[2014 Kyushu Family Trip - 3] Kaiseki Dinner at Okunoyu, Hot Bath in the Hot Springs, and Nighttime Stroll Around Kurokawa Hot Springs

December 22nd, 2014

A stay at a Japanese Ryokan is not complete without this ONE thing.
It's called 'Kaiseki' or 'Kaiseki Ryori.'
and it was one thing my mother was looking forward to.

So what is 'Kaiseki Ryori?'
Kaiseki-Ryori is a traditional multi-course Japanese Dinner, and pretty much all of the traditional ryokans in Japan have this.

Shortly after I returned to my room, the worker of Okunoyu started preparing our meal.

These are the first things we've gotten.
Look at all these cute dishes!

Everything was served to our table very quickly.
I was actually expecting everything to be slow paced, because it was a "multi-course dinner"
But I guess Kaiseki is not as slow-paced as I thought.

Anyway, let's take a look at some of the food!

Oh Yes!!
SASHIMI!!!!!!
They were tuna, adductor muscle, and I believe the last one was fluke.
All of them were very fresh and high in quality!!
They just disappeared as soon as I put them in my mouth!!
So Good! :)

This was something that was really unexpected.
Wanna guess what these are??

Well um...
These are Horse Meat Sashimi.
I was pretty surprised to eat this myself, because I had never eaten horse meat before.
However, this was actually really good, and that's all that matters.
Right?

This one had a bunch of different things.
I ate some carrots, mushrooms, and that brown jelly-like thing, because I felt like I should at least eat some food that aren't fish or meat.

and then this came out.
I wonder what it would be...?

It was.... a shrimp soup(?) as I remember.

Oh boy! Vegetable sticks!
I actually enjoyed eating these a lot, even though I do not like vegetables that much.

I mean, grabbing one stick, dipping it in mayonnaise and then taking a bite

... was very good for me! haha
(Thanks Niclas)

Then it was time to eat some Steak!
Also one of my favorites!

First of all, the steak was cooked to medium-rare.
and I'm guessing that they used Saga beef (which is one of the 3 best beef brands in Japan).
So, what was it's taste like??

Oh HE*L YEAH.
IT WAS THE BEST STEAK I'VE EVER EATEN IN MY LIFE! 
IT'S TASTE WAS BEYOND IMAGINATION!!
It was so juicy and soft that it automatically made my eyes close and appreciate the flavor!

This was a flame-roasted, fresh water fish.
There's no way I wouldn't like a fish.
It was very good, and wasn't oily at all. (although it was quite salty on the outside.)

I believe this was a cheese gratin made inside a citron.
I hate citrons, so I passed.

Now here's some thing that's very familiar: a pot of Miso Soup!

However, it tasted a bit different from the typical miso soups I had in most of the sushi restaurants.
I did hear about many restaurants in Japan coming up with their own unique miso soup recipes.
I now see Okunoyu (although this is a ryokan) is one of those places.

Rice and Miso Soup, always a nice combination.
My family was full after this.
but there still was dessert, which came after this.

Haha
Whoever said that food in Japan is served in smaller portions, let me add a correction to that statement:
food in Japan is served in smaller portions "compared to" the food served in the US.

It's not that small when you actually get to eat them all.



.....

After dinner, my family headed out to bathe in some hot bath.
(We were at Kurokawa "Hot Springs" after all, might as well enjoy the hot springs!)

I believe there was about 5 to 6 hot bath options in ryokan Okunoyu.
Amongst all of these, our first stop was the large public bath.
It was actually smaller than I expected, a lot smaller than the Jjimjilbangs in the urban areas of South Korea.
and so much for "public," my dad and I were the only ones using it at that time!
It made us feel as if we reserved the entire place for ourselves. (yay! :D)

There also is a large, open-air bath as well.
Most of the times, the open-air bath is co-ed. However, it's only for women from 8 PM to 10 PM.
(so becareful!)

(no pictures of the public bath because I thought there was going to be somebody in there.)

As I have mentioned above, Okunoyu has numerous baths.
So, my family decided to try all of them (since they are free for Okunoyu customers).
We decided to check what 'Family Bath' is like.

Here's an indoor part of the Family Bath.
It comes with a shower, a few stools and buckets, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.
It has all you need to take a bath.

However, it's way smaller compared to the public bath, since this is only for one family.

Oh, and the Family Bath has a small open-air bath as well.

Family Bath's open air bath is lit with this cool looking lamp.

Just like the indoor bath, it's also pretty small.
(I'm sorry dad, but your impatience has resulted in your naked picture ending up on the internet. You should've waited until I took a picture of the bath first.)

The Family Bath's water was hotter than that of the public bath.
So, I couldn't stay in the tub for that long.

After taking a nice hot bath, my family went past this 'Onsen Jigoku,'

and past this Okunoyu sign to go for a nighttime stroll.

Although we weren't able to walk that far away from Okunoyu, we got to see sceneries like these ones.
I know the photo does not look good at all, but the actual scenery was very beautiful.
Like I've said many times, Kurokawa Hot Springs feels like a small, peaceful and cozy village you might see in fantasy movies, cartoons, or video games!

We also walked by a newly built ryokan that looks really shiny and clean.

and this ryokan, which my father recognized from one of the TV shows he watched.
He said a Korean celebrity once stayed here.

After wandering around some places, my family just had to return to the ryokan.
I mean, Kurokawa Hot Springs is a very rural environment; there's not that many street lights.
It was too dark to do anymore nighttime strolling and not get lost.

So what did we do when we got back?

More relaxing in hot water, of course.
Our room had a built-in hot tub at our balcony, after all.

(Honestly, I wouldn't recommend using the Family Bath if you are living in the most expensive room of Okunoyu, because the balcony of the room and the Family Bath are pretty much very similar.)

My father dipped his entire body in there,
and my mother and I only dipped our feet.


Hot Springs are really nice.
It soothes your body and soul, so that you feel really refreshed, and it also helps you sleep better.
.....well, it did for me... at least.