Nihon Part II

Day 3:


We had to wake up super early today to take the JR railway to Shinjuku station and look for the Odakyu Sightseeing Tour Centre to explain to us about our Hakone tour we registered for online. We're talking about waking up at 6:30am to have breakfast, shower, look for this place, etc. in order to make it for the starting time of 9am. Luckily, we still had jet lag, so it wasn't a problem waking up early. And we were relying on the fact that we wouldn't have to stress all day after getting there because that's the tour guide's job. As we would soon find out, we were very wrong.


We arrived earlier than expected and the lady at the centre took her time to explain to us the tour and the various transportation and lunch tickets we would need to use. Although her English was limited, she was very patient and took her time to explain every detail of the schedule in the guide book. We were wondering why she was so thorough when--alas! We discovered there was no tour guide! The 9000 yen we each paid only covered various transportation costs, lunch, and the "special" guide books they gave us. Well, we went along anyway since we were already there. I still wonder how I had missed the no tour guide detail during the initial registration.


Though we were our own tour guides, the trip turned out very pleasant and worthwhile for 9000 yen. We did take various types of transportations throughout the day (including lifts, buses, trains, boat, etc.) that made you feel worthwhile for the costs. It was not stressful figuring out everything at all. We boarded the "Romance Car" train to Hakone at Shinjuku station right next to the Odakyu Centre. When we arrived, the most difficult part of the day was to find the right bus station to bring us to our first "checkpoint." Basically, their guide book has a very detailed schedule of when and how to go to various checkpoints in what order for the whole day; we just had to read in English and follow accordingly.




Actually...I lied. The most stressful part of the day was when a little mishap happened while trying to exit the railway station at Hakone. You see, we have specific railway tickets to go to Hakone (these get eaten at the exiting machine) and specific tickets to come back. The problem was these going and returning tickets looked exactly the same except for a small number showing the time they were suppose to be used. Well...of course I had to go and put in the WRONG ticket!!! The machine was very smart and somehow detects this mistake and won't let me go through...so as I receive questioning stares, I had to frantically explain to the railway station worker in broken Japanese mixed with panic English what had happened. Luckily but to my embarrassment, the man had to open this big machine, dump out all the tickets inserted since the station opened, and look for my ticket!!! But all the tickets looked the same except for the number in time...so it took 4 people and what seemed like an eternity before I can exit and attempt to forget my clumsiness...


On with the day now...

Hakone is beautiful, not only because you can see Mt. Fuji clearly but also for its own water and mountain scenery. We wished we had extra time, where we could've stayed a night (like many people do) to enjoy their hot springs at many of their resorts there. The planned panorama course for the day was tight but we got through all checkpoints in the day, including riding a bus to begin a walk next to the lake and forest, to having lunch next to the pier, to souvenir shopping, to a sightseeing cruise, to riding their ropeway lifts to a volcanic area (Owakudani) for some volcanic eggs (said to be good for long life), to riding their cablecars down the mountain, etc.

It was an exhausting day, so I'd actually fallen into deep sleep on the Romance Car ride back to town (it takes about 90 minutes). We decided to go for some ramen at a recommended place from the guide book in Ikebukuro; it was very easy to find. But, like all other good food places in Japan, we discovered a line at the door. We had to line up in the cold night for 30-45 minutes before finally getting seats for some ramen. They were clever to have taken our order while we were in line. Don't worry if you can't read Japanese because they have pictures and they try to explain what somethings are if you still can't figure it out. The number of Chinese customers they get because of using the same guide book...I won't be surprised if they could speak Chinese!

Trust me, the wait in line was worth it. They were the best ramen I've ever had. We chose orders where the soup base and sauce/toppings of choice were served separately, so you can add as you eat. Great idea.

To be continued...