Sunday, February 5, 2017

Kii Katsuura (紀伊勝浦) - Oyado Hana


16-June-2016 - Left the beautiful Yunomine Onsen and took an early bus to Kii Katsuura. The bus dropped us at Shingu train station, and we took the train to Kii Katsuura after that, walking comfortably to our next lodging at Oyado Hana. 
2nd floor common area, pantry and library

Cosy toilet and sink area

Oyado Hana was the cheapest of all our accommodation at SGD 44 per person, no meals included. The whole place was run by a young lady, and it was rather cold in hospitality as compared to the little minshuku we stayed at Yunomine Onsen. But the place was rather beautifully decorated, and they have an onsen which you have to book 30mins slot for your bath time. 


It was rainy when we were reach Kii Katsuura, and since it was the rainy season, most of the shops were closed. We did stumble into a lovely cake shop where I had the most delicious strawberry shortcake ever. The owner was a rather stern looking lady, but who cares, the cake was delicious! We sat there sitting facing the window and looking out of the show on a rainy day. Oh yes, Mikan or Oranges were also very famous here, so I got three for like SGD2.50? Expensive and nothing really special about it. 

As our accommodation does not provide any breakfast, we bough some cakes back for breakfast next morning as well as maybe to bring along with us to Nachi Fall. Above the snacks we got, with milo which I usually bring on trips with me makes a nice light meal in the evening. We did have a lovely tuna set meal at one of the restaurant in town. A small shop where people were queuing outside so we decided to also queue. The meal was cheap and fresh, and nobody spoke English except the helper who was a Philippine lady. The customer were talking among themselves and I managed to understand what they were talking about. Apparently they were wondering if we were vietnams. I managed with my broken Japanese to explained where we were from, and the owner started telling us how he was in Singapore like 5 years or so back and even show us some photograph. It was a nice cosy place to hang out, just like your friendly neighbourhood bar. Love the experience.

The weather did clear up the next day were we had the chance to wonder around town and did some shopping. The pier side was beautiful with its blue skies and sea view. Behind the boat way back at the photo is Urashima, the island that we will be spending our last leg of the trip on. More about it on the future post!
Kii Katsuura is also a place that sells whale meat for consumption. You don't really find it selling so obviously, but we managed to wander into a supermarket slightly off town and found these. 

I initially wanted to visit the whale museum at Taiji which was in the next town, but at the same time having mixed feeling about it since I've watched the show The Cove before. But due to the bad weather and the infrequent train schedule, we skipped the place all together.

If you would like to watch the full movie, please refer the reference link below to lead you there. If you are curious about what it is about, here is the trailer to the movie. It is an eye opener to watch.


Lovely orange drink 

Ref:
Kii Katsuura (紀伊勝浦)
Taiji (太地)
The Cove - Wiki

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