Continuing from ... JAPAN 9 DAYS Series | Hakone Day 2

What if you miss your Shinkansen? What will you do aside from panicking?

Aboard the train on the Tozan Line, we kept on checking the time. Only 30 minutes left, and we are still but a halfway to Odawara station. We will not make it. We did not make it.

We ran as fast as we could after we got off the train. We hurriedly got our luggage from the coin locker and came rushing at the JR Ticket counter. There was a queue. 2 persons ahead of me, and in my head, please please please be fast with your transaction. After 5 minutes, it's my turn. I babbled out in broken english, "How can I rebook my ticket?, I miss the train". And the old man in the counter, gave me a hand "X" sign. I freaked out, no no no!!! Please rebook my ticket!!!

Good thing, a girl came and told me in english, "You can use the same ticket on the next train which will arrive at 2:36PM, non-reserved seat".

So, what if you miss your Shinkansen?

1. It's okay just as long as there is a next train available to your destination.

2. Your paid reserved seat will go to waste. You can board the train on the non-reserved section. So it's best that you travel during the odd hours. Good thing there were a lot of good seats for us when we boarded.

3. DON'T MISS YOUR SHINKANSEN

We were supposed to take the Hikari 515 that will take us only 2 hours to Kyoto. When we missed it, we took the KODAMA 661 that took 188 Minutes. That's more than 3 hours. By the time we reached Kyoto, it's dark already. 

Nonetheless, it was a good learning experience for us. And a chance for me to write about it here and share with you - DO NOT MISS YOUR SHINKANSEN

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Continuing from ... JAPAN 9 DAYS Series | Hakone Day 1

We started our day with a hot onsen bath and a Daily Mart breakfast. Our hotel reservation did not include breakfast so we just bought some goodies at a nearby grocery store. Check out time is standard at 10AM. But we checked out around 8:30AM and left our bags in the free locker of our hotel. (Which was a huge mistake... find out why here)

Our first sightseeing stop is...

GORA PARK

Gora Park is just 2 cable car stations away from where our hotel is located. By the time we got at the park, it was not open yet.

We walked in at Daily Mart and bought some more noodles. Chanced upon a good looking stray cat in the area too.

Gora Park opens daily from 9AM-5PM. It has an entry fee of 550 Yen. Free admission if you have Hakone Free Pass.

It's just a small park, with a huge fountain at the center. The flowers are not in full bloom since it's autumn season. Nonetheless, it's a relaxing place to see. There's also a craft house inside.

Our second stop is...

HAKONE OPEN AIR MUSEUM

This was the start of our messed up decision making. We finished touring Gora Park at 10AM. Google maps says that the open air museum is a good 15-20 minutes walk and is also suggesting that we can take a bus or take the train. We chose the bus, but we waited for the bus to arrive for a freaking 15 minutes already and still it did not come. We ended up walking instead. And that ate our precious 35 minutes.

We also found out that there are many coin lockers at Gora Park and Hakone Open Air Museum. We shouldn't have left our bags at the hotel. #ICry

The entrance fee at the Open Air Museum is 1,600 Yen. You get a discounted price of 1,400 Yen with the Hakone Free Pass.



























































































































































































The open air museum is just a brilliant idea showcasing both the beauty of nature, the picturesque view of the mountains and the creativeness of each artworks on its grounds. It's like a huge park with cool artworks here and there.

Third stop...

LUNCH

We were just too happy that there were a few restaurants lined up near the museum. We were lucky to stumbled upon Cafe Douce. It is an unassuming cafe with lots of brilliance. The owners are nice. The wife cooks perfect pasta for our taste. The cake served was so good, it wasn't too sweet which was perfect for my taste. The salad was delicious. The tea, awesome. Everything was just perfect. We felt that the time stood still while we were having our perfect and delicious lunch - with the 90's music on the background.

We were really having the best time of our lives, except, the time never really stood still. We forgot about the time. It was already 11:20AM. We have to go back and fetch our things at the hotel. We have a 2:08PM shinkansen trip to catch up. Going back to our hotel, will take us about 30 minutes. From our hotel, we need to take the cable car, the hakone tozan line train, change train to odawara station, pick up our luggage at the coin locker in Daiyuzan Line. 2 hours is not enough. So the burning question is, yeah, What if you miss your Shinkansen???

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Hakone is my favorite part of our trip. If we were not pressed in time (and budget), I would have stayed 2 nights here. The place is just picturesque. The weather is perfect for strolling. Eventhough, we have unlimited passes to all transportation means (except taxis), the place is just so nice for walking.

HAKONE 2 DAYS PASS

We got our sightseeing pass at Odakyu Travel. There was a long queue at the Odakyu Sightseeing Service Center and not one single person paid much attention to the office of Odakyu Travel - wherein they can get the pass for the same price - and no queue. Good thing we immediately saw it. We were out of the office in less than 10 minutes. Other people came when they saw we purchased our tickets there. The cost of the 2 days Hakone Pass is 5,140 Yen, and it includes a roundtrip transpo from Shinjuku Station to Odawara Station on the Odakyu Line. The pass gives you an all access to 8 mode of transportation in Hakone including the cable car and the Hakone Ropeway. To know more about the pass, you may visit http://www.odakyu.jp/english/deels/freepass/hakone/ for more info.

ACCOMMODATION

One of the many reasons why I want to include Hakone in our Japan trip is that I want to try the onsen bath. There are a lot of nice hotels in Hakone but the rates per night are ridiculously high. Good thing I chanced upon Suirinso Ryokan. The rate is just fair enough. We got a big room so I guess the price we paid is just fair. The room we got is cozy and comfortable, with a wonderful view of the mountains outside. Since it's just a small ryokan, the onsen don't get too crowded and that's what we wanted.

SIGHTSEEING

Owakudani

TIP! Depart early at Shinkuku station so you can maximize your day 1. We got on the train at around 8:00AM and were only able to do sightseeing not until 12NN.

Well, to justify it. After we got off Odawara Station, we tried to look for coin lockers first. We brought our luggage to Odawara - since we were not coming back to Tokyo - but instead we're heading to Kyoto. We found many coin lockers at the Daiyuzan Line, and it cost us 1,000 Yen for more than 24 hours use of the lockers.

First stop, Owakudani. After 1 1/2 hours travel from Shinjuku Station to Odawara Station, another 50 minutes trip from Odawara/Hakone Tozan line to Gora Station, plus about 10 minutes Gora Station via Hakone cable car to Sounzan station, and lastly a good 10 minutes from Sounzan station to Owakudani station - we reached the sulphuric and volcanic zone of Owakudani. That's a total of almost 3 hours traveling to get to our first stop. (Well, we made a few stops - to the coin locker at Daiyuzan line and a stop at our Ryokan at NakaGora station so in reality, it was a total of 4 hours for us before we reached Owakudani).

It was cloudy in Hakone when we visited, so we missed the sighting of the ever elusive Mt. Fuji. Owakudani is a great stop. Some people like to skip it because of the smell of sulphur, but it really did not bother us. We had a great time here, plus the fact that this is where we tasted the best curry ever.

Lake Ashi

Aboard the ropeway again, we moved down to Lake Ashi. It was about 20 minutes from Sounzan going down the Togendai station. The sceneries going down is as good as the view going up. We got on the Lake Ashi sighteeing cruise for free, because of our Hakone FreePass. It's a scenic 30 minutes cruise from Togendai station to Hakonemachi.

HAKONE SHRINE

After we got off the ship, we went to the bus stop and took Bus #2 for a quick ride to get to Hakone Shrine. It was a short bus trip, and about 15 minutes walk to reach the shrine.







































































We left Hakone Shrine at around 4PM, and was hoping we can reach Gora Park before the last park admission which is 4:30PM. But to our dismay, and without much thought, Hakone Shrine is way too far from where Gora Park is located. hahaha. We need to get on 2 buses, walk uphill for about 5 minutes to reach the place. By the time, we got there it was already 5PM.

We just ended up buying our noodles dinner at Daily Mart across it, because it's just too hard finding open restaurants at Hakone. Almost all the restaurants we passed by are closed.

We got back at our hotel around 5:30PM. We ate early dinner, had an onsen bath, ate ice cream (which is free at our hotel) and watched the news on TV. Surprise, surprise. There was a 6.2 magnitude earthquake in Japan. It was in Kurayoshi, Tottori prefecture - west of Osaka. It is about 3 hours away of Kyoto - where we were heading the next day. Oh boy!

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MEIJI SHRINE - SHIBUYA - AKIHABARA - ASAKUSA - ODAIBA

Our itinerary for Day 3 should be like this, had we bought the Studio Ghibli Museum ticket's in advance.

1. Studio Ghibli
2. Akihabara
3. Asakusa
4. Odaiba

But to our dismay, tickets were all sold out until 3rd week of November, when we came at Lawson. So if you're planning on including the Ghibli Museum into your itinerary, please please please book your tickets in advance. You may book here http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/ticket-information/.

Since we were not able to do the Ghibli, we went to Meiji Shrine instead. We actually don't want to include any shrines and castles in Tokyo. We thought we'll have a lot of that when we came to Kyoto and Osaka. But visiting the Meiji Shrine did not disappoint. We were surprised it has been one of our favorite places in Tokyo.

Just a tip, GO EARLY! We were there as early as 8:30AM. There were not a lot of people yet. And we obviously enjoyed the place, serene and close to nature. Tour groups came at 10AM. And the calm, serene environment immediately disappeared.

MEIJI SHRINE

AKIHABARA

If I were to decide, I would skip Akihabara. Just because, I'm not a die hard anime fan. But because my sister is, then Akihabara it is. The only bonus point for me is that I was able to buy some Ghibli stuffs. That cost a fortune! Lols

ASAKUSA

And again, if I were to decide, hehe. I would not include this very touristy place. We were hoping to buy some good souvenir item here. But oh boy, everything is so expensive in Japan, and nothing impressive. There were a lot of people when we came at 2PM and it was a hot afternoon in Tokyo. We probably spent a good 30 minutes at Asakusa and came rushing for Odaiba.

ODAIBA

We took the train to Odaiba, and it was a scenic ride via Yurikamome. By the time we reached Diver City, we were just in time for the Gundam statue night performance. It was just cool to see Gundam’s head moving, along with some lights and some music.

We were just too tired so we did not explore much. If we were to do it all again, Day 3 Tokyo would just be Meiji Shrine and Odaiba lols; or maybe Shibuya again at night.

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