Wandering Fel

8D Avia Japan Trip: Hida Takayama Miyagawa Morning Market

Miyagawa Morning Market at Hida Takayama Japan

Huge packs of Pretz at souvenir store in Hida Takayama

Sarubobo dolls from Hida Takayama souvenir store

Takoyaki stall at Hida Takayama Miyagawa Morning Market

Red bean bun from Hida Takayama Miyagawa Morning Market

I like to check the surrounding of the hotel that I stayed in whenever I am in foreign country. Japan is no exception and I love it when I found out that there’s actually something to see within walking distance from our hotel in Takayama, Hida Takayama Hotel. From google map, I can see that there are two markets near our hotel but the nearest one would be Hida Takayama Miyagawa Morning Market. Since mum would definitely have revolted if I left her in the hotel by herself, I decided to chose this market for our after-breakfast morning walk.

While the walk is considered easy (no uphill route), it is still not an easy feat for mum who broke her knee last year. But she seems to be fine to walk at her own pace and she let me and my brother to walk further ahead to check the route just in case we took the wrong path. So by the time she reached the intersection, we would be in time to alarm her that the walk that we just took was actually wrong. Oops. Well, I never say I am good with map but neither is my brother.

After several turns, we finally managed to reach Miyagawa Morning Market which is located at the riverside. A lot of tourists seem to cycle to reach the place but my cycling skill is noob so it’s out of the question for me. Plus who is strong enough to give my mum a ride, definitely not me. She’s not heavy. It’s just me who is weak. LOL.

There are many things to see at Miyagawa Morning Market from souvenir store which sells Sarubobo dolls and huge version of Pretz (oh my, they sold it in 9 packs too) to food stalls such as takoyaki and buns filled with Hida beef or red bean. We just had a bit too many Hida beef the day before, so we tried out red bean bun this time and it tastes so comforting if you eat it while it’s warm. Yummy.

You will feel this good morning stroll vibe while you are walking through the market. We saw our tour guide there too shopping for miso. My mum quickly joined him and well, I did not really know what happened but she ended up with two packs of miso. It’s not for soup base though, it seems to be eaten together with beef. That sounds pretty good actually. Too bad I’m staying away from my mum so my brother will be the person who enjoys this benefit. Damn, I’m kinda jealous but it’s my own faullt. My choice of life, actually.

Do take a walk here if you have the time to spend in the morning. Since it’s named morning market, I guess it will be safer to come in the morning (like around 8 or 9AM) because I’m scared it will close in the afternoon.

8D Avia Japan Trip: Hida Plaza Hotel Review, Takayama

Tatami room of Hida Plaza Hotel Takayama Japan

Western bedroom in Hida Plaza Hotel Takayama

Complimentary Japanese sweets from Hida Plaza Hotel Takayama

Dinner set served at Hida Plaza Hotel Takayama Japan

Sarubobo dolls at Hida Plaza Hotel store

Hello Kitty Sarubobo at Hida Plaza Hotel Takayama

The best hotel that I stayed during my 8D tour to Japan with Avia Tour is definitely Hida Plaza Hotel Takayama. I was quite surprised actually cause I don’t really have any expectation of the hotel to be so nice. We reached the hotel around 5-ish and we are given either tatami or normal Western bedroom. Tatami bedroom does not come cheap in Japan so I was kinda excited to find out that we had been assigned the tatami room. However, the funny thing is since there are three of us, my mum, my bro and I, it seems that we have a combination of Western bed and futon bed. So they only did the futon for one person hahaha. I suppose we would have to draw a lot to decide who’s the lucky person then.

There are complimentary snacks given on the top of the tea table in front of the TV. The snacks are traditional Japanese sweets made from red bean. They taste so good and they make a good pairing to green tea. Since we still had time to spare until dinner time around 6, my mum and I just lazed around in front of the TV while my bro took a nap since he didn’t feel well. You can go to onsen too but I prefer to go to onsen a bit later because I bet before dinner is considered peak hour for onsen.

The dinner that they give to per person is a set dinner and oh boy, it includes the locally famous Hida beef. Japanese dinner set always look so pretty and it usually consists of sashimi, tofu, miso soup, meat and rice. Hida Plaza Hotel Takayama gives us both Hida beef and grilled salmon and I was pretty happy about this meal.

After dinner, we took a quick walk to the souvenir shop located near the hotel lobby and we saw so many Sarubobo dolls. Sarubobo is the mascot of Takayama and Gifu area so you will see them a lot in this area. They even sell collaboration of Hello Kitty and Sarubobo. If you are a Hello Kitty fan, you should get it here because you won’t see it so often outside this area.

While the meal is good and the bedroom is fancy, what I like the most about Hida Plaza Hotel is their onsen. They have indoor and outdoor onsen although the outdoor one is not big and you can’t really see sky full of stars. The common shower area have divider so if you are uncomfortable sitting side-by-side to stranger openly while washing your body and hair, you probably won’t feel so self-conscious here because there’s divider between you and your next-door. You don’t have to carry your toiletries to the onsen because Hida Plaza Hotel put a lot of Shiseido products such as shampoo, soap, cleanser, and moisturizer in the bathing and hairdrying area. Thankfully, my first onsen experience with my mom was quite fun here at Hida Plaza Hotel Takayama. Yeay~

Wandering Fel

8D Avia Japan Trip: Hida Takayama Miyagawa Morning Market

8D Avia Japan Trip: Hida Plaza Hotel Review, Takayama