I stayed at Toyoko Inn. It’s suprisingly inexpensive and the rooms are large. The downsides are thin walls and a unit bath where you have one faucet for the sink and the tub with a cutover for the shower. You have to reach out of the shower to the sink to adjust the temperature. It’s really not a huge inconvenience. The thin walls aren’t a big deal since I travel with Bose SleepBuds.
They also have free breakfast! My friend said it was kind of sad, but every time I eat it I’m surprisingly full. And the miso soup was better than some of the restaurant miso soups I’ve had on this trip. I’m not sure why I don’t stay at Toyoko Inn any more. I guess I’m just being boojy.
It was raining on and off during the morning and I went out for a bit to kill some time. I asked if I could wait in the lobby and they said, “Sure! Have some coffee!” The coffee is bad but it’s a comfortable place to sit and wait and there’s WiFi. Once I saw the police in the lobby and from what I overheard I think an elderly woman who wasn’t staying at the hotel had the same idea and kept using the lobby as her personal waiting area. That’s really not very nice.
The younger Dr. Kawasaki came to get me and we went to his parents’ house for lunch. We were all going to the same onsen, though the mom was going with a different group who all worked at a hospital with the Dr. Kawasaki the father of Drs. Kawasaki. After his mom left for the onsen we killed some time in Takaoka City. We visited Zuiryuji Temple.
We also visited the Takaoka Daibustu, which is one of the three Great Buddhas of Japan (although that’s contested like a lot of history and “best of” lists.”
Anyway, the reason this is late is because I was at a onsen with friends. Hitting the big bath and eating and then sitting around talking nonsense is the fun of it all. I took pictures of everything but I’ll only make a few comments. Some appetizers.
Sashimi!
Stewed fish and vegetables.
A pork belly and beef dish that was cooking over Sterno for a while. The beef was good but the pork belly was great.
Some fried things.
A soupy dumpling.
Rice with miso soup and Japanese pickles (daikon, rakkyo, and I think cabbage with Shiso).
Finally kinako ice cream.
I was quite full but the younger Dr. Kawasaki went and got ramen as well in a restaurant that was actually closed. He’s the youngest of the four of us and drank the most.
We went and visited the group with Mrs. Kawasaki (the mom of the rest of my group). They were having a 60th birthday celebration for the head of a care facility, from what i could gather. There were doctors and nurses and other random people.
Then it was back to our room to talk nonsense until too late. I think we only got 6 hours of sleep but that’s for tomorrow’s entry.