Bota Bota, spa-sur-l'eau

Some of Bota-Bota's water spa facilities

I was in Montreal a few weeks ago for the International Travel and Tourism Show, and in my downtime I took a few hours to do what is probably now my favourite Montreal activity - visiting water spas. Finnish baths are very popular in Quebec, unlike Ontario, and they're a natural choice for a hot springs fan like me.

For this particular visit, my spa of choice was Bota Bota, spa-sur-l'eau; a classy water spa built in a refurbished ferry moored in the Old Port area of Montreal. It was a smidge more expensive than Spa Scandinave, which I visited in May, but to do the three-hour "layover" option on a weekday put the price at $45 (as opposed to the $65 for an all-day pass on a weekend).

The price includes the bathrobe and towel, but not sandals, which are mandatory, so you must bring your own. This seems to be a trend for water spas, or at least ones located in North America. In Japan, nobody wore sandals from bath to bath - why bother? These places do have many other services that the visitor may want to make use of that aren't located in the bathing area - massages, manicures, facial treatments, etc - so sandals are certainly of use to them, but for visitors just on the water circuit, having to buy a pair of flip-flops at the gift shop to get from the changing room to the bath doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Fortunately, I read a review on Yelp mentioning the sandals this time, and dug my summer shoes back out of storage. Body Blitz in Toronto supplied us with sandals, as did Spa Scandinave, so water spa fans should be aware that the rules do change from spa to spa. I recently visited a water spa in Ottawa that didn't even supply their bathrobes with the entry fee - more on that in another post!

Deck 4 sauna, looking out onto Vieux-Montréal

The water circuit at Bota Bota is located almost entirely outdoors, which was a pleasant surprise. There are multiple decks, and the baths are on Decks 3 and 4, on opposite ends of the ship. The open-air bath on Deck 3 is expansive and colourful, with an almost-view of Vieux-Montréal (the sides are a bit too tall to see out comfortably from inside the tub) and a relaxing feeling. There's a cold-water barrel tub located just inside, as well, to submerge in and open the pores. A steam sauna and Finnish sauna round out the circuit on this floor, and bean bag chairs are scattered around inside and out to help make guests comfortable. Deck chairs are also available outside.

Deck 4 has a smaller bath which is more like a hot tub, with water jets. It faces the St. Lawrence River and offers a view of mostly-industrial buildings on the other side. At night, however, this view is very pleasant. An outdoor cold-water barrel bath is located just around the corner, by the deck chairs, and there are spaces here to hang up your robe and towel. This floor also has a Finnish sauna and relaxing space inside.

Reviews I read mentioned that Bota Bota's facilities are a bit cramped, and given that it's located on a refurbished ferry, space is certainly limited. I didn't find it cramped, however, not even in the dressing room. The changing facilities are not the best I've seen, but not bad. I prefer some sort of sterilization when I use public hair items, and Bota Bota did not keep barbicide or a UV sterilization cabinet for its combs, so I was relieved that I remembered to bring my own hair items. I've gotten too used to Japanese super-sento, where you often can take a clean brush from the UV unit, use it for yourself and toss it into a bin to be cleaned and sterilized before it gets re-used. The shampoo and conditioner here were okay, but not great. I did appreciate the presence of a hair straightener, though there weren't many dryers.

Bota-Bota's main draws were the atmosphere and the outdoor baths. You haven't lived until you've relaxed in an outdoor bath in winter! For the price I paid it was a very nice evening, but with Spa Scandinave right down the street and offering free tea and cucumber water as well as sandals, I'm not sure their peak prices are good value. Still, for me, the outdoor bath made it completely worth it, and I hope to go back someday, after I've covered a few more of the spas Montreal offers. Magnifique!

All images courtesy of the Bota Bota website.

Photo of the Day - Dinner is Served

Sometimes you have a picture that just cannot be added to an article. It needs an article to itself.
This is one of those pictures (taken by Alec).

Dinner for four at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei, the inn where we spent the
night after our failed first trip up Mount Fuji.

Mount Fuji II: How Not To Climb Fuji, Or Any Mountain, Really

This is the second in a series of posts about Mount Fuji.

Mount Fuji is divided up into stations ranging from the numbers one to nine. Most people consider the proper "climb" to be from the fifth station, as towns and forests occupy the gentle slope that is the bottom of the mountain.

The Kawaguchiko Trail (also known as Fujiyoshida) starts in Yamanashi Prefecture at an altitude of 2,305 metres. The ascent is supposed to take about five hours minimum. If it was only Drew doing this climb, he would have been there in four and a half, easy. However, as he was charged with a bunch of slowpokes, we were looking at a much longer ascent, and not a lot of time to do it in before sunrise.

At the fifth station, once the concerned cab driver had left and we had gotten into our cold-weather gear (by the way, the fifth station is not very far up, and it was July, so this was a bad idea), Alec took an object out of his backpack and told us, "I even brought a hurricane flashlight in case our flashlights run out of batteries!"

We all look at each other.

"Nobody else brought a flashlight!?"

And we were off.

Oh.

Fifth Station - 2,305 metres: The journey between the fifth and sixth stations gave me a false sense of hope and confidence, but poor Gwen was winded and gasping as soon as the trail got hilly. Drew, eager to make good time, loped ahead. I held the flashlight and tried to shine it back behind me to help Gwen and Alec, while Drew and I continued on in the dark. Drew took Gwen's backpack to help her along.

Sixth Station - 2,438 metres: Was a few toilets and nothing more. We started to continue, but a mere fifty metres up, it began to get very steep and we realized that Gwen was not going to be able to make it. She wore brand-new hiking boots and had already developed blisters! We came to the decision that the newlyweds would stay behind at the sixth station until sunrise then go at their own pace while Drew and I continued with the flashlight, and we would meet them at the top or on the way back down. The others set up a little camp in the dark and rain while we pressed on.

Seventh Station - 2,700 metres: In comparison, this station's 262 metre climb seemed to be impossibly far away. It wasn't a difficult ascent, but the rain had soaked through my jeans, long underwear, hoodie and shirt. I was freezing. I ended up buying a rain suit for ¥2,000 at the tiny shop here, but my clothes were already saturated, so once I put them on it became a sauna. Worse, I'd had to take off and stuff my down jacket into Drew's backpack, where it had absorbed enough rainwater to pour into a glass. Sneakers and socks were a total loss as well. The lodge at the seventh station urged us to stay, probably knowing it was only going to get worse. We pressed on, persistent in our belief that we could make it to the sunrise, but light started to appear sometime during the 674-metre distance between Seven and Eight. Drew had aggravated an old foot injury, and so we hunkered down under a rock outcropping to rest, but the moment I stopped moving I began to freeze, so we kept going.

Daunting, isn't it.
Try climbing back down this with the taste of failure in your mouth.

Eighth Station - 3,374 metres: Now the sun was high in the air and we knew we were defeated. I asked at a lodge about staying to rest, but we were turned away. The lodgekeeper said that Station 9.5 had a restaurant we might be able to rest at. I hadn't known there was a half-station on the horizon and imagined that it was probably a few more hours climb. Soon, I was sure I wouldn't get much further. We decided it was time to descend - unbeknownst to us, we were only 402 metres from the summit, less than the distance between Stations 7 and 8. It was a tougher and steeper climb, but we had already passed the longest stretches of the mountain.

My coat was a complete loss - the weather at the eighth station was only just above freezing, and it dripped with rainwater. I continued on in my also-wet but retaining body heat trusty Fangamer Snow Wood hoodie and the flimsy raincoat. Partway down we returned to our rock outcropping to rest; here Drew cracked his skull on the rock after standing up too quickly. To this day, he maintains that Fuji tasted blood.

We drank the only liquid remaining, the grapefruit Chu-Hi that was to be for our mountaintop toast, then moved on before I got hypothermia. We were apparently coming down the super-dangerous Kawaguchiko route (steepest! hooray!) while everyone else was still climbing up it, but since that was where we'd left the others, we couldn't go down one of the easier trails. I had long stopped using the umbrella for its intended purpose and started using it as a cane.

Would have just lain right down here if it'd been flat enough.

At the seventh station we re-encountered Gwen and Alec who had managed to make it another station up. The four of us began to descend, but Drew's ankle was in too poor shape to go at Gwen's speed, so he went on ahead alone. My phone had also died at this point, so we were lucky to find the others when we did. Alec and I helped Gwen down to the sixth station and then the fifth. My legs were numbing from the damp cold.

At the fifth station at last, the shops were finally open and we were able to eat. We grabbed food from a cafeteria and a battery booster for my phone so that I could assure people we were alive. We then got a bus down to Kawaguchiko Station, and from there, a taxi to the ryokan, the Japanese-style inn where we were booked for the night.

None of us had any energy at all, but the ryokan staff prepared green tea and mochi sweets for us, so we ate and drank and were then shown to our room. We hung out all the wet clothes on the balcony, took baths and recharged. Then we went to the special observatory on the roof to look at the accursed mountain; the splendid view of Fuji being one of the key attractions of the inn.

...........

Mount Fuji, the ornery old thing, was completely covered by the clouds.

...Concluded in Part III: Only a Fool Climbs Fuji Twice

Mount Fuji I: It May Want to Kill You

This is the first in a series of posts about Mount Fuji.

Mount Fuji as viewed from Hakone

"Climbing Mount Fuji" was never on my bucket list. I was pretty content to keep to my temples and gardens and electronics when it came to sightseeing in Japan. However, I have a friend named Drew who loves a challenge, and requested on his second visit to Japan that we climb Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan, to watch the sunrise on his birthday.

Congratulations!
Now put on those hiking boots

Now, for a bit of back story, Drew's birthday was on July 29th (therefore we would be climbing on July 28th), and I was standing as maid of honour at a wedding in Los Angeles on July 26th. The honeymooning couple were coming back to Japan with me and staying in my apartment. They were interested in climbing the mountain, too. I was not entirely convinced that this was a great idea. Still, when I told Drew I didn't think the 28th was feasible, he seemed so broken-hearted that I immediately gave in.

That was how I came to be rolling off an airplane in Tokyo at four P.M., fresh from a nine-hour trans-Pacific flight, with the intention of climbing the venerable mountain that very night.

I was so caught up in the wedding that I had neglected to actually plan the mountain part, save for bringing a parka and sneakers in my luggage, and looking up the info on how to get there. I suppose I thought we'd figure it out when we got there. Much much later, I would look up a list of Fuji preparations and cautions one should take. Here they are, courtesy of mountfujiguide.com:

Notes for Climbing Mount Fuji

Mt. Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan. Please climb with enough care.

Do not include a climb as part of a busy travel schedule.

• Make sure to check the weather forecast in advance, and bring proper clothing to protect from rain and cold. Snacks are also helpful.
• To prevent altitude sickness, you should stay at the 5th station for a while to acclimatize yourself to the high altitude before you start climbing.
• The atmospheric pressure of Mt. Fuji is approximately two-thirds of the ground. Ascend as slowly as possible. You may suffer from altitude sickness if you climb quickly.
• Climb at your own pace depending on your physical strength and condition.
  (You may get tired if you try to keep up with others or rest too long.)
• Use only the official routes.
• Take a break if you feel tired. You should also drink water or have snacks to replace lost salt and sugar.
• If you feel ill, give up your climbing and descend the mountain as soon as possible.
• When climbing in a group, be sure to agree on the meeting place. Wait for others if you arrive at the place first.
• The temperature drops about 0.6 degrees Celsius (1.1 degrees Fahrenheit) for every 100 m (328 ft) of ascending. The weather is very changeable, too. Bring rain gear, warm clothing, and spare clothes.
• If thunder approaches and you feel dangerous, take refuge in the nearest mountain hut.
• When climbing in a group, you have a chance of being separated. Try not to lose sight of your companions.
• If you climb at night, you should have a flashlight or a headlight.
• Mountain huts are not open for 24 hours. Please stay quiet when passing by the huts as some people may be resting for the following day's climbing.
• Toilets in the huts and on the summit may be out of service due to overuse or weather conditions.
• Never kick stones. It may cause falling rocks.
• The signposts on each trail are classified by color. When descending, check the color to take the correct trail.
• Travelers checks and credit cards are not accepted at mountain huts. Bring enough cash to cover the expenses of food, lodging, toilets, etc.
• You are not allowed to pitch a tent on the mountain. It is extremely dangerous to sleep outside, too. Always use the mountain huts for sleeping.
• If you are hurt, sick, or in trouble, contact Safety Guidance Centers, First-Aid Stations, or any mountain hut.

....Oh.

Just so you all are aware of what we were getting into.

I should be clear on this before I start the story proper - don't ever attempt climbing Mount Fuji using our methods. This is going to be one of those entries that will make my mother despair every time I go travelling somewhere. Stop reading, Mom! It's not worth it.

The best hotel in Chiba

On the fated day, Drew and I met in Narita Airport and I had my suitcases whisked off by the amazing KuroNeko courier service. (More on that in another post.) Drew had arrived the day before me and spent the night sleeping by a marsh somewhere in Chiba Prefecture. The honeymooning couple, Gwen and Alec, had also arrived the day before. We planned to head to the Kawaguchiko Trail of the mountain as soon as we met the others and start climbing by nine-thirty, to give us plenty of time to reach the peak before sunrise.

In Shinjuku Station, after the 90-minute ride from the airport, we used Drew's laptop and my mobile Internet stick to look up the bus schedule for our journey...only to find that the last bus of the night left at 7:35. I glanced at the clock to see that it was 7:45. We were in trouble.

I started looking up alternate plans, but finally I had to conclude that there was no way we'd be able to get there that night, disappointing as it was. Tokyo was more than 2 hours from Yamanashi. At this point I looked at my phone to call Alec and realized "Huh? It's only 7:30." Turned out Drew's computer clock was still on Newfoundland Standard Time and so it had been showing me 7:45 AM, when it was still just 7:15 PM in Japan. So we missed our second shot at the highway bus. We had to leave the station to meet the honeymooners with all of Drew's luggage in tow.

Meeting them at Starbucks on the Shinjuku Southern Terrace, Alec informed us that Fuji ought to be accessible by the Fujikyu train line, because they had taken it on their last trip to Japan to go to Fujikyu Highland. Drew was looking pretty despondent by this point, so we all agreed to the questionable plan, tossed the luggage in some coin lockers and set out.

Vending machine bunny doesn't give us a choice anymore

To get to the Fujikyu, we had to take the Chuo Line almost all the way to its western terminus, and went to a supermarket there while waiting to change trains. It was a fortunate choice, since this would be the last store we saw for over 12 hours. (I hadn't eaten since the night before I'd boarded that plane.) Stocked up on...sashimi. Foolishly, we thought we'd be able to grab dinner at one of the shops near the station, but when we arrived it was already past midnight and everything around was closed. Thinking the mountain shops would be open late-night (since everyone starts at the fifth station and many people climb through or return through the night), we hailed a taxi and asked him to drive us to the mountain's base. The grooves on the side of the road played the "Fuji Theme Song" as we drove over them.

It began to rain. Eventually I asked our taxi driver (who was charging us over ¥10,000/$100 to go the thirty minutes to the mountain base) if we could hit a convenience store to pick up rain gear. He replied that the only convenience store was the 7-11 we'd passed twenty minutes before.

There was a pregnant pause, and then he had to confirm, "You didn't bring any rain gear?"

Of course we hadn't, but we had no idea yet how woefully unprepared we were, whereas this guy had probably lived in Yamanashi all his life, and offered to turn around and drive us back, before offering us some umbrellas he had in the trunk. Okay. Mountain climbing with umbrellas, great. Drew and I had heard that everyone from grandmas to elementary schoolers could climb Fuji, though, so I thought maybe it'd be all right.

At the base of the mountain we were deposited, and the taxi driver stood nervously by as the rest of us suited up and Drew dressed down in his t-shirt, khakis and bandanna. We laughed because our driver was so obviously concerned about us. (With, apparantly, good reason.) He offered to drive us back to Kawaguchiko Station for free, but we politely declined. Eventually he turned and got back in his cab, against his better judgement, and we began our high-spirited hike through torrential rain!

...I guarantee you that man read the newspapers carefully for the next week. expecting to see something about four foreigners dying from exposure on the mountainside.

... Continued in Part II: How Not To Climb Fuji, Or Any Mountain, Really

Hot Springs Story

I am addicted to an onsen simulation game. There are pretty much no words for how pathetic this is.

HSS during the fall season

About a year ago I downloaded Kairosoft's Hot Springs Story, the English translation, for my smartphone. The premise of the game is simple: You are the owner of a brand-new hot spring resort, and you must construct and expand a spa good enough to draw thousands of visitors from all walks of life. You're given a budget and a small selection of rooms and services to start out with, then let loose on the property. The free version lets you play one in-game year, and I liked it enough to buy the full game after that.

Sim games have never been a particularly big passion of mine (though as of late I've developed an infatuation with Tiny Tower as well) but the idea of building my own onsen hooked me, as I'm sort of a hot spring nut. I was thrilled to see the tiny pixelated tatami rooms and baths. I got my resort started, and from then on I was playing day and night; in the car, at work, at home, in bed. Eventually I beat the game, but I could not complete the final challenge - earning the approval of Chimpan-Z to unlock the giant ofuro, as seen in the image above. I just could not get Chimpan-Z to like my resort enough, and after dozens of tries, I let the game sit unfinished.

HSS during the winter season

Recently, though, when I got the Amazon Kindle Fire for my birthday, I thought I'd see if Hot Springs Story would work on it. The idea of playing it on a larger screen was very enticing. Unfortunately, the full version of the game isn't available on the Amazon Marketplace yet, but I did end up starting a fresh game on my phone...and immediately falling into the exact same trap of playing it for hours and hours on end. I can't seem to get enough of this game! The spritework is just fantastic, and I love the changing of the seasons and the seemingly-infinite types of guests who show up at my resort. The concept is so uniquely Japanese - and playing Hot Springs Story slightly offsets how much I miss the real thing right now. It can be a slow-paced game and frustrating at times (you would not believe how much trouble I had getting a beautician to open up shop for me) but is actually even more fun on the second go-around. If you have an iPhone or Android, you definitely want to give this one a try!

Glancing at Kairosoft's page, it would seem they have a bunch of similar games as well - Pocket Academy and Oh! Edo Towns both look really interesting. There's a brand-new Kairosoft game in the Google Play Store for Android, as well, called The Sushi Spinnery. It looks so adorable that I cannot resist going to check it out immediately. ...Yeah, Kairosoft games are definitely a trap. Beware! But go check out Hot Springs Story, of course!

Onsen in Toronto!?

Body Blitz main spa room
Photo courtesy of www.bodyblitzspa.com

Not quite. However, we are able to boast a handful of "water spas" that are as close as you're going to get here to the soothing baths of Beppu. Mushy Pony, a blog about Toronto trendsetting, posted this article the year before last about where to find water spas in the city.

Of the places mentioned by the Cowgirls, I've only been to Body Blitz, but I'd highly, highly recommend it if you find yourself missing the real thing. (Perhaps I'll do a full-length review the next time I visit, if readers are interested!) This is an Asian-style womens-only spa downtown where bathing suits are optional - pretty much as close are you'll get around here to Japanese-style bathing. Located in an unassuming old warehouse on Adelaide West, Body Blitz has three main pools and two sauna areas, including a sea salt bath, green tea bath, cold bath, and saunas of both the traditional and steam variety. Personalized spa services are, of course, available. They will be opening a brand new location on King Street East in August 2012.

While I haven't been their Collingwood location, the Scandinave chain of spas also gets a thumbs up - I visited their Montreal location in May and was completely blown away. The experience reminded me a lot of Spa World on a much much smaller scale, and while they only offered two pools (one hot, one cold) the atmosphere was very enjoyable. When next I visit Montreal, I will definitely go back, and should you have the opportunity to visit other locations, they even have rotenburo - outdoor baths!

Found a gem of a water spa, in Toronto or elsewhere? Share it in the comments!

Spa World

Atlantis
Photo courtesy of the Spa World website

The phrase "my co-workers/students used to tease me because..." is becoming old hat now, since I've written about a number of just those things! After my second or third trip to Spa World, I knew I was going to have to be more discrete when I was asked how I spent my weekend. But how could I resist? During the special campaigns, I could spend the entire day at Spa World for just 1,000 yen!

And oh, I did. When it was raining or snowing, nothing beat sitting in the Spanish bath with the cool water on my face. When it was 35 degrees outside, a quick hop into Finland was the perfect cool-down. And when people came to visit me and wanted to try the hot spring experience, where better?

(Don't answer that - I took plenty of people to traditional onsen, too!)

The basic gist of Spa World, for those who aren't familiar, is that of a super sento, or super public bath. For the price of admission (3,000 yen for an all-day pass during a weekend in the high-season, and as low as 1,000 in the off-season), you have unlimited run of their fantastically kitschy themed bathing facilities until 10 AM the following morning. You have a bracelet that tracks your spending in the bathing areas, so you can buy food, snacks, drinks, spa services like massage or akazuri, etc. You also have access to the giant pool and waterslides on the top floor, where there are rooftop and indoor mixed baths - bathing suits required.

Bali
Photo courtesy of the Spa World website

I should point out now that while Spa World is a great introduction for nervous foreigners into the world of Japanese-style public bathing, the main baths are no-swimsuits-allowed. One of the stupider things I did during my first few months in the country was try this at Spa World with a friend who was visiting. Neither of us had ever been to a hot spring, but we knew that the pool floor of Spa World required bathing suits, so we figured nobody would mind if we wore them into the main baths, too, especially since it was something like 2 AM! 

Spa World Entrance
Located in sometimes-questionable Shinsekai

We were not inside for even thirty seconds before an elderly customer came up to us and explained in broken English that we needed to take them off. I think she was trying to save us the embarrassment of being seen and asked by an employee to go change. (I assure you, I am equally embarrassed, looking back on this incident.) We came back with towels held over ourselves, trying to look only at the ceiling. It was only later that I realized that what we had done was akin to showing up at a public pool back in Canada to swim wearing jeans and turtleneck sweaters. Effectively harmless, yes, but why would you want to?

By the end of the night, we pretty much got it. In Japan, nudity is just not a thing. There is nothing sexual about the bathing culture, and once you get over the initial fear, for me at least it turned into no big deal. For the dozen or so friends and family I hosted during my stay overseas, only one of them was so uncomfortable with the public baths that I had to apologize afterwards. Others chose to join me on mini hot spring vacations! I had a chance to try akazuri, Doctor Fish, Thai and Swedish massage and cafeteria-style tatami dining.

After that first visit, Spa World became my go-to place for a pick-me-up. There was just nothing like it - on certain months, ladies would have access to the baths in the European Zone (4th floor), where there were baths done up in the images of Greece, Rome, Spain, Italy, Atlantis and Finland. You would rinse on your way in,  and soak in whichever one you pleased. Once you'd warmed up and relaxed a little, you could go to the washing facilities to soap down or shampoo and condition, or head for the saunas. The European Zone features steam and salt saunas in addition to regular ones. A mudbath is tucked away in the Grecian area. Spain has a cafe with footbaths under the tables, as well as an open-air bath with a waterfall. Atlantis features live fish and baby sharks under its glass floor! To open up the pores, try Finland's cold-water baths and then relax on the submerged deck chairs of the Mediterranean Sea.

Finland
Photo courtesy of the Spa World website

The Asia Zone, on the 6th floor, offers an experience much closer to what you might find in a typical onsen, though on a much larger scale. Giant hinoki tubs are in the indoor Japanese bath, while the outdoor area has stone baths of different temperatures and the iconic hinoki barrel baths. In the springtime, cherry blossoms bloom in the outdoor area. The cafe is part of the Japanese experience, offering a few traditional summer treats like shaved ice and ice cream.

The Asia Zone also has a mudbath and salt sauna, courtesy of Bali and India, respectively. India usually offers the hottest experience, as well as a steam sauna. Persia's milky waters are a great place to start out for the new-to-onsen, and you can rest on the lounge chairs in Persia as well. Japanese-style lounge with cafe. Dr. Spa is the newest feature on this floor, with three pools pumped oxygen, hydrogen and carbonic acid to give them a bubbly, healing quality.

Rooftop bath at Spa World - Festival Gate and Tsutenkaku in the background
Photo courtesy of the Spa World website

My favourite spot by far, though, has to be the top floor rooftop bath. This is in the mixed bathing area (suits required - you can rent one at the locker room desk if you can manage Japanese sizes) and it has two small access rivers that start indoors and pass under the wall. Once you're out there in the rooftop whirlpools, it doesn't matter what time of year it is, it's always comfortable! Festival Gate, the long-closed amusement part, always looked so creepy in the night time. The next time I go, it probably won't be there, sadly, but the night view of Tsutenkaku can't be beat from here, either. One of my favourite memories is laying on the side of the bath in December, looking up at the sky and the tower, with the whole top floor all to ourselves. I decided that I wanted to live at Spa World forever. Ah, how I miss it--!

Doctor Fish

I know a few people who'll appreciate this one.

Recently I've been seeing ads pop up on my Facebook sidebar for deal-sharing services like LivingSocial, WagJag and the like. Multiple times on these ads I've spotted one particular "deal" I knew well:

Doctor Fish!

For a brief moment I thought "Wait, can it be!? We have Doctor Fish in Canada!?" No - it was not to be. That's so tragic. But I really can't imagine the service being affordable here like it was in Japan, either.

Fishy times at
Oedo Onsen Monogatari

"Doctor Fish" is a spa service that's offered at onsen and Super Sento-type places. You pay between 1,000 and 2,000 yen for about fifteen minutes, depending on the spa. Sitting on the side of the tank, you lower your feet into it and allow the tiny fish (of the Garra Rufa species) to eat the dead skin on your feet. It is maddeningly ticklish but the effect afterwards is very noticeably soft!

When I used to see these places - the locations at Tenzan-no-Yu, Oedo Onsen Monogatari and Spa World I encountered multiple times - I usually resolved that I would try one "eventually." I was very glad that I did, as it was an awesome experience. Oedo was quite expensive compared to Tenzan, but as you might have guessed from the photo above, you're paying for the atmosphere!

Would you give Doctor Fish a try, or does the idea give you the willies?

Photo of the Day - Manjuu

Two little mascots of Kusatsu, Gunma Prefecture - they are manjuu, a type of sweet usually filled with red bean paste,
Each have the onsen, or hot spring, mark on their head to show that they came from a hot spring town.

Hinoki Bathtubs

Hinoki tub at Wakakusa no Yado Maruei in Yamanashi

If you've never been to Japan, you probably can't call to mind the smell of cypress wood, hinoki. For a frequenter of Japanese baths, though, this scent is very soothing and relaxing! You can even buy blocks of cypress to place in your bath at home to give it that distinctive aroma.

Alternately, you can set yourself up with this or even one of these. Oh my gosh.

If I ever win the lottery (not that I play the lottery, so the odds are pretty bad), I'll be getting one of these beautiful cypress baths. No - all of them.

One in every room.

Naoshima Public Bath

This is possibly the coolest sento I have ever seen.

Just had to share this post from the Letters From Daiba blog with you all! Is this not the most fantastic public bath ever?

The tub ever has photos and illustrations drawn on the bottoms. I don't think I've ever see that before - very cool!

Tenzan-no-Yu

Early in my JET tenure I had the good fortune to meet with a friend of a friend from my hometown, Laura. She was in Kyoto studying at Ritsumeikan at the same time that I was in Osaka. We had only met once or twice before Japan, but were able to get together quite a few times after that. She introduced me to my favourite hotspring (onsen) in Kyoto one evening while our mutual friend was visiting.

Tenzan-no-Yu
photo via http://www.greentour-kyoto.net  

I definitely would never have gone to Tenzan-no-Yu if the three of us had not walked over there from Laura's dorm that night. It's super out of the way for someone living on the Keihan line - the next time I went, alone, it took 40 minutes by bus from Sanjo Station. Each time I went, I literally made a full evening out of the visit, because it was so far - take the bus to the Katsura area, buy cakes to take home at the bakery, browse the Uniqlo shop, spend 2 hours in the bath and maybe having a snack, pick up groceries at the shop next door and a katsu lunch for the following day, then take the bus/train home for over an hour and a half. But oh, so worth it.

The outdoor bath, located in a courtyard
photo via http://www.greentour-kyoto.net  

There are two hot indoor baths and one cold one, and a set with back-massaging jets. The temperature of each bath is on a digital display above it - neat! (40 celcius is a good temperature for me, and I avoid anything hotter than 42.) Outside there is one bath with a little waterfall over rocks, two of the barrel-style ofuro cedar tubs (with natural onsen water) and a gin-no-yu; this natural spring is filled with minerals that turn the water gold. There's also tatami and lawn chairs to lie down on, a salt sauna and a rock sauna, and marble slabs that you lie down on with the water running around you. Bliss~. A couple of times people have come to chat with me at Tenzan, but usually I'm kind of left to my own devices. While fancier than a "local" ofuro, the feeling is still much like a friendly neighbourhood bathouse.

Gin-no-Yu mineral bath
photo via http://www.greentour-kyoto.net  

After sauna, soak and shampoo, I like to buy some fruits milk from the vending machine, dress, dry my hair, enjoy some Doctor Fish, have a massage in the massage chair...oh, do I ever love Japanese bathhouses. And at ¥1,000, Tenzan is a much better deal than Spa World, if 20 times more out of the way--!