kusatsu onsen-shima onsen

From Kusatsu Onsen it takes about 1 hour by train to Nakanojo.

From Nakanojo, it takes about 30 minutes by bus (and 930 yen!) to get to Shima Onsen.

Again the snow was coming down steadily, but a little "warmer" -3C(26F).

We grabbed some lunch at Sekizenya, a little eating area off to the side of Sekizenkan, a ryokan with over 300 years of history.

Tororo udon for Satoshi and sansai (mountain greens) soba for me.

It was nice to get out of the cold for a bit.

We also got to tour parts of the ryokan.

In the olden days, you would leave your shoes out in the hall...plus, there are no locks on the doors...eep!

After lunch, we called Chuseikan, the ryokan we would be staying at and they "came down" the mountain to pick us up.

With all the snow that had fallen, it sure was a trek back to the ryokan.

After checking in, we took a nap under the kotatsu (heated table).

Here is a short video of the area outside of our window...super peaceful, yeah?!

I loved the tile in the entrance to our room and the beautiful chair in the sitting area (which was too cold to sit in).

Dinner was served in our room and was an assortment of things.

There was also a pork hot pot.

After clearing our dishes, the owner came to take out our futon(s).

I say futons because the rooms weren't centrally heated so we definitely needed two!

He also gave each of us these yutanpo...lifesaver!

There was also a gas stove in the room, which I am not used to...it scared me because when we turned it off before going to bed, the smell of gas was pretty strong!

I was afraid there wouldn't be wi-fi nor television, but there were both.

It was a long day, but I was enjoying the quiet.

Sekizenya
4236 Oaza Shima, Nakanojo-machi
Agatsuma, Gunma
Phone: 0279.64.2101

Chuseikan
4374 Otsu Oaza Shima, Nakanojo-machi
Agatsuma, Gunma
Phone: 0279.64.2336

tokyo-kusatsu onsen

From where we live, it takes about 4 hours and a half to get to Kusatsu Onsen.

The reason why it took us so long was because we were using the Seishun 18-kippu, I've written about using this ticket previously, here.

By the time we reached the onsen, it was time for a late lunch.

There was also a steady fall of snow and the wind was fahreezing...the temps were -6C (27F)

I am usually good about checking the weather before our trips, but was totally unprepared for this weather...gah!

After leaving our bags with our hotel, we went in search of lunch.

Since it was fahreezing, we popped into Souan for some okkirikomi.

Okkirikomi is the local cuisine of the Joshu area (I think Joshu (joe-shoe) is the old name for Gunma).

It is a flat noodle in a broth with lots of veggies, kind of similar to Yamanashi's houtou.

Satoshi went with the standard miso version, while I ordered the tan tan style.

My version had soy milk in the broth, so it toned down the spiciness.

After lunch, we walked back to a fruit stand, Uocho, that I spotted on our walk from the bus station to the center of the town, and bought some "frozen" dried apricots.

To escape the semi-blizzard, we went a couple doors down to Seigetsudo for some coffee, banana dorayaki and chocolate manju.

I don't usually care for banana flavored sweets (most times the flavor is fake), but this was delicious.

The chocolate manju had a white bean filling...and was dipped in a semi-sweet chocolate.

From the cafe, we watched the steady snow fall being interrupted by sudden whips of wind.

In the middle of the onsen area is a huge yubatake (hot spring field) where you can see hot spring water being cooled as it makes it way down several tiers within the "field" (apparently 4000 liters per minute!)

By running the water down several tiers, they can cool the waters without diluting it.

Inside of Netsu no yu, there is also a yumomi (you-moh-mee) show (admission 600 yen for adults, 300 yen for children) where you can see them manually cool down the hot spring water while singing traditional folk songs.

I shot two videos while we viewed the show here, and here.

Dinner was buffet style.

What we noticed about this onsen area was that it was really popular with 20-somethings.

I also bought these senbei and boro (wafer orbs) from Nakayoshidohonpo, unfortunately the one on the left was made in Okayama prefecture!

boo! note to self: read the label better...

The boro (wafer orbs) are bigger than the type I grew up with.

But I love the crunch to them.

It was a long day and despite the freezing temps, we got to see a lot and eat a lot.

Souan
118-1 Kusatsu
Agatsuma, Gunma
Phone: 0279.88.0811

Uocho
82 Kusatsu
Agatsuma, Gunma
Phone: 0279.88.2063

Seigetsudo
25 Kusatsu
Agatsuma, Gunma
Phone: 0279.88.2166

Netsu no yu (Yumomi show)
414 Kusatsu
Agatsuma, Gunma
Phone: 0279.33.3613

Nakayoshidohonpo
118-1 Kusatsu
Agatsuma, Gunma
Phone: 0279.82.1237

Daitokan
126 Kusatsu
Agatsuma, Gunma
Phone: 0279.88.2611

the first week of 2019

Happy New Year!

Hope you started the new year off with little to no stress.

I think we started the year off right by being able to see Mount Fuji.

We had ozoni for our first breakfast.

We also went to a lot of shrines around our area for hatsumode.

We also had osechi...this year I bought mostly everything since we were on a little trip before the New Year (which I'll write about later), but did make namasu and tataki gobo (burdock root).

We didn't have all the foods to make it an authentic osechi...oh well.

We face-timed with family on their first day of 2019 (love technology!)

finally got to introduce Satoshi to Civitas, he had the "snack" plate with ham and enjoyed it...we'll definitely be back.

On Friday, Satoshi went back to work, so I went to see "A Star Is Born", I didn't realize it was a remake (have not seen the original nor the other remake)...Loved the music!

Lunch before the movie was at City Bakery...veggie sandwich and cappuccino.

Saturday we went to Naritasan in Chiba.

Lunch or more like mid-afternoon meal was at Surugaya where we waited 3 hours for unagi! (more about that later too).

So that was our first week.

I'll write up things more in detail later, but thought I should kind of bring you up to date.

Have a good week!

thank you

What a krazy year!

Way too many natural disasters...

Still, I'm thankful for every day, both good and bad.

I do miss all the nature we were closer to when we were in Minoo...we definitely live more in the "city" now.

Thank you for always being a part of these adventures.

All the best for 2019.

10 photos

Can you believe I've been doing this meme for 10 years now?! I started back in 2008 and now it is a nice way to look back at my kitchen adventures.

Aaloo Masala, a tasty potato salad-like side dish.

Borscht was a new way to use beets.

Chicken Gyoza, super easy and perfect in soup.

Saba Tartare-style, tasty and perfect with crackers or baguette.

Curry Okayu, perfect for cold mornings and easy if you have the "porridge" button on your rice cooker.

Tataki Kyuuri, a tasty and great way to get your stress out.

Momotaro Tomato Suzuke, inspired by the TV show "Kodoku no Gurume", this slightly puckery side dish is perfect for the humidity of summer in Japan.

Taiwan Soy Milk Soup, this soup takes a bit of work, but is nice when you are tired of eating out.

Maangchi's Braised Lotus, I love her recipes, so easy and tasty.

Aunty Misao's Saba Patties, I'm glad I finally tried this recipe, so good.

I'm amazed with all that has happened this year that I still had enough adventures in the kitchen to write up this meme.

Hope your year in the kitchen was a good one!

books

1. Amit Majmudar, "The Abundance"
2. Hilary Reyl, "Lessons in French"
3. Lisa See, "The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane"

Sad that I didn't get a chance to read more this year...hoping I'll be able to read a little more next year.

Did you read anything that you enjoyed? Please tell me about it in the comments.

this & that

I was hoping that I would be finished re-pasting the photos on this blog by the end of this year, but I still have 900-something posts more to go.

The good thing was that I only had to start from 2011 posts and not 2005!

Another good thing, it has been nice re-connecting with everything I've written.

My knee still isn't 100% so I guess I still need to go to rehab next year...

That, plus juggling all the other "real life" stuff, somehow it hasn't really felt much like the holidays for me.

Anyway, Satoshi will be off for New Years so we'll be on a little adventure soon.

We may not have wi-fi where we are going, so I’ll moderate comments when we get back.

In the meantime, I do have some of my "usual" year end posts lined up.

I hope you all had a nice Christmas and enjoy the rest of the holiday season.

I'll talk to you again after the new year starts.

Be well everyone!