Naked Bus Tour
Conclusion first: no ping-pong table, unfortunately.
Instead, there were spots like the nice bar and restaurant from earlier, plus lounging areas where you could lie down and relax. Rooms packed with manga comics, too. Being in Japan, there were smoking rooms scattered around here and there.
"Oh, manga..."
I'd done pretty well holding back, but seeing all those comics made me regret it big time. If there had been some official Korean translations, I could've chilled out flipping through them for some healing time. I really love manga.
"Hmm, maybe I should learn some Japanese."
Or English. One or the other. Having that under my belt would make reading manga way better, obviously. It was a shame. And since I'd be traveling a lot more from now on, it'd definitely make things easier overall.
Maybe I should ask Yoonah to teach me some Japanese.
"Should I learn it? Just a bit?"
Passing by another manga spot, I headed back to that lounging area. There was even a small kids' zone set up for children to play in—cute. A wide space with tatami mats laid out. I grabbed a pillow rolling around nearby, found a corner, and flopped down.
"Mm, not quite as cozy as the room's futon bedding."
Well, yeah. Just tatami mats— it'd be weirder if it was that comfy.
I rolled around a bit, and then my pocket started buzzing with notifications on my phone. Yoonah? She'd probably prefer if I'd been there when she woke up. From her perspective, some guy vanishing right after sex wouldn't sit well.
I shot up and hurried back to the room. Bursting in, I saw her sitting up, stretching.
"Yoonah, you feeling okay?"
I'd left the snacks and souvenirs from earlier by the door in shopping bags. I picked them up as I asked.
"Yeah... surprisingly refreshed."
She blushed a little, but no scolding or anything. Relief washed over me, and I set the bags down in front of her before stepping closer.
"Check 'em out. I'm gonna change quick."
"What? I bought these for you to eat."
I flashed a grin at her touched expression and swapped back into my yukata. Man, this thing was so comfy. My regular clothes were pretty casual too, but nothing beat this. I'd wear it exclusively around the ryokan if I could.
"How's it feel? Like it?"
By the time I came back, all freshened up, Yoonah was ripping into the snack packages with glee.
"Yeah, this one's delicious."
Ah, she'd been to Japan a few times, so I figured she'd have tastes I could nail. I nodded and sat beside her. She popped a few pieces into my mouth one by one.
"Whoa, this is seriously good."
A subtle cheese flavor, not too overpowering.
"Right? It's not just me being biased."
That smug satisfaction when someone else loves what you recommend—classic. Yoonah wore a proud smile as she munched away, clearly feeling it too. The boxes weren't huge, so we polished off one, then sampled a bit from the others.
"This one's good too."
"Eh, this one's meh."
We critiqued each one as we went, and by the end, I was stuffed. Snacks were no joke—you couldn't underestimate them. I'd skipped breakfast, but lunch was coming up soon, and with dinner after that, I needed to pace myself or everything would get messed up.
"Wanna take a walk? The scenery outside looked pretty nice earlier."
"Sounds good."
I stood and offered my hand; she took it naturally and got up. This time, still in our yukatas, we headed out for a stroll. Nothing much around anyway, and everyone else was wandering in yukatas too—me in regular clothes would've stuck out more.
"Alright, let's go."
"Oh, the views here are always killer."
We chatted amiably as we wandered deeper into the natural surroundings.
The day flew by. The walk was fun, lunch and dinner were delicious feasts. In the evening, we shared a light drink and soaked together in a private bath. Nothing beyond that, though.
"Hurry and get ready. Taxi to the bus'll take a bit."
We were up before dawn, prepping to leave. The daily bus tour started from central Sapporo, so we had to head out early. Skipping alcohol last night and crashing early meant no fatigue. Probably helped that we'd lounged all day too.
"I'm good to go once I change."
"Cool. Mind grabbing our stuff?"
"Phone and wallet all I need, right?"
Anything else we could buy there anyway.
"Gotta have the selfie stick for couple pics, though