A moment spent with my family

A Moment Spent With My Family

 

(Music Box Museum)

 

(Tokyo Disneyland)

[Sounkyo(In the mountain tops)]

 

Dosen't it look like a construction site to you? 

*Disclaimer* All of the photos are from the internet as I caould not upload my own from my camera *Disclaimer*

            On my Japan holiday, I have had many experiences. For example, I went to the Music Box Museum at Otaru which displayed ancient music boxes and gramophones dating back to as far as the 18^th Century, my trip to Tokyo Disneyland and Disneysea and to the mountain tops! However, there is one truly unforgettable one. That is my trip to ‘HELL VALLEY’. It is called Noboribetsu in Japanese which means ‘Hell Valley’ because it is actually a sulfur deposit site where sulfur from under the crust of the earth comes out through holes. At first glance, it seems more of a construction site rather than a scenic tourist spot. Some of the rocks have even been stained a greenish-yellow tone due to the large amounts of sulfur deposited over the years. Another reason why it is called the ‘Hell Valley’ is because of the smell of sulfur. It can be almost unbearable when you first reach that place. However, you will soon get used to the smell. The sulfur smells of rotten eggs. The smell is so strong that even the hotels have to put charcoal in their lifts, corridors and even rooms to absorb the pungent smell. But, this place is not all bad. They have a special hot spring where you can soak yourself in mineral-rich hot spring. This special hot spring is said to have the ability to heal skin conditions such as eczema (Ugh! Imagine all sorts of people with skin conditions soaking in the same water as you. Nasty Thought.). Okay. That’s beside the point. When we went in the entire hot spring was VACANT. My father and I had the whole hot spring to ourselves (Talk about luxury! And of course the females have a different hot spring.). When you first enter, you will feel very uncomfortable as the temperature of the water may be quite a high. However, if you stay in there for a little while longer, you will feel the hot spring helping you to unwind and relax; de-stressing you. When I got out into the cold winter air, I could see myself ‘steaming’ as the weather was so freezing cold (about 3°C) that even normal evaporation will make you seem as if you are boiling. It was a very fun experience for me and my father. After that, my family and I sat down in the dining hall and enjoyed an elaborate Japanese-style 10-course dinner (We had the same thing for breakfast too, just with breakfast food). I think luck was with us on this trip.  On our check out day, the hotel was making Japanese Rice Cakes in the lobby. I got called up to have a hands on experience at it.  I was quite embarrassed I could not balance the giant wooden hammer used to pound the rice mixture. I even accidentally hit the side of the bowl. After that, the PR manager served all of us the rice cakes. I realised that their rice cakes are just our ‘Mua Ji’ in Singapore except that instead of grounded peanuts, they use green tea powder. It was simply delicious. This was sure an unforgettable moment with my family. All of us enjoyed this thoroughly!!