Travel Journal
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Test and review of the Sento Akashi-yu in Osaka (Japan)
To find out how a session in an Onsen takes place, it’s this way.It is the nearest Sento that we are testing this time, it is 300 meters away. As usual we take off the shoes before entering (no need for a locker room).An automatic machine allows you to buy what you want. It is translated into English which greatly facilitates operations.The entrance fee is 440 yen. Small surprise, the sauna isn’t included in this price. So we decide to take the “kit” entrance + sauna + large towel at 640 yens.One enters and the manageress explains us as she can that the sauna is only 50°C, which isn’t much…
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Travel journal Kyoto (Japan) #2: Museum of Traditional Crafts, Kyoto Botanical Garden, Fushimi Inari-taisha
Read the first part of our stay in Kyoto here This morning, we wake up early to enjoy breakfast at Le Bac à Sable, a café opened by a French-Japanese couple. It feels good to have a good croissant and a good chocolate bar. Moreover here we don’t speak about “pain au chocolat” but about “chocolatine”, they are real ones. We highly recommend you! This morning, we had a meeting with an old Vietnamese friend and his wife. But we still have an hour ahead of us so I am motivated to walk to the Museum of Traditional Crafts, of which I saw some flyers yesterday at Gion Corner Museum…
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Travel journal Kyoto (Japan) #1: Sakura, Cherry blossoms
Seeing cherry blossoms has always been my dream. Every year, we remember that we have to go there one day. And finally, that day has finally arrived! As early as January, when we still didn’t know what we were going to do the next day, I put pressure on JB to book a hotel in Kyoto on March 29th and 30th, because the January forecast predicted the “full bloom” (the fact that all the flowers would be open) around those dates. And the forecast was absolutely correct. But unfortunately, as of January, the accommodations were already well booked, for both nights we will have to sleep in two different guesthouses…
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Test & review of sento Suehiroyu in Osaka (Japan)
To find out how a session in an Onsen takes place, it’s this way.As our bathroom is tiny and the apartment quite cold, we make a habit of going every other day to wash ourselves in an onsen or sento.As long as we do, we test a new one each time.Today it is the turn of the sento Suehiroyu which is next door.As usual we take off the shoes and put them in a small locker (no room is needed for the locker).A machine is used to buy the tickets.Everything is in Japanese but we are starting to get used to it, you have two main rates : For 440…
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Mochi: the Japanese cake that kills (but is delicious)
A Japanese speciality that I first discovered in Thailand, mochi is a preparation based on sticky rice which, once kneaded, takes the shape of a dumpling.This same preparation is the basis for the famous Chinese coconut beads that I knew and appreciated for much longer.The toppings can vary but the mochi I like the most is topped with a strawberry, sometimes coated with chocolate.The preparation of the mochi can be very impressive, judge for yourself through these two videos taken in Nara in front of the famous Nakatanidou.Mochi is also known to be a killer cake! Japanese people eat an average of 1kg each per year, mainly during the New…
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Test & review of the Onsen Tenzan-no-yu in Kyoto (Japan)
To find out how a session in an Onsen takes place, it’s this way.We went to Onsen Tenzan-no-yu as it is about 15 minutes by bus from the Kyoto bamboo forest. After walking a lot, what better way to relax than a visit to Onsen?As usual, shoes are removed before entering and stored in a locker (no room needed).We recover the key of the locker and we are going to exchange it at the reception for another bracelet which is going to allow us to open and close our locker in the checkroom. With this same bracelet, we can buy drinks, eat at the restaurant or ask for a massage.We’ll…
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Test and opinion of the Funaoka onsen in Kyoto (Japan)
If Google and TripAdvisor list it as an onsen, it is a sento (without thermal water).We arrived for the opening at 3pm. Waited for about twenty people with a small half of foreign tourists.It is so far the public bath that we have done in Japan with the most tourists. The fault lies with the Lonely Planet in which it is listed.As usual, we take off our shoes before entering, no need for locker parts.No automatic machine to buy the tickets, it is a friendly octogenarian who runs the store.Unbeatable rates: 430 yen the entrance.Soap and shampoo aren’t included, you can buy them for 40 and 30 yens respectively.Don’t forget…
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Travel Diary Osaka (Japan) #3: Osaka Castle, cherry blossoms, Namba Walk, Bic Camera, SK-II
Read Travel Diary #1 here, #2 here Ohayô gozaimasu! (hello in Japanese), here I am to tell you the continuation of my trip in Japan If you only knew how hard it is for me to remember Japanese sentences! If you learned to say konichiwa from the movie Taxi, you should know that it is only used in the afternoon :'( And Japanese people seem to prefer to say Ohayô gozaimasu! even in the afternoon So, when someone says hello to me, I get stuck, smiling blissfully, processing “damn, what do we say after ohayô already? kadasui? gounamas? think think think think!!!” and the person in front has already had…
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Test & review of the Spa World Onsen in Osaka (Japan)
To find out how a session in an Onsen takes place, it’s this way. Spa World is the Disney Land of Onsen, it is unbelievable! Imagine an 8-story building dedicated to wellness On the 1st floor you have the reception. On the 3rd floor you can eat and drink. On the 4th floor you have spas with a European atmosphere (Rome, Greece, Atlantis, Capri, Spain, Mediterranean Sea and Finland) On the 6th floor a gym and spas with an Asian atmosphere (Japanese, “Islam”, Persian, Bali) On the 8th floor you have a swimming pool. Massage rooms, solariums, rest areas, … everywhere Difficult to make an inventory of all the services…
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Test & review of Irifune Onsen in Osaka (Japan)
To find out how a session in an Onsen takes place, it’s this way.Very little touristic, it is a very popular experience that you will live at the Irifune Onsen (in my opinion rather Sento (popular bath) in spite of its name).This Onsen isn’t listed on Google Map, so here is a link to locate it precisely.Even before entering the Onsen, you must take off your shoes and put them in a locker (no room needed).An automatic machine is available to buy your ticket but also to rent a towel, buy soap, shampoo, … (which aren’t provided).The exercise isn’t easy because everything is in Japanese. It took us a good…
