Posts Tagged With: Kutchan

Japan 2020 Day 15: Niseko (Hirafu and Kutchan)

Posted on January 20, 2020 by Mel

B went off to enjoy his last day frolicking in the snow and I woke up with a sore throat and the sniffles – lucky me! I caught the shuttle into Hirafu Upper Village to enjoy my last morning soak at Hirafu-Tei onsen. After a very peaceful time on my own in the outdoor bath, I got dressed and headed over to be first in line for Tozanken Ramen again. Yep, the first time must have just been a not-so-good day because the pork ramen was once again DELICIOUS.

After my ramen fix, I wandered back up the hill to Niseko Alpen Hotel where I had been told they sell Milk KOBO at their small cafe. I had been hearing all about this amazing local cream product for the last week but getting to where it is (a dairy farm on the other side of the mountain) on a bus was a pain in the ass. Yesterday, our driver from Freedom Inn mentioned that this tiny hotel cafe often has it in stock – woohoo! They had Creme Catalana which was like icecream but not icecream – it really was delicious. Niseko Alpen Hotel also has feee visitor wifi which is a bonus.

I got the shuttle and walked back to our accomodation around midday, then I had a nap before B returned around 3:30pm. We settled up our account with Freedom Inn and confirmed our private transfer to the airport for early tomorrow morning before heading off to Mt Yotei onsen for one last soak. While we were there I bought some adorable handmade mittens (made by a disability collective) I had been eyeing off for the last week.

Then it was off to eat delicious ramen at Nakama one last time! This time B got the Ume Shio (with pork) which is their “Star flavour” and was recommended by both staff at the hotel and the Michelin guide. He was a fan although he eats pretty much everything.

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Japan 2020 Day 13: Niseko (Hirafu Village and Kutchan)

Posted on January 18, 2020 by Mel

This morning I got up with B and caught the shuttle bus from Hanazono to Hirafu with a mission in mind! First – onsen time. I went back to Hirafu-tei and once again had the onsen to myself just before it closed for the lunch break. I then made my way back to the Hirafu welcome centre, purchased a delicious baileys hot chocolate and began a concentrated look out mission for the local bus. There are no labeled bus stops at the welcome centre – it’s a bloody bus/van free for all – and my plan tomorrow is to catch the local bus to the local train station and then catch that train to Otaru for a day trip….but I need to know where the local bus stops first! It was scheduled to arrive at 11:07am and I furtively noted its arrival and departure spot (relatively punctual because this is japan) from my coffee shop location. I also got pretty photos of Mt Yotei which was finally not fogged in.

After playing bus spotto, I wandered down the road to Tozanken ramen and grabbed a number. I was first in line! Woohoo. Their pork ramen is really good although only one slice of pork in the standard dish whereas Nakama (the place we ate last night) had 5 slices in their standard one and it was cheaper. I had the “set” this time which had really good gyoza and was ¥1100. I swear the ramen was better this time than the other day but I was really hungry….

When B got back from the snow we used the private hot bath at the accomodation again so he could relax his muscles and I could float around like a garden fairy while drinking vending machine hot chocolate….coz that’s what hot baths are for right? I also secretly love they are calling him B Smith as his name since I booked all the accomodation this time under my surname haha.

For dinner, we went to Izakaya Nidaime Samurai which was once again recommended by our accomodation. It was kinda like Japanese tapas! Bs friend who was also here skiing from Australia joined us. They had a lot of drink options here and apparently match really well to what dishes you order, we mostly stuck with beer and umeshu though. This place was super reasonably priced – we had 6 shared dishes and 9 drinks for ¥11000 between us all.

The food was excellent – sashimi, pork, chicken, salmon, Japanese omelette and sablefish were all delicious. There was nothing we tried we didn’t like! Except for me who tried sashimi for the first time haha….you can see below for how that went!

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Japan 2020 Day 12: Niseko (dinner in Kutchan)

Posted on January 17, 2020 by Mel

B went off to ski again today and I basically just napped, ate snacks and watched the snow fall out of the bedroom window.

In the afternoon we tried again for the private hot bath at the accomodation and this time we had more success! It’s interesting that they have styled it just like an onsen even though it is not an onsen and really is just a hot tub (water is from the tap, not a geothermal source).

Dinner was booked at our most fondly remembered Niseko restaurant – Nakama. Last time we came (6 years ago) Nakama was a hole in the wall place down a back street mostly frequented by locals in Kutchan. They didn’t speak any English but had a great reputation and were recommended by our accomodation. This time around they have moved to a “Kutchan Main Street” venue and are much busier since they received a mention in the Michelin Star guide book. I was next level excited to revisit the place where I first had ramen and gyoza….I ate so much I had a ramen baby belly! It was good. Really good.

Japanese food eaten today: katsu curry, ramen, gyoza, vending machine got chocolate

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Japan 2020 Day 11: Niseko (Hirafu Village and Kutchan)

Posted on January 16, 2020 by Mel

It snowed like crazy all last night and today!

Today B went out to ski and I continued my non-skiing adventures. We actually had decent snow fall overnight and today so he has had a great time skiing around Hanazono and Hirafu:

I am currently spending my days at local onsens and also trying out different food places in Hirafu Village! Hirafu-tei onsen has been my default onsen as its right near the shuttle bus stop and when I go in the morning I usually have it all to myself. I did try to access The Vale onsen today but despite what their advertising claims, they are not open to local visitors. Hirafu-Tei in the mornings is pretty quiet though, so I really enjoy sitting out in the hot bath and looking at Mt Yotei on my own. I have now worked out not to sit to close to the right side of the outdoor bath though as it’s next to a bloody chairlift! Don’t want to blind any poor kids.

I had lunch at Tozanken Ramen on the Hirafu Main Street. They open at 11am and I was there at 10:45am and joined an already long line! When you eat here you collect a ticket to help them seat you in order.

Considering they are based in the main village where everything is very expensive, their prices are reasonable (¥750 for my bowl of soy pork ramen) and it was good ramen. Not the best I’ve ever had but so far above the crap I ate at a ski cafeteria yesterday!

When B got back to the hotel after his day in the snow we had reserved the hot bath downstairs for ourselves for an hour. This is not a proper onsen (the water is not piped up from a geothermal source) but it is still styled like a traditional bath – you get naked, wash beforehand, sit in the hot bath. The difference here is you can make a private booking so we could actually go together rather than be gender separated. Unfortunately….it was broken *insert sad face here* so instead we went for a very quick soak at the Mt Yotei Hotel one before dinner.

For dinner tonight, our accomodation booked us into a Japanese bbq place that comes highly recommended called Orench. They said we needed a decent booking time there (it’s not a quick eat and run place) so allocated two hours to us between drop off and pick up.

You basically order small plates of different meats and then cook it yourself on a personalised bbq at your table. Awesome! The wagyu special rib was a highlight for us but we also tried beef tongue and chicken necks which were yum. Below is the sequence of me trying the beef tongue.

After we finished, we wandered next door to Sasa sake bar. They didn’t speak English but through pointing and lots of nodding we were able to try a bunch of different sake liquor flavours including:

– strawberry

– plum

– suzu

– orange

Japanese food eaten today: ramen, katsu curry, Yakitori (Japanese bbq), sake, umeshu (plum wine)

P.S. B’s friend discovered crab popcorn today. They are literal tiny crabs deep fried 😱

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