First Onsen

Today we slept late since there is no school, I got up at 8:30 am while everyone else got up at 9:00 am. Today Masani-san is coming over at lunch time to take us to the nursery to get some vegetable plants for our garden. The school has also allocated a spot for us which is even bigger than the spot I have out the front door, gosh I have no idea what to plant there. I think I will put some corn there since corn takes up a larger space, also we have soy beans that were given to us so maybe I will grow some soy beans also (Edemame).

Masani-san showed up at 10:00 am while we were still eating breakfast so we hurried up and got ready to go. We all rode in his van to a local nursery that he frequents and bought (1) bell pepper plant, (2) hot pepper plants, (1) Zucchini plant, (2) melon plants and (1) cucumber plant. After the trip to the nursery we drove around Biei a bit and looked at the beautiful landscapes and farmlands. We stopped at a petting zoo which was free and looked at, fed and petted some animals, we saw horses, cows, rabbits, sheep, goats, chickens, albino deer, and an ostrich. The kids had fun feeding everything grass and dandelions.

After that we came home and I planted all of the pepper plants and the cucumber plant in my miniature green house, also I have 6 corn plants that have sprouted in my little cups, once they get healthy enough I will transfer them to the school garden plot. Masani-san set up another small greenhouse on the school plot, and we planted the melons and zucchini. I have a lot more room for other things but have not decided what to add. So far the count is 2 tomato plants, about 20 green onion plants, lots of potatoes, corn, and the other items that I got today.

It was a very hot and beautiful day today, perfect for gardening. Koby and Evan are outside somewhere playing with the neighborhood kids, Yasuko is taking a nap on the couch while I type up the journal for today, both of us are sore from yesterdays work. After the gardening work was done I went next door to see if Yu-chan wanted to play ball, her brother and sister were spending the night at Sumians-sans house and she was by herself today. She came out and I rescued her from boredom until it started to get dark.

After we ate dinner, Yasuko suggested that we go to the Hana Kagura Hotel and take a bath at their onsen, there onsen is not a natural one like many places around Hokkaido it is more like a spa community bath. We loaded the kids in the car and took off, the hotel is very near our house and only takes about 5 minutes to get there. We went inside and Yasuko payed while the kids and myself stored our items in the lockers. It costs $4 each for Yasuko and myself and $1 for Koby, and Evan is Free, so a total of $9.

Yasuko left to go to the women's side and me and the boys went to the mens side, we went into the locker room and took off our clothes and then entered the bathing area. There were small stalls set up along the wall with stool and shower heads where we all washed our bodies, and then came the good part. There was a total of 5 soaking pools and a sauna, the first one I tried was lukewarm so I passed on it to get in the hot one, while the kids got next to me in the lukewarm one. Actually the hot one was not that hot, and I make our bath at home much hotter usually. The boys joined me in the hot one and had a blast walking around the huge pool, I looked out the large ceiling high windows and thought I saw the reflection of somebody outside, and then realized there was people outside, I told Koby to go check and see if there were more pools outside, he came back with a big smile and said there were, so off we went.

Outside was Amazing, sitting in the cool air in a Hot Steamy pool under the stars was a great experience, they had the outside lit up with blue rope lights that lined the hill that we sit on, I liked the outside pools much better than being inside. After soaking outside I told the boys lets check out the sauna, after walking in and staying for all of 10 seconds the boys left while I stayed for a few minutes until the sweat was rolling off my body. The rest of the time was spent alternating between the pools and the boys braving the small ice cold pool, I stepped in the cold one and it was so cold that your toes would instantly start to get numb.

At 5 minutes until 10:00 pm we headed back to the dressing room to dry off and get dressed, Yasuko was waiting for us outside and apparently had been there for about 20 minutes, I asked he why she didn't stay until closing time, and she said she was worried that we were out waiting for her. We all really enjoyed it and will definitely return for another relaxing bathing adventure.

We returned home and the boys went straight to bed while Yasuko and I stayed up too late (12:30 am)

Temp: High - 75
Low - 46