Day 19 (July 27) - Quiet Day at the Homestay!

 Being a weekday probably meant not too many guests at the hostel. We only had to prepare two breakfast sets for the morning. Once breakfast was set, we had our own breakfast before a short break. For my morning task, I just had to clean the small wash basins that they had in the two onsens. Once my task was completed, it was time for our tea break. Once again, I got the chance to learn more about our host and to talk about different hobbies. 

After the break, it was off to complete other cleaning chores. As for lunch, we headed down to town again to explore. We started at a café by Lake Kinrinko (at the end of the touristy road), with a drink and dessert. Despite being hot, sitting outside was nice to enjoy the scenic view in front of us. Right after the café, we tried to look for a restaurant that sold Bungo beef, which is Oita's Wagyu. (Oita is the prefecture that Yufuin is in). Unfortunately, there was a long lineup for the place we wanted to go, so we opted for an udon lunch instead. Lunch was served quickly and was quite refreshing in the heat. 

After lunch, it was off to get more dessert. We got cheesecake from a famous bakery and then went back to the matcha ice cream store to grab more. This time, I opted for salted matcha, which was quite good! The bus station was nearby, so we ended up waiting for the 4:45 PM (around this time) bus to take us back to the hostel.

Since there was no one requesting dinner for the night, we just had to wipe the top floor (or in the words of our host: Super Wipe). We got a nice curry dinner for lunch before washing just a few dishes. Since it was a relatively easy day, and we didn't have to wake up early to prepare breakfast tomorrow morning, we opted to play Ticket To Ride before bed.

Volunteering at this homestay was quite a nice change of pace from traveling.

It's not fall yet, but I wonder why we could start seeing red leaves on this tree.
 

Day 18 (July 26) - First Full Day in Yufuin

 After a restful night, despite the heat (we had a fan to help cool us down), we got ready to start volunteering. Our first task was to set up the dining room for the guests. One of the hosts showed us how to position the flatware and plates, while the other host was preparing the dishes to be served. Once we finished with our task, we had breakfast ourselves. 

Dishes took place afterwards. They had two sinks set up, with one for smaller plates while the other one was for pots and pans. After we finished our tasks, we had a 45-minute break before moving on to cleaning rooms. We had to clean the futons and pillows, before moving onto sinks and vacuuming the hostel. At around 10 AM, we had a snack break, in which our hosts brought us wonderful snacks and drinks. It was a good opportunity to talk with our hosts to learn more about them.

Once break time was up, we completed our tasks before it was lunch. I ended up taking a nap for about an hour. Since we had about 4-5 hours before our evening tasks, we headed down the mountain (where the hostel was located) to Yufuin city. Yufuin had one main street with a bunch of tourist attractions. We started by getting some honey ice cream before exploring the streets some more. We stopped by a store that sold specialty nuts, thus purchasing some to take back. We also stopped by a supermarket to stock up on snacks for ourselves. Finally, it was one of the host's birthday so we decided to get him a cake from a bakery.

We took a taxi back to the hostel once again. There was about an hour left before our shift started, so a final rest before it was time to start. Our first task was to sweep the two parking lots they had for their hostel. It was a great way to get some exercise in, and fortunately, from being higher up, wasn't too hot. After sweeping for a while, it was time to go in and set up the plates for dinner. Once again, dinner was served to us, and it was as delicious as yesterday's meal. Once the guests were finished with their food, we washed dishes and cleaned up the kitchen.

Our job was done for the day, but one of our hosts was hosting a night tour of the city and we were able to join him. A number of us clambered into his van as he took us up a mountain. It wasn't the clearest night, but you were able to see some stars at the location we stopped at. It offered a wonderful view of Yufuin city. Once we got our pictures in, it was time to head back to the hostel. As the guests were getting ready for bed, we had a small celebration with the host for his birthday. Once dessert was finished, I soaked in the onsen for a while before preparing for sleep.

A productive day, and a nice change in pace. 

Walking down the mountain during the day to reach Yufuin city. 

Day 17 (July 25) - Off to Yufuin!

 Our last morning in Hiroshima consisted of us waking up early to grab breakfast from the lobby. After grabbing more bread packages than yesterday, since I was quite hungry yesterday, we packed our luggage before heading out to catch the streetcar to Hiroshima Station. 

Unfortunately, we had to catch the Kodama (the slowest Shinkansen for this line since it makes a lot of stops) to Hakata Station in Kyushu. My girlfriend was excited to board the Yufuin no Mori, a scenic train that would take us to our next destination. However, due to heavy rainfall, our train was canceled. There was a lot of chaos among the passengers, and I had no idea what was going on at Hakata. Once again, fortunately, my girlfriend was able to speak to the conductors to get an idea of what we had to do. A nearby family from China was also able to ask her for directions since she's able to speak Mandarin as well!

JR ended up putting all of us on a train to Yufuin. It was a mad dash to the train since we were given only about 3 minutes to find the platform and to board. In the end, there was no need to rush since the train was delayed, which I assumed was also due to the rain. After an hour or so though, we finally arrived at Yufuin station. We took a taxi to our stay for the next week: Yufuin Country Roads Youth Hostel. In exchange for accommodations and meals, we were going to volunteer with chores around the hostel. It was my first time doing a homestay, so I wasn't sure what to expect. When we entered, we didn't see anyone so I awkwardly waited in the foyer while my girlfriend went to go find the host. After she was able to find one of them, they told us the location of our room, which was in the basement near one of the onsens they had on site. The roof was extremely low (I'm around 5'8" and my head brushed the ceiling), and there was no a/c, but the room was large. We placed our stuff and went back upstairs to a living room area to relax. The other host came to introduce himself to me and to welcome back my girlfriend since she's done a couple homestays at this location. We were taken to the kitchen to eat the dinner they prepared for us and for the guests who opted for a meal plan that night.

Dinner was a classic example of Japanese cuisine. Each dish was flavoured well with nothing overpowering one another. Once dinner was finished, we were handed an apron. It was time for our first task: washing the dishes. I had to say, it was pretty straight forward, though learning where to put the plates back after they were dried was challenging due to the vast amount of dishes and plates. Once the dishes were done, we were taught (or retaught) how to check to make sure the kitchen was cleaned and the burners were turned off properly.

First night was easy, which allowed a smooth transition for the week to come!

I believe the warning was lifted for Yufuin. Apparently it was at risk of a landslide. 

Day 16 (July 24) - Okunoshima Again!

 Starting off in Hiroshima meant that we didn’t have to wake up as early to go to our destination for today: Okunoshima. The last time I went was in 2015, when we were staying in Himeji (if I remember correctly). Our hotel in Hiroshima offered a bread and coffee breakfast, so I headed downstairs to grab us some food before we prepared to leave for the day. The selections were all similar: three different selections of bread, so I ended up grabbing a few bags to bring back to our hotel room.

At Hiroshima station, we purchased some ekibento on our way to Tadanoumi station. I got a beef tongue bento, and a curry bun from the nearby bakery within the station. After about an hour or so, we made it to Tadanoumi station. Like the past couple of weeks, the sun was blazing down on us as we made our way to the ferry. I can’t recall to well, but it seems like the ferry port had an upgrade: there was a building now where you can purchase ferry tickets to the island. Also, purchasing food bags to feed the rabbits, and bringing back the food bags ensured a complimentary postcard.

After purchasing our tickets and rabbit food, we waited for the ferry to come pick us up. The ride itself was around 15 minutes. Once we arrived at the island, we took a bus to the hotel, and thus our adventures began on the island. It was very much like the time in 2015, though there seemed to be less rabbits from what I remembered. Also, the rabbits seemed a bit more aggressive, in that some chased other rabbits when you offered them food. After a couple of hours, we went back to the hotel on the island to grab a bite to eat. Once full, we headed back out to explore the island. 

After we had our fill of the island, we went back to the pier to hitch a ride back to Tadanoumi station. It was relatively uneventful on the ferry. As we approached the ferry pier, we traded our empty rabbit food bags for our souvenir postcards before making our way to the JR station. The difficulty with unmanned stations is not knowing which side we needed to be to catch the train back to Hiroshima. Unfortunately, we did end up on the wrong side, but the train conductor was kind enough to wait for us and another tourist to cross the overhead bridge to get to the correct side.

Once we arrived at Mihara station, we transferred onto the shinkansen back to Hiroshima. Dropping off luggage, we proceeded to find an oyster bar/izakaya. I would normally not venture to such a place, but fortunately, my girlfriend was able to speak and read the menu on my behalf. We got a variety of dishes, with the chicken cartilage being my favorite. Once we finished dinner, we headed to the nearby 7-11 so I could grab some chocolate mint ice cream.

Not as many places visited today, but onto the next leg of our journey tomorrow! It'll be my first ever homestay/workaway/volunteering experience in Japan. 

A little bit run down from what I recall back in 2015, but it still gets the message across!

After 

Day 15 (July 23) - Kobe Beef and Onsen Town!

 It started off scorching hot at around 9 AM as we headed towards Shin-Osaka station. It was our last day at Shin Osaka Washington Hotel, so we checked out and left our luggage at the hotel. Our destination for the day though was Kobe. The train ride was relatively short. Our first destination in Kobe was a Starbucks in the Kitano region. From what I read, Kitano is known for their traditional western-style buildings. The Starbucks was nestled by some hills, making it very American-like (despite not being to the US that often). We got a ourselves a drink and ventured upstairs to enjoy ourselves, surrounded by the vintage artifacts. After we were finished, we headed out and onto lunch.

I first went to Kobe back in 2015; the main purpose was to eat Kobe Beef. We found the same restaurant, and fortunately, like last time, we didn't need a reservation. It was quite busy, so we were sitting beside another couple. We got one A5 Kobe beef and one A5 Wagyu (which was about 30% cheaper than the Kobe). From what I recall, the Kobe beef was the same price as it was back in 2015! The meal was extremely similar in terms of the dishes served, which made me reminisce as I ate. Since they were quite busy, it didn't feel like we had a full hour with the chef, but it was as good as the first time I had it. Honestly, I enjoyed the A5 Wagyu more than the Kobe beef... probably because it was cheaper as well! 

After our bellies were full, we headed off to a bus station nearby to purchase tickets to Arima Onsen. It was only a 30 minute bus ride, in which I was able to doze off a bit. Arima Onsen is said to be the oldest onsen town in Japan. From what I recall, it's hot spring water is carbonated, with two main types of water: Gold and Silver. The Gold hot spring water was brown in color, due to the iron present, while the silver hot spring was clear. As we got off the bus, we headed towards the windy narrow paths to explore the town. We made a brief stop at a foot onsen bath to soak our feet. Once relaxed, we headed to explore some more. We stopped at the top of the path at a park to enjoy some snacks we purchased. It was quiet, save for the cicadas buzzing around us. There was even a spot where you could drink the carbonated spring water. After spending some time, we headed back down towards the Gold Onsen to soak for a while. Before we made it down, we saw a Shiba Inu cafe (well more of a small cafe that had 3 Shibas). It was the perfect excuse to take a break from the heat. The drinks here were good and one of the waitresses spoke flawless English. If I were to guess, based on her using casual terms like "boba", she was probably raised in North America -- which is a first for me to experience since I rarely talked to strangers in Japan and most people that I talked to had basic English. Once we completed our drinks, we headed back down towards the Gold Onsen. 

Due to it's touristy nature, there were a lot of people within this onsen (in comparison to the one in Yamanashi). After a quick soak, we got out, got some Arima Cider (more like carbonated water), and sat in their relaxation room for a while. Fully relaxed, we headed back out of the town to stop by the small river to soak in (no pun intended) the scenery. 

Our next location was the premium outlet mall in Kobe. We took a train that led us to a quiet part of Kobe. The bus station was on top of a hill, it only took a few minutes for us to climb the stairs to wait for the bus. The bus ride was relatively short, and we were on our way to shop at Kobe Sanda Premium Outlets. It reminded me of the one in Vegas with all the outdoor shops. We ventured for a while, but seeing nothing of value, ended up purchasing nothing. We did get some Gindaco Takoyaki at the corner of the outdoor outlet mall before heading back to Kobe station to take a train back to Osaka.

We arrived back in Osaka to grab our luggage from the hotel. Our final destination for our long day was Hiroshima. The train ride was about two hours, meaning that we didn't arrive till around 10 PM at night. Not sure how long it would take for the bus to come, we waited to catch a taxi. There was a long line of people waiting for a taxi, but fortunately, it only took 5-10 minutes for us to finally get a ride. Our hotel in Hiroshima was relatively modern-looking, in comparison to our last two hotels.

An extremely long day with a bunch of travel, but as always, a fulfilling one. Off to another 2015 location tomorrow!

The river/stream in Arima Onsen!

Day 14 (July 22) - Deer, Amazing Shaved Ice and Quiet Kyoto??

 It has been a busy 10 days with cleaning, hosting, and finally getting a puppy! But back to Day 14.

We started with eating breakfast at the top of the Washington Hotel. It was a buffet-style breakfast with a variety of different foods to eat. After getting a few plates myself, we returned to our hotel room to prepare for our day.

Our first stop was Nara park. It has been almost 8 years since I last visited the deer. (Japan 2019 was to see the shrine instead of the park). OF course, we had to feed the deer, though I didn't feel that they were as aggressive as they were in the past. We also picked this particular day since they apparently released a bunch of fawns they were raising. Unfortunately, we didn't see many fawns throughout the park. We did see a deer that had a twisted horn. I didn't notice, until my girlfriend pointed out, that one of his legs were lame. Unfortunately, and probably due to his size, he was getting bullied by the bigger bucks when people tried to feed him. We were able to lure him away from the others and feed him. Perhaps it wasn't something I noticed the last two times I was here, but almost all of the deer bowed when you bowed and offered them a cracker. 

After Nara, we headed to Uji to eat shaved ice or Kakigori. Unfortunately, the famous shops we tried to visit were near closing time or required a reservation. After purchasing some treats, we found a Tsujiri nearby. After waiting a few minutes, we were able to get a table. Besides kakigori, we got other sweets (or wagashi if I remember correctly). The kakigori was definitely the star of the show. I don't recall having such delicious shaved ice; the matcha flavors were spread evenly throughout the entire bowl.

After feeling satisified, we headed to Kyoto. Fushimi Inari was extremely busy, so we decided not to bother finding the torii gates. Instead, we headed to a quiet part of Gion. It was a pleasant walk from the station to Yasaka Pagoda. The streets were quiet, which is unlike most of the touristy places in Kyoto. It was nearing sunset, which made pictures of the pagoda more magical than normal in my opinion. After spending half an hour in the district, it was off to find a place for dinner. We settled for Coco Ichiban. I didn't have curry all trip thus far. If you ever go to Japan, Coco Ichiban is a must for their affordability and delicious curry. 

With our bellies full, we headed back to Kyoto station so we could take the shinkansen back to Osaka.

Off to another city tomorrow! (Hopefully I'll have some time tomorrow to write about it!) 

A shot of Yasaka Pagoda from the bottom. 

Day 13 (July 21) - Second Day in Osaka - I'm not cut out to be a fisherman.

 It's been a busy week cleaning and building furniture. I finally have time to continue blogging about our adventure in Asia this year!

Day 13 started late, though I was in a bit of a panic. I either lost or misplaced one of our Osaka Amazing Pass. During the morning, I tried to figure out where it could be; I remembered doing laundry late last night, so we headed down to check the laundromat. Lo and behold, our pass was stuck on the rubber seal of the laundry/dryer machine. It went through a full wash and dry cycle but was still in one piece. The only question now was whether the machine could still scan the card. 

We headed towards the train station and towards the ticket gate. Fortunately, it did accept the card, thus not needing a replacement! Our first location was another Ferris Wheel: Tempozan Giant Ferris Wheel. It was bigger than the HEP5 we took yesterday, and had transparent cars! I had to admit it was a bit nerve-wracking to be so high up in the air while looking at the transparent floor. After taking in the views, we headed to the nearby Santa Maria Day Cruise. The cruise was 45 mins in length and took us around the Aji River. Not wanting to be out on deck getting beaten down by sunlight, we headed underneath to their cafeteria. I got myself a bulgogi beef rice burger, which was small, but not bad in taste.

Once the tour was done, we headed off to find a late lunch. We settled for kushikatsu, which is similar to tempura. I never had kushikatsu before (or at least not aware that I did). Personally, I thought it was better than tempura. Once we finished our lunch, we headed toward a nearby Pablo kiosk/store to sample their mini tarts. I have to say, Calgary's Pablo does a really good job of copying the taste of Japan's Pablo. Since it was quite hot, we took a break at a nearby café. I got myself a drink and a slice of cake. 

Once we were able to cool down, we walked toward Tsutenkaku to go down the tower slide. Unfortunately, it was a lot busier than yesterday, probably because we arrived a few hours before closing time. Slightly dejected, but determined to go down the slide, we stopped by the Zaou: a restaurant where you catch your own fish. We spent a good amount of time here, mostly due to the fact that it was difficult to catch horse mackerel (the cheapest fish on the menu). My girlfriend was able to catch one after persevering for at least 15 minutes. Fortunately, she's not a big fan of fish, so I was able to get the kitchen to turn it into a sashimi dish. At this point, I wasn't able to catch anything myself. We were about to leave, but she convinced me otherwise to give it another try. After waiting around 20 minutes without any luck, I started flailing the line and hook in the water. By sheer dumb luck, I managed to hook a fish via it's belly. It tried desperately to get away as I swooped it into the net. I did feel slightly guilty, though I ended up asking the kitchen to make tempura out of this one.

After paying for dinner, we headed back to the tower. The lineup was only about 30 minutes long now, so we ended up getting our tickets to head upstairs. The slide itself was a bit lackluster, but they did film the beginning and end of your journey. 

With our day pretty much done, we headed back to our hotel to rest. I was missing the onsen experience so I ended up soaking in our tub for the night. All in all, the Amazing Pass was indeed Amazing. Not only did it help us save money, but it's quite durable as well! I would recommend this to anyone traveling to Osaka for the first time. 

We passed by Yasaka Shrine as we made our way back to Tsutenkaku.