“Dr Fish”

Day 3 – The loooong day that got longer

Still having the “benefit” of waking up early, at 7AM it was a ‘cool’ 30C degrees (86F) so I walked about .3 miles to the bakery I liked, only to find a sign that says “We’re closed today”. That meant another .75 mile walk to a different bakery that was open. It was worth the walk. So “oishii” おいしい (tasty)!

Around lunch time we took a cab to Tokyo Station, it’s とても大きい (Very Big) – we shopped!
There was a LEGO store, and a Star Wars store, we found the exclusive “Tokyo Banana” dessert (Pikachu edition), we also had to visit Kirby Cafe.

Before we passed out from the high heat, we bought tickets for the Tokaido Shinkansen 新幹線 to Odawara. This bullet train goes 177 MPH! I recommend splurging for the Green Car, the seats were very comfy, the hooks for your bags, 2 different style tray tables and reclining seat made for a very enjoyable 40 minute ride. I also purchased a special railway bento box called an Ekiben 駅弁 – this one is a pork rice bowl.

Once in Odawara, we took 2 regular trains to Hakone, then the mountain railway, and a cable car to Gora. The Hakone Tozan Train is one of Japan’s few mountain railways. It is amazing! It climbs slopes so steep that it uses the switchback method to climb it. At 3 different locations the conductor and driver switch positions. So cool. So some of the time we were in the back of the train and other times we were in the front. Cool photos of the train and railway below. Unfortunately clouds and winds meant the ropeway (gondola) was suspended, so no view of Mt Fuji for us this time.
You can see the concrete lattice retaining walls used to prevent erosion and landslides while still allowing drainage and vegetation growth.

Still sore from the massage and dripping sweat from the high temperatures, we visited Hakone’s Yunessun Spa Resort. A Traditional Onsen 温泉 (natural hot spring) requires you to be fully nude to enter, male and female are separate. The Yunssune Resort has 2 sides the “Naked Area” and the “Swimsuit Area” so you can choose which style you want. We opted for the swimsuit side. In addition to hot springs, they offer pools full of green tea, red wine, or coffee. There was also a water slide and several hot tubs. Being in an open air hot tub high up in the mountain with a breeze was the perfect combo for sore muscles and hot temps in Tokyo.

Oh and Leah and paid for an appointment with “Dr Fish” – this is a 5 minute fish ‘foot pedicure’ a breed of toothless carp called garra rufa fish nibble away the dead skin from your feet. It tickles like crazy. One of us giggled like crazy as all the fish in the pool feasted on their feet and the other one of us is Leah.

After a long day, we started the reverse path home. 2 Trains to Odawara Station, then the Shinkansen (bullet train) back to Tokyo station then a taxi home. Or so we thought….
Once we arrived at Odawara and bought our ticket, we waited at track 14, 8:39 PM came and but the timely Shinkansen did not arrive. Sure enough, it was delayed 55 minutes! After watching and listening to the other bullet trains rocket by at 177-200 MPH, our train finally arrived about 9:45 PM. That means we arrived at back at Tokyo station about 10:35 PM. Most workers had gone home and the shops were closed but the Pokemon remained. I also snapped a couple pictures of a floor scrubber.
I didn’t get a picture but I think his uniform said “ティーエルシー Cleaning” Who knew?!

Taxied home and crashed after a fun LOOOONG day!