Japanese

21 days leftby Mie

December 10, 2000: Good bye Ranma family
Ranma family enjoyed a round trip by bus to Mt. Aso yesterday blessed with a beautiful clear day. We visited them this morning to Sakaeya Inn at Kannawa hot spring in Beppu City. The inn has a rich atmosphere of hot spring fascinating Ranma family. The landlady of Sakaeya said that they were really good families.
At the lobby of Sakaeya is beautiful flower arrangement in a large vase.	A pitch black "Maneki-neko", or "money-welcome-cat" sits on the front desk.
	"Hell Steamer", Kannawa's famous steam cooker, utilizes natural vapor from under ground.
I handed homemade cookies and Kabosu citrus juice, a special product of Oita as souvenirs. Ranma's mother was delighted.	I copied many pictures taken at the welcome party into some floppy disks. Ranma's wife looks happy to have my handcrafts of Christmas coasters.
Well, departure at last. The landlady took a we-were-there-picture for us. The young couple wears lovely caps.
	"See you again in Seoul", "Please come back to Oita." Ken takes them to an airport-bus stop nearby.
After we saw Ranma family off, we talked with the landlady of Sakaeya Inn. We then tried a public hot spring "Heat Spot" by free. It was very nice, my cold may fly away.
	Today is my birthday. We headed to our favorite Yufuin for lunch through white mist captured road.
Yufuin valley in the drizzle was so heavily packed with tourists, however. We gave up. And visited our resort tearoom Kotokotoya. The remnant of autumnal leaves was still beautiful in the rain.
	By viewing the beauty of the leaves, we enjoyed pleasant chatting with Keita, Naoe and Masakuni Kato over tasty toast and sweet jam. We will celebrate my birthday at home. I suppose Ranma family has already got home in Seoul.

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