Japan Trip #1 // Tore Tore Ichiba (とれとれ市場) + Hot Spring

OHAYO GOZAIMASU!!!

It means “Good Morning” in Japanese! I’m finally back from my 8 days trip and I can’t wait to share my joy and excitement with you!!! The weather there has been more or less 1℃ to 6℃ and I found it quite acceptable, not too cold!! My dad also rented a car for our travelling convenience – that means less walking (yessss for lazy bums like me).

I really like my winter hat bought from Bugis. AHHH kawaii ne! Got another pink elephant hat!

浜千鳥の湯　海舟

Anyway we headed to Shirahama @ Wakayama for the first two days of our trip for some hot spring session. The hotel was really traditional and shoes have to be taken out at the lobby. We later found that we should wear the traditional Japanese suits like yukata down for meals (Not that it was permanent, but rather almost everyone was doing it).

It was a fun and unique experience anyway to wear a yukata for dinner. Act like a real Japanese HAHA.

Tore Tore Ichiba (とれとれ市場)

This is one of the popular spots at Shirahama which is actually like a market selling seafood, sashimi and some other Japan food products. A very clean wet market though. And with affordable pricing. We had our lunch there by picking out our desired seafood choice and then heading to the Teppanyaki section just outside to cook our food.

If I’m not wrong, our first meal was about 10000 yen (which is about $113). Considering the fact that we ordered so much fresh seafood, it was a real good deal.

And we were like “WOAH, check out that huge chunk of fish!” It was an eye-opening experience to see such a gigantic tuna being sliced open part by part. I saw the whole fish being chopped into many different body parts, and hardly any parts were being wasted.

I’m sorry if the photos look gory to you 😛

We had a cosy BBQ session at the open area and thankfully the weather was great!

Can’t stop drooling when the fresh big scallop shell “pop” open and reveal the juicy and succulent piece of meat inside.

The clam sashimi was awesome, so fresh and sweet. The texture was beyond perfect and every bite gives a chewy feel.

Haha, it was my first time trying this and we had such difficulty prying the meat out of the shell. But I don’t fancy the taste of it even after removing the “shit” :/

Hot spring session was such a relaxing one. But we had to walk all the way down to the outdoor “pool” and it was so crazily cold!!! It was quite embarrassing because I can’t stop screaming at how hot the water was, and I just stood up with the chilling wind against me. With special clothes on of course, since it was a unisex pool.

I think it’s really shiok to have hot spring in such cold weather. Finally getting into hot water after freezing for the day. Although the water was really too hot haha.