About 2 weeks ago, Aya-chan and I headed for Hakone for a 2-day/1-night getaway. Considering that Hakone seems to be a pretty standard getaway for Tokyoites, it’s pretty amazing that I haven’t set foot in the region yet. And also, I don’t know why, but I had the impression it’s a tourist trap.
It’s really quite lovely though, green green green everywhere… such a refreshing sight after facing the concrete greyness of Tokyo every day.
We went to the Lalique Museum, because the Little Prince Museum (yes there is one!) was closed for renovations and won’t reopen till July 17. Good excuse for me to head back for another round of relaxation heh~ Its grounds were beautifully maintained, and they even had a indoor cafe area that looked out onto the garden with loads of pretty flowers, but on every single table, they had signs saying “no photography”. (I have to gripe about that another day). Isn’t it great? Made me realise how much I miss the green and trees etc in Singapore.
But, even in the midst of all this greenery, lest you get thirsty, vending machines (and their friendly bins) await patiently.
Our hotel had a nice view that looked out onto trees and more trees…
… but I was totally surprised when the next morning, everything was covered in a thick mist! Early June and the highest temperature was 18 degrees… nice :) even if it was a little wet.
Anyway, I can understand better why people go there now, it’s not too far (under 1.5 hours), there’s a huge range of hotels from fairly cheap to ridiculously expensive, all the towns are so small (or at least the few I stopped by), and though there are museums and parks etc, there isn’t really much to do except enjoy the lush greenery and soak in the hot springs. And oh I forgot… EAT! haha. Food photos tomorrow… (or soon.)