To round out our all-carbohydrate day, afternoon tea at Paseo Florist & Tea Room 50 meters or so from the hotel.
The walk to and from the tearoom constitutes today's workout. Now back at the hotel for happy hour which starts at a very civilized (or not?) 4 o'clock in the afternoon! The people of Hakone must be a very happy lot.
We have a 7:30 pm appointment at the Spa so we'd better get started being happy soon!
Cheers! 🍷
Labels: Hakone, happy hour, tearoom
We just made it to lunch; last customers for the day. At Kirakusou Restaurant, the soba noodles are hand made daily. They only make enough for the day. Business hours: 11:30 to 14:00.
My first encounter with the venerable wasabi root.
Labels: Gora, Kirakusou Soba Restaurant, wasabi
We've got the room all to ourselves. Nice.
Being surrounded by all these bottles is making me tipsy!
Stuart chooses the wine.
Quite a meal to get through... I'm especially curious about dessert... parsley sauce on peaches? Hmmm...
Labels: Hakone, Hyatt Regency, The Dining Room
I really feel I should try the onsen, the hot mineral spring bath this place is known for. I didn't the last time and the hotel's GM Hiroko-sama couldn't believe I never tried it. So once again, I check it out.
I've never seen so many naked women all in one place. The two seated at the dressing table chatting in the changing room have towels artfully draped on their laps. The one stepping out of the water in the all together looks a bit dismayed to see me looking in. She stares at me like a deer caught in a car's headlights. I guess it's a little unnerving to see someone fully clothed in the premises.
Somehow, bathing naked in a communal but segregated (by sex) pool does not appeal to me. Maybe if it was out in the woods somewhere, open to the trees and the sky... Not in a sterile looking room... Maybe if it wasn't segregated? Hahaha just joking!
I'm having a massage instead.
Labels: onsen, spa
Stuart changes for dinner.
At the private bar, there's only us. It's a confusing evening. None of our reservations seem to work. At the bar, at the dining room. Never mind.
We move to the Lobby Bar. Lots of people are dressed like Stuart. Kids too.
In the dining room.
What do they say about too many cooks in the kitchen?
They tell us the chef has a Michelin star. I'm eager to see what dinner would be like.
Labels: Hakone, Hyatt Regency
1:30pmOn the Romance Car to Hakone.
Nothing romantic about this train though; it's just a train.
We have sandwiches from the shop to eat on the way.
It's the 1:40 train, and in typical Japanese fashion, it leaves exactly at 1:40.
3:10
In Gora, we transfer to the Hakone train on the Tokan Line. This is the back & forth mountain train.
The tracks stop at a dead end, the train stops, the driver gets out, walks to the other end, and restarts the train on the track going the opposite way. This happens four or five times, higher and higher up the mountain. I find the procedure so amusing, I lose count!
This particular train is not air conditioned, and people all around are vigorously fanning themselves. I'm fine with the mountain air blowing through the open windows.
Blue hydrangeas line the way on either side of the tracks. At various stops, there are posters advertising museums and art galleries. Several pictures of Impressionist paintings.
Somewhere near the top, it has been raining.
At the station, a little girl is crying. She must've lost her mother in the crowd. There's a poster of St. Exupery's "The Little Prince" on a wall.
The hotel shuttle arrives as we walk out.
This is going to be a nice holiday.
Labels: Hakone
This is a shopping mall. But it's really more like a park. Trees, flowers, birdsong, vast expanses to walk on, smooth stone benches to sit on, cooling mist sprays, polka dots...
What, again? Yayoi Kusama's polka dots seem to follow me everywhere!
Why should she be allowed to appropriate as her own a universal, egalitarian motif such as the polka dot?
Labels: Roppongi Hills, Yayoi Kusama
CX542/4 Aug from HKG departing 4:15 pm for Tokyo
1:30pm
There is no gate assigned yet when we check in for our connection from Manila. Then all the way to Gate 524! (are we to walk to Haneda?) where no flight info is shown. Passengers arrive looking lost and start to pool in uneasy groups near exit doors, awaiting buses. We're to be bused to our plane! 😡
3:55 pm
When staff at the gate says they will have info in 15 minutes, Stuart says we'll wait back in the lounge.
4:33 pm
New departure time 18:00 (1h 45m late).
No matter, we're sitting comfortably and quite happily. After a glass of champagne, a bowl of nuts, a bowl of olives, 3 chocolate truffles, a Danish, and one exhaustively read Herald Tribune, I'm fidgeting. A quick glance at Sunday' s crossword puzzle (are they kidding? I haven't got a chance!) convinces me to put away my pen.
5:50 pm
Still no boarding announcement.
6:00 pm
Now boarding at Gate 2 (great! no bus!) and a very welcome upgrade. Fortunately, this is one of Cathay's now few short flights with First Class.
All's well that ends well! 😊
Labels: CX, Delayed flight, Haneda, Hong Kong
