A reenergizing day - 22/2/'14
Today we finally had a full day off. And we could look forward to a day of soaking in the well known Japanese Onsen.
My day report starts at 0:00 of course, when we were doing our laundry, which we ran in the dryer for three times without the desired result. Between the washing sessions we enjoyed some drinks and a few games of Fluxx. After carefully hanging the laundry at every possible location, me and my buddy Frank shared a small sized bed and spooned until the crack of noon.
After sleeping in we took a train to Gero, a well known spa village. During this trip of 2,5 hours most of the time was spent by playing cards or sleeping some more.
Goal of the day was relaxing in traditional Onsens! We obtained a wooden block with three stickers and a bell attached to it which represented our entry ticket. An Onsen is a Japanese bathing place where you first wash yourself sitting on a small bench. You use a special small towel for this that you cannot soak in the hot baths because that will be unhygienic. To solve this problem every guest places this towel on his head while bathing. We follow the locals example and got into the first bath. All water comes from natural springs and is heated by geothermal energy. This pumps the temperature of the water to very high levels and some baths are a challenge to stay in to.
Gero is also known for its many foot baths it has randomly scattered across the village. We used one with some locals. Our group did not manage to use all three stickers in one day, we have still one left, but it is valid for half a year, so a good reason to come back!
Half an hour before gathering for the trip back we got to the same Chinese restaurant where we had lunch earlier to have a high speed diner. Within 20 min we had eaten and joined the rest of the group.
For the trip back to Nagoya we bought some beer and played cards. We were fully recharged to go and explore the night life of Japan. With a small group including two professors we went out. We inquired with the hotel staff where we should go and they recommended a nice pub where we drank some beers. After the usual 'pingel-bets' (these are 1¥ bets mainly about random girls in the pub) we went out to go to a club. When we walked down two streets we found ourselves entering a scene of the fast and furious Tokyo drift. There were dozens of tuned cars running down the streets with a lot of people cheering. One of the cars found it necessary to plant his car into a concrete block which resulted in more cheering and laughing. It was really a big happening and after talking to some locals we learned that this was a weekly event.
We resumed our trip to a club and found a club called 'Flamingo' which looked like a gay club, so of course after some doubt and bargaining on the entrance fee we went in. In this process we lost one of our mates, and after a short search and rescue we pronounced him Lost in Action.
The club was everything but a gay club, luckily, and there was a good man to woman ratio. The music included some 'normal' songs mixed with some up-tempo J-core crap. We immediately came across a small group of ladies with who we enjoyed the rest of the evening. It was a very fun and cultural day and in the end even some of the Spockers managed to get a real taste of Japanese..
By: Ingo Stijntjes