Japan Calling (Days 5-7)

Day 5-7 (9-11 Nov 2014)

Day 5 was a day of travelling by car and train from Gunma to Tachikawa, first to return the car then to continue by train to Shimbashi where our hotel is located.  Good thing I asked the receptionist at the ryokan to help me make a reservation at the ever popular Ishikawa Brewery where they serve excellent and decently priced Italian food and local brew.  There’s also a separate section serving Japanese food but “anone” (nickname for Japanese) food is never on my mind whenever I visit this old, traditional brewery.  Only my friend’s husband had the sake which was very good and cheap; a small bottle for only <S$6. My friend and I both only had a sip to sample the taste.  The food here never failed to satisfy…After lunch, we pumped petrol to full tank and within minutes was at the car rental company.  Glad that there was no hiccup and thank God for a safe self-drive visit to Gunma..I stayed up till 4am to catch up with my blog since I didn’t have to worry about driving anymore.

Ishikawa Brewery

Simple dinner of miso, deep fried soba and salad 

Mitsui Garden Shiodome Italia 

Long queue for the iphone 6/6-Plus in Ginza

Ginza

Day 6 involved taking 3 different modes of transport to reach the nearest ropeway station from our hotel.  There’s a free hotel shuttle service which picked us up within 5 minutes from our telephone call to the hotel.  Poster of our hotel “next” to Mt Fuji is prominently featured at the ropeway station.

When we arrived at Yumoto station, we decided to deposit our bags with the baggage deposit counter so that we can roam the small shopping area hands free, and also to walk to the excellent soba restaurant (Hatsu Hana Soba はつ花そば) some 10-12 minutes walk from Yumoto Station. We had soba and tempura and did a little bit of shopping before continuing our way uphill via the local train, a tram, a cable car and the ropeway.  It was pitch dark although it was just 5pm.  Nightfall descends early in autumn as early as 4.45pm….

Hakone Tozan Bus

Hakone Tozan Cable Car & Ropeway

Outside Hatsu Hana Soba restaurant in Hakone

Hotel Green Plaza in Hakone.  We did not get to see Mt Fuji this time round as it was very foggy

 

Tonight’s dinner was different, with shabu shabu as the main course.  I had stayed at this hotel before and its food/quality is consistently good.  Had an early night after a dip in the outdoor rotenburo…

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Day 7. Service at Hotel Green Plaza is very good.  When I enquired on the best way to go to our next accommodation, they offered to drive us there regardless that it is not far from where we were.  As it was too early to check-in (9.30am), we left our bags at the concierge and then went our separate ways to Sengokuhara for hiking, and my friends to the Open Air Museum which I had visited thrice before.  In Japan, the check-in time is usually between 2pm and 3pm while check-out is around 10am-11am.


The weather today is cold because of an intermittent light rainfall.  I always enjoy hiking at the Sengokuhara Nature Trail 箱根仙石原.  Today is my 3^rd hike here and I met not a single soul throughout the 10-km hike. The hiking trail starts a short distance from Togendai Station 桃源台 and I did it leisurely to enjoy nature at its best. 

A small park that is a short distance from Togendai station 桃源台

The trail starts right next to a golf club

The hiking trail hugs the boundary of the golf club and cuts through a couple of cedar tree forests

Solo hike at the lovely Sengokuhara Nature Trail 仙石原

  

As the weather was perfect for hiking and it was still early, I decided to revisit the Hakone Botanical Garden & Wetland after completing the Sengokuhara Nature Trail.  As expected, due to the light rain earlier on, the coloured leaves were glistening from a distance.  The entire garden and wetland was ablazed in autumn hues.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable day of long walk (6 hours in total).  By the time I boarded the free bus ride back to the hotel, it was already 4.45pm.  I nodded in the warmly heated bus and missed the bus stop which I was supposed to get off, some 10-15m from our ryokan.  Luckily another bus was about to leave in the opposite direction and in no time I was back at the Fujimien Ryokan (just 4 bus stops away)

Outside the entrance of Hakone Botanical Garden and Wetland

Beautiful pitcher plant

Another variety of pitcher plant

Dinner was very good but I ended up eating some portions of my 2 friends’ food as they could not make it back in time for dinner.  There goes my day’s workout but the tofu sashimi, seafood sashimi, snow crab legs and umeshu (plum wine) were too good to go to waste. Also the tiny cups of caramel pudding (not in picture)….

Surfing and writing my blog before going for the nightly ritual, onsen dip

Tomorrow, we will be off to another ryokan located at the mid level of Hakone.  Time flies….we will be home in no time but not before 2 half days of roaming the streets of Tokyo….