A bit of a lie in at the hotel in Osaka, with Jordan and Emily waking up only at 8:30. Left the hotel at 10 to get breakfast at the weirdest cafe experience ever. We ordered our drinks and light breakfast and then everything came out at different times in a bizarre order. For instance, my hard boiled eggs came out first, before our drinks. Emily’s curry and cheese on toast (which was excellent) came next, followed by the buttered toast Jordan and I both got. All before our drinks. And then Jordan’s orange juice came after our coffees and the yogurt was last. Just truly unusual.
From there, we walked to the best store in the world. No, not a Pokemon Center! We actually managed to go to a city which has a Pokemon Center and not go there, though I’m not sure Jordan realizes this. Please no one inform her of this.The actual shop we went to was Kingram Liquor, which was just a tiny room filled wall to wall with every conceivable Scotch and Japanese Whisky. Sorry Liam, but I don’t think I saw any Irish. Including a bottle that was 600,000 Yen ($6,000 CAD). I contented myself with a 4,400 Yen ($44 CAD) small bottle and a Sample shot (which they pour into a little plastic bottle) of a higher end bottle.
Then it was to the metro to get to Shin-Osaka Station (which is different than regular Osaka Station we were at the prior day) to head to Hakone. A very odd thing about Japan is that lots of different companies manage the railways and metros, even having competing metros in the same area; trying to find the right line that would take us to Shin-Osaka was difficult, as the signage was not very useful. At least the payment systems are all unified and all transit except for the Shinkansens happened with our SUICA Cards. First train was a bullet train, and we got the coolest bento box ever. Just put it on the table, pull the yellow string, wait 7 minutes and it is steaming hot. And it was a tasty beef and rice too! The other one was pork, chicken and rice, but was only okay.
Second of three trains to get to Hakone was boring, being just a short hop from Odawara to Hakone-Yumoto. But the third train to get us to Gora Station was crazy. Despite the as-the-crow-flies distance being just 5.3 kilometres, it took 40 minutes at a max speed of 30 km/h with most of it at 20 km/h. Most interesting was the fact that it was going up a mountain, so there were 3 switchbacks where the train started going the other direction! It also went through 13 tunnels, each of which were constructed 100 years ago. Unfortunately, there were not a ton of great viewpoints from the train due to the trees; makes sense, as the trees were probably there to avoid soil erosion.
Our hotel, Tensui Saryo, was just a one minute walk from Gora Station. The hotel looked even nicer in person than in the pictures from their website. It was a big room, though some oddities with the layout, especially the closets with multiple extra mattresses. The living/dining room with very soft tatami mats was separated from the bedroom and with sliding doors to the small area with the TV. Most importantly, it has a spring-fed Onsen tub on the balcony with a beautiful view of the mountains. We went to the other private spa on the top floor before dinner, complete in our kimonos and lounge wear. The water was legitimately very hot, even confirmed by Emily who loves a very hot hot tub.
Dinner itself was quite the affair with so very many courses (and a plate of kids food for Jordan that would make Elayne blush). Jordan did also dip her elbow in the ketchup, so off went the cardigan lol. Some of the food was… Not up Emily’s alley. For instance, the appetizer included liver. It was all quite delicious, though we have definitely had nicer food elsewhere on the trip.
Last but not least was a trip to the foot bath bar to get our free champagne (apple juice for Jordan). Emily is now of the opinion that all bars need this and it is hard to disagree. Ultimately, the day was a bit train heavy but an otherwise lovely Valentine’s day. Definitely our lowest step count day by far. I only broke 9,000 when I hiked up a hill to get sake and fruit mixer while Jordan got ready for bed.
Leave a Reply