Hello everyone! This week covers my spring break and I went on a lot of trips so this blog will be pretty bulky and split into two parts.
Kanazawa Trip:
On Wednesday, the first day of my break, I went on a trip with my host family. We went to Awara Onsen and stayed the night at a very nice hotel. After we arrived we realized they have a karaoke room which my host mom then reserved for the family to go to after we settled into our room. Our room was very spacious and traditional Japanese style. We also received yukata's, Japanese traditional wear typically worn at onsens, which my sister and I changed into before going to karaoke. Karaoke was really fun and my host sister is a really good singer! I was pretty nervous but my host family was so supportive so it was really fun. After karaoke, we prepared to go into the onsen for the first time. We would be going again after dinner so this time we spent less time in the onsen.
After the onsen, we went to dinner. Ishikawa, the prefecture I was in, is known for good seafood and around this time crab. So we had an exquisite multiple-course crab dinner. I hadn't had that much crab since I was a kid living in Alaska. We started the dinner with a nice appetizer of mixed Japanese foods then continued onto a sashimi plate. I had raw crab and shrimp which was nice to try because in America it is always boiled. There was another fish but I don't remember the name. After that, the crab came out. Let me tell you, I could not keep up. At first, we were brought a whole crab to enjoy which I very much did, it was very delicious. However, when I wasn't even done getting all the crab meat from the first crab, they brought out crab nabe (soup), which had more crab legs. So I am enjoying my crab at a quicker pace now so I can get to the next crab. But, as I nearly finish the crab meat from the first crab and finished getting the meat from the legs in the crab nabe, another plate of crab legs came out! 😮 I was drowning in crab (in the best way). So I finish up the first and second crab meat finally and just as I am about to get started on the third plate of crab, crab tempura comes out! So, of course, I have to eat the tempura first while it's warm and of course, it is super delicious. After I finish the tempura I get to the third plate of crab and finish before the next course came out.
The next course was an egg jello soup (I'll get the name later) which was nice and light and delicious. Next was ochazuke, rice seeped in broth or tea is commonly eaten at the end of a meal. Last but certainly not least was dessert which was nice fruit and sakura-flavored mochi jello(gah). After dinner, we went back to the onsen to soak for longer which was very relaxing. Then we headed back to the room and relaxed and went to bed.
The next day we had a wonderful breakfast and then headed to Kanazawa.
At Kanazawa, my host grandparents took me to Kenroku Garden, a garden created over 200 years ago. It was beautiful and I saw so many pretty and big trees (I like trees)😊.
We had lunch and then went to an older Japanese-styled area with many cool shops. Since Kanazawa is known for its gold leaf, there were gold things everywhere from cosmetics to food. My favorite was the gold leaf ice cream 😋It was very delicious. I also made a plate with gold leaf! I went with my host sister and we applied gold leaf to our dishes which was really fun and is a great souvenir. We then headed back to the station to go back home 😁
I then had a rest day where my host grandma took me to see some nearby early-blooming sakura which were so beautiful before heading to Inuyama (which isn't too far) on Saturday with my host family.
Inuyama:
Inuyama was great fun and the highlight of the day was I was able to wear a kimono! It was so beautiful and the women who helped me get ready were so nice and very skilled. In Inuyama, we went to Inuyama-jokamachi which is the old Japanese-styled town leading up to Inuyama Castle. There were many wonderful food shops and beautiful stores! I had an amazing time. Inuyama Castle was also so beautiful! I will admit though, the stairs inside were very steep and a bit hard to climb in a Kimono haha but it was worth it, the view from the top was very pretty. We then returned to the town to do some last shopping before returning the kimonos.
We then returned to Nagoya and went to see some pretty lit-up sakura (they were fake but sshh that's not important). It was really pretty and I was able to take some great pictures. I then went home to pack for my trip to Fuji the next day!
Spring break blog continued in part 2!
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