Onsen

I woke up on Monday feeling fenomenally hung over, so after a day of more or less* effective learning I decided it was time to treat my body a little better for a change. I thought, what are the two most relaxing wonderful things to do other than going home to slowly die? The answer was obvious: Yoga and hot springs!

*just less. actually

Afternoon snack: 7/11 Nikuman.
Awsome for hangovers, and for everything else.

Then I walked all the way to the gymnasium, only to figure out that it was closed because of reasons, so whoops no yoga after all. And I had even brought my workout cothes to school, lugging them around all day like a big lump!

Though to be quite honest, I didn't think too hard about finding another spot for physical activity. It's almost as if you could say that I was pleased with the development. #LazyBum



I only had a crap-tastic tourist map to go by, so it took me a while to locate the bath. On the way there I found Fukuokas narrowest building,

No fatties allowed!

a pub/club/place that I've heard of and thus you will probably at some point hear from,

The Dark Room

a packet of delicious dried apples I had to buy because of the beautiful English on the packet,

Dried fruit rich in delicious.

and got rained on a lot. Always feelin' like a bit of a dope when in Japan on rainy days without an umbrella, but I just couldn't be buggered buying one.

Eventually, just as I started wondering if I was holding the map upside down, I finally found it!

Yes!

Yu No Hana Onsen turned out to be really close to Tenjin center, and I would have gotten there sooner too had it not been for my pesky going around in cirles being confused.

The lovely scent of vaguely rotten eggs permeated the air.

I've heard that onsen in Tokyo pump up
naturally hot water from waaay
down in the ground.

"Onsen" is the Japanese term for hot springs, occuring naturally all over the country. This one is probably man made (I didn't check), but it's not uncommon for "authentic" onsen water to be shipped in from afar to give the right experience and pruposed health benefits. By the smells outside the building, I'd guess that to be the case here.

However, if you're rocking a tattoo you're out of luck.

No tattoos. Not even small ones. If you cannot
somehow cover it with a waterproof bandage
there is a very real chance of being refused entry.

Take shoes off,

leave shoes here!

I had a bit of fun trying to figure out what the hell I was supposed to do here:

urp.

but after a bit of my signature pointing and grunting I managed to get an entry ticket and a towel set:

First: buy tickets from strange machine

Then: exchange tickets for locker key and towels.

Finally, I was ready for my bath.

Fiii naaaa lyyyyy <3

Of course, I couldn't take any pictures beyond this point. In case you didn't know: the Japanese hot spring experience generally does not involve bathing suits of any kind other than "birthday". They are gender separated for rather obvious reasons. 

I did find some photos of the baths online:

Indoor pool.

Outdoor pool.

After soaking for a long-ass time I sat for a while on a bench in the open courtyard, enjoying a light rain while steam rose from me in waves. Life really can suck a lot more than that.

As I said, best thing to do when hungover or more generally; when ever. Onsen is very high on my list of favourite things in the world.