December 7th

Day 4

Today is the day that I head towards the famous Kinosaki Onsen town! Well, even though it’s famous, I’ve never heard of it before planning my trip. According to the internet, one of the bathhouses in the Kinosaki area was the inspiration behind the bathhouse in the anime movie Spirited Away.

I tried to book a Ryokan, a Japanese style guest house, on the Kinosaki Onsen area website; but according to the website, none will be available on the day that I arrive. So yes, I spent many hours looking on the internet the night before and couldn’t figure out a solution, since I thought that the website was the only source for me to book a Ryokan. Since on the website, every Ryokan was fully booked out, I decided to just screw it, it was too late, will decide in the morning.

When morning comes, I bought some food from a 7/11 that is very far away, brought it back to the hotel and consumed it, then started to look on my phone again. You know what, what the website told me, I could find it somewhere else.

This is not an advertisement for the app that I used to reserve my ryokan. It was mind boggling that I was able to find an available ryokan just by using a Chinese app instead of booking directly from the Kinosaki area website. The app is called “Ctrip”, it is the only app I use to book hotels and tickets. It’s not that it’s the only app to do so, it’s just the one I was used to using, and had some good experiences with.

So yeah, I booked a “booked out” ryokan on a Chinese app, whilst in Japan. Needless to say I was very shocked and surprised.

After booking my next stop, it was time for me to check out. The check out process was simple with the machine, and once it said “thank you”, the staff at the front desk stood up and bowed to me. That’s Japanese manners, yo.

I did my research on Google Maps, so I knew that if I leave by 9:30 AM, I would be able to reach Kinosaki Onsen Station by 1:00 PM. That would give me plenty of time to do a quick tour of the area before taking all my clothes off and wearing those uncomfortable Japanese shoes.

The plan would work, only if Japanese trains are on time. They normally are, but unfortunately, this time, it did not. The train that I need to get on first was on time, but after a while, the train stopped for a full 10 minutes. The PA system said something about the train needing to yield the track to another train, but it did worry me. I knew that if this train was going to be delayed, I won’t be able to get on the connecting train.

And yes, I did not get on the connecting train. I forgot which station that I got off the first train at, but right after getting off the train, I could see the next train I was supposed to be on at that time, leaving right in front of me. I was not happy.

Since I couldn’t get on the connecting train, the next train that is heading from this station (which name I forgot) to Kinosaki Onsen station will be leaving in three hours. I can’t possibly wait that long, so Google Maps pointed me to Osaka Station, and took the connecting train there.

So I did. I got on a train back to Osaka. Once I got there, Google Maps told me that I need to wait for about one hour and a half for the connecting train. Again, I was not happy. I thought about just waiting by the train platform; but it wasn’t that warm and there were no seats. There was a connecting bridge linking different platforms, so I got up there, and saw a 7/11. I bought a hot milk tea in a bottle, and sat on a bench. It didn’t take long for me to finish the milk tea, and the bench wasn’t very comfortable, so I decided to just leave the station and find a coffee shop or something.

Coffee shop is exactly what I found a few paces from the ticket machines. The coffee shop is still technically located inside the station, and it is ICOCA themed. ICOCA is the IC card provider in the Kansai region, and the shop has many cartoon characters from ICOCA inside. It is not why I got into that coffee shop, just to be clear. I ordered a matcha latte and waited for a while, and it was time for me to get to the platform.

Restaurant Verdict:

★★★★☆

Right after I got to the platform, I received a rather horrifying news. The train that I am about to take is not just a normal train. It is a Kintetsu train, and every seat is reserved seat, meaning that you have to buy a reserved seat ticket on top of a normal train ticket. I saw that the ticket calculation on Google Maps was around 4,500 Yen, I just never thought that this was going to be a “buy another ticket” kinda situation.

Since I’ve already got to the platform, there is no near-platform ticket vending machine, so when the train arrived, I just got on, knowing full on that there is a big chance of me being thrown out at the next stop. I do not want to wait at the current station any longer.

When I got on the train, I was in a bit of a panic mode, because I don’t know if getting on a train that I didn’t pay for is illegal or not, and I definitely do not want this to be the reason why I am in Japanese jail. There’s a guy in a suit with a badge hanging on his neck, which I would assume that he maybe works for Kintetsu, so I decided to ask him if it was okay for me to get on.

While I was panicking, I was rambling. I tend to do that when I was subjected to an all-English environment when I first started to learn English. Oh it was horrible. Since I was in a hurry, and there are so many things that I wanted to get out of my mouth at the same time, even I didn’t understand what I said. However, the gentlemen with the badge understood from my rambling mess and told me that it is not possible to buy a ticket after you get off the train, and you can buy a ticket from the conductor when he passes by.

So I sat at a random seat, and didn’t put my suitcase up on the shelf because I might need to vacate the seat when someone else comes onboard, and started to look online for solutions.

Unfortunately, while searching in English, there were 0 posts about this specific situation which amped up my anxiety. Fortunately, after searching in Chinese, there was 1 post about this specific situation and it matched my situation exactly. I am too lazy to find the link to this post all over again, but the gist is that you can always buy a reserved seat ticket once you are on board; it might be a little bit more expensive, but it’s fine. With that in mind, I was significantly less anxious about the fact that I might be prosecuted in a foreign land.

Even though I knew for a fact that I can buy a ticket after the fact, I was still kinda nervous, so I didn’t whip out my earphones just yet. The conductor walked pass me a couple of times, and he never checked mine or anyone else’s ticket in my train car. He did eventually get to me, though, with pin-point precision.

He asked me if I have a reserved seat ticket, and I said no. I asked him if I could buy a ticket right now, and he said yes. He even accepted credit cards, which was always good to hear. He looked at the seat number of the seat that I sat at, took my credit card, charged it, and gave me a reserved seat ticket and a receipt. I thanked him and whipped my earphones out because now I don’t have anything to worry about.

Yes I tend to be nervous around situations that was out of my control. Sue me.

The train took about an hour to reach Kinosaki Onsen Station, and once it did, it was about 2:40. I got out of the station and headed straight to my Ryokan, and when I arrived, it was 3:00 PM exactly.

I snapped this picture immediately after I got out of the station.

Ryokan name: Morizuya

Address: Kinosaki-cho Yushima 417

Price: 1,098.81 RMB (155 USD) [Dinner and Breakfast Included]

Verdict: ★★★★★

My immediate thought to myself when I first got inside the building was that it was dark. It was dark and old. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing; it is the charm. The owner, a guy either in his early 40s or late 30s, spoke perfect English, and greeted me with a big smile. After a few times that I answered his questions in Japanese and told him that Japanese is fine, he finally started to speak Japanese to me.

It’s not a bad thing that he is trying to speak English to me, I am clearly a tourist and I look that way. If I really don’t know how to speak Japanese, this is a very welcoming environment. It’s just not why I came to Japan, though, didn’t come here to speak English lol.

Based on what I’ve read on TripAdvisor, Morizuya Ryokan is a family business. The current owner is the third generation owner looking after this wonderful Ryokan, and man, he is full of energy! While I was filling out the forms, he took my luggage and put it in my room. My room was on the third floor, the top floor; and the only way to reach the top floor was by climbing up two very narrow and very high stairways. He climbed all the way up there just to place my luggage in my room for me.

After I filled out the forms, a grandma like figure, which I am guessing might be the second generation owner, handed me the key to my room, and the current owner gave me a quick rundown of the facilities and the Onsen spots in town. I will explain Kinosaki Onsen’s unique situation later. Both him and the adorable but energetic grandma lead me upstairs, and they explained to me the situation with the Ryokan’s own Onsen, and picked a Yukata for me.

Yukata is kinda like Kimono, it’s what you wear in Onsen towns. A bathing gown, if you will. After giving a quick glance of my height and size, she gave me the biggest one. I’m not complaining. She then guided me to my room, which was on the third floor, and explained to me every facility inside the room. It was filled with everything I need. After telling me to not use the emergency exit, and after she complemented my Japanese, she left. I think she was being genuine when complementing my Japanese.

Here is a video tour of the room.

It literally has everything that I need for my stay. It has a mini fridge filled with beer and soft drinks, it has tea prepared for me in a tea kettle, it has a machine that pumps out hot water at any second.

I believe I booked the Ryokan when it was off-peak season, so I was able to book a giant ass room like this one just for myself. My suspicion proved to be true when I was doing accounting for this travel blog, I tried to rebook the Ryokan to check the prices, and I could no longer book the Ryokan with just one person. I mean, I can, but I will have to pay 2 other non-existent people’s price as well.

Anyways, I headed towards the Onsenji, or the Onsen Temple, as it was one of the recommended touristy spot. Legend says it that in ancient times, people have to go and pray to the Onsen Temple before getting in an Onsen. There’s no such tradition now, but I figured, why not experience the full package?

When I got to the Ryokan’s entrance, the owner greeted me with a big smile again. I really love this guy’s energy! I asked him the directions for Onsenji, knowing full well that I will use Google Maps anyways; he said it will take a 10 minute walk from here, and he went outside to show me the directions. He was just helping another couple picking their Japanese footwear and was taking pictures for them. He asked me if I wanted to take pictures, I said later when I change into the Yukata. I thanked him and got on my way.

Google Maps was not behaving well. If I have followed the owner’s directions and go straight for 10 minutes, I will reach the entrance for the Onsenji. Google Maps, thinking that I should walk more for no reason, sent me to a location called “Onsenji Association”, which added another 15 minutes of walking to my tired and bruised feet. When I got to the “Onsenji Association” and found no Onsenji, that’s when I found that Google Maps sent me to a different location. I swear, I just searched for Onsenji and thought that Google Maps would send me to Onsenji, not somewhere else. I saw the Kinosaki School before I saw Onsenji.

After some more backtracking when I inputted the correct name “Onsenji”, I got lost again. Google Maps took me to a hotel next to Onsenji. I was very lucky that I met a staff member of the hotel and asked for directions, or else I probably would’ve kept walking into the back entrance of the hotel and reach nowhere in pitch darkness.

The staff member was absolutely lovely. He didn’t know me, but he volunteered to walk with me to Onsenji. He asked where I was from, I told him America, and he was instantly surprised with my Japanese, which made me very happy. He took me to the correct entrance, and told me that there is a cable car that takes you right to the top of the mountain where the Onsenji was at. When we approached the entrance, the cable car entrance was closed. On the sign, it wrote: “Due to the wind, the Cable Car is closed.”

I asked him how long does it take to get to the top of the mountain, he thought for a while, and answered: “about 20 minutes”. Me, being naïve fool like I am, didn’t know how much work it takes to climb a mountain for 20 minutes. I told him I can do it, I thanked him, and we parted ways. Nice feller.

So I started to climb the mountain. It was all stairs, with a couple of sections where it’s mud road and bare branches. At first, I wasn’t impressed with the stairs. I can climb 3 flights of stairs at once no problem. However, I was facing a mountain that has more than 3 flights of stairs. Not knowing the severity of the problem, I kept climbing, and eventually, my inner t-shirt was completely wet, and I was panting like hot garbage just half way up the mountain. In the end, I had to stop to rest for a while every once in a while just so I could survive. When I finally reached the summit, it literally took me 5 minutes before I could stop panting and breathe like a normal person.

This is the picture of the closed off area of the temple. You can access it from the structure on the left.

This is a picture of the Pagoda behind the temple.

When I finally reached the structure on the left, since I couldn’t stop panting, I didn’t want to get in looking like an idiot, so I just stood outside to catch my breath. The monk saw me panting, and was wondering if I was coming in or not. Seeing that I was just standing there panting, he disappeared with a group of tourists.

After I finally caught my breath and after drinking a lot of water, I threw a few coins into the bucket, and prayed Shinto style.

I think I should be up front about this stuff right now before going into the Japanese religion thing any further. Japan is a country that believes in many different religions, making it a multi-theist country. People here don’t just believe in one religion, but believe in everything available to them. It’s not uncommon to see a Buddhist Christian Shintoist. Haven’t seen a lot of Christians here, but it might be because I’ve never been to a church in Japan.

The buddhist sect in Japan is markedly different from the original Buddhism that originated in India, and the Buddhism that got empowered in China and later to Korea. Unlike Chinese monks, Japanese monks are less stringent on the Buddhist rules, i.e. the mind must be clear of every other thought. I will explain more about the Japanese Buddhist ideologies later when I stay one night at a temple in Koyasan, but for now, just know that Japanese buddhism, even though has the same Buddhas and the same Bodhisattvas as its Indian/Chinese origin, the teachings are very different. It is known in China that Japanese monks can get married, keep his hair, and can eat meat, but I haven’t been able to independently verify that with a Monk, all of whom are bald.

And with such a long tangent, I have to talk about the way different religions in Japan pray. When you reach a temple/shrine, it is most likely either of Shinto or of Buddhist. The way you pray to Shinto shrines is that you bow twice, clap twice, make your wish with your hands pressed together, then bow once more when you finished praying. The way you pray to a Buddhist temple, is that you bow twice, make your wish with your hands pressed together, and then bow once more when you finished praying. So yes, the main difference between praying to a Shinto shrine and a Buddhist temple is that you don’t clap your hands at a Buddhist temple.

Why did I write such a long tangent about whether or not to clap hands? Well, before this trip, all I’ve heard about praying in Japan was that you bow twice, clap twice, pray, and then bow once more. No one told me the difference between praying for Shintoism and for Buddhism, and I did the Shinto praying routine at multiple Buddhist temples. People probably thought I was an idiot. A foreigner idiot. I accept that name, I really was an idiot that didn’t do my share of proper research before going to so many buddhist temples. No one should be the same kind of idiot like I am, though, so hence the long tangent.

Anyway, after praying, I got into the temple. It was completely empty, no one was there. I see that on the reception desk, the temple asks for an entrance fee of 200 Yen. I did put two 100 Yen coins onto the reception desk, but I didn’t want to just barge in when no one was there, so I wondered around the front desk area for a while, before finally making up my mind about entering.

Glad I did, because the tour group that I saw earlier was lead by a English speaking tour guide, who translated everything the monk said into English. But before that, the monk saw me coming in, and came to me. Before he said anything, I told him in Japanese that I’ve already put the money onto the table. Preemptively, you know. He asked me if I was Japanese, I said no, and then he asked me if I was comfortable in a tour group that spoke English. I said I sure do speak English!

So then I joined the tour group led by the English speaking tour guide. I know it is politically incorrect to assume someone’s gender now with the current political climate in the U.S., but it’s Japan, baby. So yes, the guide was a female of Caucasian descent. She speaks fluent English, although with a thick European accent. I can’t quite discern where that accent is from, and I didn’t want to ask her either, seems to be impolite.

The monk spoke so fast, even though I could catch most of what he said, it was instantly better when there was a English translator. There are many interesting factoids about the temple. For example, the main statue of a Buddha that has the face of an elephant is being hidden behind a well decorated door, and only once every 15 years does the temple bring the statute out for the world to see. The statue is also why the town is called “Kinosaki”.

In Kanji, or Chinese characters, the name of the current town “Kinosaki Onsen” is written as “城崎 温泉”, with 城崎 being pronounced as “Kinosaki”. The statue that I mentioned earlier, came from a tree that was carved into three individual statues. The statue that was laid in the Onsenji of Kinosaki Onsen was carved from the top of the tree, or “木の先”, or pronounced as “Kinosaki”. So yes, that’s some knowledge that you will never get if you do not get up all the way to the summit of Onsenji mountain. That peaked my interest, though, if there really are two other towns named with “Kino”.

The temple also has a giant fire pot, where they burn the wishes written by worshippers onto sticks. They do it in a set number of intervals which I forgot. That pretty much concluded the part where I was able to hear in English. The monk later told us we are free to roam the rooms, and he rushed back to the entrance to get me my ticket stub and a description in English. He did say that the temple was out of Japanese descriptions, though.

He then took me to the entrance hall of the temple where I missed the the tour. He described the Senju Buddha (Buddha with a thousand of hands), which was laid in the entrance hall, and said it was fine for me to enter the worshipping place to take a look. After that, it was pretty much it. I did notice that the monk was wearing a winter jacket underneath his monk robes, which was fascinating to me. I always thought that monks were supposed to follow the old ways, and shouldn’t use newer technology like winter jackets from Uniqlo. But that’s just me.

Onsenji Temple Verdict: ★★★★☆

After thanking the monk, I started to climb down the mountain. Walking down was much easier than climbing up, that’s for sure, but it wasn’t completely painless. My thigh was still burning from all the excess climbing that I did a few moments ago, so climbing down was also very treacherous. One misstep, I will tumble down the stairs. It was also getting dark, too, so I walked very slowly.

When I got back to my Ryokan, it was 5:20 PM. I told the owner that the cable car was closed for the day, and even still, I climbed up there. He was very surprised that I walked all the ay up there. Anyways, as you can see from the pictures above, it was about to get dark. When I was checking in, the owner asked me for my preferred dinner and breakfast time. There is no dining room, and the food will be brought to your room course by course. Fancy. I asked them to bring dinner to me by 6:00 PM, and breakfast by 8:00 AM. I still had 40 minutes, so I decided to go to my first bathhouse.

Now I should explain the bathhouse situation of Kinosaki Onsen. The town has many outdoor bathhouses, and to make sure that tourists and onsen users take advantage of these public bathhouses instead of just using the Ryokan’s onsen, the town has laws mandating the size of private Ryokan Onsens, and when you check out, you are mandated to pay the bathing tax, which gives you a pass that lets you go to all of the bathhouses in the Kinosaki Onsen region for free (well, you paid for it). It is a brilliant move that not only preserved the many bathhouses in town and kept them operational, it also made sure that tourists don’t stay in their Ryokans and will actively walk around town en route to the bathhouses, and will perhaps spend a few yen at a nearby store.

The map that was in the lobby of my Ryokan was marked with numbers based on the Bathhouses’ popularity. The #1 popular was the “Gosho no yu”, but according to the owner, it was closed the day I arrived. It will open the next morning, though, so the owner recommended that I go visit that one the next day, and go to #4, Ichinoyu, which is a 30 second walk from the Ryokan. I’ve decided to first visit Ichinoyu, come back for dinner, and then hit two other bathhouses that I will decide later.

I went upstairs and changed into the Ryokan’s Yukata. I made a mistake here. When you scroll down later to see pictures of me in Yukata, you will see a silver sleeve poking out of the brown sleeves. That is supposed to be the outer jacket, which was supposed to be worn outside of the brown Yukata. I didn’t know any better, and I thought it was right to wear the silver one, which was much smaller, inside. When I asked the owner if I wore Yukata correctly, he said yes with a big smile. He thought I was asking him if I wore the Yukata’s collar correctly, which I was.

Okay, another tangent. The way to wear traditional Chinese and traditional Japanese clothes requires you to pay attention to the collar. Since all of the traditional clothes of China and Japan are open, meaning that you need to tie a robe to secure the clothes to your body, you are supposed to bury the right side of your clothes underneath the left side of your clothes. I don’t know how to say it in Japanese, but in Chinese, it is “右衽”. To wear it the other way around will mean two things. Either you are not Han Chinese (so you’re one of those “bastard minorities”, not my words), or you’re dead (when put into a coffin). So if you ever decide to wear traditional Chinese or Japanese clothes, be sure to cover the right side of your clothes with the left side. I wore it the way I did because I know that’s how Chinese people are supposed to wear it, and I only learned it now that Japanese people follow the same rule. I’m not sure about Korea, but basing on history and my relative experience of Korea, they should follow the same rule as well.

The owner took many pictures for me. I should let you know, though, about the ones that had me sitting on the bench. I thought that since I am heading to bathhouses, I shouldn’t wear my underwear, just to be 100% authentically traditional. So I was going commando when the owner was taking pictures of me. So yes, people passing by could see my thing when I spread my legs while sitting. Did not notice that until I opened a little too wide. Oops.

The last picture of the set was taken in front of Ichinoyu, the bathhouse I am heading towards right now.

When you head into the bathhouse, you need to let the staff at each bathhouse scan the QR code on your free pass to enter. Once you do, you must take off your shoes and put them in a locker. Grab your keys, and enter the bathhouse designated for your gender. Japan isn’t what some would say “politically correct”, so if you have a wiener, go to the guy’s bath. Not a joke, you might get prosecuted if you decide to flex your opposing sexuality.

Okay, here’s another tangent. This is important, it’s about the rules of Japanese Onsen. The bathhouses do not supply towels, so you must either bring your own, or bring the ones supplied by your Ryokan. There are two kinds of towels, one big, one small. The big one is for you to dry your body if you aren’t familiar with how to use the small one. The small one is for you to use while you are already in the onsen, and for you to dry your body if you’re familiar with how to completely dry yourself with just a small towel. The small towel is also used for soaking in hot onsen water and then placed on your head while your body is submerged.

However, I’ve seen signs that asks you to not put towels inside the Onsen waters; but everyone I see brings one with them, so who knows.

You must also cleanse yourself fully before entering an Onsen. Use the shower area to first fully clean yourself, then you can enter the indoor Onsen. It’s only after you’ve used the indoor Onsen for a while before you can enter the outdoor Onsen if the bathhouse has one. I remember vividly that me and my dad, in 2015, entered the outdoor Onsen directly without taking a shower beforehand or using the indoor one first. Bad mistake.

So yeah, I took a bath first, got in the indoor Onsen, and then went outside to the outdoor Onsen. I generally do not understand why people would stay submerged in a bathtub for intervals longer than 10 minutes. I will quote Chandler from Friends here: “It would be like stewing in your own filth.” With Onsen, it would be like stewing in the filth of both yours and all the people who either used or using the Onsen with you. I am exaggerating, of course, but I didn’t stay very long in the Onsen.

The one I was at right now, the Ichinoyu, like the 7 other bathhouses in town, has a specialty bath, called the “cave bath”. Instead of looking up and see the sky, your outdoor Onsen is actually in a cave. The bathhouse is located near a mountain, which is probably why it is called a “cave bath”. Which is very interesting, though.

Bathhouse Verdict:

★★★☆☆

For one thing, though, Onsen really did relax my entire body, and I didn’t feel the pain from all the mountain climbing just a few hours ago. Amazing. Look at my happy face when I got out of Ichinoyu.

When I got back to my room, the table was already set for dinner. All my belongings that I left on the table were moved to the cabinet on the right. I didn’t really mind, as I did leave them there despite the old lady said there is a safe behind the cabinet doors. I specifically chose Morizuya for two reasons. First, it was very highly rated on TripAdvisor, and after reading a few of those reviews, I’ve decided to stay here. Second, and most importantly, it is one of the only few Ryokans in town that does not serve crab dinner.

I just had a full crab meal a few days ago at Kani Doraku, and wasn’t too impressed with the way Japanese people eat crabs. I was also a bit sick of crabs after consuming so many crabs that day. Most Ryokans in the area offer full-crab dinners, and Morizuya was one of the few that didn’t. Glad it didn’t.

Soon, a cute waitress came and served the first course.

This is Kaisendon, or Sea-food rice. There are plenty of ways to eat this, but the only correct way is to use your chopsticks to grab one piece of fish out, dip it in soy sauce, put it in your mouth, and then grab some rice and put it in your mouth. You can also just pour soy sauce directly onto the bowl, as I did when I was much younger. Either way is fine.

Since I was in Japan, I never worried about the freshness of the seafood here. I also didn’t give a shit about the nuclear treatment water that the Japanese government released into the Pacific Ocean, so all I can say about this one, is that the seafood is incredibly fresh, and the rice was seasoned just perfectly.

Dish Verdict: ★★★★☆

This is the appetizer. On the left, it had some Japanese vegetables. In the middle, it is pan fried fish with two shrimps hidden under the plate dressing. On the right, was crab meat dipped in crab essence. I don’t know how to explain crab essence, it’s just delicious. Even though I said I was a bit sick of crabs, but only if it was served in large quantity. Appetizers was not only fine, it was freakin delicious.

Dish Verdict: ★★★★☆

This is Makisoba, or “soba roll”. Yes, I was just as surprised when the waitress explained it to me that it was in fact, soba. Put a bit of wasabi on the rolled up soba, and then dip it into the soba sauce on the left. It was certainly interesting, never had soba this way before.

Dish Verdict: ★★★☆☆

Gotta complement the knife work here. I was very impressed.

The second course, is the soup. When it was first served, I had no idea what the hell I was looking at. The cute waitress told me to scoop it up. The soup is very dense, dense enough like clam chowder, but it contained no clam, just cream. It was extremely delicious, but unfortunately, I was full from the food that I had from the first course. I hate myself for feeling full, but I could only have a few bites of the soup.

Dish Verdict: ★★★★☆

In between courses, I had some conversation with the waitress. She wore a mask, but she had very pretty eyes, and I can never refuse some good conversation with a pretty girl. I forgot her name, but she had a very unique name, unlike any other Japanese names I’ve heard before, and it contained the Kanji “愛”. She comes here to work part time every night, and she just turned 18, and is in her senior year of high school. I, being a California “native”, asked her if she would consider going to college in the U.S. She never thought about that, lol.

The next course, is the tempura. It was incredibly well dressed on a plate. I was still very full, but I was able to finish everything.

Dish Verdict: ★★★★☆

After the tempura, the waitress came and lit the candle under a grill and placed a tin foil bowl with soup onto the grill. She instructed me that I can either cook the meat first, or I can just dump everything into the bowl all at once. Once the meat changes color, it is edible. So I did. I dumped everything in all at once, ate the meat first, and ate everything else after a while because it needs to be cooked.

Dish Verdict: ★★★★★

Last, comes the dessert. It was matcha pudding, and it was very tasty. I ate the pudding but I left the orange there. Really couldn’t stuff anything more down my throat at that moment.

Dish Verdict: ★★★★★

When dessert was finished, the waitress came in, cleaned the table, moved the table to one corner of the room, and started to make the bed. The futon and the pillow were easy, she had some trouble with the covers, though, and soon, a waiter came in and helped. With his help, the bed was made real fast.

The guy had a short pony tail while the side of his head was shaved. I commented that his hairstyle was very cool. He said thanks, and then turned to the waitress to ask if I am Japanese. I am very flattered that he thinks I am Japanese from the comment I made. I explained my situation with him, how I speak both English and Chinese first, so Japanese vocabulary wasn’t an issue, and how Japanese is easy if you learn the grammar.

Of course, I was a bit smug after he thought I was Japanese. When people commend on my Japanese and I didn’t have trouble getting my point across the room, I always tell them how Japanese is easy. However, when I am having trouble saying what I want to say, I always say that I am still learning Japanese and Japanese is so hard! Lol.

When he counted that I speak three languages (Chinese, English and Japanese), I added that I speak German too, which shocked him. I know it is annoying when you brag about yourself, but German is hard! Learning 4 languages was hard! Plus, it was one of the few things in my life that I can brag about. So I don’t care if it is annoying when I brag.

After they left, I grabbed my towel and headed to a second bathhouse. I picked the #2 popular one, the “Satono-Yu”. It is located right next to the Kinosaki Onsen Station. It is in a very convenient location for people who just got off the train and is in a dire need of a bath, but it isn’t very convenient for us Ryokan dwellers who need to walk all the way back to the station. But still, since it’s the second most popular bathhouse, I must give it a try. Took many pictures on my way to the bathhouse.

Finally, I arrived. The bathhouse is indeed very big. It has many facilities other than just the onsen; it has multiple sauna rooms, the outdoor Onsen was on the second floor. After you take a bath and enjoy the indoor Onsen, you can choose to go upstairs to the outdoor onsen, or you can use the sauna either downstairs or upstairs. The saunas also have continuous pumped water supply, which is for you to drink to cool off.

The outdoor onsen, was kinda bland. Unlike the cave onsen that I tried earlier at Ichino-yu, it was just onsen and the sky, nothing much. It did have a very big pond next to the Onsen, and had clear signs to beg bathers to never step into. That was rather interesting. Overall, it was a relaxing experience. However, after getting into my second Onsen for the day, my body was heated up to the next level. Had to take a cold shower to remove the excess heat from my body. It is traditional Chinese wisdom to never go to two extremes in temperature, but it sure feels good to take a cold shower right after getting heated up by the Onsen.

When I got out of the bathhouse, I sat at the bench next to the entrance, and FaceTimed my parents. I did put on underwear this time after the awkward encounter at the first bathhouse, but still, I didn’t wear pants, and while I had my legs opened up like I always do, people passing by could see me in my underwear. When I noticed that myself, had to stick my legs together immediately.

Bathhouse Verdict:

★★★★★

After fully resting and cooled down from the second Onsen, I was on my way to the third Onsen. This is the picture of “Goshono-yu”, which is the #1 popular bathhouse that was closed for the day. It does look good, though.

Before I got to the next bathhouse, the #3 popular one called “Kouno-yu”, which is located on the other side of town, I planned to visit the onsen pond just for your feet. I noticed the pond when I was walking towards Onsenji, and it looked rather interesting, it’s an Onsen just for your feet!

It wasn’t very hot, I’ve got to be honest. The water was Luke warm, and I can’t blame it, because the weather was cold, and it was a small pond. But next to it is a giant rock that pumps out hot Onsen water from underground, which was interesting. Actually, along the road, steam was coming out of the grates on the side of the road. That’s how you know the Onsen here is actually hot spring from underground, not just reheated tap water.

Bathhouse Verdict:

★★☆☆☆

It took a while of walking to get all the way to Kouno-yu, since Satono-yu and Kouno-yu are literally on different edges of the Onsen town. I don’t know I picked the traditional Japanese hardwood footwear. It was so painful to walk with it, and each pace has to be slow, so I don’t injure the part between the big toe and the next one. Kouno-yu is located right next to the Kinosaki School that I saw earlier in the day. It was very big as well. It had a “garden” theme, so there were a lot of flowers and a lot of greenery in its outdoor bath. Had to take another cold shower when I got out of the onsen just so I don’t sweat like an idiot.

Bathhouse Verdict:

★★★★☆

When I was strolling in the streets of the Onsen town, I see a lot of different Ryokans. These ones appear to be much brighter (lighting wise), much newer (recently remodeled), and much more modern. I think this is what sets Morizuya apart from the other new ones; it is the ultimate traditional Ryokan experience that you really want to experience yourself.

After I got back to my Ryokan, I chatted with the owner, telling him that I visited Kouno-yu and Satono-yu, and went upstairs to my room. I booked the hotel for tomorrow, and after a while, I went to bed. The makeshift bed was very comfortable.

Kinosaki Onsen Verdict:

★★★★★

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