A Thunderstorm Brought an Unexpected Surprise On our last day in Kagoshima, we woke up to a thunderstorm – and out went the plans to go Ibusuki 指宿 (couldn’t imagine taking a wet sand bath). We could have moved to Myoken Onsen 妙見温泉 immediately but the ryokan staff […]
I remembered we got on and off trains a lot to get to the Chichibu onsen. It wouldn’t be far from the truth to say the journey left a deeper impression than the onsen. Yet, we weren’t done after we stepped off the last train at Minano – […]
Like a virgin Since 2010, together with my running buddies, we have been making yearly trips to Japan and onsens always feature prominently in our itineraries. Takaragawa Onsen was one of the first they visited. I wasn’t with them at that time but they made sure I became […]
Can’t last a day without Men (麺) When in Japan, you can’t not eat ‘men’. There are all kinds of men in Japan. Ramen. Soba. Udon. Instant. Bespoke. Have them hot, in boiled savoury soup, or eat them cold/dry, dipping them in sauce/soup. Or fried – with vegetables/meat/seafood. Recently, […]
First, to the Blue Lake From inside the cable car, Lac Bleu looked like a deep, sapphire-blue oval nestled by the side of the snow-white slope. It appeared big, yet close-up, it was tiny, more like a pond. By itself, it didn’t warant the 15-minute detour from the Plan de […]
the last word 