This is a trip with an online friend. We’re from different countries, and this is our second trip together. It starts with meeting him at Haneda airport. Our aim was the autumn views in Tohoku, and Tokyo is basically an excuse for us to get…… stuff from Akihabara and Nakano Broadway. We can do conversational Japanese, though my friend is much better at it than I am.
If you’re not a fan of anime, you can probably skip the Tokyo part because we’re doing…… weeb stuff.
24 Oct:
We met at Haneda in the afternoon and took an evening domestic flight to Aomori. I was at Haneda much earlier so I just spent some time eating and wandering about. Reached Aomori at night, checked into the hotel immediately. We stayed at ***Hotel Mystays Aomori Ekimae***. It’s within walking distance to the bus interchange and Aomori station. Pretty decent hotel, but it’s kind of pricey for its size and comfort. This will be the hotel we use for the Aomori leg.
25 Oct:
The target is Osore-zan. I was deciding between doing a self-drive vs public transport during the Aomori leg, but decided against it because the drive to Osore-zan from the hotel is about the same as taking public transport, plus it’s complicated for the next few days if I want to drive to catch autumn views at Oirase Stream and Hakkoda Mountains. We had Nokke-don for breakfast, and it was amazing. The whole experience walking around the market and picking your favourite ingredients was very interesting. Seafood was fresh. Surprisingly, I found the tamago-yaki and miso soup to be the best ingredients there. It was onward to Osore-zan after the breakfast. There was a TV crew doing some filming on our train to Osore-zan (I think it was filming a dad and his son traveling) while the bus trip was kind of uneventful. Autumn view at Osore-zan pairs pretty nicely with the autumn view. We got back to Aomori in the afternoon and had unagi for dinner at ***Kawayoshi Grilled Eel***. Food’s good, and they appreciated us foreigners speaking Japanese. Got nihongo-jozu-ed. Yeah our Japanese were not good enough.
26 Oct:
Oirase Stream day. There’s a bus pass you can buy that works for 2 days and you can travel between Aomori to Oirase Stream and also stops at Hakkoda Ropeway, so we got it. Easily pays itself off. There’s a lot of tourists waiting at the bus station, so we were lucky we got there at 7:30am (bus departs at 8am). They were dispatching a lot of buses, but since they were segregating passengers by numbers, the lucky ones that were at the end of the group will have to make do with the folding chairs in the walking aisle of the bus, which kind of sucks. The views at the stream were nice, but the leaves weren’t at peak, so it’s still greenish. Damn climate change. Had lunch at ***Morita*** at Lake Towada. Heard a Japanese commenting to the owners at Morita that 90% of the patrons there were foreigners, and they used us as an example when we arrived. Kind of funny. Sorry for being a filthy gaijin. By the time we’re back to Aomori, it’s the evening and we had yakiniku near our hotel for dinner.
27 Oct:
Same bus interchange again. This time we were aware of the number of travelers using the bus, so we were there again at 7:30am. Hakkoda Ropeway was the aim this time. At the ropeway, the staff crammed 100 (?) passengers into the cable-car carriage designed for 101 passenger, which kind of feels like we’re doing the morning peak-hour Tokyo rush (which we later found out was worse). The views were nice, but my friend was not impressed by the sardine experience in the carriage. Got back to Aomori by around noon, had lunch at ***Ajino Sapporo Oonishi***, which is famous for its miso curry milk ramen. It’s much nicer than it sounds. Rest of the day was spend exploring Aomori a bit. Bought the most expensive apple at the A-Factory to try, since Aomori’s famous for them. Wasn’t too impressed. Their ciders though. Yum.
28 Oct:
Leaving Aomori for Nyuto Onsen. Before doing the train trip, we decided to do Nokke-don again and tried some other ingredients we didn’t pick the first time. Trip to Nyoto Onsen wasn’t too difficult. When we arrived at ***Tae no Yu*** via the local bus, the hotel staff was already waiting for us outside the ryokan. Super impressed. Autumn views were great at the ryokan, kaiseki dinner’s great, service was excellent, and the private onsen had an impressive view of the man-made waterfall along the river just next to the ryokan. Very pleased with the ryokan, and it was easily one of the better ones that I’ve stayed in across my various trips.
29 Oct:
Day trip to Kakunodate before settling down in Sendai, since Kakunodate is an easy trip from Nyuto Onsen. The place is not too big, and the buildings are nice and historic. Sadly, the autumn views are not at peak yet. We randomly stopped by a rather famous oyakodon place in Kakunodate (***食処かくのだて***) that serves the dish using Hinai Chicken, but sadly my plebeian tongue can’t really figure out the difference between that and oyakodon made out of normal chicken. It’s delicious, but not mind-blowing. For Sendai we stayed at ***Sotetsu Fresa Inn Sendai***. Walking distance from Sendai station, and the hotel is actually pretty new and fresh compared to the hotel we stayed at Aomori. The breakfast at the hotel was decent as well.
30 Oct:
Sendai day. Nothing too special. Used the Loople bus to explore the main attractions, but my friend wasn’t too pleased with the bus’ interior design since it was kind of cramped for those that are standing. Had lunch at ***Aji Tasuke***, and that was probably the best cow tongue cuisine I had in Sendai. Dinner however was a disaster. I wanted to try kushiyaki at Hou, but wasn’t aware that they do reservations only. Next, we decided to have dinner at Akebono, a delicious unagi restaurants I tried during my previous trip to Sendai, only to find out that the 4th generation owner had closed the restaurant permanently. Talk about luck. In the end, we decided to walk randomly into a yakitori place in the area (***Toriyoshi***). Very local and managed by an elderly couple where ojisan does the grilling only after you’ve placed the orders, and the obasan who serves the drinks. It seems rather famous, but they don’t allow pictures in the restaurant. The only other local patron at the place actually asked us why we’re traveling in Sendai (my guess is Sendai is not really all that interesting). Apparently he recently moved to Sendai from Tokyo, so that information further affirms my reasoning for his question. The yakitori there is very good. Apparently they pride themselves for grilling the chicken purely with the charcoal’s heat without fanning the charcoal. Not too sure what difference it makes, but it’s delicious so I’m all for it.
31 Oct:
Yamadera day. Did the thousand steps, was nearly dead at the top. The view from the viewing balcony was great, but again the autumn peak was not really there, which was a huge shame. Be careful with the steps while climbing, cause there was a group of Taiwanese tourist in front of us at the start of the climb, and one of the ladies tripped on a root and broke her tooth. They abandoned the climb immediately.
1 Nov:
Matsushima day. I’ve been there before, so nothing too special for me. My friend had the oyster curry bread there, which he said was pretty amazing, but I am not a huge fan of oysters so I skipped it. Had sushi at Shiogama. I had Kameki Sushi for my previous Matsushima trip, so we tried ***Sushi Tetsu***. Amazing taste for its price really. But I personally prefer the slightly more…… upscale Kameki Sushi. Can’t go wrong with either though. I’d recommend getting the crab miso soup on top of the sushi set if you’re planning to eat at Sushi Tetsu.
2 Nov:
Our second onsen ryokan for the trip, this time at Naruko Onsen. The main target is the autumn views at Naruko Gorge, but I wasn’t too optimistic at then due to the previously sub-optimal views. Checked out of Sendai and arrived early at the ryokan (***Yusaya Japanese Inn***), and the staff stored our luggage for us. Naruko Gorge was an easy bus trip from the train station, the surprisingly the autumn views at Naruko Gorge was in peak. Beautiful. There were food stands at the area, and the whole place felt like a mini festival. I had the bright idea to walk to Nakayamadaira-onsen Station from the viewing balcony (since I read that it was possible), but it turns out the trains from the station to Naruko-onsen station were sparse and we had to wait for a few hours. Luckily, the buses for the event happens to stop at Nakayamadaira-onsen station as its first stop, so we actually took the bus and had seats for the whole ride. Keikaku doori. The ryokan itself felt rather old and the rooms were very traditional. Contrary to the ryokan at Nyuto Onsen where we had our dinner at the dining hall, this ryokan served dinner in the room, so that’s 2 different experience in a single trip. The private bath was actually located in a separate building across a road. The private bath was great, but walking to the place on geta was a pain in the ass. Still, we enjoyed ourselves immensely. If you ask me though, I preferred Tae no Yu over Yusaya, but Yusaya is definitely more traditional. The manager of the ryokan could speak some English, and his never failed to ask how we’re doing whenever he sees us walking around in the ryokan.
3 Nov:
Onward to Tokyo. Stayed at ***Keisei Richmond Hotel Tokyo Monzennakacho***. It’s located in a quiet neighbourhood, but just close enough to the subway to make things very convenient and comfortable. There’s a super popular tonkatsu place next to the hotel, but it is super popular and always have hour-long waits from start to the end of the day, so we didn’t try it. We met one of my friend’s Japanese online friend for dinner, and he offered to walk us around Kabukicho after dinner. I’ve went there before quite some time ago, but the experience is different this time round since I’ve played some Yakuza games. You really can just walk the area with your game knowledge alone.
4 Nov:
Akihabara and Nakano Broadway. Lots of thin books, anime goods and stuff. Forgive me god, for I have sinned.
5 Nov:
Chiba day. We’ve decided to do a Seichi Junrei for Yahari Ore no Seishun. The best place was easily the place where Yuigahama cried, cause there were actual photos of her crying pasted at the place. We laughed out asses off when we saw that. Also bought the souvenirs shown in the OVA (***ORANDA-YA*** ). It’s good and a rather unique souvenir that is not your typical Tokyo Banana and etc.
6 Nov:
Enoshima + Yokohama. Enoshima’s for seichi junrei for Bunny Girl Senpai and also to see the train crossing featured in Slam Dunk’s famous opening. I really like Enoshima a lot. Incredible place. Had lunch at ***Shirasuya***, a place serving the local delicacy of whitebait. I personally am not a big fan of raw whitebait. We did Yokohama because we wanted to see Gundam Factory, but it was closed for maintenance. Huge bummer. Scooted our ass down to Odaiba as a back-up.
7 Nov:
Souvenir shopping and END.
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Overall a rather enjoyable trip, but the delay to the autumn peak views at Aomori was a letdown. Still, no regrets.