Japan - Hakone Hotel Kowakien and Hot Spring bath

This is a continuation from our second day in Hakone.

Thwarted by the weather, we decided to take a bath in the hotel. At the public bath. Hot spring. Naked. Make and female are separated but you are required to go in naked. It was quite an experience. I told Cs that we should try it once. Hahah I'm glad we did though. Now that its over, I can say it was erm fun? Haha.

Initially we wanted to try both the naked and clothed experience at Yunessun (water park) together. But since we have a public bath at the hotel (most hotels have public baths), so we thought might as well just save the money and go for the public bath at the hotel. 

This is our hotel for the night. I chose it for the location - just opposite the road to Yunessun. Convenient. Plus there are bus stops right outside the hotel. 

Location wise, it was good. Its easy by bus to the attractions like Moto Hakone to Hakone Shrine, to Lake Ashi, and back from Gora. There is also a Family Mart close by where we bought our dinner and breakfast. Convenient and cheap.

It is quite a big hotel. Service was good but then again service was awesome every where in Japan. But they didn't let us check in till 2pm. Boo. They did give us a big room with triple beds though. We booked a twin room. No idea why but no complains.

The lobby was on the 5th floor (if I'm not mistaken) overlooking the gardens. There were still some cherry blossom trees. So pretty in pink. 

We finally checked in at 2pm. When we opened the door to our room, we faced another three doors. How different from what we're used to. The door on the left is the closet, the one straight ahead opens to the toilet and the third on the right is finally our room!

I loved this room. It was so comforting holed up in here while the wind howled outside. 

After settling in, we took a shower and put on our swimsuits and a t shirt and shorts to go find the public bath. 

I told Cs that people go into the bath naked and that you're supposed to shower beforehand. He said no lah, impossible. Can't be naked. Don't believe me!! 

We looked so out of place with our t shirt and shorts. Most people came in wearing the robes provided by the hotel in our rooms.

Almost all other hotel guests (except the two of us) were wearing this robe to the public bath. With the hotel slippers. At least we got the slippers correct. Hahah. Stupid. 

So I got in, took a locker and stripped. And tried not to notice the other naked women walking around. Not as embarrassing as I thought. Walk tall, walk proud. Haha. 

This is where you can dry your hair etc afterwards. I didn't linger. I dried myself, put on my clothes and scuttled back to my room straightaway. Hahah..

Anyway. Start at the beginning. 

First you should know the bathing etiquette. You are given a locker and you strip down to nothing.

Take your locker key with u and a small towel and go take a shower. The Japanese shower sitting on stools. So you wash your whole body with shampoo, soap etc and basically scrub yourself clean in full view of other women.

But nobody stares at each other, no worries. No one is interested. I sneak a glance at other people's backsides or glance over at them because I want to know if I'm doing it right. Hahah.

When you're finally clean, then you can go to the bath.

I stole these two photos off the hotel website. It was not empty when I was there. There were about 10 women indoors and more outdoors.

 Don't get your very small towel wet. The women tie them on their heads like headband, so I did the same. It was so so so so hot!! This was my first time so I was not used to it at all.

 In the beginning, I had my face all screwed up and walking halfway into the bath and stopping halfway cringing, and didn't dare go all the way in. The stupid tourist. Haha. I guess it would be nice if I had a friend at least. So we can be stupid together. Bah.

Prior to going in, Cs and I decided on 30 mins tops and we should meet each other outside. Initially I thought  30 mins was too short, but we just wanted to try it for the experience.

In reality,  it was quite boring inside alone with no one to talk to, and cannot stare at other women. Cannot understand other Japanese conversations. I just thought of Cs and what he was doing in the men's section.

After about 15 mins in the bath, I decided that was enough. It was so so so hot anyway and I had nothing to do. Nothing enlightening coming to mind due to the heat and boredom.

I stood up and almost blacked out. Literally. Scared me half to death. My legs went weak, I couldn't see. I had to stand still for it to pass. Thank God I didn't pass out.

What's worse than passing out? Passing out naked in a hot bath in a foreign country. Would be a nice FML story if it happened. Heheh.

 It was my first time and apparently you should not spend more than 15 mins inside the hot water. You should come out, walk around or wash some cold water. Your blood pressure will go down and that will cause you to faint. I didn't know that. Thought that something was wrong with me. Too weak or something. Hahah idiot.

Seriously, the aftermath of it was: I felt so tired, so hot and so dizzy. I didn't get much sleep the night before at the airport, plus I spent the day out I'm the cold so I think that combined with the hot spring bath made me feel quite faint.

I literally tumbled into bed immediately. After waking up, I felt almost back to normal already. Hahah useless. For Cs it was ok. Just am experience.

And no, we didn't feel embarrassed or anything. Now that it is over, I think it was quite fun. :)

Moving on.

For dinner, we went to Family Mart to buy a selection of food back. Loved this takoyaki (octopus balls) with noodles. I miss convenience store food.

Sorry but you gotta bear with me saying I miss this and that for quite some time. Japan has completely won me over. 

This looks like mochi but tastes exactly like cheese cake..

Cs loves these desserts. Y298 is about RM9. Like a slice of Secret Recipe cheese cake only better. :)

These are hot spring eggs that turn black due to the sulphuric content. It tastes like normal chicken eggs, just the smell that's a bit different. That sulphur smell you get at Owakudani.

Happy drinks at night. Bliss.

I left them by the window cos it was so cold outside. Icy cold. Nice.

I thought the bath tub was so cute. It was deeper and shorter than normal. Cute. Cs and I can fit inside together. Not bad. Can't tell eh? Its really quite deep.

At night, flipping through all the Japanese channels, we finally found an English movie. "The Tourist" starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. Yes! Finally! Until we realized it was in Japanese too. It's so funny hearing Johnny Depp say arigatou. Hahah. We finished watching it anyway.

These are my holiday nails. A bit messy actually.

OK bye. 

Japan Day 2 - Hakone

This is a continuation from the first night at the airport. I woke Cs up at around 4:45am. FYI the airport is not quiet at all. There were flights arriving at 2am, 3 am, 4am etc. Lights were on and generally still quite a lot going on. Our eyes were closed but we could hear everything. When we went to freshen up by about 5 am, it seemed like 7 am already. People waking up, eating breakfast, sipping coffee and the general hustle bustle of it all.

We bought PASMO cards each (similar to Oyster Cards in London, Easy Card/YouYou Card in Taiwan, and Octopus Card in Hong Kong), where you top up the money inside and can take most trains and buses. Definitely time savers for tourists. You can use the card in convenience stores too which saves time as well. We bought Y,3000 each, of which Y500 were for deposits. Should be refundable but we didn't refund. We're planning to come back! :) The cards expire in 10 years.

Convenience store is on level 1 btw. We slept in level 2 (probably the noisiest level due to all the arrivals). No choice cos most seats were all taken by the time we arrived. Best place to sleep should be level 5. Lights are dimmed and there are huge windows where you can look out to the observation deck.

Off on our journey!

Btw it was raining when we arrived that night. We had to take a bus from the airport to the international terminal building. We literally stepped off the plane and into the bus. Very convenient. No need to get wet at all.

We took the train to Shinagawa then changed to Shinkansen (bullet train - I die die must try once at least) to Hakone Odawara then changed trains (Tozan line) to Hakone Yumoto..

We arrived at Hakone Yumoto really early in the morning. Deserted.

Hakone is actually just a small mountainous area. We chose to go there to try the hot spring baths, and Owakudani (active volcanic area), and catch the views of Mount Fuji. All in one trip.

Did I mention that we love the vending machines? :)

 Anyway, they day is just getting started. We had our luggage with us, and we initially planned on leaving them in the lockers (but we saw that they were too small), so thought that we had to bring the luggage to the hotel ourselves.

But luckily, we saw the luggage service! Basically we pay an amount of money (I forgot how much but not expensive and so worth it), and they will send our luggage directly to our hotel. Awesome eh? It opens at 8:30 am btw. For future reference. We waited about 15 mins for them to open (very punctual).

It was so so cold and windy then. In hindsight, we should have known. Nasty weather - how to go sightseeing? But we were so psyched (and so smart) that we went along anyway.

So now, we are free of our luggage, we went out to the bus stop. Oh wait, we bought the Hakone Free Pass. It costs Y3,900 (if I'm not mistaken from Odawara). This is basically a pass that allows you to catch most trains, buses, ropeway, cable car, pirate ship, and gets you discounts at the typical tourist spots. Most tourists opt for this pass. They are available in 2 days or 3 days. We got the 2 days one. Best decision ever. Just show the free pass and no hassle at all.

Beautiful views.

About the best photo Cs could come up with. Haha too windy.

When we arrived at the bus stop, and were busy studying the bus schedule, some guys (working there) came and offered help. And directed us to the proper bus stop. It wasn't hard. There are English words, and if you read Chinese, its a plus. Everything is very organized and efficient and people are willing to help if you ask.

 We went to Moto Hakone supposing to start our Hakone loop.

It started raining..

But we were still happy.

I planned everything right down to what bus to take, and everything. But I forgot about the weather. It was so fucking cold that 5 minutes (I kid u not) out, I had a splitting headache. It was so bad that I literally could not do anything. Besides, everything was closed.

We took the 35 mins bus all the way there to find out that most services were suspended due to the weather.

Look at the weather! On a clear day, we should be able to see Mount Fuji.
We were walking to Hakone Shrine when my head hurt so bad, I just wanted to fook it and go indoors.

He brought me indoors. I wrapped the scarf around my head after that. Because of the weather, most of what we planned were closed. We had no choice but to go back to the hotel by 12 pm.

Next day we learnt that there was a hailstorm the day before and floods. No wonder.

Hot green tea was soo welcome by then.

Curry rice! Yum..

Cs' beef set thingy was good too.

They initially provided the Japanese menu for us but when I was struggling to find something to eat, she brought over an English one. But most places do not have English menu. You just pick and choose, or drag the owner out of the shop to point at the displays. Hahah.

Ok. Continue about the rest of the day next time.

Bye.

Back to the future

I’m back in Kuching right now. I am back to my routine life. My body may be here. But in my mind’s eye, I feel like I can still hear the pulsing beats of the music in the stores in Shibuya. I can see the crowds rushing by in Shinjuku station while we try to find our direction. I can remember the smell and the taste of the ramen. I can almost feel the cold wind blowing in my face and at my legs. Tights are no comfort at all.

It has only been a week but I think I left a small part of me back there.

I finally understood what Cheesie meant after all her raving about Japan. I have wanted to go for years, but never really let myself go there (thoughts I mean). Don't think about it, don't imagine. I always thought it was unaffordable, thus don't go there.

But its actually not that bad. The first question people always ask is: how much did you spend?

Well, first of all, you're not me. We spend on different things, we splurge on different things, and we save on different things.

We actually planned for a budget trip. I estimated about RM 3,000 set aside for the basic expenses (train tickets, Disney tickes, convenience store food), and added another RM 3,000 plus for luxuries (eating out, shopping etc). We brought some USD in case we ran out of money.

We did eat convenience store food for breakfast and supper mostly. Lunch and dinner we mostly ate out, tried new things. Our bill at convenience stores mostly still come up to more than Y1,000 each time cos we both can't resist trying new food that we don't have.

We actually spent the most on food. Shocker. Not transport. OK transport too if you want to factor in the Shinkansen (bullet train). But you don't have to sit on the shinkansen. Take JR if you want. Don't go to Osaka or Kyoto. Travelling domestic in Japan is expensive. So plan your transport wisely. Google is your best friend, so is Japan Guide (the forum).

When you go out the whole day, plan your journey properly so you don't spend too much on transport fees (train tickets). We never took the taxi, not even once. Cos we heard how much it costs plus we wanna be rock stars. Hahah.

This is just a short post while I compose the lengthy ones with lots of pics to tempt everyone to go too.

I miss Japan. I miss the food. I miss the people, how polite and courteouos they all are. How they bow all the time. Its funny - you get used to it.

We start replying "hai, hai, hai" (yes, yes, yes), and nodding our head, and saying lots of arigato, and smiling at almost everyone, and we don't litter (ok I do admit I do that sometimes here), I use the recycle bin. The thing is, everyone is so civilized there, you have NO CHOICE but to follow. You have to be polite back, and I dunno..do good things. How do their parents teach them? What does it take to have that culture?

I'm thinking of this cute kid I saw in the dressing room at Yunessun. Wish I had taken a photo of him. I was drying my hair after the shower, and putting on make up. This cutest kid (toddler) came up to me and stared at me. I said konnichiwa (hello), and then ohayou (good morning) to him, but he just stared. So I patted him on his head and just stared back. He's so cute. He was chubby, and had two bright spots of red on his cheeks (due to the hot spring bath).

Not long after, his mum started calling out his name, but he still stood there staring, so I went to get his mother. Haha..when she saw him, she started bowing to me saying arigatou, arigatou. Haha. Wish I got a photo of that kid.

Ok abrupt end.

To be continued..

Lost in Translation

7 April 2013

It's 3:47 am Tokyo time. The airport is empty save for those few still awake or cannot go to sleep. Most people are claiming 3 seats and lying across asleep. I was one of them from around 1+ to 3. Now it's Cs' turn so I'm trying to stay awake.

We arrived in Tokyo 40 minutes AHEAD of schedule despite some serious turbulence the last 15 mins. Not bad. First time ever. In fact we were so early that we were all unprepared. Seriously I thought we had another hour, but the captain started instructing us to switch off all devices. Kinda cool. But if we had known, we would have risked taking the train to town. Instead, we and a whole bunch of tourists are camped out here.

There are quite a few airport staff here still and security guards, which makes me think this is a daily occurrence. Just another night. Hahah funny. In Kuching, the airport would be empty except for locals who go there for mcd. So different.

I was feeling very tired already upon arrival. Though I must say, we breezed through immigration. No queue! Damn awesome. In Bangkok, it took us so long that even though mum had to do her on-arrival taiwan visa on the spot, she still beat us.

We both got cheered up considerably upon buying some convenience store food. I just arrived and I know, I'm going to miss this so bad when we leave!!

Rows upon rows of sushi, rice balls, cold noodles, pasta, salad, desserts. Fully stocked at midnight! No doubt for all the travelers. I can't wait to go back later.

I would show photos but they are in my camera. Gotta wait till I'm back to Kuching to upload them. We spent RM30+ on a bowl of rice topped with egg, beef, and vege; 2 rice balls with mentaiko (i think) filling (those triangle shaped ones - I love them!); a strawberry tart (it was so good!); a can of beer and a bottle of mineral water. Happy me.

You know how when the air craft stops on Air Asia flight, everyone immediately gets up and grab their stuff from the overhead compartment ? We were quite curious whether the addition of more Japanese and foreign tourists, would we(Malaysians) be more civilized?

Hahah guess what? We are! The plane stops and there is a pause. Hesitating then everyone gets up but admittedly less shoving I think. Or maybe cos we were sitting in front (silent rows) so it was more civilized. Either way, it's good.

Ok I'm running out of things to update. I'll be back!

Sayonara!

My version of a Happy Meal. Heheh.