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earlier this week was chi-chi’s (my mum) 60th birthday.
happy birthday mum!!
guess how chi-chi wanted to spend this special day?
well, she and a group of close friends decided to climb mount mauao; a famous mountain beside the ocean at my home-town.
once at the top they cracked open a bottle or two of champagne which popa (my dad) carted up in his backpack and basically enjoy the amazing view and company.
I really hope you had a blast mum and didn’t get too tipsy on that champagne. the only way down is to walk or call for a rescue helli which you wouldn’t want as I’m sure it would make the front page headlines of the local newspaper!
hang on, isn't it illegal to drink on mount mauao?!?!
god, breaking the law at age 60 huh!
it sucks living so far away, especially at special occasions like this. it would be great if we could just pile on into the car, zip down the road to chi-chi and popa’s place and have a few glasses of champagne with them.
we knew that it would be impossible to be back in new zealand for chi-chi’s 60th so instead we decided to celebrate when mum's milestone when they were here in japan a couple of months back.
we took them for a weekend escape up to the small mountainous town of kusatsu in gunma prefecture (群馬県草津町) and k-chan's parents also made the trip from nagano prefecture for the celebrations.
kusatsu is world famous for its natural onsen; hot springs.
when i mentioned this to my parents I’m sure they started freaking out about having to get stark naked in front of a group of strangers and experience a real japanese onsen.
with that in mind we set out for the 4 hour drive from tokyo.
apparently there are over 100 hot springs in kusatsu with 34,000 litres of water per minute (now that’s a lot!) flowing out of the ground.
was glad to hear that this hot water is not wasted but used to heat the town’s schools in winter along with the streets, swimming pools, and many household etc.
the main attraction of the town is a huge hot spring located in the town’s center called yubatake (湯畑).
the wooden boxes you can see below are there to collect minerals which are then processed and sold as bath salts.
as we were stayed at a traditional japanese inn it didn’t take long before we were in our yukata and lounging around our spacious accommodation.
dinner was served in a private dining room and my parents were shocked at the amount of beautiful food which was served to us.
even got mum to wear the tradition red hat and cape; (akai-chanchanko) which is worn when one turns 60 and apparently starts to return to childhood.
after a few beers it was time to get naked.
seriously, onsen time.
surprisingly I wasn’t the least bit worried or embarrassed about soaking in a hot spring naked with my dad.
my dad didn’t seem too worried either but my mum on the other hand was a bit apprehensive having to go in with k-chan (she could go alone but was unfamiliar with all the ins and outs of onsen bathing).
apart from the water being a tad too hot for my parents they said that they loved it and were really glad to have experienced it.
wonder if they would do it again…?
so mum, happy 60th!
wish we could be in new zealand to celebrate with you!
