Iya to Matsuyama, Shikoku - gachapon, soba, somen and fish on sticks
Trip Diary Day 16 - 13 April 2019
Iya to Matsuyama
Check out Episodes 12 and 13 of our Epic Family Road Trip Across Japan.
For our last morning in Iya we made breakfast at Iya Vine Guesthouse - cereal, yoghurt, sausages, bacon, eggs and toast. Japanese breakfast sausage are tasty little suckers. If you have breakfast just about anywhere you will be served these little pork sausages. They’re called “Arabiki’’ which means coarsely ground. I finished with a creme caramel. For the record, custard desserts are a breakfast food because they have eggs in them.
I was out of bed by 7.30 for shit and shower. TMI? I’ve got to stop sharing things like that but there is nothing more satisfying that a holiday poo in the morning. Shell got up a bit after 8. I don’t know if she did a poo too. I can’t remember that last time I was up at 7.30? Maybe the day we flew to Japan. We wanted to get a reasonably early start so we could see some more sights before we left Iya and possibly get into Matsuyama at a reasonable hour - for a change. Taku played cards with the kids and generally amused them while Michelle and I packed.
We said goodbye to Taku and drove down to the village to see if Yoki Guesthouse and Cafe did coffee. I couldn’t see an espresso machine so it didn’t look like it, but right next to it we saw a huge zip line across the valley. I reckon it stretched at least 500 metres across the valley.
We drove up the hill a bit and saw the office for Forest Adventure and noticed they had a teeny little monorail ride on the hill behind it. They’re the ones that run the zip line we’d seen earlier and other adventures in the Iya valley. But we weren’t after an adrenaline rush on this day. Nope, the monorail was more our speed so we stopped and had a go. 500 yen for adults and 300 for Georgia. Brandy rode for free.
Each of the monorail carriages was a ladybug. The monorail is more like a very slow roller coaster. It was a lot of fun. I went with Brandy and Shell and Georgia shared one. It was an 8 minute ride with great views across the valley.
We found a couple of Gachapon machines in the office. I swear our kids could find gachapon underwater. There was a man cooking fish on a impaled on sticks in a kiosk in the car park. We watched a couple of people fly by on the zip line. While we watching a couple of guys approached us and asked if they could photograph the kids. Brandon was too shy but Georgia posed with each of them as they took photos. We’re past being surprised by the number of people that ask us for photos. It has happened a number of times on each trip to Japan.
Keikoku no Kakure yado Iya bijin - Soba noodles
We drove back up the road towards the Iya Vine Guesthouse and stopped at Keikoku no Kakure yado Iya bijin for soba noodles. I had shisi soba - soba with wild boar and Michelle had geupei soba - soba with beef and egg. Georgia had her fish on a stick - amego. Later she had another - Ayu or trout. They also had some fish on sticks cooking outside. Total was about 3900 yen. Great view of the gorge from their verandah. The restaurant is perched on the side of the gorge. It is probably a few hundred metre drop to the river below. One of the little “Creeps” was pissing way down into the valley parodying the pissing boy fountain. The little creep (my memory says creep but it could be freak. By the end of the trip they were calling them fricks) is what the kids call the tanuki badger statues. Tanuki are found all over Japan. They’re believed to bring good luck. I don’t know why the kids started calling them the little creeps because they are kind of cute with their little bellies and oversized testicles. We went downstairs to the “basement” to go to the toilet to find that there is a big hotel under the restaurant. The restaurant is part of the reception area for the ryokan but the accommodation is below. You just can’t see it from the car park or road. It was a bit of a surprise.
It was a beautiful day. About 15 degrees. A perfect day for a ride. There were lots of bikes out and about. Big bikes like Harleys. We could hear their deep throaty roar echoing around the valley.
Unmanned Petrol Stations (how to get gas when you don’t have a clue)
The drive to Matsuyama.
We had less than a quarter tank of petrol when we left so we had to get some. I thought I’d wait till we hit the expressway. There is always a petrol station on the expressway. After driving by 5 roadside stops without a petrol station I decided that with less than one eighth of a tank left it might be prudent to exit the expressway and head to the nearest town. The next exit was for Kawanoe. 710 yen for the ETC. We then spent 15 minutes fruitlessly driving around looking for a petrol station. Finally we found an Eneos. It was completely self serve. I don’t think the office was even manned. The touch screens at each of the pumps were only in Japanese with no option for English. I had had to guess what each of the options were. I put in credit card and filled up. 30 something litres at 137 yen per litre. The pump spat out a printed receipt so must have done everything correctly.
A Haiku
Matsuyama beckons
We nearly ran out of petrol
Made it for coffee
Hotel Mystays Matsuyama
It was 3 hours to Matsuyama. I was happy to note a Starbucks only 500 metres from Hotel. We pulled up at a hotel and saw a sign indicating that parking was around back of the hotel. An older guy came out to greet us. He was very happy and friendly. Many car park attendants are old grandfatherly types. Years ago in Matsumoto the kind old car park attendant gave Georgia a small gift - a Hello Kitty made of plastic beads. The car park attendant told me to unload the car and then indicated I should drive the car up a small ramp into the parking building. Parking was in a high rise automated parking station. These have got to be seen to be believed. They’re like a huge vending machine. You drive in up a ramp, park and walk out. The car is then carried away on an elevator and inserted into a slot high up in the building somewhere. The attendant closed the doors, they’re like elevator doors, and then pointed at a window and indicated that kids might like to watch the car being spun around and whisked away.
Our home in Matsuyama was the Hotel Mystays Matsuyama. A nice non-descript non-memorable, in a good way, business style hotel. The total for two night’s stay was around 28000 yen. Around $170 AUD per night. Matsuyama was one of those cities we had trouble finding a reasonably price quad room. Doubles are very affordable but nowhere near enough room or sleeping space for a family of four. We chose a Japanese tatami mat triple room with futons. That meant we only had 3 futons though. Brandy was still at an age where it difficult to get a separate bed. The expectation is that 5 year olds still sleep with their parents. In some ryokans or hotels they keep a couple of extra futons in the futon cupboard. No such luck here. Fortunately for us housekeeping had parked a service cart outside of our room so we took a sheet and pillowcase so we could set up a bed for Brandon too. Don’t tell anyone, that can be our little secret. A hotel hack so to speak.
Starbucks Matsuyama
When you arrive in a new city the first thing you do is seek out some sort of cultural or culinary local treat. So we went to Starbucks for iced coffees. 10 minutes walk. We noticed lots of school kids around. Most of the customers in Starbucks were kids in school uniform. I thought this was Saturday? I wondered if there had been some sort of weekend school event to something? After a quick Google it turns out Saturday is an optional school day. This means kids attendance on Saturdays isn’t compulsory but apparently nearly all kids go. How stuffed is that?
The Starbucks iced coffee is just okay. The whipped cream on top helps. 1700 yen for a grande and tall iced cafe lattes and two sugar donuts. It has been 4 years since we’ve had the Starbucks donuts. I think they’re unique to Japanese Starbucks. I haven’t seen them anywhere else. But then again we don’t go to Starbucks anywhere else but Japan. The donuts are still very good though. Brandy had juice - apple and honey and some other mixed juices. Service at Japanese Starbucks has always been outstanding and Matsuyama service was particularly good. The Starbucks kids just want to please and be helpful.
Goshiki Somen
Goshiki Somen Noodles was about a kilometre away. This time we were going for a local culinary treat. It was a pleasant 15 minute walk and we found the restaurant easy enough. Goshiki Somen is a local institution. They serve the local Matsuyama specialty - goshiki sōmen noodles. Now it is starting to get all meta. Goshiki somen are colourful noodles and generally comes in five colours or flavours. Goshiki, the place and the noodles, have been around since the Edo period. We were met in the lobby and asked if tatami mat was okay and would we wait 5 minutes? That was a hai from me and upstairs we trotted. We a sat on pillows on the tatami mat floor with a low table. The other local specialty that wasn’t noodles was locally caught sea bream - sashimi and cooked. Matsuyama is situated on the north west coast of Shikoku on the Inland Sea.
We had the Himekaisyoku set for 2500 yen and the Matsuyama (Houjyou) Taimeshi gozen set for 2000 yen. Both meals come with sea bream and somen and assortment of other goodies and vegetables. We also had a serve of sashimi for 950 yen. And an Asahi beer. Desert was some sort of creamy berry ice cream and ehime citrus sorbet. Both 200 yen - about 2 bucks - outrageously cheap. Michelle and I thought both desserts were delicious but Georgia said the sorbet tasted like something that shouldn’t be eaten - like toxic waste. The whole meal was delicious and pretty reasonably priced considering the quantity and the quality. 6450 yen in total. $70 Aud might get you couple of burgers and milkshakes back home.
There are cute orange trams running around the streets. Unfortunately we can’t use our ICOCA IC cards on them. Apparently our IC cards can be used everywhere but Matsuyama. Luckily the trams are cheap anyway. Public transport is usually fairly cheap in Japan. Except for the Shinkansen that is. I love the Shinkansen, bullet train, but if you’re on a budget, flying longer distances is significantly cheaper. Long distance luxury buses are also a budget option. But a 2 hour shinkansen trip might take 8 or more hours in a bus.
Laundry in Japanese Hotels
I did the washing. Hotels like Hotel Mystays often have a couple of coin operated laundrys with three or four machines. The laundry room will often have a couple of vending machines so you can have a beer or a sake while you wash your clothes. I did a couple of loads in two machines. 50 yen each for detergent, 300 yen each for the washing machines and 100 yen per 30 minutes to dry. One hour to dry most of the clothes. An extra 15 minutes for my jeans. I spent waiting time scrolling through my Insta feed, Facebook and writing notes for this blog.
Taku posted some pictures of the kids on the Iya Vine Instagram account here and here and said he misses them. He was such a nice young guy. Only 23. Brandon has been wanting to go back to Tak’s place ever since. Partly because of the Nintendo Wii and partly because of Taku himself.
The plan for tomorrow was to visit a very special bath house.
Epic Family Road Trip Japan on Youtube
Check out Episodes 12 and 13 of our Epic Family Road Trip Across Japan.
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