Day 3 (Part 2) : Exploring Shirakawa-go village

After having our Sakura meal at Kenrokuen Garden, we were on our way to Shirakawa-go village to admire the Gasso styled houses charaterized by steeply pitched thatched roofs.

A remote, mountainous region in northern Gifu Prefecture, Shirakawago is famous for its old farmhouses, which were added to the list of UNESCO world heritage sites in 1995. The farm houses are built in an architecture style called gasshozukuri, as the houses' steep roofs resemble two hands folded for a prayer. The massive construction is required for the houses to withstand the large amounts of snow falling in the region during winter.

Official website : http://www.vill.shirakawa.gifu.jp/e/index.html

We were totally delighted upon reaching the village and it was as if we entered a winter wonderland! Everything was covered in snow and the feeling of magic was in the air ! And it was REALLY cold here up in the mountains.... especially my butt cheeks which was frozen ...hahahah

Here's us before we cross the bridge over to the village ...brrrr....

Was it me or did the bridge shake when I walked across ?! Must be the wind ....= P

Yes that is SANDY in the pic... crazy girl = P

Our first sight of the traditional house.

Blow us away !! Let's fly !

See isn't the house pretty ? Too bad we didn't manage to capture a better view of the houses cos it started to snow heavily.

Snow, snow and more snow ..... we were absolutely delighted !

Close up of the snow flakes on my face... can you see the different shapes ??!! Was amazing and so wished I could put them all in a little bottle and bring it back to Singapore ..hehehe

Now we know how Frosty feels ...

After burning lots of energy exploring the village (and looking for the "elusive" toilet), we need to sustenance right ? So we sniffed our way to this quaint little hut selling Fei Dan Niu, flying bullet beef ??

Actually Takayama is know as Fei Dan so the beef skewers are known as Fei Dan Niu.It was Oooiissshhhiii ! Soft and tender with a dash of salt accompanied by hot oat tea ... heavenly !

Sand trying to zap up all the warmth from the heater ... this is a welcome shelter from the 0 degrees outside.
Here comes our foodie pose again ... sedap !

Waving good bye to Shirakawa-go, we travelled for a pretty long time (fell asleep as usual so lost track of time ..hahaha) to Hida Hotel Plaza, our 3rd home for the trip.

Awaiting ahead was a scrumptious and beautifully presented dinner. Quite a feast for the eye. Like they say, Japanese eat with their eyes and I am enjoying every bit of it!

And being Singaporeans, what else do we do after a meal ? Look for more food to try of cos ! Yup, family mart here we come! It was actually quite funny but we met almost half of the tour group at the hotel lobby all with the intention of looking for the nearest convenience store !

So with a leader ahead, the 14 of us tried figuring the directions in the dark (was pitch dark by 7pm man) but it was pretty fun as we tried to make sense of the map and road signs. The power of FOOD!!

And here's us with our purchases (beer, snacks, ice cream, cakes etc etc ) making our way back to the hotel. How orderly right ? Two by twos .... = )

Before we head down to the onsen for the 2nd night (yippee cos we heard there is an outdoor jacuzzi in the onsen here! ), we decided to be martial arts exponents and show off some moves ..

Crane stance!

Chop chop chop !!!

Kawaii inspired kung fu BLOCK !


Exertion overcomes ... = )

After note : The onsen at this hotel is even better ! The outdoor jacuzzi is some relaxing and I could sit in there forever ! Love the feeling of impossibly cold air on my head and bubbling warm water on my body. Except of cos I had to squeeze myself into the tub with 6 other women !!hahaha ...

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