A short trip to Japan - Hokkaido

[rbjhan]

Waiting for the ryokan post!
I'm quite interested in Lake Akan but winter in Eastern Hokkaido is kinda difficult to plan....sigh...

 

[RooFlyer]

Waiting for the ryokan post!

You mean ‘Resort of the Soul’? I’m here now and .... Houston there have been a few problems. Will come to that later.

 

[rbjhan]

You mean ‘Resort of the Soul’? I’m here now and .... Houston there have been a few problems. Will come to that later.

You didn't stay at Lake Akan or am I missing something?

 

[RooFlyer]

No, I needed to push on, so it was Kangetsuen, on the Tokatchi River, east of Obihiro.


Got to the hotel pretty tired. It's a large one, seeming built in the '60s or '70s. Quite expensive at about A$320 for the night and it was overpriced. It’s definitely on a phase of fading glory.



I was told dinner would be at 6:30pm and asked to be seated promptly.

Room





I booked a river view room and true to form, it had a view of the river.



The onsen water has passed through extensive peat deposits and so is a dark brown water stained with tannins.

Hotel web site



I said the hotel was somewhat in fading glory. One of the oddest things about it is that outside every room that I saw ( as in every room on my floor) there was paint or stain drips (dry of course) around the doorway.

Goodness only knows what’s happened there.

 

[RooFlyer]

You mean ‘Resort of the Soul’? I’m here now and .... Houston there have been a few problems. Will come to that later.

But I think we are making up Sake - . Complements ( I think!!)

 

[rbjhan]

No, I needed to push on, so it was Kangetsuen, on the Tokatchi River, east of Obihiro.


Got to the hotel pretty tired. It's a large one, seeming built in the '60s or '70s. Quite expensive at about A$320 for the night and it was overpriced. It’s definitely on a phase of fading glory.

View attachment 389474

I was told dinner would be at 6:30pm and asked to be seated promptly.

Room

View attachment 389470

View attachment 389472

I booked a river view room and true to form, it had a view of the river.

View attachment 389471

The onset water has passed through extensive peat deposits and so is a dark brown water stained with tannins.

Hotel web site

View attachment 389475

I said the hotel was somewhat in fading glory. One of the oddest things about it is that outside every room that I saw ( as in every room on my floor) there was paint or stain drips (dry of course) around the doorway.

Goodness only knows what’s happened there.

View attachment 389476

View attachment 389477

Yeah I went to have a look on IKYU
It does look a bit old....however price seems to be about 20K Yen on average so I'd say 32K was definitely high!

 

[RooFlyer]

It was a ‘good’ room ( top floor, view etc) and I keep forgetting these prices include breakfast and dinner.

 

[rbjhan]

It was a ‘good’ room ( top floor, view etc) and I keep forgetting these prices include breakfast and dinner.

I've never been to that part of Japan, but this one is very famous...

【公式】 十勝川温泉 三余庵 ～ 五感で感じる極上のスパリゾート

人生に「余」の愉しみを。「三余庵」は心のゆとりとくつろぎの時間を大切に、料理、快適な施設空間、そして五感に響くサービスを目指しております。出会いの瞬間を大切に、最大限の「笑顔」で、やさしく、あたたかく、美しくさりげなく心を配りながらお客様の歓びを喜び、「感謝」の気持ちを込めておもてなしをいたします。

www.sanyoan.com

​

 

[RooFlyer]

Back to Kangetsuen.

Dinner again was part of the deal; in this case it was a buffet. The buffet was OK, but the restaurant had all the charm of a boarding school ref.






Same for breakfast.

My destination is the final stay in Hokkaido this time, the Hotel Furakawa 'resort of the soul', near the Nonoribetsu onsen and volcanic area.



I had a liesurly morning, with some more onsen time, then hit the road. I wanted to go via Lake Shikotsu, so set the GPS for the 'Ancient Bridge ruins' there. Sounds good!

500 yen parking, and there is a lovely park with shops and a resort.





Unfortunately the 'ancient bridge ruins' was a victim of a bad translation. In fact it was the well-preserved remainder of an old railway bridge.







It was very scenic around the lake so I went for a longer walk than panned, and had some lunch - scallop and beef croquettes (separately). Very nice.



I think this is Mt Eniwa.

 

[RooFlyer]

From there, I continued towards Hotel Furukawa but discovered I was a bit behind time. I want to get to the Noboribetsu volcanic area this afternoon - its beyond the hotel, so check-in first or later? I chose first, to discover any peculiarities. Its a recommendation of rbjhan and promises to be the most 'authentic' of the places I'm staying at on this trip.

It calls itself the 'Resort of the Soul' and is right on the Pacific Ocean and as soon as I walke though the doors, you could see it was somehting special. Shoes left on, though, for now. Taken to the lounge to check-in, then a guy took me and my bags up to my room and explained everything.

Check-in



Rest of the lounge



Room - on the top floor, a 'modern room' - the smallest on the floor (by the fire evacuation diagram)







A decent sized bathroom - shower off to the left



View. The sound of the waves rolling in was fanbtastic.



I was told dinner would bet at 5:30pm. I politely pushed back on that, as I was about to go out again and didn't think 5:30 would give me time for looking around and some onsen time before dinner. After some consternation, they agreed to 6:30. There was little english here, and a lot of communication was done via Google translate.

 

[RooFlyer]

Noboribetsu volcanic area a significant onsen area - the road up to the volcanic field passes through a cluster of maybe 12-15 hotels, each very large - ie +10 stories. There are multiple hot springs in the area, many with different characteristics so places might have a number of baths with different waters.

500 yen parking again, and I'm afraid I again found the volcanic area a bit meh. It was described in one guidebook I read as "the most significant 'valley of hell' in Hokkaido."

There are some lazy steaming fumaroles, some boiling mud pools and, obviously, hot springs, but its all pretty passive.



This mud pool, specially fenced off wasn't doing anything today.



I then drove up to Lake Kuttara, a crater lake. Pretty but few viewing opportunities.



With that, I headed back to the hotel. And there was an issue. The (young) lady who gave me my dinner time, and handled the rescheduling was on the desk (as she seemed to be most of the time I was there). I went to her and asked for some information about the hotel - a map, or where the onens were, whether you took a room towel there etc etc. Boy, she was not happy! I asked questions using my phone/translate and she would answer in Japanese. I indicated my phone - she crossly said something else. I stood there, partly annoyed and partly wondering what faux pas I had committed to get this. It was the dinner time issue, I think; I was totally polite in this, and wouldn't have argued if they pushed back a bit, but they didn't - just a bit confounded by a nrequest for a change in routine.

Time to retreat. I found the guy who had taken me to my room earlier and asked him and he was forthcoming and fetched me a hotel instruction sheet (in English) from behind the counter where the first lady still stood.

The onsen was wonderful. Hotel web site pic of the two outside ones (several more inside).



When immersed in either of these, you got an 'infinity pool' view to the horizon, which was (together with the sound of the breakers)



Although it was shoes on on arrival, up to my room, they asked for slippers after that. There was also a yukata in the room and again, we were encouraged to wear that. So I obliged & changed. The slippers turned out to be too small, so at the front desk I asked if there was a larger pair (dragon lady wasn't there - whew).

In a few minutes, the lady came back with a larger pair of slippers and another yukata - "king size!" she said, smiling . I shared the joke.

But dragon lady hadn't finished with me yet. There were some Japanese snacks and drinks in the lounge - fermented rice drink I think was one. There appeared to be a little bar in the corner, so I went over and asked for a gin & tonic, both verbally and translated on my phone. Dragon lady was there and again replied something in Japanese. I begged her pardon and with her phone she just had "visit reception".

OK, I wandered over there and asked about getting a drink, and happy slipper lady there said, no, no booze (not sure if it was the time, or absolute). Odd, I thought, but that's how it goes but I knew I really had to watch out for dragon lady.

 

[RooFlyer]

Dinner! What an experience. Shown to my table and first course was laid out. Fixed menu



that translated as this.



When every course was brought out, the servers (who appeared to greatly enjoy the interaction with someone who was occasionally flummoxed about what was going on!!) would indicate on the menu. There was one older lady who always went off giggling. Oddly, like the La Vista, the dished seemed to come out not always in order.

See the little shrimp on the right? To see about that, have a look here: What I ate today - the food thread



I bought a flight of three sakes from this list - unfortunately it wasn't clear which ones I got (not that I would know anyway).



Who is our sake expert? Should it be a bit 'fiery'? I don't drink any neat spirit because I don't like the 'fire', but these, with the glasses full to brimming! were all pretty mild. Sound right - good/bad quality??




Hotpot (and miso on the right)



Then what I think was the highlight. Its the 'salt pot' course (salt dome is the white thing), but the menu didn't do it justice.



Bits of grilled fish and chicken - and under the bamboo thing was a sliced up abalone. I haven't had ab for many, many years and never one that big!! In the red bowl was some little bits of wagyu that I cooked on a little hot plate (out of pic).

I was offered - and accepted! - another glass of sake



Then tempura asparagus



Sushi



to be continued ...

 

[RooFlyer]

Dessert and my 'midnight snack' (the parcel on the left).



When opened, the midnight snack was a very large rice ball (with filling) and some pickled ?veges. After the huge dinner, I'm afraid the midnight snack went unconsumed.



After dinner onsen had me staring out to the black sea, with many vessels lit up out there somewhere.

The room had centralised air con which was not on cool, so i turned it off and opened the door to my little balcony. Great idea - as well as a cool breeze, it allowed the sound of breakers to lull me to sleep. Remarkably similar to my favorite 'white noise' track on my phone!

Shower in the morning revealed an oddity - these products were there over the handbasin.



but no shampoo or soap in the shower - solid or liquid. I thought - maybe 'hair tonic' is the shampoo - nope. Don't laugh, what else was going to be shampoo. Dug out one of my own little shampoos etc, but the lack of hotel ones remains a mystery. Anyone have any ideas?

Breakfast was another fixed menu affair. This was just after I put the little chicken sausage and mushroom on the hot plate. That's a big bowl of rice on the left. The plate of stuff on the back right I had no idea what any of it was - which was probably just as well. it was consumed.



There was another course that i forgot to photograph, then grilled fish (VERY bony)



then, a bit bizarrely, an omelette and tomato sauce. I appeared to be the only one who scored this.



There was something else, but I had to decline. I made my apologies and thanks via phone to the ladies on my way out, and appreciation for the quality of the meal. Lots of appreciation on all sides.

 

[trendwhore]

Sake usually isn't firey (unless you get onecup lol) nah it's typically pretty smooth. That food looks epic

 

[RooFlyer]

Anyone is welcome to tell me what I've done wrong or could do better - in any aspect. Need to learn for next time.

 

[rbjhan]

This was really odd...I didn't have any problems with anyone there...in fact I recalled excellent service all around! Things could have changed though, 8 years is a long time.

But then I didn't leave the place once checked in or changed dinner time, nor do I drink....so can't really tell....Best guess would be G&T was not something they were offering...this is not a bar after all.

 

[rbjhan]

So this is what their website is saying:

Various drinks on offer in the lounge,
Juice & milk during breakfast, black tea, coffee, honey ginger tea after 9pm.



Again, I don't drink so I might be completely off here but I don't think ryokans offer free alcoholic drinks in general. They will tell you if they do.

 

[RooFlyer]

Best guess would be G&T was not something they were offering...this is not a bar after all.

Definitely not offering!! But I saw some bottles on the shelf behind that little nook in the lounge area and assumed it was a little bar!! I mean, every other place offered ...

I'm happy to take responsibility for the dragon lady - I obviously said or did something wrong in the dinner timing interaction, but this is 6 days into my trip and I thought I had the polite manners thing pretty well worked out!!

 

[rbjhan]

Definitely not offering!! But I saw some bottles on the shelf behind that little nook in the lounge area and assumed it was a little bar!! I mean, every other place offered ...

I'm happy to take responsibility for the dragon lady - I obviously said or did something wrong in the dinner timing interaction, but this is 6 days into my trip and I thought I had the polite manners thing pretty well worked out!!

Sounds like she was not having a good day though!
I probably would complain. Trust me I have done that in Japan...

 

[rbjhan]

Side note, a lot of English speaking people left the industry during covid...
I find the service level drop off obvious in some cases...

I'm speaking Japanese now to make up the gap but that's not possible for everyone!

Friend of mine who speaks Japanese fluently found herself facing a lady in Miyagima who refused to talk to her face no matter what language she used, instead only speaking into a translator...