Japan Getaway (Day 4)

July 17, 2012 - my last day!

In the morning, I woke up extra early - 7:00am, to go to the onsen (hot spring bath) for a morning soak... it was really nice. Before going into the baths, I took a stroll around to see more of the hotel. It's so cool, they even have an entertainment centre with games and karaoke rooms...

The baths was very clean, and it was so nice to relax in. There were actually about 8-10 other women there and some of them came with friends and family, and it was nice to see them chatting with their friends. I ended up staying there for about 20 minutes and enjoyed the outdoor onsen, with a nice, small Japanese maple garden.

After the bath, I went to enjoy a breakfast in a glass house restaurant in the hotel, and it was very nice - not too many people around, and the view was just relaxing, looking at all the trees and plants around.

As this was my first trip to Japan, and my last day of the trip, we decided to spend some time in Tokyo before I left for the airport. So we made a 3 hour drive (this includes traffic) to Tokyo. About Tokyo, I really don't know much about it, except that there's the Tokyo Tower and Ginza district, but actually the Tokyo Tower is no longer the tallest in Tokyo - now there's the Tokyo Skytree.

We then went to Takashimaya, a department store in Tokyo for tempura. This trip is really like a trip to try different Japanese food... haha.... and it's so great, because I got to see how a lot of the food is made. This was also possible for tempura, because they actually make it in front of you - similar to the sushi bar, we were seated in front of the tempura chef and made different tempura for us.

Tempura has slightly different techniques depending on which region you are in, and here the batter is more crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside. I was told in Osaka, the tempuras are more crunchy all over. And cutting the oil is very important - this is when they take the tempura out of the oil they need to "shake" the oil off with their arm in a chopping motion. And depending on the type of food that's been fried, they may cut of as much oil as they can, or leave it slightly oily because that kind of food tastes better with a bit of that oily flavor.

After lunch, we took a quick stroll through the basement level of the department store, because this is where all the sweets are sold. This is similar to the basement of the Sogo department store in Hong Kong, but even bigger! and not as crowded.... so we were able to find some sweets that I've had before. I was looking for some sweet Japanese cakes that go well with tea, they are very sweet, so only a little bit goes a long way with tea, and they are really good to share with others.

Before heading to the train station, we drove through Tokyo and took in some of the city sights from the car. Hmmm, compared to Karuizawa, Tokyo is very different, lots of building close together and it just doesn't have much green or nature in it. Tokyo is my friend's favorite city in Japan, and I think it can be an exciting place, but because I didn't have much time to explore, so I think I like Karuizawa more at the moment... :D

Lastly, I want to thank my hosts and friends, they made my first trip to Japan unforgettable and allowed me to try so many new things.  Domo arigato gozaimasu!