Day 1 begins much the same as any other trip. The one deviation was that Plaza Premium had opened lounges in the airport so the credit card had switched to them as the partner lounge. There were actually two Plaza Premium in Terminal 2, one an open cafe style area where food with self serve foods, and another more lounge like one off to the side where the food came in sets and couches were plenty. I actually preferred the old Moore lounge’s food, there were more variety even if the seating were terrible.

 

第一天的開始和其他次旅遊大同小異。不同的一點是環亞(Plaza Premium)貴賓室所以信用卡合約貴賓室改為他們。二航廈其實有兩個環亞貴賓室，一個是類似咖啡店的開放式區域，食物飲料為自助式。另一個比較接近正統貴賓室在側邊，餐飲是點的套餐式，有許多沙發。我其實比較喜歡舊的Moore貴賓室的食物，變化比較多，雖然座位很爛。

Other than that it was the same old, the EVA Air Hello Kitty jet was joyful as ever, the outside was painted with the cuddly cat and and food containers and utensils were similarly designed. The food felt worse than last time but my parents actually liked them.

 

除了有點舊外長榮的Hello Kitty飛機依然討喜，外頭有可愛貓咪的塗裝，餐飲的器具和刀叉也有設計過。食物感覺比上回差，我爸媽反比較喜歡就是了。

The rental car chosen was Budget Rental. It is not the cheapest rental car company around but it was the best option given our plans. We needed to pick up from the airport and drop the car off at Yufuin. There were only 4 or 5 rental companies in Yufuin and only 2 had branches also at the airport. However only Budget had branch on the International Terminal side. The other company, Nissan Rental, was on the Domestic side. Outside that we would have to head to Hakata station.

 

選的租車公司是Budget. 不是最便宜的租車公司但對我們的計畫是最適合的。我們需要從機場直接拿車，在由布院還車。由布院只有四五家租車公司，而只有兩家也在機場有分店。而只有Budget是在國際航廈有分店，另外一家日產租車在國內線。除此之外就只能到博多車站一帶了。

 

When considered that we were staying at Hozantei and the sooner we reach there the sooner we could enjoy the onsen, a few thousand difference in car rental was secondary. Budget offered significant time saving and convenience over the other options.

 

考慮住的是帆山亭，越快到就越快能享受溫泉，在租車上多個幾千不過是次要考量。相較下Budget省時又方便。

 

I called Budget on the phone, the person talked a little English and after confirming my name, told us to wait outside the departure level, to the right side where there is a small police post. If I hadn’t read it about it on their website beforehand though I doubt I would have understood where we were supposed to wait.

 

我打電話給Budget，另一頭的店員會說一點英文，在確認我的名字後便請我們在出境那層樓右側有個駐警室那裡等。如果我不是已事先在網路上讀過我懷疑我是否能弄清楚等車地點。

 

We headed upstairs and the shuttle van showed up before I could even take a photo of the police post. The driver confirmed my name again then drove us to the store situated just across the road at the entrance ramp of the airport terminal.

 

我們上樓後還沒有機會照駐警室，Budget接送車就來。駕車再次確認我的名字後把我們載到機場入口大道另一側的店面。

We were quickly ushered inside and a chinese lady walked us through the procedures, most of which I had already known about. Insurances, must inform the police and rental company after any accident, even if it’s just driving into a wall yourself, driving and parking rules, needing to fuel up before returning the car, things like that. The lady also mentioned that Yufuin had seen some weather lately and that we should be careful since we were driving there. I wasn’t too worried, I had checked the forecast earlier that day and things were expected to remain about 5 degrees C, overcast but otherwise fine.

 

我們被帶到店內，一位中國籍店員為我們一一講解手續，大部分我已經讀過了。保險，若出任何意外一定要通知警察和租車店，就算只是自己撞牆也一樣。開車和停車的規矩，還車前要先加滿油，’這一類的。店員也提醒我們由布院最近有些天氣狀況，我們要開車去要留意。我並不太擔心，前一天已確認過預報，應該會維持在5度左右，陰天但除此外良好。

 

Despite our plane’s delays of about 15 minutes behind scheduled time thus arriving at Budget after 12, a fair bit behind schedule, we actually left ahead of time, before 12:30.

 

雖然我們的飛機延誤了15分鐘所以到Budget時已12點，我們離開時其實還比預期的早，還不到12:30。

 

The trip down to Kurokawa was expected to take around 2 hours, with a quick stop or two we should reach there by 3:00pm.

 

往黑川的路途預期需2小時，途中稍停一兩次大概下午3點可抵達。

 

The total cost of the rental was about 28k for 48 hours. The base rental cost about 17k, plus 13k for dropping off at a different location, 4k for the total safety pack (2k per day), then there was a 33% promotional discount for offseason, plus a 1k coupon for being a first time user.

 

租車48小時總花費大約28k。基本租車費是17k，加上異地還車13k，4k全保險(每天2k)，然後淡季33%折價促銷，還有第一次使用送的1k折價卷。

 

I did not rent an ETC card as we were travelling on a weekday so no discount was to be had from using an ETC. We couldn’t blitz past the toll booths, but we won’t need to confirm the ETC usage upon dropping off the car either. The toll was expected to be about 2.5k all up.

 

我並沒有租ETC卡，在平日駕車過路費ETC沒有打折。我們或許不能在路過收費站時直接開過去，但還車時也不用核對ETC過路費。過路費加起來大約要2.5k。

 

The GPS navigation in the car was a thing of beauty, giving extremely precise voice directions (we chose Chinese, but it can also do English, the interface remained Japanese though which could be an real issue for others), and is very meticulous about which lanes to drive in so there were never any surprising lane changing.

 

車內的GPS導航可真優秀，不但語音導航非常準確（我們選中文，也有英文可選，不過介面還是日文所以對其他人可能會造成一些問題），同時對切換車道也有詳細的指示，這次從沒遇到突然需換車道的情況。

 

Japanese signages, at least on the expressway, were also very well designed in giving directions, even the shape of the interchanges and which lane to take.

 

日本的道路標示，至少在高速公路上，在指引方向方面也設計的很好，連交流道的形狀和該走哪條車道都有標示。

 

One peculiar thing one notices while driving in Japan is that no one obeys the speed limit. Usually, at least in Taiwan and Australia, one drives 10k above the indicated limit. Every car in Japan was driving at least 20k above that. I settled on about 12~13k above the limit to not hold up traffic while still feeling some plausible deniability if any police cars pull us over. Never did see a police car however, didn’t even see any speed cameras. I hope there weren’t any cameras anyway. We paid the rental car in cash and they didn’t ask for any credit card details, I wonder who would have to pay the fine if we were caught speeding.

 

在日本開車有一件事很奇怪，就是沒有人遵守速限。通常在台灣和澳洲，開車會開超出速限10公里左右。在日本每輛車都至少超過20公里。我最後選擇開超出12~13公里，這樣比較不會影響車流，就算被警察攔下來也覺得還在可裝不知的範圍。不過沒看到一輛警車，連測速照相機也沒有，至少希望沒有測速照相機。我們是用現金付款，店家也沒有要信用卡資料，若真超速被罰不知道是誰要付罰金。

 

The loop expressway around Hakata had a single toll fee and one had to pay upon entering it, after that upon entering the main Kyushu expressway systems at Dazaifu, we had to take a ticket similar to the ones at the mall car parks. Then upon exit feed the ticket to the toll machine for it to calculate the appropriate fees.

 

繞博多一圈的環狀高速是單一收費，一上去就需付錢。之後在太宰府進入九州高速時則是需取票，類似賣場停車場機器會吐的那種。然後下交流道後把票插入機器讓它計算過路費。

 

The driving went surprisingly smooth, so smooth I could hardly believe it when we turned onto the Oita Expressway, way ahead of schedule. A little bit into the Oita Expressway I pull the car into the Yamada service area. This was one of the larger service areas along the expressway and one of the last places where we could stock up before heading into the mountains where even convenience stores were rare.

 

駕車初期的順利，當提早行程轉入大分高速時有點難已置信。上大分高速不久後我轉入山田休息區。這是高速公路上一個比較大的休息區，也是我們入山前唯一能採購的幾個地方之一，進入山區後連超商也沒幾家。

 

The service station had a eatery and a grocery shop area, turned out to have a little less instant noodles or bread than expected, focusing more on local goods such as various sweets and other food products. We did manage to pick up a bunch of locally grown oranges and persimmons, they were cheap and delicious. There would not be other fruits as cheap as here throughout the trip later, a good thing we stopped here.

 

休息區有一個快餐部和賣店，泡麵和麵包種類比想像的少，比較多各種糕餅零食和一些食產品。不過有買到好幾包當地產的橘子和柿子，便宜又好吃，之後都沒看到這麼便宜的水果，有停這真是賺到了。

 

 

 

We turn off the expressway at Hita. Since we hadn’t picked up any instant noodles I pull over at a 7-11. We load up on some noodles and bread, plus dad bought a hot bun, then was back on our merry way.

 

我們在日田下交流道。由於沒有買到泡麵，我在路旁一家7-11停下。我們採購了泡麵和麵包，還有老爸買了個包子，然後繼續上路。

 

The road from Hita to Kurokawa was more winding than looked on the maps, even if one didn’t cared for the speed limit one couldn’t really drive too much above anyway. After Minamioguni, the town nearest to Kurokawa, specks of flakes began to drift into the windshield. Snow? I frowned before deciding a snow this light couldn’t pose any trouble.

 

從日田到黑川的路比地圖上看起來的彎曲，就算不管速限也開不了多快。過了黑川最接近的小鎮南小國町後，斑斑薄片開始飄到擋風玻璃上。雪？我皺了皺眉，認定這點雪不構成問題。

 

We reached Hozantei around 3:30pm. It’s clear the GPS expected one to drive above speed limit too as its initial timing estimates were spot on. And I had thought we would manage it early by driving over the limit. It was good enough, I had originally envisioned us reaching there around 4pm.

 

抵達帆山亭時是3.30pm。很明顯的GPS導航預期駕駛維持速限以上，一開始預估的抵達時間完全無誤。我原本還想超出速限可以早到呢。不過這樣夠早了，我原始設想是4點到呢。

 

A Taiwanese staff picked up our luggage and an old Japanese lady brought us to a small cottage which had been turned into a bar. We were glad to be out of the cold, the place was a little cramped and did not seemed to have proper seats. A welcome drink was served, it was a fruit wine, though I could not understand the lady at the time other than it was some form of alcoholic drink.

 

一位台灣籍服務員先幫忙抱起我們的行李，另一位日本老太太則帶我們到一間小屋改建成的酒吧。很高興能脫離外頭的寒冷。裡頭地方有點擁擠，也沒有比較正式的座位。老太太送上迎賓酒，一種水果酒，不過當時我並不理解老太太所說的，只知道是某種含酒精飲料。

Mom was none too pleased about the cleanliness of the place however. Someone before us had spilled their drink over the table and floor, now dried into sticky patches. I tried to inform the old lady but either I couldn’t make it clear or she couldn’t really be bothered, it wasn’t until we asked for a towel to wipe the table ourselves that she came around to clean up the spilled patches.

 

老媽對這屋子的整潔度不怎麼滿意。在我們來之前有人在位子把飲料灑了，變得乾乾黏黏的。我試著告訴老太太但要不是我說的不清楚就是她並不想管，一直要到跟她要茶巾後才過來幫旁忙把污漬擦掉。

 

After drink we were taken to our room, Yamaboushi (山ぼうし). The old lady showed us around the room, asked for our heights so she could fetch yukatas of the right sizes. Seemed a little odd as yukatas are loose wears so sizes needed not be exact, she could surely judge the approximate fit just by looking.

 

喝完酒後終於可去期待的房間了，山ぼうし。老太太幫忙介紹房間的設備，也問了我們的身高好去拿大小適合的浴衣。感覺有點奇怪，浴衣是很寬鬆的衣物，大小不用多精準，應該靠目測就可知道該拿多大的浴衣吧。

Anyway, we were more taken in by the outdoor onsen to be bother by the small details.

 

也不管那麼多了，比起這些細節我們對外頭的戶外風呂更有興趣。

 

Yamaboshi was one of the Hozantei’s two Standard III rooms. The Standard I and II rooms are similar, with a simple rock onsen bath next to the gently flowing stream, the only differences in the bath’s size. Standard III sees some big differences. Standards I and II have the shower installed on the wall right next to the bath without any protection from the elements, in winter taking a shower can be quite cold. In addition to an even larger bath, Standards III gets the addition of a secondary shallow lie flat bath and a half enclosed shower area which became sufficiently warm once the hot water is running and steam fills the shower space.

 

山ぼうし是帆山亭兩間標準III式房間之一。標準I和II式房類似，都在潺潺溪岸邊有個簡單的石頭溫泉池，差別只在池子的大小。標準III式的差異就大了。標準I和II式房的淋浴設備就裝在露天風呂旁牆上，沒有任何對風雨的阻攔，冬天淋浴時可能會很冷。除了更大的石頭溫泉池，標準III式房間還多一個臥湯和半封閉的淋浴間，開熱水淋浴間充滿蒸氣後就夠暖。

 

Despite the name the two Standard III rooms are not alike. Yamaboushi’s lie flat bath is right next to the regular waist deep bath with a wooden awning overhead. The other room Azami have its lie flat bath indoors, inside a small hut by the regular bath. Indoor was more comfortable in the cold, but the little hut also blocked much of the view of the river from the room. Things considered Yamaboushi’s view probably makes it the better room.

 

雖然和另一間同樣是標準III式房，但兩間房並不相同。山ぼうし的臥湯就在一般及腰深的泡湯池旁，上頭還有個遮雨木棚。另一間あざみ的臥湯是室內的，在泡湯池旁的一個小屋內。天寒地凍時內湯會比外湯舒適，但小屋會擋住房間觀賞溪流的風景。考慮景致下還是山ぼうし略勝一籌。

 

Hozantei also has two large public onsens baths. In the old days they were one female and one mixed, but now they are strictly gender separated. A decreasing number of ryokans in Kurokawa still has mixed public baths; as private room baths proliferated there was less demand for mixed public baths for couples wanting to bath together.  

 

帆山亭另有兩個大露天風呂。從前有一個是混浴，現在改為男女分離。黑川有混浴的旅館漸漸減少; 個室私人風呂的盛行意味想要混浴一起泡湯的情侶的需求降低。

 

In the morning the two public baths are swapped so one gets a chance to experience both.

 

早上兩個大露天風呂會互換，這樣兩個風呂都有機會體驗。

 

The room is separated from the onsen by an engawa, a kind of half open air corridor connecting the interior with the outside, almost like a veranda. The exterior facing side of the engawa has clear glass doors and on the inside another set of more traditional Japanese screen doors. The screen doors have slidable paper windows, closed up they allowed guests to change in the engawa then go out and take a bath without being seen or disturbed by those inside the room. I can enjoy a tea in the room while my parents bath outside.

 

房間和外面風呂間隔一個縁側，半開放式的走廊空間。外側是整片玻璃門，內測是日式拉門。拉門上有可開關的小紙窗，關起來的話住客可在縁側更衣，出去泡湯和房內的人互不影響。爸媽泡湯時我就在房內喝茶。

 

Like many ryokans the room does not have separate shower inside, just toilets and wash basin.

 

跟許多旅館房間一樣，房間並沒有浴室，只有廁所和洗手台。

 

We change into the yukatas brought to us. As the weather is quite cold 3 piece of wear was provided. The standard yukata, a haori (almost like a jacket) and a tanzen (thick lined robe). Deceptively warm, the tanzen blocked out even the chilliest wind.

 

我們換上拿來的浴衣。由於天氣寒冷一共有三件。一般浴衣，類似背心的羽織，還有長袍的丹前。看起來不怎樣穿起來可暖了，再冷的風穿了丹前也不怕。

 

I head to the public onsen while my parents settled into the private bath outside. We were one of the earliest to arrive and Hozantei being about 1km out from Kurokawa Onsen main street few day bathers come by. There were no one in the public onsen yet. I grab my trusty Acro S to snap off a few shots (this is why I insist on waterproof phones), leaned back against the side and let the hot mineral water soak away the chills.

 

爸媽在房間泡湯，我便去大露天風呂。我們是住客裡比較早到的，而帆山亭離黑川溫泉中心有一公里多，很少會有泡日湯的來。大露天風呂裡空無一人。我拿我的Acro S快速照了幾張(堅持防水手機就是為了這一刻)，靠著池岸享受充滿礦物質的熱水驅離寒意。

The sky had grown dark by the time I returned to the room. It was still snowing lightly. I killed some time in the gardens, soon it was 6pm and we headed to the main hall for dinner.

 

回房間時天色已暗。四周仍飄著薄雪。我在中庭消磨時間，很快到了6點，可去母屋吃晚餐了。

Hozantei’s meals are served in a dining hall, with no separation between the tables. It’s not a big deal, but it does indicate that in terms of service and quality the place didn’t aim for the highest.

帆山亭用餐是在餐廳內，每個桌子間並沒有區隔。這沒什麼大不了，不過這的確顯示這裡並不要求頂尖的服務或品質。

 

The first course is a platter of appetizers, soup. A float is brought over, upon were plates of sashimi, including horse sashimi. Horse sashimi is kind of a local delicacy. I cannot say I like it too much, felt abit like slightly rougher beef sashimi.

 

第一道菜是開胃菜拼盤，還有湯。店員們端上一艘大龍船，船上擺著一盤盤生魚片和馬刺生。馬刺生是這地方的名菜。味道不能說喜歡，感覺比牛刺生更豪野一點。

 

The comments about Kurokawa Onsen’s weakness being food has some merits to them. From the very start to the end of the dinner course it was clear that Hozantei was at least 2 or 3 levels below Yatsusan-kan. From the presentation, the delicateness of the dishes, method of cooking, to the overall speed of serving and choice of orders.

 

說到黑川溫泉有時會看到評語說料理是他們的弱點，似乎並非是無根據的。從晚餐開始到結束，明顯跟八三館差2-3個層級。從裝盤，料理的細膩度，烹飪手法，到上菜速度和先後順序，都略微遜色。

 

It’s a very subtle thing and hard to describe. I do understand now why sometimes kaiseki meals are described as being a poem. A good course has a natural rhythm to it, you do not realize it when it is there, but when it is missing it becomes apparent. Yatsusan-kan served a very proper, traditional kaiseki, while Hozantei was more a countryside home cooking using better ingredients.

 

這是很微妙的事，不太好形容。我現在了解為何有人形容懷石料理為詩。好的料理會有一個自然的韻律，存在時不會感到，缺少時則能感受到。八三館遵循的是正式傳統的懷石，帆山亭的感覺則是用料較好的山野家常菜。

 

Take the western dish inserted in the middle. It came right after the tempura dish, yet still contained a western batter fried prawn, right next to western style salads. It seemed a little jarring.

 

拿中加插入的那道西式菜來說。他是在天婦羅之後，但在西式沙拉旁仍有西式炸蝦。感覺有點突兀。

 

The speed of serving was also uneven, sometimes they would serve 2-3 in succession before we had finished, other times needed some waiting..

 

上菜速度也不太穩定，有時會連上2-3道，有時又會要等一下。

 

Minor details, the food was good and we enjoyed the meal.

 

不過除了這些細節，料理不算差，晚餐有滿足感。

 

The main course was a hoe grill. Literally, a black iron hoe was placed over open flame, pieces of Higo beef and vegetables were grilled on it. It’s basically teppanyaki in a very fun way and fitting of the rural landscapes. The history behind it was that in ancient times farming families may not have many cooking utensils, so when necessary they would simply turn over their farming hoe, put it on a flame and cook food on it.

 

晚餐壓軸是鋤烤肉。如字面的意思，一個黑鐵鋤頭放到火上，豐後牛肉和蔬菜放到上面烤。基本上就是鐵板燒啦，很有趣且符合鄉村氣息的做法。來由是古時候農家沒有太多的做菜器具，必要時就把務農的鋤頭一翻，架在火上就可在上面烹飪食物了。

 

The Higo beef was good with some flaws. The meat wasn’t marbled evenly and there were pieces which contained large bits of fat and tasted fatty. Can’t expect them to serve 5A meat though, even at Yatsusan-kan it required booking a special 5A beef plan.

 

豐後牛肉不錯不過稍有瑕疵。肉的花紋不夠均勻，有些地方有整塊肥油吃起來會膩。不過也不能期待吃到5A級牛肉，就算在八三館那次吃到5A牛也是訂房的特別方案。

 

 

We retreated back to our rooms, enjoyed some tea then headed back into the onsens. The public onsens closed at 9, which seemed a little early since we only finished dinner at 8, which meant it was 8:30 by the time we felt digested enough.

 

吃飽喝足後在房間喝茶稍作休息後就再次去泡溫泉。吃完晚餐已經8點，也就是稍微休息消化後就8點30了，大露天風呂只開放到9點，感覺早了點。

 

The public onsens had lights that could be switched off. In summer this would provide perfect stargazing while enjoying the hot onsen, sadly today was cloudy with drifting snow.

 

大風呂的燈可以關掉。在夏天可以邊泡湯邊賞星，可惜今天不但烏雲密佈還飄雪。

The seats and trees in the garden were now glazed in a thin sheet of snow. It didn’t looked to be stopping either and worry crept into the mind. Maybe the snow will stop during the night. I hope.

 

中庭的長椅和樹這時已覆蓋上一層薄薄的雪。看起來一時停不了，也開始有點擔心了。或許這雪入夜後會打住吧。希望。