Our next destination was Oedo Onsen, an Edo-themed onsen (though more like sento, a bath house, since none of the baths have actual natural hot spring water). This place was one of the highlights of our time together with my sister and brother, and hubby and I would definitely take our family and friends here again. We all had a such fantastic and relaxing time there, even the train ride there and back was spectacular!
Me walking along the fake moat at the entrance of Oedo Onsen.
The day we went was especially windy and cold, which only made soaking in a hot tub (inside and outside) especially enjoyable. After a while, you'd just stop feeling cold altogether!
They even have a large room with a stage, where various performances are held on certain days. The day we were there, they had a show with Chinese acrobatics ^.^
The entrance fee will allow for an all day stay, including the rental of a yukata, literally means bathrobe. Yes, everyone inside this place dons a yukata and walks around barefooted, just like in the old days ^.^
The picture below is of one of the 2 main eating areas. We all snacked throughout the day, having soba, sushi, ice cream, and then finally Korean food for dinner. Unfortunately, all the food we had were forgettable, with the exception of the ice cream :P The sushi was especially bad, so I would not recommend trying the sushi there, honestly. Even the Korean food, my usual fail-safe choice, was shockingly disappointing. I had a bibimbap, and somehow it managed to be so bland that I stopped eating half way through. Even the kimchi was a few days overripe and we could tell by the overly fermented taste (it really should be made into kimchi jigae and not sold as a side dish...). So yeah, I think we're going to stick to good ol' Japanese food and desserts next time, which is fine by me ^.^
Anyway, for whatever disappointments we had with the food, the outdoor foot bath more than made up for it. I definitely think it was their outdoor foot bath that made our trip worth while. Without this foot bath, this place seriously would have been just another bath house!
The outside corridor with the foot bath area to the left.
A nice bridge leading to the bath stream.
Basically, the outdoor foot bath is an area with a winding stream of hot water that is about 1 foot deep. The floor of the bath is lined with stones like the path pictured below, and when you walk, you're supposed to step on the stones and get your feet massaged.
It can get pretty damn painful if your feet aren't used to this stone path massage. The stones aren't sharp so they won't cut you or anything, but they do hurt to walk on. At one point, my walk along the stream can got down right tortuous and agonizing, and every step was laced with expletive xD My sister and I almost fell over a few times too when we walked too fast!!!
The floor of the bath doesn't look exactly like this, so don't think you can just walk in between the lines and avoid your foot "massage." They figured many people would get sneaky, so they scattered the stones so that there's no avoiding stepping on them. So unless you're a tiny kid with tiny feet (my sister has size 4 feet and even she couldn't avoid them!), you'll probably be cursing at these stones like I did ^.^
And why the hell do I think this is what made our trip to Oedo Onsen worth while? Because after a while, your feet will get somewhat used to stepping on these stones, but more importantly, your feet will feel really really nice afterwards. At least mine did :P Also, there's just something so therapeutic about wading in hot water outside on a windy and cold night.
Me and hubby
My brother just had to film the whole process xD I think he might have to censor me before showing the footage to my parents or this pirate will give them the shock of their life LOL!
Can you tell we had a really great time there? We were all sniffling in the cold but it was so much fun we were reluctant to leave xD
Anyway, we left at about 8 PM, and guess what we saw next door - a pet spa! Can't forget kittie and Fido now, can we?
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