Kinugawa Daiichi Hotel Nikko

... a little air dryer for your backside). There's an internal fan that comes on to avoid any unpleasant odors. There's probably a button to cause wheels to appear so you can drive the thing down the street... Anyway, suffice it to say that the Japanese have advanced the technology of toilets.<br><br>Now, could somebody explain to them to adopt toilet paper with a little more heft than single ply?

... zum Rand gefuellte Wanne mit heissem Wasser gaaaaanz frueh am Morgen (weil Fruehstueck wird um halb 8 serviert... und nur bis halb 8)<br>Wir wissen jetzt auch, wie man so ein Japanisches Bad auch richtig benutzt... wir hatten zwar schon mal von irgendeinem Japankenner gehoert, wie das denn so ablaueft... aber wenn man dann wirklich da ist, dann denkt man nicht an irgendwelche Waschablaeufe oder so... also haben wir auch gleich mal am ersten ...

... and scallop), beef, tempura and some unknowns that tasted great. Washed down with a big, cold Asahi beer!<br><br>Then, bath time. Wow. First time in a Japanese bath. Private, not a sento, but hot enough to peel paint and just the thing for sore muscles. The whole Japanese process where you shower/rinse first, then get in the tub to soak.<br>

... wohl Wandern angesagt! ... y a y :p<br><br>Gestern und vorgestern haben wir uns in Asakusa mit Sabine und Andi getroffen (Studienkollegin und soon-to-be-Gspons ;)<br>War sehr amuesant uns auf der von Japanern nur so wimmelnden Azumbashi Bruecke zu finden. Sabine passt wie die Faust aufs Auge hier nach Japan. Dieses Land bringt ihre besten Eigenschaften noch besser zum Vorschein! XD<br>Wir sind einfach mal Essen gegangen und danach am Abend noch zu einem ...

... of the day. One of the most famous things about the temple is a wood carving with the "Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil, See No Evil" monkeys adorning it. <br><br>Unfortunatley I didn't get up to see Kegon waterfall which I hear is really beautiful. There is also a lake above Nikko which is also quite beautiful. Both of these places can be reached by special bus but since it was late in the day I decided to head back to Tokyo. <br><br> <br>

... However, I was disappointed to see the monks in the temple or shrines who were eager to sell something mysterious like lucky charms, lucky arrows, and beadrolls. I didn't go shopping there. I thought the monk was more sacred profession. Especially, Nikko is the most dignified cluster of shrines and temples of Japan. Honestly, I had a bad impression from the merchant-like monks.<br><br>

... They were very helpful and we got public bus tickets, expensive $20 (like everything else here) and rode out a half hour up a windy mountain road to Chuzen-ji Lake. From the bus stop we walked 300 meters to Kegon Falls, pretty nice as far as falls goes, similiar but not as nice as Akaka Falls, Hawaii... I'm just saying. Then we walked to the lake and was a little bummed out by the hiking trail options and it started to ...

... pero habia una cascada muy bonita para ver, Kegon Falls. Nos mojamos los pies en el lago Chuzenji , en honor a Teresa (Juan me copio), y cogimos el autobus de vuelta. De los monos ni rastro.<br> Llamamos a Norito para que nos recogiera. Cuando llegamos al hostal acababa de empezar la clase de Kendo en el dojo (gimnasio). El dueno del hostal nos vio en la puerta observando y nos invito a sentarnos al frente. Habia unos 15 ninos y tambien chavales mas mayores con problemas ...

... yum!), language, and customs, but they also gave us snowboarding gear and lift tickets and let us use the onsen (outdoor hot-spring bath) whenever we wanted. So between our chores at the lodge (cleaning the Japanese style rooms, cooking Japanese food, shoveling snow off the porch, walking Figo, the black-lab), we would hit some jumps at the terrain park. The snow was pretty slushy spring conditions, so the park was perfect for our few hours per day of snowboarding ...

... Japanese Inn. http://japaneseguesthouses.com/db/nikko /konishi.htm Basically you get a small room with multiple alcoves seperated by sliding paper doors. The first room you enter if for taking off your shoes as you aren't supposed to wear your shoes on the tatami mat floors. Your main room is set up during the day with a table an chairs which is moved aside by ht estaff to set out the futons at night to sleep on. Then there is a 3rd ...