Hot springs: Oedo Onsen
Yay! Finally going to gear it up with this stagnant post I drafted last month.
To be honest, I was never fond of the idea of onsens; the idea of bathing with other strangers in a huge bath tub was just weird. I'm not confident with my body and I somehow feel disoriented when I enter a bath because I don't want my eyes to wander in forbidden areas. fml
I recall in Seoul, I visited a bath house and I swear, Korean women have no shame. They wobble and bounce around the area washing their hoo hoos and whatnots as if they were in their own bathroom shower. They also stare at you with that concentrated look. wtf (o.o)
So, when Mighty said he wanted to visit an onsen, I was a bit reluctant. However, finding out that he refused to get a tattoo just to have the chance to visit an onsen, I couldn't just be a selfish ass about it. I researched for places in Tokyo since going all the way to Hakone was a little over our budget.
We took the train to Odaiba, had a cutesy date on the boardwalk which included riding rollercoasters at Joypolis, obligatory purikura taking and enjoying some nice warm takoyaki. We headed to Tokyo Teleport station to wait for the shuttle bus to Oedo Onsen. The ride only took 5 mins!
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| Oedo Onsen Monogatari entrance |
Once you enter the building, you are asked to remove your shoes and proceed to the payment counter. Click here for price rates. The price are pretty reasonable in my opinion since it includes yukata and towel rental :)
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| Genkan. |
We received wrist bands with a key and barcode attached. The key was for the locker room to store your clothes and belongings so you can change into your yukata. The barcode was for the main hall/food court where it functions as a charge card that you pay for upon checkout.
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| Sexy. |
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| Main hall |
I love the whole traditional Japan mood of the main hall (minus all the foreigners). There are so many gift shops, restaurants and even an arcade. Not to mention a spa ;O
I think we visited at the right time because there weren't as many people. I can't imagine how this place would be like during rush hours. We were there from 7pm-10pm lol
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| We had dinner before going into the bath. |
I didn't bring my camera after changing into my clothes so a lot of pics would be with my iPhone. I also don't have many pictures because well...they don't allow photographs after a certain point. lol
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| omfg tempuraaaaaa don. |
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| Otoko. Men. |
After dinner, we both went our separate ways. I strongly recommend to go to onsens with at least one girl because once Mighty and I parted, I felt like such a loner. fml
I sat naked in one part of the room and looked up at the clock and then moved to another area and stare into spaced thinking "ok . . . what now?"
But I did really enjoy the baths. They are all set at different temperatures (and they're written on the signs) and some had a jacuzzi function, some had refreshing minerals in the water. What I really enjoyed was the rotenburo which is an outdoor bath. Although, going outside in 4C weather was murder, once you step into the furo,
PURE
FLUBBING
HEAVEN.
Soaking in fairly hot water in fairly cold weather is by far the best feeling in the world since . . . other things. Now, if it were snowing and there were mountain monkeys around, that'd be a different story.
Check out the different baths here: click!
Here's a quick onsen etiquette because they REALLY STRESS THIS AT ONSENS. So to avoid embarrassment, I suggest you take the following into account :P
1. You have to enter completely naked. There is no other way around it (believe me, I've tried). If you feel embarrassed, don't be because I don't think the other people care anyway.
2. Don't bring a huge towel with you to the bath. They provide you with a body towel(?). If all else fails, you can use that to cover parts of your body. If not, be like everyone else and place it on top of your head like this:
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| Sake wasn't allow, though. D; |
3. ALWAYS make sure to wash yourself off in the designated areas. You don't want your dirt and oil to swim around the waters that every steps into. Wash your hair as well!
4. No tattoos. If you have tattoos you can't really go to the onsen at all. :( Although a friend of mine had a small tattoo that she covered with a bandaid.
5. You shouldn't stare at others no matter how beautiful or . . . old they look. But you can definitely talk with them. It's not weird at all for some reason.Being naked is just one of those steps of "breaking the ice".
6. The onsen is not a pool so don't swim, dive or jump into the water. The water is shallow anyway so you might actually hurt and embarrass yourself.
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| We had some dessert after. T'was delicious. |
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| Soaking our feet outdoors. |
If you're ever in the area and don't have $ to travel all the way to Hakone, I definitely recommend this place. It's English friendly and there are so many things to do! Although the baths are man-made, I don't see a difference. Such a great way to take off some stress. :D
Oedo Onsen Monogatari
Access: Catch the 5-min shuttle from Tokyo Teleport station. Click here for more info.
HP: http://www.ooedoonsen.jp/higaeri/english/index.html
Some news!
- I've been working on a video lately trying to compile all the clips I took last year. I realized how time-consuming video editing can be but I want it to at least turn out DECENT. I think it should be ready by my next post so look out for that :D
- I checked the numbers for my followers and I'm almost at 500! It may not be much for some people who have over 1,000 followers but it means so much to me. So, I think I may actually do a mini-giveaway once I reach 500. What do you think? o.o
Blogs coming up:
- Cosplaying in Shibuya
- My love for Vivienne Westwood
- Eyeliner review
- Blonde wig!
- Spontaneous Kyoto trip
- My love for Vivienne Westwood
- Eyeliner review
- Blonde wig!
- Spontaneous Kyoto trip
★━━━…‥ＮEW FOLLOWERS!･‥…━━━★
