Kinugawa Onsen Tour (Part 1) / 鬼怒川温泉旅行 （パート１）

Mikako and I spent the past weekend with some friends at Kinugawa Hot Spring in Tochigi Prefecture. But as our train wasn't leaving until three in the afternoon, we were meeting our friends in front of Aoyama Gakuin University and was planning on heading to the Hanabatake Bokujo Cafe nearby. As we were walking from Shibuya to Aoyama, I discovered a few more interesting sites.

この間の休日僕と美香子が友達と一緒に温泉旅行に行きました。場所は栃木県の鬼怒川温泉。でも鬼怒川行きの電車は午後三時近くの出発だったので、朝十一時に友達と青山学院前で会う約束してた。旅に出る前にそこの近くに出来た「花畑牧場カフェ」行く予定。渋谷から青山に歩いたら、また面白い写真いろいろ撮りました。

Our short walk took us past the Cross Tower Building. This is where my friend 21-ban had his wedding reception. On the top floor is a French restaurant called "La Rochelle" that's owned by the Iron Chef, Hiroyuki Sakai. You bet the food was delicious there.

渋谷から青山の短い散歩の途中、クロス・タワーがありました。僕の友人がこのビルで結婚の披露宴をやりました。ビルの最上階に「料理の鉄人」酒井宏行の店「ラ・ロシェル」があります。もちろんそこの料理は旨い！

Cool storefront design of a boutique shop.

面白い看板発見。

An even cooler design of a kid jumping rope on the side of a building - the building in question being the "Kodomo no Shiro" which translates to the "Children's Castle".

もっと面白いもの発見。こどもの城のビルの壁に縄跳びしてる子供が居る。

Also in front of the building is an art piece by Taro Okamoto titled "Kodomo no Ki" which translates to "Children's Tree" or "Tree of Children".

ビルの前に岡本太郎の作品「こどもの樹」が立ってます。

Kodomo no Ki / こどもの樹

Right next to the Kodomo no Shiro building is the United Nations University.

こどもの城の隣のビルは国際連合大学 本部。

We finally met up with our friends and headed to the Hanabatake Bokujo Cafe, only to find that the one in Aoyama is no longer there! We still had time before our train was to leave, so we headed to Harajuku by taxi.

友達と合流して、早速花畑牧場カフェに行ってみた。でも青山店はもうなくなりました！ まだ時間があったので、タクシに乗って、原宿へ。

Popular tourist destination - Harajuku's Takeshita Street.

人気観光名所、原宿の竹下通り。

Although the Hanabatake Bokujo Cafe is mostly known for its caramel and ice-cream with hot caramel sauce, we wanted to try another one of their products - the collagen ramen. You can pick from regular, cheese miso, or cheese curry. Mikako ordered the miso while I went with the curry.

花畑牧場は生キャラメルが有名なんですが、新商品も出まして、それはコラーゲンラーメン。ラーメンは三種類から選べる‐普通のコラーゲンラーメン、チーズ味噌、とチーズカレー。美香子は味噌を頼んで、僕はカレーを。

Hanabatake Bokujo Cafe / 花畑牧場カフェ


Cheese Curry Collagen Ramen / チーズカレーコラーゲンラーメン



Cheese Miso Collagen Ramen / チーズ味噌コラーゲンラーメン

After snacking on ramen and ice cream, it was time to head to Shinjuku Station to catch our train. This is where our actual travel begins.

ラーメンとアイスを食べたあと、電車の時間が近づいて、新宿駅まで移動。これから本格的に旅行が始まります。

To be continued...

つづく。。。