A day out in the farm: weifrannie

weifrannie

A day out in the farm

Mar 30, 2011 11:52

We have no work since yesterday until tomorrow because of inventory so I decided to go out and explore. We've been planning to spend this day off at Disney Sea but since things are not in "normal" conditions now, we didn't push through with our plan.

I decided to take a tour instead at the Daio Wasabi Farm in Hotaka, Azumino City. Hotaka is about 18 stations away from my place and about an hour of train travel. I don't want to bum around all day at home so I took off just by myself.

I'm quite anxious about this trip because I will be alone in a place I've never been to but my subconscious mind told me that I will be alright. Before making my trip I carefully researched everything about the place and how to get there so when I got off at Hotaka station I have already what to do in my mind. The farm is about 3kms. from the station and it can be reached by taking a taxi (which will cost you more) or renting a bicycle. Just in front of the station I saw a shop with many bikes parked in front of it so I thought they're renting them. The shop was called ひつじ屋　(hitsujiya) which is a cafe and at the same time a bike rental shop. The staff was kind enough to hand me out a map and instructed me how to reach the place.

It was a fine day to go biking and on the way to the farm I saw a family of four I remembered seeing on the train heading on the same direction I was going. I greeted them "konnichiwa" and asked them if they're going to the farm, too. The mother said "yes" and gave me a faint smile. I got behind them because a found a little temple along the way which caused me to stop for a while and take pictures. The temple's name is 東光寺 (Toukouji) which is quite intriguing because of the giant getas on its entrance.

After taking some pictures I headed to the farm trying to catch up with the family I previously ran into but they were way ahead of me. I parked my bike at the designated place and went directly to the farm. The farm is open to all offering no entance fee. Since it waas 12 noon when I arrived, I headed to the restaurant first to eat lunch. I ordered wasabi koroke don with wasabi juice. The juice tasted like citrus with the biting taste of wasabi coming after some sips. The koroke don was large that I almost didn't finish it. The pickled wasabi stalks that came with my lunch was appetizing.

After lunch, I headed out to explore tha place. Wasabi plants grow on stony fields irrigated by clear water from the Alps. I've learned that wasabi grows on cool places and needs clean water fro them to survive. The farm maintains the water at 13 degrees Celsius all year through. Daio farm is the biggest in the whole of Japan which totals a 15-hectare area. There are other attracttions inside the farm aside from the wasabi palntation. There are restaurants offering original wasabi-themed menus like wasabi curry, wasabi soba, wasabi doria, wasabi burger...among others. Another famous food in the farm is the wasabi ice cream. I ate mine later in the afternoon after strolling all parts of the farm. The ice cream has a mild wasabi taste in contrast to the biting taste of the juice.

After exploring the farm, I rode the bike again and continue to explore tha place. On the way back to the station I passed by Hotaka jinja (穂高神社) and made a short stop-over there.

I went home around 4:00pm and made a stop-over in Matsumoto to shop a gift for my friend's birthday this Friday. I was at home by 6 o'clcok but when I opened my bag to arrange my things I found someting lacking. I couldn't find my journal (the one I got as a gift from Sparkles)! しまった！！！I tried to recall where I left it and I remembered taking it out of my bag at Hotaka station when I stamped with it the station's mark. I searched for the station's telephone number but couldn't find so I had no other choice but to come back to the station and get it myself. After an hour of travel I arrived at Hotaka station and was relieved to see my journal lying at the bench I was sitting more than 4 hours ago. There was a guy sitting at the chair and I told him that the journal is mine that I had left it behind, he willingly handed it out to me. Thank God, I got my journal back, untouched! One thing I like about the Japanese is that they don't take things they don't own. It will cause them more trouble to pick up a thing they don't own than leaving it behind the way they saw them.

Some photos to share: