Japan ’23 Part III: Just a tad cooler in Hakone

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Fri: Lake Biwa to Gora

Good morning, 5 am ☀️ The sun was just rising and the east side was turning orange. Breakfast was done before 6 am. It was a good time to take a stroll along the lake which we hadn’t been able to take advantage of yet. We had been seeing a lot of people walking and jogging the lakeside path from our 19th-floor room. Y wasn’t onboard but he was happy to walk on rocks at Nagisa Park.

We took the first shuttle to Otsu at 8:15 am. This got us to Kyoto station before 9 am. The plan was to get Mister Donuts for the Shinkansen ride. This was quickly denied as they weren’t opening until 10 am today due to some equipment swaps (?), doh! Our train was leaving at 10:33 am and we decided to forego the donuts. This was a good call because 1) the Shinkansen platform was far, especially with a tot that insisted on taking elevators, and 2) there are so so so many food options inside the station. The food options were so abundant that the souvenir we picked up outside of the gate was very unnecessary. And, yep, we ended up with two Shinkansen bento boxes 😅

The station was busy and so was the Shinkansen platform. Shinkansens were coming and going constantly on multiple lanes. Our train was pretty much full by Nagoya. Y enjoyed his bento and passed out flat on our laps. Two hours later, we arrived in Odawara. Surprisingly, loads of people got off at the station, although most Shinkansens don’t stop there. We all got the 3-day Hakone pass and got to Kazamatsuri at ~1 pm. We took a breather at Cafe 107 until 2:30 pm Kamaboko-making reservation. We enjoyed cold drinks on the retired mountain train with AC. Y got to put on a conductor uniform for a photo op 🙂

The gang had all arrived and it was time to make Kamaboko! This was an hour full of excitement! I was Y’s helper and we got to play with the fish paste to put on the board and the rod, using the spatula or straight-up bare hands. Super cool. 15 min later, the creation on the rod came out from the grill. So yummy! They actually use the high-quality (= more fish) stuff for this experience. We checked out the shops next door while we waited for Kamaboko board to finish cooking in the industrial steamer.

We were back on the road shortly after 5 pm. Destination: Gora. A train changed at Hakoneyumoto from a normal-looking one to a mountain train. The ride from Hakoneyumoto was super cool! Y got to sit right behind the driver. This gave us a great view for sure! The train climbed the mountain via 3-4 switchbacks. The train has the driver seat on both ends and the driver and the conductor swapped position. The train went up through greens and tunnels. At one point, the conductor came around and gave kids commemorative card 😊

We arrived at Gora at 5:50 pm. From here was five-star treatment at a five-star hotel. Walking 5 minutes to the hotel was a silly thought. The room was amazingly spacious with a nice woodsy scent. We even had our own patio. We had the banquet room for meals. Kaiseki dinner went from 6:30 - 9 pm 😱 it was a little rough for the kids but every bit was out of this world. Onsen was tempting but a quick in-room shower for now. A record late-nighter. One short book and boom.

Sat: Hakone Golden Course

Oh, why oh why the breakfast options are 8, 8:30, or 9 am? 😂 8 am, of course, right? We were ready to jet straight from breakfast. Not quite getting this Ryokan life, lol. After going back to the room to change into the ryokan wear, we had an amazing breakfast. The gang headed out at 9:30 am. Destination: Owakudani, the volcano site. Gora station is the beginning of the funicular. But, of course, the station was packed at this hour. Y relentlessly moved forward and snagged the front seat 😅 Good thing we were surrounded by understanding tourists 😊 At Sounzan, we hopped on the cable car. After going over the woods, the view opened up below of the smokey sulfur-studded field. Wow! We arrived in Owakudani at 10:30 am. The visitors can no longer go deep into Owakudani due to recent volcanic activity. They’ve only recently opened it up to reserved guided tours but the kids had to be old enough to be able to evacuate themselves. Serious stuff. That’s OK, there is the black egg! 4 packs for 500 yen 👍 I guess the shell pores take in iron so that’s the only thing that’s black. Once you peel it, it is a normal hard-boiled egg, except for a hint of sulfur. But we’ve supposedly increased our life spans by 7 years!

It was only 11:30 am, although it didn’t seem that early as having zero AC in this heat was draining. We took the cable car to the end. It descended to Tougendai shortly after noon, just missing the pirate ship. It turned out to be good, although the kids were tired of waiting in line. We were in line early enough to snag seats on the ship. The pirate ship finally left at 12:40 pm. It was a nice day. There were multiple torii along the shore, ha. After the last non-AC ride for the day on the bus, we returned to the hotel at 2:30 pm. Kids hung out in Grandpa’s room for an hour. Then it was time for the family bath time. They have a private onsen for reservation. 3:30 pm was the next best available time slot and we grabbed it. The family bath was superb! It is by its own shed on the other side of the property surrounded by greens. The butler led us through the secret path. It is Roten (open air). The water was too hot for Y but we could adjust it. We thoroughly enjoyed it 👍👍 Busy busy. The gang had 4 pm pool reservation. This is also outdoor, heated, and flat depth 👍👍

Another slow, long, and meticulously prepared dinner at 6:30 pm. We had this down this time and brought a book for Y and bathed ahead of time. Lights out by 9:30 pm 💪

Sun: The Romancecar

Today’s mission was to take in this amazing ryokan as much as possible. We had kamaboko we made to tie us over until the 8:30 am breakfast. Until then, we fiddled with the curious shiny black box. It was sitting on a shelf/table with a pillow asking to sit in front of it. The box had a ribbon loosely tied to it. Should we open it? V took one for the team and found a calligraphy set. I’ve lost it all but I was getting awards at the national level during my peak 😄 Y drew some fun pictures and we went through all the papers and envelopes before we knew it.

After another out-of-this-world breakfast (I mean just flawless Japanese style and Western style), it was time to pack our bags for 11 am checkout. But wait, we weren’t leaving just yet. With our bags in front of our room, we snuck in a quick visit to the grand bath. I had the female side all to myself, indoor bath and outside. Same for V and Y on the boys' side. At 11 am, we had reserved pool time part deux for the last hurrah.

All our bags were by the front desk, ready to go but the five-star service continued even after the checkout time. Upon asking for a soba recommendation, they made a reservation for us and drove us to Yunessan. And would they take us to some eatery in the family theme park? C’mon! On the other side of Yunessan, there is an authentic traditional Japanese house. By the time we sat down to order, I noticed the time was 1:15 😱 We had a train ride scheduled to leave Hakoneyumoto at 3:15 pm and it would take like an hour to get there. It was a very good grated taro soba and would’ve been nice to take time and savor it but, unfortunately, this fancy lunch had to be expedited.

Our ride met us again at Yunessan. These guys are just unbelievable. They had our luggage in the trunk. That was brilliant as we were fighting for minutes. Or maybe our time was simply up 🤷🏻‍♀️😂 Anyhow, we got to Gora station at 2:10 pm, just in time for our last chance train. The mountain train was the retro cars and Y was super excited he jumped onto the front seat in the front car. The downside was no AC but Y was passed out without seeing any of the switchbacks.

It has been a long day already but the highlight was yet to come! We got to Hakoneyumoto at 3:08. We ran to the Romancecar platform, hopped on the other end of the train, bye-bye to Dad, and the train left at 3:14 pm.

Let me tell you about this Romancecar. This new GSE model has the driver seat on the roof, giving an undisturbed view for the first and the last cars. The tickets went on sale 1 month before at 10 am JST, sharp. I researched to get the best chance of getting first-row seats from abroad. The observation seats had to be purchased right there. Other seats can be reserved and paid for later. My task was to purchase 1^st or 2^nd row in the observation cars if any. V was to reserve the 1^st row in the cars following, in case I don’t get anything. Other seats were out of contention. We’d take the Shinkansen instead. On 7/19, V and I were on. 3, 2, 1, goooo!!!! I saw the 1^st row in the front car, what?! But got stuck at the payment stage. Yep, taken. Okay, the rear car? Yep, 1^st row. Type type type! Pay pay pay! It went throughhhh!!! I couldn’t believe it! We have the FIRST row in the observation car!!!

The view was just as amazing as I'd imagined. Just so spacious. The views were so wide the pictures didn't do justice at all. We got to the end of the line in Shinjuku at 4:45 pm. Back to the crowded metropolis. Our next destination: Shinagawa. Prince Hotel was huge with 4 towers and there were people everywhere like it was a department store. Never seen a hotel like it. There were 4 elevators going up to 6-17 floors yet it takes a long time to hitch one. Still pretty full from days of eating so well, we just wanted fruits from a grocery store. A quick supermarket and drug store run, picked up loads of books from the clerk, shower, and lights out at 9 pm.

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Photos

Cafe 107
Kazamatsuri

Cafe 107
Kazamatsuri

Kid's meal
Not shabby at all