bright and early

a hearty breakfast, last minute soak and it was back to tokyo.

omakase omnomnom

so we were a little naughty and had eyes bigger than our tummies. in that pre-dinner interim, we ventured to town for a walk around and were distracted at the supermarket by the crab legs and uni. did take out and brought it back to the ryokan to nibble on before dinner and oh boy little did we realise the sheer volume and onslaught of food that was coming out way after. 

enjoyed the freshest wasabi ever :) and tempura so good i forgot to take a photo before i was halfway through. and the hugest, juiciest strawberries to finish with. yummY!

ryokan by dusk

don't mean to be a tease. will really be getting to the fantabulous dinner photos soon but the view of the ryokan by dusk stopped me in my tracks. isn't the lighting sublime? the grounds took on a different feel at night and the clever positioning of the lights successfully illuminated the bonsai (?) in the delicious soft lighting that you see in the photos. 

dinner photos to come!

exploring the ryokan

always excited at the prospect of a good soak, spent the evening going trigger-happy around the inn. the baths were relatively small but because this ryokan had only 6 rooms, it afforded a privacy in the public baths that the bigger more commercial ryokans don't. and after a luxuriating time in the baths, the prospect of omakase dinner loomed :) this ryokan stay was getting better and better!

home sweet ryokan

(we were so early the bath wasn't even full yet!)

at promptly 3pm, we checked in and were shown the en suite private onsen, served tea cakes and got acquainted with our very own kettle.

tokyo in february

was fortunate to make it to tokyo and back in february, shortly before the tsunami and following tragedy entered our consciousness. didn't have time to post the photos before disaster struck, and then posting in the immediate aftermath seemed churlish and insensitive. there's no point to this, no political comment to make, just sharing happy memories of my favourite country and hope to return one day. have absolute faith in the japanese solidarity and fortitude, am heartened by how refined and gracious they have been in the face of the disaster. glad that there are good people doing good things, which is always an encouragement to us all. 

on a less sombre note, follow this genial japanese gent as we did when he met us at the train station and brought us on a grand tour of hakone, and then to the ryokan. as usual, we were early. even more predictably, when the ryokan tells you check in is at 3pm, you may check in at 3pm and not a minute earlier. hence the grand tour to while away a sunny afternoon in... ohmyword i can't remember the town name anymore!

sort of like alice following the white rabbit down the rabbit hole, don't you think? we didn't know where he'd take us!

have scheduled a post a day for the next week - do check back and revisit japan with me :)