Fukushima-ken

Today, we were greeted by a misty, 0 degree morning. The mountains surrounding our accommodation were snow capped. But it did not dampen our hopes to see the Weeping Cherry Tree blossoms.

We had booked ourselves the first trip to Inawashiro station.

My sister and I had some pancakes and natto onigiri for breakfast. We were saving ourselves some space for the onslaught of ramen sampling in our destination.

We boarded the train service from Inawashiro to Aizu Wakamatsu. I asked a personnel which track to go to for our destination and I appreciated that he spoke some English. Mom had to visit the toilet however it was very rushed as the train to Kitakata was departing very soon after we arrived.

The main road leading out from Kitakata station was cobblestone lined and instantly the place feels idyllic. We noticed a Thai family were also looking for the Nicchusen Weeping Cherry Trees. We were following one another as we navigated through the small waybys of this country town. We appreciated the clear waters freely flowing in their canals. No wonder the town has been hailed as one of the 100 exquisite waters of Japan that makes it ideal for their well-known ramen.

We managed to just reach the end of the blossom peak for these trees, however they remained beautiful. We walked for about two kilometres that were flower strewn and it still stretched out to about 3 kms. There were only a minimum amount of foreign tourists and once more we appreciated how we managed to avoid the flocks of raucous foreigners.

We enjoyed some pastry goodies from Forte Bakery. They had a food stall just next to the weeping cherry tree lanes. I had some Japanese conceived melonpan, my sister and mom enjoyed some cinnamon rolls and my dad had some ham and cheese. My sister bought some potato bread to take home. We were all surprised that the cinnamon bread had some custard filling whereas my melonpan had some chocolate custard filling. The crisp cookie dough top layer was then layered by the light yet creamy filling on every bite that delighted my tastebuds.

We then started our trek to our chosen ramen shop after we had been refreshed by our late morning tea. Unfortunately they have sold out and could no longer accommodate us. Much to our disappointment, we started to make our way to a ramen shop near the train station in the hopes that they would be able to appease our hunger. However they were only manufacturing ramen in a box and no longer operating as a restaurant. Defeated, we started walking back to the station. After we have emptied our bladders, my sister remained encouraged and decided to check out a nearby ramen shop. Luckily they were open and we got to try the 3rd top ranking ramen in Japan.

It was a different kind of broth, for it was savoury pork that was laced with ginger, and it was the first time I've tried ramen with corn and bamboo shoots. It was delicious.

As we enjoyed our meal, the table across us depicted a scene that touched our hearts. It was what seemed to be brothers having a lunch out, and one of them appeared to have some disability that affected his mentation as well as his mobility. Such devotion from the older brother. And they were not young, and we've surmised that the older brother has looked after his younger brother since their parents have died.

After the meal we decided to go to the nearby retro cafe called Renga coffee to take some light meal with us for dinner. It was a beautiful, red brick building from the Showa era, repurposed from being a rice storage. Apparently it has been in business for 45 years and the building has been there for 114 years! The coffees were delicious, but unfortunately there was no takeaway service.

We hoped that the souvenir shop next to the cafe sold some ready made meals. Thank goodness they had some so my sister and I no longer needed to walk for another four blocks to obtain some dinner.

The couple who manned the shop were very friendly and very helpful too. Mom thought she would get a box of the adzuki filled mochi (sticky rice ball) that contained 6 pieces however the lady advised her that the expiry date would be tomorrow. We noticed that she also changed the pieces to those that were not on display.

On our way back to Inawashiro station where we will get picked up by the hotel shuttle service, we saw a mix of country folk returning home from work as well as some students. My sister and I noticed some young girls wearing short uniform skirts and heavy makeup. We realised those types of students also existed here.

Back at the hotel, my sister and I enjoyed some onsen. It relieved her of her foot discomfort. She was very happy she finally got to try it too and like me, forgot what all the hesitation was about. It was another relaxing end to our day.Baca selengkapnya