeks though had been nothing but fantastic weather. I enjoy my daily walk home, taking time to smell the flowers and admire the calm sea. In fact, the days had been so fine that I couldn't resist taking out my bike on many evenings after returning from work just for a brief joy ride. For sure this time, spring has indeed arrived!
I need a break
After 3 frenzied weeks of entertaining and traveling, I am back on the island once more and desperately in need of some rest. It feels like no matter how early I’ve been going to bed these days, I just never seem to be getting enough sleep. Thankfully it’s the beginning of the school semester here and most schools are still busy with administrative work so the ALT has been pretty much left in the cold, something which I am perfectly fine with at this moment.
The 3 weeks had passed by in a flash! It had been great having Ros over and Alvin and I enjoyed ourselves tremendously touring the Kansai region though the quietness in the house and lack of company took some getting used to again after everyone had gone home. It had been so much fun cooking for more than one person, chatting after meals and going for walks together that all of a sudden the solitude was a little hard to swallow.
Well the good news is I won’t have to deal with this new found sense of ‘loneliness’ for too long as I have another trip awaiting me in less than 3 weeks time. Yes, mommy, Jac Jac and Rob are coming to Tokyo and I will be flying there to meet up with them for a week of shopping, eating and traveling!
With so much to look forward to so soon, in the meantime, I really ought to make use of this interval period to catch up on some rest and recover (both physically and financially) as much as I can. If there is one thing I’ve come to realize about life on this island, especially after returning from the big and hectic cities, is that it has this calming effect on both mind and soul (not to mention pockets as well!). Daily life resumes pretty soon with day time being spend at schools and taking my long walk home after work. After an overdose of eating out and good food while travelling, dinner these days consists mainly vegetable soup or salad with fruits. Nights are spent watching TV, conducting my weekly English conversation class, talking on the phone and reading. It's really back to simple life once more...
It was late afternoon when we finally reached the cosy little inn where we would spend the night at. There are only 8 rooms in all and so even if there is maximum occupancy, there will not be too many guests at any one time. While this is not my first visit to a hot spring, it is the first time that I am staying at a room that comes with an attached outdoor bath. For the price we paid, I must say this place is quite a steal!
Having a break and enjoying tea in our room before dinner at the common room.
Looking forward to the sumptuos spread awaiting us! 
What can I say? 本当に幸せだね。。。Typical Japanese style dinner consisting of one main course, usually a pot dish or grilled meat and many other smaller and nicely laid and prepared dishes, not forgetting dessert at the end, my fav! Perhaps i was looking forward to dinner too much but it was somehow not as good as it looked. Everything was nice but that's it, just nice, nothing too outstanding that I can recall now.
