Friday, June 21st 2013 - Nikko, Day 2

When we arrived at Rindou no Ie, we had the option of ordering breakfast for the next day, which we took advantage of. We got to choose western-style or Japanese-style and since Mc had yet to have the unique experience of a Japanese breakfast, we opted for Japanese-style. We had to be in the dining room downstairs by 8:00am, and when we arrived Shizuo slid back the door to reveal a huge tatami  room with a long, low table covered with our breakfast set out like a piece of art. Each plate was meticulously arranged. The Japanese believe that you eat first with your eyes, and that concept was in full play here. If you eat Japanese food or buy sushi at the grocery store, you are familiar with the little plastic garnishes added for decoration. All of the decorations and garnishes on our table were snippets of actual plants, but were so perfect that they seemed plastic. We seated ourselves across from each other on the zabuton (floor cushions) and Shizuo brought us hot green tea and bowls of rice. Then he left us to enjoy the beauty and calm of our artful breakfast.

Japanese-style breakfast at Rindou no Ie

Was it delicious? Um, no. I wanted Mc to try a Japanese breakfast because it is weird to eat fish first thing in the morning. A LOT of the things the Japanese will eat for breakfast are weird; for example there were 3 cold meatballs on a lettuce leaf. There were also 3 cherry tomatoes that had been inexplicably boiled and peeled. Mc got to try a umeboshi (pickled salt plum), which he hated (because they are disgusting). I also don't really care for pickled/salty salads and there were plenty of those. However, I don't eat much for breakfast anyway, the tamago (egg) was delicious, and it was awesome cultural exposure for a whopping 700¥.

After breakfast we wanted to explore the nature part of Nikko, and of course Shizuo insisted he drive us to town and hold our bags, and then deliver them to the station when we were ready to leave (I CANNOT recommend this minshuku highly enough!). Once in town, we took a bus to the Chuzenji Onsen bus stop (about 1 hour). That drops you off right next to Chuzenji-ko (the main lake area). From there it is a very quick walk to Kegon Falls. I will say right off that these are beautiful and impressive falls, unless you are from Oregon, in which case, they are about half the size of Multnomah Falls. However, I wanted to take Mc here because when I came here with my mom oh-so-long-ago, that's where we saw monkeys. Mc likes monkeys and when he heard that they had real, wild monkeys in Japan, he got very excited. In a manly, adult sort of way of course. So, because I love him and want him to experience everything on this trip, I wanted to show him monkeys. 

Kegon Falls

We got to ride a very long elevator (that is the only access to view the falls; it costs 500¥ to ride the elevator), be interviewed by more school children, and visit lots of omiyage shops, but saw no monkeys. So after the falls (where we bought lemon soft cream, as lemon appears to be the local flavor of the area - it was the BEST soft cream!), we decided to hike around the lake in hopes that if we got away from the populated area, maybe we would see monkeys. We walked along the lake and followed a random trail and eventually ended up at the Italian Embassy Memorial Park entirely by accident, which was nice enough if you like parks commemorating when the ambassadors all had homes on Nikko Lake. Still no monkeys. We finally had to head back to catch the bus, and Mc tried to not be wildly disappointed. We walked along the road and headed to the bus stop, which was a huge parking lot, and there were monkeys. Lots of them. By the bus stop. Of course. There was a tree nearby with small red berries and two monkeys were hanging out, doing monkey stuff. In a small chunk of parking lot behind a gate, a mama monkey was chillin' with her baby. And while Mc was taking pictures, an adolescent monkey jumped up on the gate and strutted by. (Note: monkeys are cute, but they will steal your stuff. Do not get close enough for them to grab your camera because they will grab your camera and then you will hate monkeys.) There were plenty of monkeys to fulfill the deepest monkey desires and I was delighted. Monkeys: check.

In every trip, there will be travel snafus, and the rest of this day was made up purely of travel snafus. We were supposed to meet my dear friend S at Higashi-Omiya station at 5:30pm. We arrived at 7:40pm. This was horrible because I am usually so meticulous and good at planning. I'd like to blame jet-lag, so I'm going to. Stupid jet-lag. Our first mistake was that when we looked at the bus schedule posted at the bus stop to see when the last bus was that we needed to catch back from the lake, we looked at the schedule by the drop-off stop, not the pick-up stop. So we were off by 30 min. there. Then our bus driver was awesome, flying down the switch-backs with expertise and confidence, but he got stuck behind what I assume was the new guy, who was taking each turn with EXTREME caution. When we finally reached the station, we had to wait for Shizuo to come with our bag, and then the next train going back towards Omiya wasn't until 4pm and then while we were on the train I realized that when I was calculating the times I read the length as 1 hour 40 min. when what it actually said was 140min., which is a huge difference, and then there was the rapid. A rapid is a train that goes super fast because it doesn't stop at all the little stops, just the major ones. And in case your wondering, Higashi-Omiya is not a main stop. (This was another time I was super glad that we had rented a cell phone, so I could let S know instead of having her wait at the train station for us indefinitely.) And lastly, S had told us to wait at the east exit and when she tapped my shoulder from behind and told us she had been waiting at the other exit, she asked, "Nishi is east?" (It's west.)

But we made it. And S was so kind and gracious and completely unbothered by the fact that we were embarrassingly late. She drove us (yup, she has a car) to her home in Omiya (she and her husband had a house built a few years ago) and gave us a tour. She introduced us to her family, and presented us with a homemade feast. (On the train, as it was getting very late, Mc asked innocently if there would be food at S's house or if we should pick up dinner at a conbini. All I could do was smile and tell him that there would be food there. Of course, after staying with S's family for 3 days, he felt ridiculous that he had ever asked. If you go to a Japanese home for dinner, it's possible that you will have never seen so much food in your life. And then comes the 2nd course . . . ) Seeing S again was a highlight of the trip and I cannot wait to write about her ad nauseum (is there any other way?) tomorrow.