This morning we parted ways. If you didn’t know us, you’d think we had a massive fight as we each shot towards opposite ends of the country at over 185mph.
Bullet train, baby!
Laura, Kai, and Nathan went south to Kyoto and, having been there before, we headed north to Sendai. This is off the standard tourist trail and gives us access to hills and mountains once we picked up our rental car.
Aimi had convinced me to book the one size bigger than a K-car, but when we arrived, it was nothing like the advertised Corsa-shaped vehicle. It was definitely a K-car! This was so exciting and surprisingly good for such a small vehicle. I mean, it handles like an overloaded miner’s coal truck round corners, but to pootle around cities, it’s perfect. Sliding rear doors mean no car park door dings; very narrow and very light means it only has a tiny engine, and skinny wheels mean low rolling resistance for efficiency. The boxy shape does mean it’s as aerodynamic as a brick, but we didn’t need to go on the motorway for long. You’re speed-limited to 80kph anyway.
Arriving at the hotel, it felt absolutely deserted. This is clearly a ski resort town in the off-season. We took a short walk around a nearby lake to see the cherry blossom before heading into town. As an onsen town, there is the whiff of egg in the air as the hot water escapes the earth and brings with it sulphury minerals. It seems in this town it’s normal to have foot baths dotted around. Here we stopped and refreshed our tootsies before continuing our search for dinner.
Google said all the restaurants opened at around 17:00–18:00, but we could only find two out of about 25 that were open.
Luckily, it was an amazing find. The food at Have A Good Slice was amazing, if a little small for chonky Westerners like me. But the freshness, quality, taste, and service were all amazing. I tried the fermented lemon soda, which was sublime. I’m going to have to make some at home.
Picking up some creamy treats and a Pritt Stick at Lawson’s, we retired to the hotel for dessert and dinner scrapbooking. My stamp book is morphing into a scrapbook now it’s got ticket stubs, maps, and beer mats getting included. I even tried to sketch the projector from yesterday but basically made it up entirely as I didn’t have a reference photo of all the details.
Aimi went off for a bath while I blogged for a while, until my eyes shut of their own accord. This was a signal to get ready for bed, but that included a trip to the public baths attached to the hotel.
Yep, I was doing this again. But this time I sort of knew what to do, so I didn’t need to creepily stalk any naked men.
Brushing over the international bush, I just avoided making eye contact as I went about scrubbing myself. Next, I plopped myself into the hot water and focused on the cherry trees visible from the outdoor bath. This was wonderful. From here, I went to the sauna and then the cold plunge pool before heading back to the outdoor hot bath, where I spent a long time with just my legs in the water, enjoying the view.