Traveling in Japan: Hot Springs in Gunma-ken Part III

At Ikaho Hot Springs, located at the top of a mountain where air was pure and roads were covered in snow, we decided to spend the night there, but after eating the famous Mizusawa Udon (水沢うどん) in Mizusawa, which is about five minutes on the bus from Ikaho (NB: the bus stop is next to a large hotel called Todoroki, or 轟).

Traveling in Japan: Hot Springs in Gunma-ken Part II

Here are some hilarious knickknacks we found at Yamada-ya :

What the...?

Traveling in Japan: Hot Springs in Gunma-ken Part I

Going to hot springs, or onsen (温泉) in Japanese, is one of the favorite national pastimes of us the Japanese.

For those of you who don't know what's so special about hot springs in Japan, you get to stay at a very traditional Japanese hotel called ryokan (旅館) where you can gorge yourself on traditional Japanese cuisine cooked with SUPER fresh ingredients (usually locally grown) and bathe in these really cool, picturesque baths with hot spring water that makes your skin supple like pudding and drives away all physical tiredness.

Brainstorming! Impromptu Rhapsody on the Word "Turn"

Total Read Time: 4 Minutes
 
I'm reading a book called Writing the Natural Way by Gabriele Rico, Ph.D. This very cool book explores simple techniques to "release creative inhibition" and let your mind go. From what I read, it focuses on the well-known technique of brain-storming or brain-mapping, where you put down a word at the center of a blank page and start writing down words and ideas you associate with that word WITHOUT THINKING DEEPLY ABOUT THE CONNECTION.

A Drama You Must Watch: One Liter of Tears

It's a drama series that was broadcast in Japan about four years ago and based on a true story.

Best Pancakes in Japan: Bills

Located in Shichirigahama - about 1.5 hours away from central Tokyo on the train, and one stop before the (in)famous Enoshima, THE beach located to the south of Tokyo, to which Tokyoites schlep to enjoy the expanses of volcanic sand, dirty water, and occasional view of Mt. Fuji (see below) during the hot and humid Japanese summer - Bills offers probably the best pancakes and scrambled eggs in the whole of Japan, period.

Inglorious Emericans and Jepanese

The following clip is my favorite scenes from Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds. If you haven't seen the movie, you most definitely should. It's violently funny and engrossing. The schizophrenic and polygot villain (who speaks English, German, French, and Italian), Land, is probably one of my favorite fictional characters of all time.

Funny: Hitler and iPhone

This section of the movie has probably been spoofed so many times, but I just found out about it.

Comedy comes from tension that results from a contrast. The contrast here is the apparent seriousness of the situation and the frivolousness of the substance.

A little humor while you take a break.

Absolutely Inspirational!

Feeling sick and tired? Think you're unhappy? Think you failed? Think you're in doubt? Think you're depressed?

Watch the video. It's probably one of the most inspirational clips I've seen:



That's all.