Day trip to Gero

This weekend I took a trip to the quaint town of Gero, which is known for onsen (hot springs) and about 2 hours away from Nagoya by car.  Here is cute river with several small waterfalls that runs through the center of the city. 

My friends from the International Volleyball Club (and 2 daughters).  We had a really fun day!

We're ready to eat lunch!

My lunch is special tempura with vegetables only available in the spring!  There are 5 types of deep-fried green veggies on my plate, but I'm not really sure I can tell them apart! 

The girls show off their chopsticks skills before they dive into their soba noodles.

Yuko and her fish lunch!

The restaurant was small and very Japanese, but we were clueless about all of these mushrooms covering this one wall.  Kinda bizarre...

Kerri and her 2 new pint-sized friends!

Before the onsen, we walked around Gero and went to Gassho Village, which was filled with artifacts from ancient Japan.

Here is a good example of a 7-tier doll set that might be displayed in a Japanese home during Hina Matsuri (Girls Day celebrated on March 3rd).

Learning all sorts of amazing things about old Japan.

A zen garden...  I kind of wanted to jump in the rocks and just mess up the pattern!!

More gardens of the village.

Finally, we made it to the onsen.  The hot springs are caused by a volcano and come directly from the earth.  The water is not circulated or diluted in any way.  Onsen is said to have healing power and be very relaxing.

Here is the process:

1.  Choose an onsen and pay a small fee (~$5).

2.  Go in the changing room and disrobe completely.

3. Go into the onsen room where you first sit on a stood and wash your self from head to toe at the regular water taps.  (Basically shower in public!)

4. Once you are clean, go soak in the 47 C mineral water.  (That's about 117 F... and in my opinon wicked hot!!)

We had the entire onsen room to ourselves, so I didn't have to worry too much about the whole "bathing naked in public" thing.  And I didn't have a bunch of old saggy Japanese women leering at me either.  The naked part wasn't too bad; it was the heat that was killer for me.  I could only stay fully emerged for about 5 minutes.  Then I would sit on the side of the tub or get out completely and rest on one of the bathing stools.  Kind of reminds me of sitting in a sauna...  Excrutiating hot and breathing can be difficult.

I was amazed that the kids loved the onsen so much!  They were the first ones naked, washed, and jumped in the scalding water.  Although they did jump in and out a lot I was still impressed they could handle it so well.  We stayed in the onsen room for about 1.5 hours.

At the end, you are not supposed to rinse the onsen water off you, the fresh mineral water should soak into your skin and help you be relaxed and healed for the rest of the day. 

Tarynn, Yuko, and Kerri resting after our onsen experience!

Random Handouts

A day rarely goes by in Nagoya when I don't get offered free stuff by people standing on street corners.

Usually these people are handing out things like pocket packs of tissues, coupons, plastic bags, or flyers (all with crazy Japanese advertisements on them).  Some of the cooler items have received were: cheap toys, candy, or a file folder (again all with crazy Japanese advertisements on them).  Mom and Dad thought this was pretty cool when they were here, but what they also noticed was some times foreigners get skipped over with the free stuff.  Dad was totally offended that we were obviously being avoided!  But who can blame them really?!  It's highly likely just based on our looks that we can't read the Japanese advertisement...  Thus, Dad was bound and determined to get some free tissues from the street corner people, and sure enough, after a few days his pockets were overflowing!!

Today I was walking down the street with my Japanese trainer, Yosuke, and I noticed a guy handing out some kind of pamphlet, but he wasn't offering it to everyone.  He was being selective and this time not just with the foreigners.  As we got closer, he tried to force one on Yosuke, but he waved him away.  As we walked away Yosuke said "Do you know what he was handing out?" in an irritated tone.  I said "Noooo" really slowly wondering if it was some kind of lewd advertisement for "gentlemen" (like the streets of Vegas!).  But as it turns out it was an advertisement for a diet program!!  Then Yosuke said "Do you notice how he's not giving them to everyone?  He picked me out!  That's really insulting."  This made me laugh for 2 reasons:

A.  The guy didn't try to give me one!
B.  I look like I need a diet program more than any one in Japan!  (Well, outside of sumo wrestlers maybe...)

After I finally stopped laughing and collected myself, I started thinking about what would happen if that guy tried to hand out those pamphlets on a street corner in America.  He wouldn't last more than 20 minutes before someone would verbally assault him or punch him in the face.   Seriously!  Can you imagine insinuating to some lady with anger management issues that she needs to drop a few lbs by picking her out of a crowd and handing her a pamphlet?!  YIKES!!

All Good Visits Must End

One busy week flew by in a flash, and Mom & Dad were ready to return to good ol' America!

Could you really blame them?!  Here were their lush accommodations...  Although I have 2 bedrooms, we had to shack up motel-style with two beds in one room because it was too cold here and my tiny heater simply can't reach the second bedroom!

Dad couldn't make it through the doorways.  He had a sore back from all of the hunching over!

The family in my family room.  All 3 of us on the tiny couch wasn't so comfortable.

 

At the airport sad to be leaving their favorite daughter ;)

A Day at the Port

First things first... before we head down to Nagoya Port, we need to get some ice cream!  These ladies working at Cold Stone Creamery even posed for the picture :)

Mom and Kerri in front of some silly penguins topiaries.

Talk about a sweet mailbox!

Mom and Dad in front of Port Bridge.

A cruise ship is in port!  I wonder where they cruise to?!  Hmm... I could really go for a vacation!!

Kerri sits in a sad little park.  But it did have an English sign that says that Nagoya's sister port is Baltimore, Maryland in the USA!!  Small world... I've been there many times :)

Kerri with the cool penguin lights.

A restaurant called "Cats Garden".  Not surprisingly, we didn't eat there. 

Mom said as a rule "cat" and "restaurant" should never be associated together!

Umm... sure... this billboard makes purrfect cents...

Windy day but beautiful flowers.

Dinner at Red Lobster.  We were running out of Western restaurant choices, and this place unfortunately had a very Asian menu.  They didn't even serve those awesome cheddar biscuits :( 

However, Dad and I thought this was the best meal all week.  Of course, the fish was very fresh!

Japan Flair

Today is a very special blog.  Do you know why?  It's my 100th post!!  Congrats to me!  That's a lot of pictures and commentary and sharing what's happening in my life with friends 6,000 miles away!

Now let's get to a few things that my parents thought made Japan so special...

Traditional Japanese lunch.  They look good with their chopsticks, but do not be fooled.  Dad quickly gave up and opted for the fork.  Mom was determined, but at one point I caught her with a chopstick in each hand trying to saw at her chicken like it was a knife!

After lunch with my ladies from work, we even let Dad and Mom come up and see the office! 

They just had to be out by 13:00 when the bell rang to start work again!

Dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe in Nagoya.  Rock out, DUDE!!

I finally found a Japanese meal they liked:

Japanese curry rice at Coco Ichiban, and you eat with spoons rather than chopsticks!!  It's cheap and fast, and I love it so much!

Our very own vending machine for gum!

I am quite excited about Nagoya's 400th anniversary this year.  The city was founded in 1610!

Seriously?!  A monument for pigeons?  I hate pigeons.  I finally got netting put all the way around my balcony, and they no longer live at my apartment, but I still hate these flying rats... Yuck!!

Not special to Japan, but McFlurries at McD's are yummy around the world!

Also from McD's... Japan special and one of my new faves: Bacon Potato Pie!  It's a mouthful of goodness.

The 5 oz. cans are a perfect size for Mom, but this was the biggest soda Dad could find and it still wasn't enough!

Wedding Day in kimonos then pictures at the castle.

Random people shouting Japanese gibberish from a van rooftop all over town.  I never have any clue what they are saying.  But no one seems to pay any attention, so I doubt the world is ending.

Mom loves the hot towels served before every meal, and the silverware is a self-serve container that way you only take what you need.

Dad and his tiny hot can of coffee we would buy from the vending machine downstairs in the mornings.

Crazy prices for fruit.  This baby watermelon was over $13.

Celery is sold by the stalk for $1 a piece.  Mine is always wilted by the time I get it home.  No produce bags :(

Fish at the market is stored on dry ice.

Truly a new meaning of fresh.  You can point to your desired fish and get it straight from the tank at the grocery store!

What's for dinner tonight?!  Maybe some octopus...

Dad loved all of the bright colored golf balls :)  Guess what he's getting for his birthday next month?!

He also liked the name of this store: "Yu Smell"

Eating our yummy chicken lunch on a stick.  You can also buy these for $1 at the grocery store.