Saturday April 12 

I met my cousin early this morning as I checked out of my hotel in Fukuoka, the elegant capital city of Kyushu. I am heading to my second city on my Japan… A Tribute Journey to my Mother My cousin and I reached Yufuin late in the afternoon and checked in to our beautiful Tanokura Ryokan 

The drive from Fukuoka to Oita  prefecture is just so beautiful 

It is a memory of my childhood 100% and there are times I will actually dream of being here again and I guess sometimes dreams to become reality so it’s so nice to be back in the prefecture. My mother and family are from. 

Before going to Yufuin we made a detour to visit my aunt who is in a nursing home in Oita. We stopped by the house to pay to my deceased uncle and grandmother. it was quite sad to be quite honest because I felt like the home is so lonely. My cousin works in Fukuoka and her brother in Yokohama. No one’s at the home to give any love to it and fill it with Life so it was quite bittersweet.  Lots of tears were shed as I remembered my mom and my auntie home laughing with her cigarette and beer and how we would always comment on how we would get the best sleep on the tatami mats and soft futons.  

We picked up a cake and went to the nursing home and sang happy birthday to my aunt who turned 84 three days ago  sadly, the nursing home is so strict and we were only a lot of 10 minutes to visit with her. I guess it’s OK since she does have dementia nevertheless it was sad. It’s been a few years since I have seen her so I can be grateful for that. My aunt flew in from Tokyo, my mother’s brother’s wife.  She met us at the nursing home to visit my aunt and we all went to catch up over ice cream and plan with her when we would meet in Tokyo with all my cousins and her kids. 

We drove back to Yufuin 

At first glance, the city is so charming right below Mount Yufu nature is abundant 

As we drove the absolutely dangerously narrow, typical Japanese countryside Road to our ryokan , I looked down that famous Street and saw what looked like to be thousands of people shopping like there’s no tomorrow. We will check that out the next day.

Upon arrival to Tanokura Ryokan , the staff is already waiting in the parking lot to help with the bags. The entryway alone is enough to fulfill any fantasy one would have what it’s like to live the beautiful life. Every detail is so meticulous yet effortless. we were shown to our room which is on the ground floor and it’s a palatial suite with its own Rotanburi onsen hot bath.  as we were shown our five room suite I just could not wait to take it all off and get in that private outdoor onsen ofuro   

Our host asked us our dietary restrictions, which there were none  (however back home I’m pretty much vegetarian. I told myself this time around. I’m going to eat everything in honor of my mom. Just don’t tell me what it is.) And she immediately started making our beds in the adjoining room

The suite is so big there is a gigantic entryway where you could host your own little party to be quite honest   Then there is the large dining room next to that is the large living room that turns into a bedroom, a sitting area where you can stare into the tranquil garden, and en suite bathroom/toto bidet , full on ofuro bath and of course the outside onsen 

You can also enjoy the private garden as there is another entryway to it is just heaven 

After a nice soak, a little settle in my cousin, and I got into our Yukata and was ready for dinner 

Dinner was in the traditional  kaiseki style, which is a course meal I’m not sure if they were six or seven courses, but let me put it this way as tiny as they are to die . They were beyond filling. Every box was checked. From salad to sashimi to sushi,to shabu shabu & miso soup you name it. We were so full we didn’t know how we were going to finish our food.

After dinner, we decided to walk around a bit to help process all that food. The ground at night are magical and so beautiful  we passed through some dining areas with people in yukata enjoying their meals by one of the many gardens and I popped my head into three of the public onsen ofuro 

Tempting yet I knew I much rather enjoy my own private onsen so we came back to the room and enjoyed a nice 20 minutes of relaxation

It took everything to keep my eyes open 

I slipped myself into the Uber comfortable futon  , and lights were out for a solid eight hours

Sunday April 13, 2024

Not to be all cliché but this morning I woke around 6 a.m. to the sounds of birds chirping time to get up. Breakfast was about to be served within the hour and they always come a half hour prior to set things up.

Japanese breakfast was on the menu as expected, and yet again the amount of food was so much that I just didn’t know how I was going to finish everything. My goodness the food is so good.

I must add that I forgot that my cousin and I stopped for lunch yesterday in between Oita Shi and Yufuin where I had the most delectable chicken broth Ramen at a restaurant called Sanji it is so good and evidently is on the Michelin list of restaurants to eat at as a so proudly posted that red book everywhere   so do yourself a favor if you’re in the area go and eat

OK, back to my morning. After breakfast, we got ready and we decided to go take a nice fresh walk around lake Kinrin. The day is so absolutely perfect.  Not a cloud in the sky. Fresh air and a soft, cool wind.  The lake is so pretty, but already filled with tourists   Well, I’m a tourist too so who am I to complain? We we then headed to main shopping Street.  and watched as The businesses started.

 Opening their shutters and getting ready for the day. At first I thought oh it’s Sunday. Everything must be closed. Boy was I wrong? There are so many delectable shops tantalizing you with the smells of their products that you want to go in and just eat everything.  There are also amazing art stores and it was nice to take a look around and see what people have made.  We spent the rest of the day shopping. I didn’t buy that much but I didn’t buy that little either. Hint hint. Perfect place to buy gifts.  Our way to the train station which within itself is such a cute little place we saw people queue up to go on a horse ride around the town and that was cute and I would say we spent five hours just meandering into stores stopping for coffee and some baked sweets, while staring at the dropdead gorgeous Mount Yufu. 

I did pick up some cute getta slippers I don’t know why I had to say that, but I was quite happy to get them.

We did stop at floral village or what not and honestly, I would avoid it. While it’s cute I guess it’s also quite sad to see these animals in cages waiting for humans to feed them. I think what made me the most upset was the owl zoo. I know people like those kind of things, but I just wish those owls could live their lives flying around spreading their wings and not having to be packed by a million people. I’m so aggressive. I would avoid that place. I don’t do animal petting cafés either it’s just not good

On another note, there are so many people from all over the world, although it was very rare to see anyone of European descent as a mixed person myself, I was kind of happy that people weren’t staring like crazy at me like they used to when I was a child I guess now people are more used to seeing foreigners that look like me

Starving by 1 PM we were on the hunt for soba. Pretty close to my. Ryokan is. A homemade soba restaurant.  Cash only. In fact, many of the stores here where cash only.

When I say it’s fresh, I mean it’s so fresh. We needed to wait for him to make the actual noodles. it was divine so is the wasabi. I forgot what having fresh wasabi is like. So delicious 

Sadly, after our late lunch, my cousin needed to head back to Fukuoka as she has work tomorrow and it is a 2 1/2 hour drive  so we bid farewell to each other and now I’m all alone here in this beautiful place 

I decided that I wanted to go play Pachinko as I saw a Pachinko sign not too far from where we’re staying on my way there there were two cars trying to pass each other one a minivan and the other, a sedan. Wow  they were literally 1/4 of an inch from each other. It was such a spectacle that everyone stopped. Even those people who are too privileged enough to let cars pass stopped to watch them, brilliantly make it past each other without a scratch 

Bravo 

Pachinko was great. I was down ¥1000. I put another one in and I walked out with ¥7000 and played for an hour and a half. I thought that was pretty neat. 

Fatigued I headed back to my ryokan and enjoyed a relaxing half hour of hot onsen water. 

A friend of my mothers who I have never met is coming to pick me up and take me to Beppu. I should say my mother‘s friend son. so this should be interesting because he doesn’t speak English and my Japanese is only just so good so thank you so much Google translate. I’m supposed to have dinner with his family and his children so it’s gonna take a lot of listening or a lot of beer and just laughing sometimes that works best

Next stop: Beppu: Mama I’m home