The Meaning

I guess there are many Eat, Pray, Love fans around me. I have not read the book but have watched the movie. My only feeling about the movie was that I want to slap Julia Roberts. I could not feel for her suffocating void and I thought her worries were bullshit. Guess the book must be a lot better than the movie to have sold so well. Anyways, yes, there are moments when things are doing well but some sort of emptiness continues to swell within you. I think in moments like this I should also be slapped like Julia in the movie. In moments like this I would travel. The travels never really help find the answer like how it happened in the book; but they did help me forget the question.

Unlike the case in my other journeys, I usually could not pinpoint what was the best moment and I would not bother doing that. This time around it was different, there was this moment I felt so great that the only thought in my brain was… ah…. this must be the meaning of life…

Sinking your entire body into the hot spring when the cold autumn breeze cuts into your bones must be one of the greatest feelings life can offer. Exposing yourself to the crisp chilly air when your skin is numbed by the hot water makes it better. Repeating the two steps mentioned above while watching the golden leaves sway, stream flows and sky changes its colour is sheer bliss.

Heavenly: The Shika-No-Yu Onsen Resort that I chose is the light-brown building on the left, the hot spring pool is right behind the bamboo screens. The foliage in red, gold and brown complemented by the stream that let out plumes of steam will be what you see when you are soaking in onsen.  

All these… require only 800Yen = RM32 and you can soak till 10pm if you haven't melted. Towel set is available at 200Yen = RM8 but you can bring your own. Such affordable indulgence is found at the Jozankei Onsen, an onsen village located within the beautiful Shikotsu-Toya National Park. It is only an hour of bus ride from the Sapporo station, the trip costs 750Yen one-way. Try not to sleep so much in the bus, else you will miss the undulating stretches of mountain blanketed with autumn foliage along the way.  

   
I chose Shika-No-Yu onsen resort (定山渓温泉  本館  鹿の湯). The posh exterior is a little deceiving, not that the onsen area inside is rundown, just that the rates are unbelievably low. For RM32, you can enjoy the indoor pool, outdoor pool, jacuzzi, sauna with drizzle of hot spring water and also a spa corner where there's water gushing down from the above to massage your scalp and neck. The shower area is complete with a variety of face wash, shampoo and shower gel for you to try. The powder room has everything, including BB cream and eye brow pencil in a choice of two colors, so you do not need to walk out of the onsen as naked as you are inside. 

Yes, the need to bare it all in the onsen with dozens of other women can be uncomfortable to many. I would say it helps if you do not go in with your friends, as the other women there do not give a damn how you or your body look. It is a blur inside anyway due to the steam. When I saw women walking around the changing area in nudity just like they had clothes on, I was immediately at ease. It was a great feeling to be able to walk around as free as that. I was secretly admiring the bodies of other ladies - the curves, texture and sheen - and I think the older they are, the more beautiful their bodies become. The wrinkles, the effects of gravity and the depletion of lustre have composed a sophisticated piece of work, which reflects the effort she puts into living in the stern face of time.

Awesome end: The bus ride ends at an exclusive resort, its rates are higher than those at the main onsen area that is two stops away.

Tender touch: The rain added to the romance though it was troublesome to move about.