I know I only just finished blogging about last year's Japan trip. But I wanted to write about this spring's Japan trip so I'm gonna hold off the Canada entry til after this~

My family and I planned to see the sakura this year. Rose was supposed to organize it, but things didn't go as planned so I had to ask Tadashi for help booking the Ryokan and stuff. He pulled through amazingly amidst all my panic.

The morning I was supposed to fly off to Japan I had the last minute nerves, you know the anxious feeling you get "What if the ryokan is not booked where are we gonna stay....Is my Visa properly done, what if I'm sent home after the long flight there??"

ya la paranoid ok! At the Japanese immigration, they stopped a woman travelling from Malaysia because she didn't have a Japanese visa (seeeee I'm not paranoid for nothing!!!)

So the trip was 4 nights and 5 days long (for me, my dad and rose) to Kyoto. Mom and siblings left  a day early as the small kids had exams (HHAHAHAHAHA). I flew to Osaka airport from Singapore and met my family there in the airport (they landed an hour earlier). From there we took a van to Taketoritei Maruyama, Arima Onsen.... prob about 2-3 hours drive from Osaka airport as the place is in Kobe. I chose this place because they have private hot springs!!! Don't have to go to the public onsens and see everyones privates! And I can take towels into the bath with me =D

The itinierary:-

Turns out we were too early to see sakura T____T. BUT we were able to see the plum blossoms which normally come out before the sakura.

It took us a nice long hike up and down pebble paths and longkangs (just because they were easier to walk in ok!!)... on high heeled boots....

when we FINALLY reached the place i dropped my humongous camera bag in a corner and went picture crazy.

My mom's pretty here right??? =D

Plum blossoms have a really really sweet smell and are shaped like small rounded buds.

Aren't they pretty? like a froth of pink bubbles. I'm quite proud of this shot too! Still learning how to use my camera.

There's the pink variety and the white ones

My photo taking skills not bad ok!!  nyek~

The area was quite high up overlooking the town. Arima Onsen itself is full of slopes and hilly paths

Gorgeous!!!

Mom and dad

taken with flash.... came out differently even with the harsh sunlight

yeah we took a LOT of photos to compensate for all that walking/hiking uphill just to see the plum blossoms!

more blossoms against the blue sky shots. Was super hot and sunny that day without a cloud in the sky.

the next few shots are us with the cameras....all trying hard to take nice shots

me with my canon 400D

Derick with my oh so awesome blinged camera... canon of course

Doreen gan with her 40D

Mom with my camera.

Taken with Rose's Nikon

mother and daughter hiao

HAHAAHHA

hot and sweaty and bothered with the bright sunlight.... and that the sunlight was not falling at the right places. You know when the background is nice you'd also need some nice sunlight positioning to make a nice photo?

The sunlight wasn't shining right that day T_________T

We got a Japanese passerby to take a photo for all of us.... I wonder why I didn't take out my tripod... after all I already lugged it all the way =(

Derick washing his hands/mouth at a nearby shrine.

Then we walked down to look for lunch. Had lunch at a small restaurant.

And let me tell you it was so good I forgot about taking a picture til I finished eating!

Kurimu soda (cream soda) was the bomb !! like the Lime and Vanilla popsicle I used to have when I was younger.... but nicer! So refreshing after the hot and sticky trek.

The tempura ebi was yummy too! While tempura is normally crispy, this one had more egg in it and it turned out so well!  

Therefore the picture of the shell only instead of the whole thing before I greedily devoured it.

 These orchids were so pretty they looked fake!

These too! but they were 100% real. I know cuz I felt them up =D

Walked around summore, went into souvenir shops and bought a few souvenirs, and Japanese snacks to try. Then we spotted this!

woo hoo! free hot springs to soak your tired feet in

we had to buy some cheap towels nearby to wipe off after we were done

was so darn hot!!! my feet felt like they were gonna explode

aren't these dogs cute!!! we spotted them twice while walking around arima onsen

me exhausted and waiting for the bus to take us back to the inn.

got into a bus full of old people. I think that Arima Onsen is where people go to when the retire... predominantly silver haired people!

Back at takotoritei:-

They served us plum tea and mochi

the plum tea had gold stuff in it. Was so gross !! Sour but ... gross... I dunno la! ahahahha it's just strange

mom gobbling the snack.

After which we were led off to pick the yukata of our choice. To use in the inn of course, not to take away unfortunately.

Mom on the cart before being wheeled off to the lift. HAHAHAHA

Parents' room

Which had its own onsen. The silver hot spring.

and a kotatsu! which I never tried in the end

Pretty Japanese lady explaining how the onsen, dinner and breakfast works.

I just realized how strange that sounds... how dinner and breakfast and the onsen works? dont u just go and eat and splash into the hot springs? In Japan I guess things are a little more meticulous and orderly.

our room! And here's how it works... in the daytime the tables and seats are set out like this. Then when you go off for dinner, the employees will come shuffling in to put the table and seats away and set out your futons side by side.

dressed to go to the hot springs

omg... doreen gan is my height....almost! omg !!!

next to the silver and gold springs

Arima Onsen has two kinds of springs: One is called "Kinsen" because the water is colored yellow-brown from its iron and salt. The other is "Ginsen," which contain radium and carbonate. The water of Ginsen is colorless.

one of them is supposed to be good for backs too but i forgot which 

mom and doreen sitting beside the springs after a soak. Strange la it's an open onsen. Half of it is covered the rest is open air. Behind the onsen in a forest of bamboo i think. Mom was a bit paranoid someone would be watching hahahaha

blood circulation kicked in after a (Very HOT) soak in both the silver and gold baths. relaxing too

at dinner with our yukata.

It took us all so darn long to get into those yukatas! we were wrapping them up wrongly and tying the obis into weird knots! In the end we had to ask for help from the receptionist and a lady, skilled at kimono dressing, came up to our rooms to help wrap us into the yukatas.

doing the kawaii pose while waiting for dinner to be served

this is ony crazy long list for dinner ok. It's not that this is a menu where we choose what we want to eat... it's a menu where everything on this list is served to you! 

strawberry wine. on a mini cart. So cute right??? and so delicious! Strawberry wine is the best wine ever!

And I love the eye for detail here.

see??? everything is so perfectly placed. This is Kaiseki.... healthy food... REALLY healthy food

sometimes abit too healthy =D

sashimi served with loads of greens. I thought it was weird at first but i fell in love with it after that. Now when I  buy sashimi, i buy alfalfa sprouts to go with them. 

tempura... served with salt??

beef.... which I threw over to Derick to eat since he was having difficulty with the healthy food. He only eats pork cutlets when we go for Japanese... never the raw stuff.

And you dump it into the pot to cook =D so cool *raves more about japan*

and more strawberry wine

am not sure why they served the rice last... and I'm not sure what that bowl beside the rice bowl contains... slimy stuff... I wonder if it's natto all blended into a paste to trick us into eating it... it didnt taste bad...it was just slimy

at this point i was about to burst

family in yukatas

The japanese girls love to put their hair into huge buns at the top of their heads. While theirs are nice and neat and plump, mine is just messy!! It's a mystery how they always look so good!

Back in the room.... futons laid out all ready for us to sleep. Doreen flew onto her soft downy comforter.

I shouldnt be worried that it'll be cold during winter, because there are heaters in the room. I loveeee these futons!!! So nice and fluffy!

Doreen and rose.

By this time we were all soooo sleeepy... it was already around 10-11 ish. But mom and I made another trip to the onsen while my dad soaked in their room.

Gold springs

That's all for day one!