Woke up early for apple onsen. After that, had to give up breakfast from the hotel because we needed to catch a 6.57am bus to Morioka 盛岡. The snow was so heavy and we were worried that the bus would be cancelled. What a relief when we saw that bus. I slept all the way until Morioka because I woke up too early and the scene from the bus window was nothing actually, just white snow. One of the specialty of Morioka is Wanko Soba. Since our appointment was on 11am, and there was no any tourist spots near the Morioka Station, we just loitered around the station. The snow was soft. However, the wind was so strong, and the only feeling I felt was 'so freezing cold'!
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| around Morioka Station 盛岡駅の近く |
Finally, we couldn't stand the cold anymore, so we directly went to the wanko soba shop, Azumaya 東屋. It's reputed to be the most famous and original wanko soba shop. There were crowds already. We waited until 11 a.m. to enter the shop. It was so warm inside. There're two menus, 2930 yen and 3100 yen types, both are 'all you can eat' type. However, for 3100 yen, every bowl you eat will be arranged in front of you. The 2930 yen one, the bowls will be taken back once you finished eating. We chose the 3100 yen type. My initial target was 40 bowls because it's the minimum quantity to get the certificate, however, soon, almost all my friends finished 40 bowls, since I still could eat, I ate until 60 bowls. Then, one of my friends ate until 62 bowls, to win, I ate one more. Total, 63 bowls! I don't think I can eat soba anymore for the next few months. When I saw more soba, I felt like want to vomit. This experience was fun though and it would be in my memory for a long long time.
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| Azumaya 東家 (wanko soba) |
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| result - 63 bowls of wanko soba eaten |
After the very fulfilling meal, we took train to Tazawako 田沢湖. However, we took the wrong train and the final stop of the train was in the middle of nowhere. There was not even a proper stop. The wind and snow was so strong, we were shivering in cold. The train schedule showed that the train to Tazawako was like one hour away. We were like, "OMG!" Luckily, a very kind-hearted man helped to explain our situations to the train driver, and we didn't have to pay for the ticket again. We took a train back to a bigger station towards Morioka direction. There was a restaurant and rest area. So, we had coffee and tea while waiting for the Tazawako bound train. Finally, we reached Tazawako. However, we were late so we couldn't catch the bus and had to wait at the train station. The Korean drama lovers will like it here, a Korean drama was filmed here, so the posters were everywhere. Our accommodation for that night was a guest house and near to the ski resort, so there was no convenience shop around that area, before boarded the bus to the guest house, my friends bought alcohol for the night from a convenience store near the train station.
The snow was so thick that day, after the initial excitement, I started to feel the snow was troublesome. When we finally got down from a bus, the day was dark, the snow was thick, the way was far. Saw nothing but the snow. It was difficult to walk. Finally, we reached the guest house. The guest house had a ofuro お風呂 with onsen water. The colour was milky white, so I did not try it. But my friends gave a thumb up for the ofuro. Although I had 63 bowls of soba that afternoon, I was hungry again. The dinner was provided, and I think the taste was quite bland, however I ate a lot, too hungry!
That night, we drank and watched tv shows. After that, slept early because the next day would be a busy day!
Day 1 : Aomori & Hirosaki
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① view from outside restaurant
② Now only I knew that normal train and shinkansen shared the same rail in Tohoku
③ The guest house we stayed for the night
④ the room
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That night, we drank and watched tv shows. After that, slept early because the next day would be a busy day!
Day 2 : Morioka
Day 3 : Snowboarding in Tazawako
Day 4 : Akita
Day 5 : Yamagata Zao Onsen
Day 6 : Yamadera in Yamagata
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