Hakone, Part II: Gluttony in Action

The hotel was a good deal, thanks to some club membership that Aya-chan’s dad had. It cost us ￥6,500 each, and included both dinner and breakfast, indoor and outdoor hot springs, PLUS an incredible massage chair that I wished I could bring home. I bet the chair can’t even fit through my door.

After the museum, we went in search of a Japanese dessert place that was featured in the guidebook, only to find that another dessert place had sprouted up and taken over its place! :\ Still, we (or maybe *I*) was determined to have my dessert, so we had some lovely shiruko in red bean soup.


Then we finally got to the hotel, only to discover that we were to have dinner at 6pm (shiruko was at maybe 5pm)! Undeterred, we ventured forth bravely and conquered the meal prepared so kindly for us. :D

I’m not that into plums as non-preserved fruit, but this was pretty nice.

Saw this seaweedy thingy at the supermarket yesterday and was tempted to buy it. It’s great on a bowl of steaming hot rice. (I feel like that’s what my grandparents would have loved too. Is this a sign of aging or what?)

Very pretty stuff, but I wasn’t sure what it was exactly. But check out the pretty pink and white balls on that shrimp XD (Also check out the cellophane decoration!)

And sashimi. YUM. Words cannot describe my love for raw fish. I must agree with my mom that I was a cat in my past life.

OOOH. This tofu was just heavenly. And I loved the bamboo shoots too.

Ok, I forgot that sukiyaki is quite common at these dinners. I was in a bit of a dilemma, cos I pretty much don’t eat beef anymore (except for that one last time in the near future when I will meet a slice of Matsuzaka beef that’s supposed to be so heavenly), but then it would be completely wasted, so I decided I’d just have one slice. Total regret. Closer to beef jerky.

And finally, fish grilled in salt. Delish~ I can be a fishertarian.

Then tofu (I think) cheesecake to wrap it up.

It’s been a while since I felt like such a whale. It was lovely though. Helped me float in the hot springs later. :P

Hakone is definitely 5/5 for relaxation, but not so great if you really want to see things. I only went to a small part and I didn’t get to do the touristy things (gaze upon Mt. Fuji, traipse in sulphurous fumes etc), so maybe that’s not true.

In other news, the-man-I-want-to-marry has been updating his blog alot, and this clip just goes to show how far his brand of positivity goes (though I’d admit I wonder if I’d be so amused if I was in a hurry in that place. Maybe. haha.):