On March 8th, our good friend Brian finally joins Jay's and I's adventure. Derek, my roommate knew of a good resturaunt near my house, so we had their welcome back Dinner there. It was something I had been looking for awhile. Dining can easily get really expensive in Tokyo, but this place was all you can grill-your-own foods for two hours. Its so wonderful to eat such large amounts of juicy steaks, fish, and pork. I felt so sorry for all those vegetarians and vegans out there. Food, especially meat, can feel like such ecstacy sometimes.
The next morning we left for Hakone. Its like a two hour train ride from Tokyo. Its mountainous town, famous for its onsen (hotsprings). The hotel was located nearby, but not after climbing a long flight of stairs. Still it was quite beautiful, with its twisting slopes and staircase, moss covered rocks and terrain, and wonderful view of the mountains which lay out behind us. I arrived later than Jaysin and Brian did, due to school. From the time I arrived, we checked out the public bath(sento) within the hotel. It was pretty as it was ridiculous. First of all they didnt have towels. NO TOWELS...WTF!? "Its japanese style" said the clerk. I think its an obvious line to draw between tradition and just being unreasonable. Also, aside from the hot bath, the bathing area was also outside. Its way too cold to do that outside, especially with no towels and being in the nude....but once we got in, it wasn't a problem anymore. We spent the rest of the night playing games and listening to music.
The next morning we checked out a nice restaurant nearby and had some tempura. Man, I love me some tempura. For those of you who don't know what it is, its lightly breaded and fried vegetables and shrimp. We took our swell time and shared our thoughts on selfishness and philanthropy.
We then caught the nearest bus and headed for the onsen. Up the mountain it went; after half an' hour we disembarked. We paid our dues and made our way inside. Its unfortunate that I can't take any pictures inside, it was truly a sight to see. There were like a dozen different baths, each different in temperature or chemicals contained. There was a sort of steps with several baths on them leading up to a second floor with another bath, from which a waterfall fell into a bath below. Everything looked as if it was procured by the earth its self, being all made from carved rocks, and beautiful foliage grown around. There was a sauna room, which smelled of rich mahogany. I was somehow able to withstand this one, and it actually became quite relaxing after a while. In the beginning I found I couldn't relax, I was constantly thinking of something. It wasn't until about an 30 minutes later that I could finally be at peace. I could also tell I was relaxed because I wouldn't pretend the most natural place to carry your little hand towel was in front of your crotch.
Eventually our bodies couldn't handle anymore bathing, so we put on our clothes and relaxed in the foyer. There was an outside deck with lounge chairs, with a colorful view of the village and mountain. Man, Japan never messes around. Soon it was time to go, and we boarded for back home.
We loaded up on some drinks and foods and spent the night doing our own karaoke with jaysin's computer. Damn, that was a good time.
The rest of the week consisted of dining, real Karaoke, temple touring, shopping, and such. It was non-stop action the whole way. Brian left that Saturday, with many great memories to sport.
