Noto Day 2: Do I have to leave?

Ohayou! A bittersweet wakeup call at 7 am...

a 'yes! another amazing day of traveling and Japan adventures' mixed with 'no I don't want to leave the ryokan; maybe if I hide in the onsen no one will find me' kind of feeling.

To soften the bitter part, I got to have an amazing Ryokan breakfast!

 (Though I have to admit, my host mother's breakfasts are pretty high up there...the ryokan chefs may have some competition on their hands). 

Get a good look at that feast! 

We even got to grill our own thin pieces of fresh fish (with the help of our personal Ryokan assistants!)

Below, a variety of nimono, tsukemono, and other little nommers. 

Dessert for breakfast! 

Kuzu kiri (a slippery noodle-like jelly made from the powdered kudzu plant root) in a sweet sugary syrup! I love the color. There must be a Crayola crayon name for it. 

After breakfast, I took one last onsen trip, complete with an amazing massage chair! To be honest, I almost fell asleep in it as the chair was squeezing my feet. 

It took quite a bit of effort to get me up and on to the bus. I am lucky that I did because our first stop was so lively and fun!

About an hour drive away, the Wajima Morning Market, along the peninsula coast line, is a famous asaichi with more than 200 stalls and over 1000 years of history! 

So many stalls, so little time. But actually. We only had an hour. 

Emmy, Marina, and I ended up running and being the last back on the bus!

Emmy and I have "Gaijin" pretty much on our foreheads, which actually worked in our favor on this occasion because we both got a free piece of warm osenbei sesame rice cracker! yay!

Next, we went to the Kiriko Museum, which displays the huge Kiriko Festival Lanterns used during various summer and fall festivals on the Noto Peninsula. I actually wasn't too excited to visit the museum, until...

...I saw these gargantuan things. They range from 4 to 15 meters! 

びっくりしました！Very impressive. 

Right next to the Kiriko Museum, we had a little tour of a lacquerware shop, where we got to see the craftsmen at work!

The hand painted details are amazing. 

When I draw and paint, I am a stickler for details, so this is right up my alley. 

Speaking of details...

Look at all the little components and details in our lunch!

Right above the shop, we were presented with this elaborate multi-course lunch!

I expected it at a five-star ryokan, but in a lacquerware shop?! Nice. 

Nimono, silken tofu, tempura, udon nabe, miso soup, fresh fruit...so many things! 

The Japanese once again take the win for the the mid-day power meal. 

Flamin' steamin' bowl of noodley yums. 

Time to move! Keep on seizing the day! wooo!

Time for the Senmaida Rice Fields, a hill of small terraced rice paddies. 

Aren't they just asking for a photograph?! Just look at that pattern!

Although really beautiful, each rice paddy's small area makes this traditional type of rice paddy very inefficient, requiring manual labor and producing fairly small yields. 

Oh well...sacrifice for beauty I guess! 

The contrast between the rice paddies and the sea was truly striking. 

I'm so glad PII got me to see this because I had never known that such a beautiful thing existed! 

For our last official sightseeing stop in Noto, we went to the Okunoto Salt Field, which produces salt using the "fried salt beach formula" from 400 years ago. 

salt was gathered from the ocean by spreading seawater on fields of sand and then gathering the salt after the water evaporated. 

The process is pretty complicated and onerous, but basically, the sea water is collected, then purified, boiled down, then tossed and sprayed across a field of sand. Then, once the water evaporates, the salt is gathered, and used in a variety of ways at the field's store including salted vanilla soft serve, salted milk, and...

Shio (Salt) Cider! 

I really just got it because I liked the color of the bottle and the novelty of drinking a soda called "Salt Cider"; it tasted very similar to Ramune, just a little less sweet and bit more of a mineral-y taste! It was good! (And doesn't the bottle just match the ocean and sky so well? I couldn't help but take a 写真.

Alrighty...time to head back home. Everyone was pretty gone by this point and knocked out on the bus...except me. I forced myself to stay awake for the beautiful scenery! It was just too much. I couldn't stop smiling and wowing and taking pictures. Aidan knows. I kept disturbing his sleep by reaching over him to take these photos....

I wanted to jump out of the bus and frolick in the woods and sing the Sound of Music.

 hmmm...maybe next time?!

To stretch our legs, the bus stopped at a little look out, which was great for me since it was pretty darn difficult to take pictures of the moving scenery! 

Finally I didn't have to chase after the constantly moving trees!

I'm not quite sure what this awesome building is, but I think it is a look out...I tried to run over and see, but the bus was leaving and I figured my host mom wouldn't be too thrilled if she found out I was left to hang in the forest. 

As you can see, the day was filled with amazing sights. I am so grateful for this wonderful weekend! Actually though. It was like "!!!" That's all I can describe it as. Just exclamation points.