this may not seem special to some, but both of us have lived overseas for such a long time we are seldom in the same city, let alone the same country with our parents on our birthdays.
my parents were in hong kong for my birthday in august where k-chan booked a well known chinese restaurant for dinner. it turned out to be a really special night; thanks k-chan!
this past weekend was k-chan's birthday and as we are at her jikka (parent's house) she got to celebrate her special day with her parents too.
when her parent's asked her how she would like to celebrate she answered that she wanted to go to an onsen (again!) and go to her favorite ramen shop for dinner.
so that's what we did.
we drove up to the yatsugatake mountain range (八ヶ岳) near the town of koumi (小海町)stopping off for a look-see at the picturesque lake matsubara (松原湖).
we came at the right time as the leave were just stating to change color. it won't be long before this is a frozen wonderland. apparently this lake freezes over in winter and you can go ice skating. that's if you can handle the minus 20 degree temperatures!
so after our walk around (one side of) the lake we drove a bit further up the mountain to the yahho natural hot spring (八峰温泉).
after a yummy lunch of soba noodles + tempura + beer + ice cream we had a long soak in the outdoor onsen. nothing beats a long soak outside in the cool autumn air.
this onsen has a room where you can nap after a soak so while kou-chan was out to it i went for a walk around the area.
this is what i saw on my walk:
bright red japanese maple leaves
fresh veges for sale at the onsen
a bug orgy...
a slice of europe in japan?
yatsugatake mountain range
i think some kid must have done this
one of the many mountain holiday homes
a smurf village
k-chan ended her birthday with a bowl of spicy ramen noodles; a family favorite.
kちゃん、おめでとう！
onsen info:
yahho hot spring
5918-2 ooaza toyosato
koumi town, minmi saku-gun
nagano 384-1103
八峰温泉
〒384-1103
長野県南佐久郡小海町大字豊里5918-2
リンク
9 comments:
awww~ sounds like a great birthday! great company and a special one like family really counts.
Happy Birthday K-chan! hope to see you soon!
onsen and ramen. what a great way to celebrate a birthday. i like! looks like the little guy is getting cuter by the minute! love the pics of the autumn leaves :)
maligayang bati! :)
I wish you could have taken a picture of ramen. Hahaha.
kou-chan is indeed getting cuter! It's hard not to make cooing sounds over the net.
And is that mushroom edible? mmmm...'shrooms...:D
Happy Birthday, K-Chan!
And oh wow, Japan is so beautiful in autumn... You made me realise it's been many a year since I last had a birthday celebrated with my parents. Gotta rectify that next year. :)
Thanks!
* pascale
awww, thanks pascale.
we both hope to see you in tokyo soon too!
* Luuworld
my little one must take after me if he is getting cuter by the minute !lol!
* gingerbee
as you can see i took a photo of the ramen we ate with my new phone; just uploaded the photo for you :)
about those mushrooms, i wasn't gonna be the guinea pig to check if they were edible or not.
have seen on the news that a few people have already got pretty sick this year from eating mushrooms which turned out to be poisonous...
* Life for Beginners
i love japan in autumn, partly because it is my favorite season; love getting out the scarfs and gloves!!
i hope you get to celebrate your birthday with your family too sometime. not quite as "wild" as when with friends, but special to say the least.
I think it's my fave season too but more cos of the leaves turning red, gold and brown, all the shades of warmth and earth even as the weather gets chillier.
Will work on celebrating my birthday next year with my family and my friends. Though they are in two different states. :P
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