Fancy A Japanese Onsen Dip In Muar?
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| We Cannot Resist A Coffee Break On Way To Naeba |
The mention of Hot Springs or Onsen as we know them as in Japan would bring a flood of sweet memories when we went to Yuzawa Town a Shinkansen (bullet train) ride away from bustling Tokyo. From that town, we took a small bus up the local ski resort of Mount Naeba - where we experienced the best hot spring dips for onsen virgins like us. That was almost a decade ago, and yet I still remember it like it was yesterday. It was sub zero temperature, and the first deposit of snow just covered Mount Naeba. We braved the outdoor temperature to dip in the hotel's outdoor onsen. In the words of my wife then, "Where's the fun if you dip in the hot spring at cozy comfort of indoor temperature?" And she was perfectly right. The frisky air of the outdoor still resonates in my memory, but so does the pure heavenly warmth when you dip into the hot spring, with a scenery to die for just before your eyes - serendipity!
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| Taiwan's Hell Valley Was Another Great Onsen Experience Google Image |
We also had many a great sulfur soaking memories from our various visits to the Beitou inns in Taiwan. How could one forget the sulphur aroma at Hell's Lake in Beitou - which is just a quick MRT train ride from downtown. Beitou is the mountainous district in the north of Taipei City, Taiwan and best known for its hot springs and natural green spaces. The Beitou Hot Spring Park is home to open-air hot springs of varying temperatures. In the park, the Beitou Hot Spring Museum, the site of the former public bathhouse, is built in a Euro-Japanese style. Hell Valley's basin of steamy, sulfurous waters can be viewed from observation decks. We must have visited all the hot spring inns dotting along Beitou, most of which channels the hot spring water directly into the bathrooms for your dip in privacy - unlike the Japanese onsens which are mostly public bath houses with male and female designated areas.
Who would have thought that you could get a taste (okay, at least a semblance) of Japanese and Taiwanese hot springs right here in Malaysia? My family and I could not forget our sulfur indulgence while holidaying in Japan and Taiwan - so this was a much welcomed discovery. Living in Johor Bahru, the Grisek Hot Springs is a resort right in our backyard.....well not literally, but only an hour's drive from our JB kampung!
Grisek Hot Springs
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| Source: TripAdvisor.com |
This natural wonder hot springs can be found in the district of Muar, about 10km from Parit Jawa town. The Grisek hotsprings though not as scenic and luxe as the ones we tried in Japan and Taiwan, it is still very popular with locals and asings like us, who believe in the benefits of the hot mineral waters to soothe musle aches, and the sulfur content provides some relief to certain skin ailments and body inflammations. A relative who has chronic sore eyes swear by the healing powers of the hot spring water to clear his eye inflammation. According to his experience, every time he visits a hot spring, his chronic red eyes would improve drastically - but slowly through the days after the visit, the redness will return.
Anyways, whether you just love a dip in a hot spring for the experience or believe in its health benefits, or like us who love to have a piece of Japanese / Taiwanese hot springs in our backyard, we hope you like this precious gem discovered off the beaten track. Please do not expect bells and whistles at this "resort". The Grisek hot spring unfortunately has spartan lodging, bathing and parking facilities, a small children's playground and some shops for buying local produce which will surely bring some down the nostalgic memory lane.
Happy Jalan Jalan in Grisek!
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