Chapter 252 – #60_Hokkaido(3)
#253
One.
A sign that comes to mind when thinking of Sapporo.
NIKKA whiskey.
As the father of Japanese whiskey, NIKKA, it has been a landmark of the Susukino intersection for decades.
If it is a street with whiskey brand signboards in the most prominent place of the scramble intersection, you can easily guess what this street was built for.
Gorgeous women wearing high heels and striding everywhere, touts touting passers-by and drunken people lying on the corner of the street.
Dozens of customs shops in each block make the whole street look like a whiskey refinery where human desires are gathered and brewed.
Yu-chan also had a few touts.
They said they would do it cheaply and told me to go play.
He uses simple Japanese and short English that he cannot understand, and tries to take him to his store his.
Even when a woman is with you.
“It’s okay.”
You can understand what is being said and respond to it, but flexibility is important depending on the situation.
Acting as a tourist who can’t speak a word of Japanese, he escapes in the rain.
Yu-jin also walked down the street at night, looking around her while holding Yu-chan’s hand tightly.
“Sam, where are we going now?”
“Hmm, I think I’ll take over the rental car in about an hour and go straight to the accommodation. In the meantime, shall we settle for a simple meal?”
“Yes! I like it. But what is Hokkaido famous for?”
Like Hokkaido, which is famous for overflowing with food and special products, I couldn’t point out Yuchan.
However, when she was researching nearby materials, the ramen street she had noticed caught her eye her.
Well, Hokkaido is especially famous for miso ramen.
I didn’t even get close to it, but the smell of chicken broth, pork broth, and various vegetables being roasted and the fragrant scent of miso whined and vibrated in my empty stomach.
“How’s that?”
“I love them all! I love ramen!”
The ramen alley, lined with only ramen shops on both sides, was crowded with people of all kinds, from office workers to tourists to solve a late dinner.
The alley is so narrow that three people for Eugene and two for Yuchan can pass side by side to completely block the road.
Eugene, who was careful not to bump into people, walked through the alley and pointed at the most shabby-looking store.
“Sir, according to my restaurant radar, this place smells like the original ramen house.”
“What is the basis?”
“See this? This shabby sign. It’s at least 60 years old.”
“By the way, Yujin Lee, this alley was created in 1971.”
“Eh! How do you know that?”
“I checked everything, ma’am.”
They enter the store exchanging trivial skits.
I noticed that I was carrying two large suitcases, but fortunately the kind owner took care of my luggage, so I was able to put my butt on the cramped table.
I simply ordered two miso ramen.
The owner tried to explain the menu in splendid Japanese, but all Yu-chan understood was ‘bamboo shoots’, ‘miso (soybean paste)’ and ‘pork’.
Fortunately, Yoo-chan’s ambiguous expression seemed to indicate that his explanation was meaningless. The owner shouted into the kitchen with a friendly smile.
Yujin gulped down her saliva when she saw the office worker who was cutting noodles next to her.
“Sir, I just felt it, and I must have been really hungry. As soon as I smelled it, I was hungry and my stomach hurt. Do you know what this feeling is?”
“Yes, I ordered it, so it will be served soon. The ramen won’t take long, right?”
The weather outside is still chilly and it is snowing, so I am looking forward to the ramen that will warm my insides.
I didn’t even wait 10 minutes and the ramen was already out.
Hokkaido miso ramen has several characteristics.
Of course, the soup is made with miso base. Judging by the smell, this house seems to have used pork bones to make the broth.
Stir-fried pork instead of wavy noodles and chashu.
Lightly seared bean sprouts and menma.
It is lard (animal oil) that covers the top of the broth as if coating it.
It would be harder to make tasteless ramen with these ingredients.
Yujin clapped the seal clap, and as soon as Yuchan lifted his chopsticks, he put the ramen into his mouth.
“Don’t eat too much because the ryokan serves dinner.”
“It’s okay, I’m the type to eat a lot too.”
That’s right.
While living with Yu-jin, what surprised Yu-chan the most was the amount of food she ate.
Eugene, who used to crackle when she ate outside, slowly revealed her true colors of her, and she ate about two servings of food for an adult male at every meal.
Yu-chan tasted her broth her first with her ladle-like spoon.
Heavy.
Sticky umami unique to lard.
Along with the unique texture of lard coating from the mouth to the esophagus, the savory yet salty miso soup warms up the cold stomach.
In addition, the scent of garlic and bean sprouts, which were not excessive, balanced the oily taste that could easily become greasy.
It was a colorful taste that felt the aroma of meat and miso on the inhalation, and the freshness of vegetables on the exhalation.
Besides, what about noodles and garnish?
When you lift it with chopsticks, the oily, shiny yellow noodles are soft and bouncy enough to believe that they have just been pulled out.
Menma made of bamboo shoots and bean sprouts together, Yu-chan admired for the first time in a long time.
It was a meal I liked even considering how cold and hungry I was.
Lee Yu-jin’s restaurant radar seems to have done its job well.
“How is it? Does it taste good?”
“Eugene, you are the best.”
Yu-jin clapped her hands and liked Yu-chan’s reaction to her when she raised her thumb.
What if the store she asked to go into did n’t suit the teacher’s taste of her? It seems that she was worried inwardly..
Yoo-chan, who finished all of her noodles in less than 5 minutes, ended up eating the soup by adding green onion garnish out of regret.
It’s a bit unfortunate.
If I’m not driving later, I wanted to order a bottle of beer and have a drink together.
No, if it was this much soup, I would have had to eat three bottles instead of one bottle to be satisfied.
I don’t think drunk driving is a big deal, but when I rented a car, it was NG if it smelled like alcohol.
Seeing Yoo-chan licking his lips, Yu-jin suggested it.
“Can I get you something?”
“No, I’ll go to the ryokan and eat.”
Eugene asked a question that she couldn’t properly ask because she was eating ramen earlier.
“Sir, but what is a ryokan?”
“It’s the Japanese word for inn.”
“Yeah, isn’t a hotel better than an inn?”
“In our country, inns are cheap accommodations, but in Japan, ryokans are very luxurious facilities.
“Aha, that’s right. Knowledge has increased!”
Basically, ryokans provide hot spring facilities and breakfast and dinner, so if you have a certain assortment, you can charge at least 300,000 won.
A place that costs about 70,000 won to 80,000 won is a ryokan, not much different from a motel.
And Yu-chan chose the inn with the best facilities in Jozankei Onsen Village.
It was fortunate that the room was empty because it was a reservation made the day before.
Waiting for Eugene to clean the bowl, I came out of her shop.
Both of them were hungry on an empty stomach, so they ate too quickly, but they didn’t seem to have time to do anything else.
As soon as I stopped by the rental car center, the employee checked the Korean and international driver’s licenses handed to me by Yoo-chan, and then held out a contract written in both Korean and Japanese.
Since renting a car is essential to enjoy Hokkaido 100%, it seems that there is a contract suitable for each country.
24,000 yen for four days in 24 hours.
Fill up the gasoline and return it.
You are responsible for damaged property.
Etc. And other matters were signed and the car keys were handed over.
Like a sack of barley borrowed from Yu-chan, Yu-jin walked around Yu-chan and watched Yu-chan as she took care of the work as if it were strange.
“By the way, when did you get your Japanese driver’s license?”
“I didn’t get a Japanese driver’s license, but there’s something called an international driver’s license.”
“Oh! I’m not sure what it is, but it’s kind of cool.”
When Yu-chan was studying abroad in the United States, he picked it up in advance.
I haven’t had anything to write about until now, but I’m proud that I have room to use it like this.
Apparently, since Hokkaido snows a lot in the winter and icy roads are common, the car was equipped with snow tires.
If you can’t afford it, Yoo-chan gets into the car after receiving the snow chains he gave you to install.
Yu-jin looked at him curiously as Yu-chan sat on the right seat and grabbed the steering wheel.
We exchanged trivial jokes and headed to the inn where we would stay together for a while.
2.
The moment I got out of the city and entered the mountain road, the surroundings became surprisingly dark.
Watching her eyes she grow stronger, I thought it was a good thing to hurry.
It was at the level of pouring snow from the sky, so even if it was an hour late, snow would have accumulated on the road.
Eugene hadn’t said anything since before.
She cracks open a piece of chocolate potato chip and puts it in Yoo-chan’s mouth from time to time, and it seems that she has a lot of thoughts on various things, just crunching it.
Yu-jin must also know why Yu-chan dared to suggest her trip her.
You might expect that the two, who had only been in an ambiguous relationship until now, will deepen their relationship starting from this trip.
No matter how dull Eugene was in relationships between men and women, she was not an idiot.
After driving for about 30 minutes, she saw a hotel standing in the distance.
Just like the name of the hot spring town, immaculate steam is rising everywhere.
The heat of the hot spring blooming in the dark snowy landscape was enough to catch Eugene’s attention.
Yu-chan recalls the map she had memorized in her head her, and she goes a little deeper.
The ryokan Yoo-chan booked is a luxury-oriented inn that accepts only four groups of guests at a time.
After driving for about 10 more minutes, a wooden building built in the traditional Japanese style was revealed among the bamboo grove with colorful orange lighting.
“Wow…”
The inn, located in a dark bamboo forest, looks like a luxurious mansion inhabited by a monster.
In addition, the timely scattering of snowflakes stimulates a mysterious appreciation.
As she unloaded her suitcase, her cotton candy-like snow crunched at her feet.
“Here, isn’t it a bit expensive?”
“It’s okay. Teacher, I have a lot of money.”
When Yu-chan said that she would pay for her travel expenses this time, Yu-jin, who thought she would sleep in such an inn, seemed to admire her unexpectedly luxurious appearance of her.
Of course, it was a kind of test that Teacher Yu-chan did not stop him from paying alone.
If she had been someone who didn’t want to spend money on her, she would have looked somehow uncomfortable, she said.
She later said she was going to give it all back if it went well with the teacher.
When I pressed the doorbell, the door opened shortly after.
When I entered the front gate of the ryokan, which was also in the shape of a ‘U’, a female waitress was waiting on her knees wearing a kimono.
Since this is a ryokan, I should say ‘Nakai-san’.
“Irashaimase, thank you for visiting Shinkei Ryokan. What is the name of the person making the reservation?”
It was a chance to show off in front of Yujin once again the Japanese that I studied hard for so long.
As smooth Korean words came out of her waiter’s mouth, Yu-chan was plainly discouraged.
In fact, at such a high-end facility, there might be some employees who can speak foreign languages.
“This is Yuchan. I made a reservation for the Sumire room.”
“Yes, please come this way.”
The waitress got up and led the room with quick steps.
This inn itself seems to be a cultural festival of some kind.
The indoor garden on the left side of the hallway, the tatami floor, the fan and hanging scroll paintings, and various non-fancy Japanese decorations attract attention.
Yuchan was guided to the annex of the ryokan.
It was the best room that could be reached by crossing the garden.
As if treating any aristocratic guest, the waitress opened the door cautiously and bowed her head.
“You can freely use the facilities in the annex.
“Please.”
“Thank you.”
The waitress, who had been polite until the end, walked backwards out of the room and carefully closed the door.
Eugene, who had been suffocated by his overly kind attitude his, felt like he was going to live a little.
“I feel like a state guest. It’s burdensome.”
“I know.”
“The room is very nice. Is this all for us?”
Eugene was already excited and snooped here and there.
It will be quite some time before the meal arrives, so we decided to explore the room together.
Rather than a completely old-fashioned traditional Japanese studio, it seems to be pursuing a certain degree of modernity.
Tokonomi, where tatami mats or scrolls are hung, has a touch of antiquity, but when you open the sliding door, the balcony you see has a glass window.
There was an attic that looked down on the garden from the second floor, and in the room next to the stairs going up to the attic, there is a Japanese-Western room for guests who want to sleep in a bed.
“Wow… I really like the teacher…”
“Would you like to come here, Yujin?”
It seems that Eugene has already fallen in love with the charm of her annex her.
Unable to close her gaping mouth, she follows Yu-chan with her yukata on her table.
There was a separate indoor hot spring next to the shower room.
“Is this a hot spring?”
“Looking at it, there is a hot spring in the room outside, and it seems to have been prepared so that you can enjoy it inside too. It looks like a cypress tree.”
There is an indoor hinoki bath where you can enjoy a hot spring bath indoors and an open-air bath where you can enjoy snow outside.
This is well worth the money spent.
“First, let’s unpack and change our clothes.”
“Yes Yes!”
Yujin, who was giggling, took her suitcase and went into the Hwayang room.
