I'm obsessed.

so hot.

talk about skills...

I wish I was in Toronto in May to see them live.

Crab Overload

(The soothing foot onsen near Kinosaki Onsen station. So nice and hot!)

Where: Kinosaki Onsen, Hyogo Prefecture
When: February 24 & 25, 2008
Info: I'm sure you're all thinking - "but wait Laura, you've already been here...twice! Why are you going back AGAIN!?" Well, yes I've been here twice but Elspeth really wanted to go (maybe because I gushed about it) and I'm not going to pass up an opportunity to relax in amazing onsens and eat delicious seafood to we planned one of our famous weekend getaways.

(The swanky garden in our ryokan. They projected artwork on the back wall at night)

We got up early and caught the shinkansen to Kyoto. The weather was freezing and it was windy and snowy. Then the impossible happened...the shinkansen was LATE. GASP!! We had our connection times planned pretty close (about 15 minutes) and unfortunately didn't make it. It was the first time we missed a train....EVER!

We ended up eating udon on the platform in Kyoto Station and waiting for the next Kinosaki train. It was only 4 cars long so people started lining up early. We stood in the freezing cold for over an hour only to get on the train and find that it was freezing too. The train ride was slow and long as the snow caused this train to be late too (it had to stop at almost every station to wait!). As you can imagine, we were very happy to get off that train!


We walked around for a while, tested the foot onsen and looked at omiyage shops. Finally, it started to snow snowballs (they weren't flakes but actual tiny balls of snow) so we got the onsen bus and found our ryokan. We relaxed in our beautiful room and then used the ryokan's onsen (they had a really nice outdoor bath too). Then dinner arrived.

(As you can see, Elspeth is the master of the hand gestures. We have to do these for every vocabulary word in kids classes)

Kinosaki is famous for crab. If you mention it to anyone, the first thing they talk about is crab. We went in peak crab season and it was so delicious. We must have eaten a year's worth of crab in one meal. Everything was gorgeous. Oh, and there was no horse to be seen.

(Check out the 'crab scissors')

(Crab nabe - SO DELICIOUS)

Our ryokan lady kept bringing tray after tray of food and they all seemed to contain crab. Cooked crab, crab nabe, crab sashimi, crab tempura, crab dumplings, crab insides, crab claws, crab, crab, crab...

(This assortment was supposed to represent the various onsens in the town)

(I'm not a huge fan of crab sashimi but here it was to die for...)

(The tower of soba. I like soba but come on. Who can eat all of that other food and a tower of soba? I ended up barely finishing one plate...)

We took our time eating...making sure we got all of that delicious crab. As you can see, we did a really good job. No waste here!


The meal finished with rice, pickles, a clear soup with a crab (obviously) dumpling and some mochi with kinako. The food at this ryokan was amazing. Worth every yen...

After dinner we put on our yukata jackets and socks and rolled ourselves downstairs where we got into a 1940's era looking taxi. It dropped us off at our first onsen. We ended up going to three different onsens that night. Each had something special - one had a rock cave to sit in, another a cool waterfall and the last a nice outdoor bath. We walked through the streets in our wooden geta (damn, they hurt), looking at tiny shops and watching people play the old-fashioned arcade games that are famous in Kinosaki.

(The next morning we woke up and had a leisurely HUGE breakfast. The clear jelly looking stuff on the right was actually konnyaku. Yeah, it had the least appetizing consistency and I didn't end up eating it)

(This fish was grilled on our tiny personal grills. Very tasty. This is usually my favourite part of Japanese breakfasts.)

(This was new. A wooden box that was heated from underneath. On one side was a small warm bottle of a soy-based sauce. The other side was a small 'bath' to heat tofu. When hot enough we scooped out the tofu. Again...delicious!)

(Goodbye beautiful ryokan)

After our breakfast we headed out into Kinosaki. We checked out the fish markets and tried to figure out how much our crab dinner would have cost. As you can see from the prices in the picture above, just the crab in our dinner probably cost at least 12 000 yen for the both of us.


The weather that day was beautiful. The snowballs were gone and the sun was shining. The bridges and river in the town were perfect for pictures.

(Enjoying a little foot onsen-ing. Unfortunately, this one wasn't hot enough)

Our main mission of the morning - go back to the onsens we'd visited the night before and get their stamps. Man, we both love how the Japanese love their stamps. Here's the first onsen we went to. This one had a cool outdoor rock cave.

(Seriously, Elspeth...I am so small in this picture that you almost can't tell it's me!)

(Yup, Kinosaki has a Hello Kitty store. Elspeth did some damage. I may have helped her.)

The second onsen (my favourite). This one had the huge outdoor waterfall and baths inside and out. Wonderful!

The last one was a bit smaller but also one of my favourites. It had the nice outdoor bath.

Continuing our 'Taste all of the new ice cream flavours of Japan' tour - Kinako/black sesame soft ice cream. This store was as interesting as their ice cream was delicious. They sold beautiful bags made in the shape of traditional tied packages. If only I could have figured out how to use it in everyday life...

We had to wait for our train, and since it would take more than two hours to get back to Kyoto, we decided that we had to have lunch in Kinosaki. Darn, that meant more crab! We found an amazing restaurant and decided on a scrumptious crab and veggie tempura set.


To celebrate crab season, the town had installed huge wooden crab claws in front of the station. Yeah for a silly photo opportunity!

(Our Kinosaki crane impressions)

Each time I go to Kinosaki I have a great time. Since this was the last time, I really tried to savour the sights, sounds, tastes and especially the onsens. This is truly a town that could only exist in Japan....and I love it.

Our Revenge on Fuji aka How We Mooned Fuji

Date: January 27 & 28, 2008.
Where: Kawaguchi-ko, Yamanashi Prefecture
Who: Laura and Elz, of course.
Info: We swore we'd get our revenge. Memories of getting caught in the lightening storm while at the 7th station kept returning to us and we decided what we needed to do was see Fuji and get revenge. We couldn't leave Japan with sour/bitter thoughts about Fuji! So we made a plan - a decadent, relaxing weekend near Fuji, which would involve excellent food, an onsen with a view of the mountain and no climbing whatsoever.

Getting to Kawaguchi-ko was quite an adventure. Something like four trains and five hours later, we arrived. Here's the view from the crazy Fuji line train (above). My luck with train photo shots is not great...so here's my next shot (below). Yup. I somehow always get photos of power poles.

(Where are you Fuji-san?)

(Kawaguchi-ko Station)

After all that time on the train (at some stations we only had one minute transfer times!) we needed some lunch. The local specialty was a stew/udon/vegetable soup (I can't remember what it was called). It was delicious! It was so nice to have a soup full of vegetables and the broth was amazing. The noodles are apparently a specialty of the region and are super thick and handmade-tasting.

(I look a little disheveled in this photo - I feel asleep against the window on the train and ended up with a bad case of bedhead and a sunburn on my face. Way to go me)

We got a ride to our super nice hotel, where they served us frothy bitter matcha and sweet persimmon treats while we looked out the window at the frozen lake.


Our room was spacious and beautiful. Check out those lights! The view was pretty nice too (ok, minus the parking lot directly below)(below).

We relaxed a bit, went to the onsen and watched a bit of tv. We explored the hotel and found a rickety staircase up to the roof. There, we could see the whole lake and of course, Fuji-san. Ever wondered what Fuji looks like at dusk? Here's the answer...still recognizable even in the dark.

Our dinner was in a completely different part of the hotel. We followed our 'waitress' down hallways, up stairs and through sliding doors. Finally we came to our own private dining room. I knew we were in a posh place because there was a floor heater. No chilly feet here!


And so began the marathon of fancy food. Everything looked beautiful. Looked being the key word. Both Elspeth and I agree that some things that show up in these fancy meals (especially at the beginning) are not so delicious.

This sea snail thing (above) was so gross. It took all of my power not to spit it out.

There's always a sashimi plate. The shrimp and white fish were excellent. Then came the sashimi that looked like tuna. But it wasn't tuna. Take a guess at what you think it was....it's a local specialty. The only reason I tried one piece was that I told myself when I came to Japan I'd try everything at least once. This was the first and last time I will ever eat this....it makes me a bit queasy just thinking about it.

POST YOUR GUESSES IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. I have a prize for whoever gets it right....

(A close up of the mystery sashimi)

(Meat and veggies grilled on our own personal grills)

(The other half of that snail thing with a rapini topping)

(Strange puffed rice/seed things. Not much flavour but looked pretty)

(Soba [buckwheat noodles] with grated slimey potato. The noodles were good)

(Daikon radish flower with a shrimp dumpling-thing)

SHABU-SHABU (swish, swish!) = YUMMY

(If I remember correctly, some kind of seafood mixture, wrapped in a tofu product, then fried in panko)

(This was a first - miso soup with mushrooms served in a small teapot, which was heated at the table. The miso soup was good but I was so full at this point that I couldn't eat much of it.)

After dessert we rolled ourselves back to our room, where we watched TV (I think I fell asleep) until the fireworks started. That's right, there was a fireworks show over the lake. We could have watched them from our balcony but Elspeth wanted to go up on the roof. Me, being the wonderful friend I am (HA! Elz!) went with her. It was FREEZING and the fireworks were kind of boring. We both decided that if they had combined all of the fireworks into a 10 minute show, instead of having a 30 minute show of one firework going off at a time, it would have been much better.

At a lot of onsen hotels they change the men's and women's baths daily so that if you stay overnight, you can use both baths. We knew they did this to the indoor baths and I had a feeling they'd do it to the outdoor baths. The night before we'd tried the women's outdoor bath, which looked over the lake. When we checked that morning, we found this view...and we had the place to ourselves...

The steam made it hard to take pictures but I think you get the idea. Our very own view of Fuji-san, which we enjoyed while seating in the steaming, relaxing water. Take that Fuji. You give us lightening storms and rain, we'll just enjoy the view.

Breakfast at this hotel was AMAZING. It was light and tasty and full of delicious fish, umeboshi, onsen tamago and miso soup. I love Japanese breakfasts.

(This fish was SO GOOD)

(Tofu product/'skin' heated gently and then dipped in a citrus-y soy sauce)

We took our time at breakfast, watching the little ducks swim under the ice on the lake. It was nice.


Before checking out we took one more trip up the scary icy stairs of death to take some pictures. It was a bit overcast, but Fuji was visible (thank god). Check out the snow on it! And to think that some people climb it on New Year's Day. They are CRAZY.

(Take that Fuji!)

(One of our parent-friendly-game show hostess photo)

Our next stop - the Kacha-Kacha Ropeway (I've lost count of how many ropeways I've been on in this country!). Here, we got awesome views of Fuji and met some interesting characters.

(Look it's Tanuki and Rabbit - Is Rabbit trying to put out the fire in Tanuki's backpack...or did Rabbit set it on fire?!?!?! Silly Rabbit)

(This was some weird man-made frozen ice tree thing. The Japanese tourists were very taken with it... Elspeth and I were just confused)

(Poor Tanuki was sad...You would be too if your friend set your backpack on fire)

(Elspeth giving Tanuki some advice...)

(What's that, Rabbit? What do you see? Hikers stranded on the mountain?)

Just picture us somewhere up there but instead of snow, there was a lightening storm and it was ice-raining. Were we nuts? Yes, we were. I have no desire to try to climb it again. I much prefer admiring it from a relaxing onsen.


Back in town, we went to investigate the swan boats. The day before we'd seen people paddling them around the lake and it looked like fun. Unfortunately, due to the ice and it being a Monday, the swans were closed. Boo...

So, what do you do when it's freezing cold? Get ice cream of course! This was a selection of the local flavours - peach, grape and lavender. I thought the lavender would taste kind of like old-lady perfume but it was really yummy and more like a sorbet than an ice cream.

We decided to take a bus to Tokyo and then get a shinkansen home instead of spending 5 hours changing trains the way we came. We had a bit of time before our bus arrived so we lounged in the trendy station cafe (the cafe mocha was so delicious and not too sweet, which is rare in Japan) and checked out the gift shop (I found awesome cards with an elephant dancing in front of Fuji). The local train went by, decorated with Fuji faces (below).

The bus ride was a little squished but a lot less effort than a bunch of local trains. And we got to see some new scenery (yeah for highways!). We grabbed some udon at Tokyo station and then caught our HOT HOT SEXY train. I love the new N700. It is so beautiful. Seeing this pull into the station still gives me chills.

And to top off a great weekend, the train was EMPTY. I think there were about 6 other people in our car. It even had that new car/train smell.

While Elz and I will never forget getting caught in a storm during our Fuji climb (or sleeping on a bench all night!), this weekend made sure we won't leave Japan with only bitter thoughts of Fuji-san! I still can't get over the onsen's view. Amazing!