Last night we got the Glastonbury DVD from the video shop, and had a sleepover in the living room. This may seem a somewhat redundant activity in a flat with paper walls and sliding doors, but it meant that when one of us woke up, the others did too, which aided us a lot in achieving today's goal - To go to Mino-o and climb the mountain to the waterfall. Upon arrival, I discovered that it was in fact more of a slightly uphill path, but it was awesome nonetheless. The area around it seems to have one main commercial interest, which is the deep 
frying of Maple leaves, coated in Maple Sugar batter. This produces delicious candied leaves, which are nice and crunchy and reminiscient of brandy snaps or those orange sweets you get in indian sweetshops, whose name escapes me. We also had some Red Bean Mochi, called Daifuku, which were a wierd doughlike consistency and bright green.
It was a perfect sunny day today, with not a cloud in the sky, however as a result a few thousand other people had the same idea as us, meaning that the route was pretty crowded all the way up. The main attraction at this time of year seems to be the fact that the leaves are all
turning from green to various stunning shades of red, which made for hundreds of whimsical shots of mountainsides clad in leaves of various hues. The walk was really nice, not too strenuous and dotted with loads of extremely Japanese scenes, culminating in a pretty spectacular waterfall at the end of the 3 km(ish) trail. We bumped into two ex-Nova teachers called Owen and Lee, who told us that the Onsen at the Mino-o Hotel was half price after five, valuable knowledge.
To get to the Onsen you go up in a glass lift from ground level to Hotel Lobby level, which commands pretty spectacular views over the endless city of Osaka, so I have yet more cityscape photos. The Onsen experience is a little disconcerting at first, being as it is a large room mainly full of naked Japanese men. The one at Mino-o is apparently below par, although it was nonetheless very relaxing. This Onsen is sex-separated, although this is not always the case. There is an enormous pool in the centre at about 37 degrees, surrounded on two sided by showers and stools, with soap, with a Sauna and a Vapour room at the top. The Sauna was at above 110 F, about 45 C, whereas the Vapour room was very odd. It amounted to a small greenhouse, indoors, with sprinklers in the ceiling which sprayed those inside with a fine mist of water at a fairly neutral temperature. You walk around the Onsen nude, except for a small flannel which you can either use for a little modesty, or (for some inexplicable reason) place folded on top of your head while you sit in the baths.
There was also an outdoor Pool/Jacuzzi full of hot water, which allowed you to look out over the city (in daylight). It was while I was in this pool that I saw Owen again, and we had a chat about degrees and Masters' and the like, while utterly nude. This seemed odd for about 30 seconds, but somehow ceased to be so very quickly, much like the whole experience in fact. The fact that absolutely noone else finds it even the slightest bit odd makes the whole thing a lot easier to deal with. I wonder if such a thing would work at home, where being the naked guy in the changing room is the exception, rather than the norm...
Anyway, the point is that it was a really nice relaxing visit, and I can quite see why the girls are such big fans of Onsen in general. They met Lee in their side, and pointed out that it's somehow wierder being naked with someone you are aquainted with than a close friend or a stranger, although they may well become the former quicker as a result.
frying of Maple leaves, coated in Maple Sugar batter. This produces delicious candied leaves, which are nice and crunchy and reminiscient of brandy snaps or those orange sweets you get in indian sweetshops, whose name escapes me. We also had some Red Bean Mochi, called Daifuku, which were a wierd doughlike consistency and bright green.It was a perfect sunny day today, with not a cloud in the sky, however as a result a few thousand other people had the same idea as us, meaning that the route was pretty crowded all the way up. The main attraction at this time of year seems to be the fact that the leaves are all
turning from green to various stunning shades of red, which made for hundreds of whimsical shots of mountainsides clad in leaves of various hues. The walk was really nice, not too strenuous and dotted with loads of extremely Japanese scenes, culminating in a pretty spectacular waterfall at the end of the 3 km(ish) trail. We bumped into two ex-Nova teachers called Owen and Lee, who told us that the Onsen at the Mino-o Hotel was half price after five, valuable knowledge.To get to the Onsen you go up in a glass lift from ground level to Hotel Lobby level, which commands pretty spectacular views over the endless city of Osaka, so I have yet more cityscape photos. The Onsen experience is a little disconcerting at first, being as it is a large room mainly full of naked Japanese men. The one at Mino-o is apparently below par, although it was nonetheless very relaxing. This Onsen is sex-separated, although this is not always the case. There is an enormous pool in the centre at about 37 degrees, surrounded on two sided by showers and stools, with soap, with a Sauna and a Vapour room at the top. The Sauna was at above 110 F, about 45 C, whereas the Vapour room was very odd. It amounted to a small greenhouse, indoors, with sprinklers in the ceiling which sprayed those inside with a fine mist of water at a fairly neutral temperature. You walk around the Onsen nude, except for a small flannel which you can either use for a little modesty, or (for some inexplicable reason) place folded on top of your head while you sit in the baths.
There was also an outdoor Pool/Jacuzzi full of hot water, which allowed you to look out over the city (in daylight). It was while I was in this pool that I saw Owen again, and we had a chat about degrees and Masters' and the like, while utterly nude. This seemed odd for about 30 seconds, but somehow ceased to be so very quickly, much like the whole experience in fact. The fact that absolutely noone else finds it even the slightest bit odd makes the whole thing a lot easier to deal with. I wonder if such a thing would work at home, where being the naked guy in the changing room is the exception, rather than the norm...
Anyway, the point is that it was a really nice relaxing visit, and I can quite see why the girls are such big fans of Onsen in general. They met Lee in their side, and pointed out that it's somehow wierder being naked with someone you are aquainted with than a close friend or a stranger, although they may well become the former quicker as a result.
(edit - just watched Breakfast On Pluto, with Cillian Murphy - It's really good, I recommend it. Also, we're going for a picnic on top of the OCAT building tomorrow!)
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