Noto Day 1: First Class Trippin'

Time for our trip to Noto! It's a big day! 

Before I came to Japan, during all the information sessions that we had at Princeton prior to PII, all I really remembered was "trip to Noto" and "hot springs." Oh man. Big moment. 

We all met in front of Rifare, from which the bus departed right at 9. From then on...it was sightseeing like no other. Just a boom boom pow of sights. 

My camera just went sha-blam crazy, so expect many pictures ahead. 

First stop: Chirihama Beach Drive Way. 

Uh...what? A drive way? 

Actually, it's just a beach, but the sand is so fine and tightly compacted that it's firm enough for our large bus to even drive on! 

 Chirihama is one of three beaches in the world on which you can drive with your own car.

Pretttttty special. 

It was pretty windy, but the overcast skies looked pretty cool over the water. 

PII peeps! I like them. We're frenzzzz. 

If you couldn't tell by now...Marina, Emmy, and I are frenz too. 

Friends are good things to have :) 

Next stop, Keta Taisha Shrine in Hakui, about a twenty minute drive away. 

It's old. really really old. a history of 2100 years. I can't even comprehend how old that is. 

Keta Taisha enshrines the deity Okuninushi no Moto, who is the god of marriage and finding true love. People at this shrine can buy wooden plates (shaped in hearts, arrows, and all those other Valentine's day love related symbolic what nots) to write a wish, hang it at the shrine, and hope the wish will be answered. 

On one side of the shrine, the wooden beams were covered with blocks from people who have found true love. 

The other side is for the hopeful...

One day my prince will come...maybe? hmmm....

Over and done. Gotta keep moving! Ten minutes later...

Honzan Myojoji Temple!

Here is the Goju-no-to (Five storied pagoda). It's 34 m tall from the Edo period and is the largest wooden pagoda in the Hokuriku region. Cool. 

The grounds of the temple were very large. There was a lot to see! So many beautiful little shrines, statues, lanterns. Even the tombstones were amazingly striking. I love how respectful the Japanese are to the deceased. A lot of the tombstones were incredibly clean and well cared for with fresh flowers and everything! 

Da crew

 (wait a minute...Wolens-san! Where you at?!)

After, we had a buffet lunch at the Seaside Villa Bokkai Hotel. 

PII has not let us down yet! Hooking us up with some darn good grubbin!

It was mainly all Japanese food, including sashimi, wakame seaweed salad, curry rice, and karaage chicken. Perfect fuel for the rest of the day! Let's get it going again! 

Around 2 pm, we arrived at my favorite spot of the entire trip. Meaning I took a million pictures.

Ganmon Seacave in Shika-machi.

This is how it went down: Got off the bus. Smelled the sea air. Turned the corner around the gift shop. Then whoa. Holy...It looked like the cove from the documentary The Cove about dolphin-hunting. It was not. real. ermahgawd. 

Everywhere I went, there was a new and amazing thing to see: steep cliffs, tall pine trees, ocean tides with little sea life...

This is Hugh. He's from Yale. Bridging the gap between the schools with the bridge in the background! What?! Symbolism? Possibly. 

Symmetry. I like symmetry. 

Below is a naturally created cave-like tunnel to the other side of the rocks. 

The quintessential peace sign. Everywhere. It must be done. 

So Ganmon was our last sight of the day. But wait! There's more! 

This special Noto package comes with....

A stay at one of Japan's top Ryokan hot spring hotels!

This is major. 

I don't think I'll be able to afford coming back here unless I start my own bomb diggity wagashi biz or something...I better start thinking about that because it was quite an amazing experience. 

 When we first arrived, a line of women staff lined up, while a group of bell hops rushed over to take our bags straight to our rooms. Wowzers. Service. Wuutuppp Kagaya?!

Each of these women were assigned to one of our rooms.

The interior: Look at the Parasol-looking cover on the elevated bar! Sweeet. 

Here is my room. As with all Ryokans, the main room below was turned into our bedroom by clearing out the table and laying down the futons at night. 

To welcome us, our designated staff member brought us matcha green tea and a beautifully purple Kuzu Mochi wagashi....and then another type of green tea. Variety! I like it!

I had five roommates for the evening, including Kat (pictured below) from Harvard. Bonding moment! 

 As soon as I finished my tea (I mean teas...excuse me), Emmy and I wasted no time to put on our yukata and get right down to the onsen for a quick wash up before dinner!

Here is one of the hot springs for women. You wash yourself with all the fancy soap and shampoo they provide before you go into the hot springs, since the bath is meant for relaxation and cleansing, not washing. 

The washing area....

I felt like Ariel from the Little Mermaid. Under the sea. and Next to it! Look at the view!

After gettin fReSh from the onsen, the staff helped us put on our special yukata, which were all laid out when we got into the room.  Everyone had a different print and color of obi (the sash), which were all wrapped differently. Customized! Ta da!

Next things got a little less traditional. I was very confused for a second. 

The disco lights threw me off a bit. 

It. was. awesome.

The hotel put together a little party before dinner! Minnie and Mickey mouse ears! and Ramune! and chocolate dipped bananas! You couldn't make this stuff up. The scene was hilarious and bizarre. 

Love it. 

After a lil toast and some pictures (dzuh. itsumo.), we went into the large room next store for our Kaiseki multi-course traditional Japanese meal!

 I was super excited because we got a tour of the kitchen earlier, so I had a glimpse of what was to come. And what was to come = yes. and then some. 

This isn't everything that we had, but you get the idea. A variety of seafood, sashimi, boiled vegetables, tempura, beef hot pot, cold udon noodles....

So happy! An amazing experience, shared with my friends! Couldn't ask for more!

Except maybe a traditional Taiko show. check. and a traditional Japanese dance show. check. and....

a mochitsuki!!! I haven't seen one since I was a wee lil runt! 

They pounded the rice with giant wooden mallet over and over (they even had us students help!) to make fresh mochi for us to eat. 

It was pretty scary to see them make the mochi, because while one person is pounding with all his force, the other person darts his hand in as the mallet is up to rotate the ball of steamed rice! Pro status. 

The result! Warm, chewy, fresher-than-I-was-out-of-the-onsen, mochi!

After the meal, I walked outside and around the hotel with Aidan, took a dip the onsen, had some quality bonding with the PII folk, then hit the futon. 

Such a great day...I can't even tell you. Though I just tried. Gotta make an effort!