Hakone!

The next day, I would be going to Hakone, home of the oh-so-famous Mt. Fuji! The plan would be to go there, maybe go down to Moto-Hakone, visit Lake Ashi, try to get the best possible view of Mt. Fuji, and then back to the hotel to get a traditional high cuisine dinner, a kaiseiki. However, things would not go as planned.

I thought to myself that I needed to check out some serious toy stores in Tokyo, otherwise my trip would be for naught. The nearest one being Yamashiro at Ueno. At the Ueno train station, I thought to myself that I would have to play this by ear, having no map or directions, and as soon as I walk out, I see a building that says "Yamashiro". Ah. So, in we go!

A whole plethora of curious and toys met me as I went in. Of note are these freaky little doodads, where their bobbing heads entrance and freak you out at the same time. Imaging being faced with an entire display of these miniature monstrosities, their slowly waving heads casting their spell.





On the bottom floor I found some awesome Naruto shirts, however at 4000 yen a pop, they unfortunately remained a dream. On the upper floors I saw some second-hand classic TMNT toys! It was quite a trip to see some toys from your childhood, my mind being instantly flooded with memories when we were imbibed with "Turtle Power".






















Hehe, David Blaine, your secret is out!

Since today would be "visit toy stores in Tokyo" day, I decided to head over to Ginza to check out another famous toystore whose name I have forgot. However, this didnt seem too be too good of an idea, as it sported pretty much the same as what I saw at Yamashiro, with the exception of a few things that I didnt take a picture of.

A funny thing was, at the entrance of the store, they had a Lego display section. On the widescreen LCD TV, they were playing a computer animate Lego movie, where it showed a Lego construction worker trying to muster order in the Lego factory, I stood in front of the monitor and began watching. Being enthralled by his/its antics, I didn't realize the time passing by, and when I turned around to leave, I found that I was blocking the view of around 20 little Japanese kids who were trying to watch the movie, but couldn't cause some 22-year-old fruit was blocking their view. It was time to leave.

Deciding that I had wasted enough time, it was time to leave for Hakone. Heading to Tokyo Station, I reserved my seat, and this time, I would buy the right bento box. Carefully looking at the display picture for each box, I chose what looked to be a tonkatsu meal, and headed to the Kodama tracks to await the departure of my train. This time, I was able to take a picture of the bullet train from the outside.



I didnt ride that one. This was the one I rode to get to Hakone:



The shinkansen would stop at Odawara, and from there I could take the Hokane-Tonzan line to get to Hakone-Yumoto. Once on the train, I knew the procedure. I flipped down the tray, opened my bottle of Aquarius, and opened my bento box. To my satisfaction, I was correct.



Hell yeah! Never could so much joy be contained in such a small cardboard box.

The Hakone-Tonzan line was a 5 car train, that traversed slowly along tracks that had been lain at the foothills of a mountain, a far cry from the hustle and bustle of the Tokyo subway system. It was indeed good to get away from the big city once in a while.

Hakone! A sleepy mountain village town, nestled at the foothills... actually, scratch that, it was a bustling mountain village town, a tourist spot for Japanese and foreigners alike. Naturally, this meant it was crowded with Japanese tourists, and probably 1 foreigner, ie. me.



Being the intelligent person that I was, I thought I could rely on my memory to guide me to my hotel, however once there, the vision of walking past 2 bridges, across the river, and up the hill was lost when I couldnt get a proper bearing as to where I was. Luckily, right across the road from the train station was a information booth/store. A quick query and I was provided with a map, and a pen-guided-line as to where the hotel was. Yes! After being informed that there was a shuttle that takes me to the hotel, I politely declined and said I would walk. (naks!)

Walking through the slight drizzle, I encountered souvenir shop after souvenir shop. It was indeed a place that catered to tourists. Some of the sights:



I realized that the hotel I would be staying at was a medium class hotel. What sucked was that it again, catered more to Japanese tourists. With nary an english sign in site. Usually you would arrive by car or by shuttle, and then would be enthusiastically greeted by hotel staff as you got off. Having walked there, this kind of threw me off, and the receptionist was caught in a rush to have someone attend to me. Suddenly a very short middle-aged Japanese woman appeared at my side garbed in a kimono, not looking unlike Ate Ne, saying a hearty greeting in Japanese, and started leading me towards the elevator, all the while engaging me in Japanese conversation, me all the while baffled at what she was saying. I found that all the other guests recieved the same treatment, being led to their rooms in the same fashion. The lady then caught on that I didn't speak Jap, and she asked me a question, judging from her tone of voice and from grasping some of the words she said, she asked if I was Japanese and/or if I understood japanese, and when I smiled and shook my head, she nodded knowingly, but still continued to speak to me in Jap :| But she did throw in some English phrases and/or words here or there. Like slowly reading my room number. And that was it I think.

After being led to my room, which was pretty bare, but did have a nice view, she set down a cup of tea, informed me that dinner would be served at 7, and several other things I couldnt remember and/or couldnt understand. After she left, I explored my spacious yet sparse room. In the center was a table, two chairs by the window, and a TV. And, that was it. So first order of business, it was time to go to the hot springs! After deciphering the non-english map of the hotel, I discovered that in my building, they only had the shared indoor hot springs. But that's not why I went here. The outdoor hot springs were located in the annex building, and after some exploring, I found that there was a covered walkway that led to the annex building, approximately 10m away. Opening the closet, I found my robe, and five sashes next to it.



Donning my robe, and tying the sash around my waist, I headed out. No, I didn't take a picture of myself in the said robe. And no, I wasn't able to take a picture of the hot springs. Privacy and all that dontchaknow.

Wandering the halls of the hotel, I found that the sash was very long and kept getting caught up in my feet, and found that the other guests didn't seem to have the same problem. Only after finishing up at the hot springs, did I realize that they tied the sash twice around your waist, and it was tied in a bow at the back. Once back in my room, I was able to apply this technique, and lo and behold if I didn't look like your average Japanese guest. To while the time away before dinner, I watch some Japanese TV. One of the more interesting shows that I watched, was a robot competition, where people would build robots, and would battle it out with other people's creations in a series of competitions. There was something similar in the US and UK I think, where these ugly behemoths would do battle inside a closed steel area, these unwieldly creations of steel forged into simple shapes, some that resembled a shoebox, that could only perform basic functions such as ramming, or having a longer appendage used to flip over opponents. Their Japanese counterparts stood on a much higher level.

The robots on this show, where indeed robots. The different events included a race, a fight, and at the end an obstacle course. Your robot had to be able to perform in all of these events. The most impressive robot was, literally a transformer. About a foot and a half tall, for the race it took the form of a dragster, and was capable of transforming into a stand-up robot ready to fight it's opponent. It's creator even had the gall to include the ability to breakdance. In the race, one of the robots that was in the lead, stopped right in front of the finish line, turned to its opponents, waved at them, turned around, and finished the race.

Five minutes past 7 o'clock and I hear a strange wailing coming from my door, and I realize that it's the Japanese hotel lady about to serve dinner. Opening the door for her, I seat/kneel myself at the table, and bringing forth little plate after little plate from large plastic trays, she sets out dinner. Which looks like this:



She leaves, and I think she's done. I wonder what to do with some of the plates, one of which is a steel plate with a piece of raw meat on top. I know that the Japanese enjoy raw fish, but I don't think that this lack of cooking extends to meat. Underneath is what appears to be a wax candle, with no wick, but I assume needed to be lighted. Using the automatic lighter she had left behind, I touch the flame to the top, and it catches flame immediately. Ah yes, time to enjoy the sushi while the meat cooks :D

The lady comes back with a few more plates and my bowl of rice, and is delightfully surprised to find that I already have lighted the meat. With a final low bow and a smile, she leaves me to dinner.



Some of the things I had a tough time deciphering, such as the contents of whats inside that small bowl in the middle, and what the yellow thing is, and what is inside it. But most of it was beyond delicious. The salmon sushi slices literally melted in your mouth, add soy sauce w/ wasabi and a dash of saffron, it's too good. Also, raw shrimp isn't too bad either.

Also included was a small shot glass of shochu, Japanese wine, and that too was very very good. While eating dinner, you couldn't help but wonder the preparation that the chefs went through for this dinner, especially since they have to make the same thing for a few hundred guests.

Close to 830pm, she comes back, this time to clean up, and also brings along a male attendant, to lay down the bedding on the tatami mat. While they did this, I watched another contest on tv, this time where owners pitted their pet beetles against each other. One of the contests, was to see which beetle could hold the most number of helium balloons without being carried away. I think the winning beetle manageed to hold 22 balloons. Another contest was to see which beetle could carry the strongest load, and the winning load I think was 1.3kg!





The one above shows an obstacle course, where the beetles must cut through materials of increasing hardness, the first I think being a block of tofu, and then a sausage, and finally a sushi roll.

And then, sleep.

The following events are not really of any importance, so I'll summarize it. Upon waking up and checking out, I head back to Tokyo. Checking in, I head back out, and spend the rest of the day shopping for gifts for other people. This takes me to Harajuku,



Back to Akihabara, for lunch at an upscale ramen place,



Shinjuku, Shibuya, and all the other good places. Having a quick beer at the hostel bar, going to bed early, for tomorrow, I WOULD BE GOING HOME!!!