Onsen -ho
So today was the long awaited trip to Oedo Onsen Monogatari with the girls from my zemi! we decided we had to go back when the american students were visiting, and this weekend was the first weekend they had free from extra classes on weekends so off we went.
yuriko-chan, kayoko-chan and I met up in odaiba, where the onsen was... I was late! >.< I have no clue what happened since there was SUPPOSED TO be a train at 12:50, yet 12:50 came and went with no train, which is SUPER rare. Anyways, off we went. Included in the entrance fee (expensive) is yukata and towel rental, and man is the yukata selection good.
Miki-chan joined us later at 3, so we did the foot baths first and got a free trial of this exfoliating hand scrub and some sort of moisture mask for your hands. (to give "velvety skin" was the dictionary's explanation...all I know is that it looked exactly like the type of glaze you pour over a coffee cake...) In the foot bath (which has all those painful pressure point paths inside the foot bath) you also had the option for some extras...sand bath etc. but the really weird one was this:
which in reality looks like this:
yes, paying 1500 yen to sit there for 10 minutes and allow little fish to eat off all your dead skin from your feet and if you so choose, your hands. talk about "十人十色" (10 people, 10 colours)! And no, they aren't tadpoles. (since I didn't know the word for tadpole in japanese, I was like "do they become frogs?")
I should probably explain this onsen a bit more, and where the monogatari (tale) part comes in. this onsen is made like an Edo period style onsen and as such, you can wander around and buy food or play games or whatnot (which is directly debited to your locker key, which you pay off afterwards) at this representation of a street during a festival in the edo period.
Then we went to the baths. Sorry, no photos allowed here! In the change room, we got two towels, one for the bath (preserving modesty, wiping sweat etc) and one to dry off. we put all our stuff into yet another locker (this makes three including the shoe locker)and headed into the bathing area. First you rinse off with a bucket and some hot water...it looks really similar to the mouth and hand washing area at the shrines. we then washed off before entering the first tub, which was really hot and was an interesting colour. after that we did the steam room and I had my first cold water rinse. then we went to the outdoor part and sat in the hottest outdoor pool until some of the old fashioned furo opened up (circular wooden bath tubs), where we proceeded to act like a bunch of kids, splashing and squirting each other. You wouldn't believe the amount of water that pours onto the tatami. Back to the hot pool for a little while longer before heading in and I took my second wade into the cold pool. then we went to a warm one and chatted for a bit before trying the asian jacuzzi/hot tub. you lay back and jets hit you from all over and you rest your head on a cold water pipe, which feels really good compared to the hot water. after a couple of minutes, I went back to the cold water pool and sat in it up to my neck this time...it felt sooo refreshing! I switched back between the warm pool and the cold pool a couple more times before we sat in another weird colour pool
it was so nice, since the new water poured over this rock behind a lattice and was lit up...I can't describe how pretty it looked. Plus sitting right next to it was cool with all the water swirling around from the two water inputs. after that, it was one last dip in the cold pool before getting out and taking a quick shower. Actually, all of the "proper onsen bathing" guidelines say not to shower after getting out of the onsen to let the minerals and such sink in properly, but yuriko-chan says most japanese shower after getting out cause they feel too sweaty...go figure.
oh, and we (mostly miki) helped this little girl who was lost get reunited with her mom, she couldn't have been more than 2 years old and was sooo cute (and cried so loudly, I'm honestly surprised her mom didn't hear her from the changing room -where we found her) it was odd, the kids. I mean I did get some looks and all but the most amusing one was not in the bath at all but out on the main "street" where I had this toddler unabashedly stare at me like I was the the most interesting thing he'd ever seen. it was pretty cute (and so was he...)but compared with entering the baths at the hotel on my ski trip with all the elementary students, I've come to the conclusion that Tokyo kids are pretty well versed in the "I've seen someone who isn't Japanese (or asian)" experience, while in the country... well yeah.
Anyways, here's some more pictures of us in yukata!
Kayoko-chan at the foot baths.
Yuriko-chan and me soaking our feet in the foot baths. (walking to that spot was tough!)
After dinner. l->r: Yuriko, Kayoko, Miki
And finally one last weird thing and my weird vending machine winning photo...
Wasabi...ramune?!?!?!?! WTF?!?! You can be sure I didn't have the balls to try it... (no pom poms on yukata...;)lol)
And for my winning photo, the sighting of the long speculated...
...
...
...
PANTY VENDING MACHINE!! I WIN!!! *cue maniacal laughter*
yuriko-chan, kayoko-chan and I met up in odaiba, where the onsen was... I was late! >.< I have no clue what happened since there was SUPPOSED TO be a train at 12:50, yet 12:50 came and went with no train, which is SUPER rare. Anyways, off we went. Included in the entrance fee (expensive) is yukata and towel rental, and man is the yukata selection good.
Miki-chan joined us later at 3, so we did the foot baths first and got a free trial of this exfoliating hand scrub and some sort of moisture mask for your hands. (to give "velvety skin" was the dictionary's explanation...all I know is that it looked exactly like the type of glaze you pour over a coffee cake...) In the foot bath (which has all those painful pressure point paths inside the foot bath) you also had the option for some extras...sand bath etc. but the really weird one was this:
which in reality looks like this:
yes, paying 1500 yen to sit there for 10 minutes and allow little fish to eat off all your dead skin from your feet and if you so choose, your hands. talk about "十人十色" (10 people, 10 colours)! And no, they aren't tadpoles. (since I didn't know the word for tadpole in japanese, I was like "do they become frogs?")
I should probably explain this onsen a bit more, and where the monogatari (tale) part comes in. this onsen is made like an Edo period style onsen and as such, you can wander around and buy food or play games or whatnot (which is directly debited to your locker key, which you pay off afterwards) at this representation of a street during a festival in the edo period.
Then we went to the baths. Sorry, no photos allowed here! In the change room, we got two towels, one for the bath (preserving modesty, wiping sweat etc) and one to dry off. we put all our stuff into yet another locker (this makes three including the shoe locker)and headed into the bathing area. First you rinse off with a bucket and some hot water...it looks really similar to the mouth and hand washing area at the shrines. we then washed off before entering the first tub, which was really hot and was an interesting colour. after that we did the steam room and I had my first cold water rinse. then we went to the outdoor part and sat in the hottest outdoor pool until some of the old fashioned furo opened up (circular wooden bath tubs), where we proceeded to act like a bunch of kids, splashing and squirting each other. You wouldn't believe the amount of water that pours onto the tatami. Back to the hot pool for a little while longer before heading in and I took my second wade into the cold pool. then we went to a warm one and chatted for a bit before trying the asian jacuzzi/hot tub. you lay back and jets hit you from all over and you rest your head on a cold water pipe, which feels really good compared to the hot water. after a couple of minutes, I went back to the cold water pool and sat in it up to my neck this time...it felt sooo refreshing! I switched back between the warm pool and the cold pool a couple more times before we sat in another weird colour pool
it was so nice, since the new water poured over this rock behind a lattice and was lit up...I can't describe how pretty it looked. Plus sitting right next to it was cool with all the water swirling around from the two water inputs. after that, it was one last dip in the cold pool before getting out and taking a quick shower. Actually, all of the "proper onsen bathing" guidelines say not to shower after getting out of the onsen to let the minerals and such sink in properly, but yuriko-chan says most japanese shower after getting out cause they feel too sweaty...go figure.
oh, and we (mostly miki) helped this little girl who was lost get reunited with her mom, she couldn't have been more than 2 years old and was sooo cute (and cried so loudly, I'm honestly surprised her mom didn't hear her from the changing room -where we found her) it was odd, the kids. I mean I did get some looks and all but the most amusing one was not in the bath at all but out on the main "street" where I had this toddler unabashedly stare at me like I was the the most interesting thing he'd ever seen. it was pretty cute (and so was he...)but compared with entering the baths at the hotel on my ski trip with all the elementary students, I've come to the conclusion that Tokyo kids are pretty well versed in the "I've seen someone who isn't Japanese (or asian)" experience, while in the country... well yeah.
Anyways, here's some more pictures of us in yukata!
Kayoko-chan at the foot baths.
Yuriko-chan and me soaking our feet in the foot baths. (walking to that spot was tough!)
After dinner. l->r: Yuriko, Kayoko, Miki
And finally one last weird thing and my weird vending machine winning photo...
Wasabi...ramune?!?!?!?! WTF?!?! You can be sure I didn't have the balls to try it... (no pom poms on yukata...;)lol)
And for my winning photo, the sighting of the long speculated...
...
...
...
PANTY VENDING MACHINE!! I WIN!!! *cue maniacal laughter*