Monday, December 08, 2008

My Winter Holiday Plans









We can't/don't want to go abroad this year with a 3 month old baby so we decided to spend our winter vacation in our prefecture in Japan. We are lucky because Tochigi is famous for onsen (natural hot-springs) and has many excellent and scenic places to soak in the healing waters.

As avid "onsen-ers" we have sampled some pretty fantastic baths in and around our home. This year we've found a special hotel to visit.

The Ranryo in Kawaji, Tochigi has a a history of more than 300 years as a spa ryokan and we were able to book a room there over the Christmas holidays. With traditional Japanese food like trout on a stick, winter vegetable hot pot and sashimi plus and assortment of excellent indoor and outdoor baths we hope to finish this fantastic year in style.

The best part of the story is we got an excellent rate. Since frugality is the new black we decided we were only willing to pay a certain amount of yen for this hotel. At first we were embarrassed to ask but once we did we easily got the discounted rate we had hoped for.

What's the lesson?
Be willing to ask! You never know what you might get by asking.

No comments: