Noboribetsu Onsen (登别温泉) is quite a famous onsen village in Sapporo. I managed to secure a booking at Takimotokan. Read from guidebook that it has both indoor and outdoor onsen and superb in-room dining meals. This should be the ideal "dream" onsen and in-room dining for my dear? The onsen hotel was located very near to "Hell Valley". In fact it was a 10 mins walk from the hotel and one plus point for us to stay there. We chanced upon a HK couple wanting to share cab to reach Noboribetsu Onsen. It was about 3000 Yen for each location if I remembered correctly. Not worth the rush and better to take the local bus at JR station. The HK guy was quiet and he allowed the HK girl to approach us on the sharing of cab. I told my wife I would do such talk instead.
The in-room dining was really an experience for us. We waited for the waitress to serve us and she would do up the table nicely and arrange the food for us. The setting was really like what we saw in Japan Hour. Against the cold snowy backdrop and mountain, and sulphur smell, sitting on tatami mat, wearing our Japanese "Ainu" looking gown, we enjoyed the dinner alot. The hairy crabs were "hairy" and though I took abit, I could sense their freshness. Everything were arranged neatly and it was like an art. We usually didnt take pictures of ALL dishes but this time we did. Much fascinated by the art of Japanese dining. As it was an expensive meal, I ate almost everything. Except the prawn's head and maybe pickle. Lucky my wife suggested for us to try in-room dining or else I would completely "miss the point" of visiting the onsen. Deep in my heart and mind, I have decided to do such in-room dining for my future japan trips.
The hotel was really very big and grand. You needed a map to walk around and there were so many rooms and lifts and shops. We spent some time and yen in a shop. Bought our lavender pillows. Saw the horse lotion that the hotel has recommended and used in the onsen. The horse lotion seemed to promote good hair growth. I actually didnt use it during the onsen bath as I worried that it might not work well for my hair. Didnt want to experiment on my hair. It was interesting that the "demon" was actually not portrayed as scary ones at the Hell Valley. In fact, they were like mascots. There seemed to be a story behind these creatures. I didnt notice the plush toys shown in my wife's camera shot. If not, I would get a pair for souvenir. Just that I am not sure where I could place them @home. The red coloured one looked like one who soaked into the hot onsen for a long time?
Breakfast could not be in "in-room" dining style and it was in a very big canteen. You would flip the cardboard on the table to indicate that the seat was taken and the concept was similar to Marche. We chose a small table and off my wife to the makan selection trays. There was a mini episode when two families were not "fighting over" a joint table - seemed that they didnt notice that the long table comprising 8 seats (4 per table) was already occupied. No real quarrel or fight. Not sure when I started this habit of glancing at other tables to see what they were eating. I would be "kapo" and "borrow" notes from neighbouring tables to see and take similar food. I loved the hokkaido milk. Without fail, I would drink the milk. Frankly, I already have the mindset that the milk was very fresh as the cows were eating top grade grass and enjoying fresh air. Radiation was never in my mind anyway. My wife has really adapted to waking up early to eat Japanese breakfast. She really enjoyed such routine and without fail to go makan with me.
The checkout time was 10 am and we didnt want to incur additional charges. We planned for a short trek to Hell Valley after checking out. At the visitors' centre, we saw a cute little snowman. This was one of the better snowmen we saw in Sapporo. The others were basically created by me. Initially I still thought it was a "fake one". This snowman actually got two horns and I guessed it represented the hell valley demon? Cute though. In case you or me were wondering how could a blog about onsen hotel without sharing onsen experience? This sharing of onsen experiences deserved a separate entry.
No comments:
Post a Comment