1 Day Round Course Hakone

Around last week, I went for a trip to Hakone, alone. Yet another impulsive trip I've decided to take, since I got 2 consecutive days of holiday from my work which is a very rare chance to have,  I spent 1 (tiring) day in Hakone and another day to rest at home.

I have to say, Hakone trip from Tokyo without staying, is quite cheap!

For my one day trip, I brought 2 days Hakone Pass for around 5000 yen (they didn't sell the one day pass, I think), which covered almost 90% transportation to, in, and from Hakone. That 5000 yen covers 1 round trip from Shinjuku to Hakone Yumoto (the first main station in Hakone) and vice verse, plus all the buses, cable car, rope-way, sightseeing boat which is mostly all the main attractions in Hakone. Just wow.  If I didn't shop or buying things such as souvenirs and stuffs, 5000 yen will be the net price for having a trip to Hakone. But... I buy things. Ohhooo.

There’s no trip without shopping in my dictionary. At least souvenirs. Like magnets, key holder, etc that contains that place's memories.

I follow this suggested 1 day round course from this website.

You can gain most all of the info from that website which I found unbelievably very easy to follow. From how to get the ticket, go from one spot to another is all written on the site. Checked it.

Since all the infos were covered on the web, I think I will try to cover the time schedule. I cannot remember the details but I hope It’ll give you all the image of how tight it will be to do round course or is it suitable to be tried or not.

However, I have to say that even the schedule is very tight for me, mainly because I don’t want to miss the last bus from Moto Hakone to Hakone Yumoto which is around 16.30. I skipped lunch at that day, lucky I brought mega big cheese bread from the day before so I binged that all the way from one destination to another in the bus. Saved, by the bread.

And I went alone, some more. YES. Alone. One spot bored, move, move, and move. Always moving. Imagine going with 5 people. Duuuude. Have to be mentally prepared!

I'm so kind before beginning my trip details, here is the route I mainly take in Hakone. Courtesy of Japan Guide too of course.

And from here goes my schedule at that day (time is estimated, I suppose it will be around 85% accurate):

06.30 – 09.00 à Taking the train from Shinjuku and reach Hakone Yumoto on 08.30, with a transfer in Odawara. Usually It takes around 2 and half hours on the train. I spent around 30 minutes to search and buy Kairo, a stick-on heat pack to stick on my foot because it was so damn cold my feet freezing.

Reach Hakone Yumoto directly greeted with mountain sceneries. Holiday mood up!!

09.00 - 10.00 à taking the Tozan Railway from Hakone Yumoto to Chokoku no Mori Station (one stop before a station called Gora), to visit the Open Air Museum Hakone. It was super recommended!! Ticket for normal adult 1600 yen, showing the Hakone Free Pass and get discounted to 1400 yen.  

All the art, good weather, plus all the surrounding mountains scenery were just so breathtaking; it was so calm I cannot believe how noisy Tokyo is!!

Went up there and when reached the top, it scares the shit out of me. Directly went downstairs after that.

There were some indoor art too.

Here stands a quite big gallery dedicated to Picasso. There were other artists gallery too however I think the main gallery object is Picasso's.

And the rest of it.

I can literally spend the whole day here, however time isn't waiting for me, so I have to move on to the next gallery.

11.30 – 12.00 à Went by bus from Chokoku no Mori Bus stop to a bus stop called Kawamukai, right in front of the Museum of Little Prince. The ticket is 1450 yen with the Hakone Free Pass.

I have to say I’m kinda disappointed as nothing much to see here, as the museum size itself is quite small. However If you like the story of the Little Prince, I guess you will like this place a lot.

The nuance is very European chic.

To be honest, I went only because it seems to be cute, from all the photos from the website. A character museum in Japan, what can go wrong, after all?

And after I went there, I kinda like the stories of the Little Prince itself as the morale of the stories is kinda philosophical. And a little bit weird, autistic kind of stories. I like. How emo can I be.

Spent around 1 hour here, and I realize I have to keep move on to the main spot in Hakone, the cable-cars, rope-way and sightseeing boat. Unfortunately during winter, the last admission time for each transports is very short, mostly around 16.00 or 16.30, so, gotta be fast.

13.00 – 13.30 à Went back to Gora station to catch the cable car that takes me to Sounzan to transfer to the rope-way. It only took 10 minutes from Gora to Sounzan.

13.40 – 14.00 à From Sounzan, take the rope-way to Owakudani.

WTF moment happened here. I was in a rope-way car together with a whole family from Hongkong that happened to be on the same car altogether. They all knew each other, take photos together, laughing together and I’m just “wtf that lonely girl doing, went to Hakone alone” kind of mood. Ooopsie. Awkwarrrrdddd.

But I take so many photos too though. Don’t care.  

The scenery was frickin' gorgeous!! 

Steam comes out from the crated of the mountain.

Reached Owakudani, I took several pictures and shop a little bit. Food, mostly, to be brought back to Tokyo. The view from the top is too damn pretty!!

14.45 – 15.00 à take the rope-way again to Togendai. From there take the sightseeing boat through Lake Ashinoko.

15.00 – 15.30 à enjoy the scenery from the sightseeing boat for around 30 minutes to Hakone Machi. The boat itself was very crowdeeeed. Ehm, its more of a ship actually. A very Chinese ship. Whyy??

  See the super small red shrine gate in the middle of the wood below!!

15.30 – 16.00 à I decided to stop at Hakone Machi as the website recommended to walk on the Cheddar Tree road which I found quite spooky in the end.

At this time I quite panicked though. The time for the last bus from Moto Hakone was around 16.30 and I didn't quite sure how long it will take for me walking from Hakone Machi to Moto Hakone. But lastly, luckily I can catch the last bus right on 16.35. I arrived on the bus stop around 16.15, and wait for a little bit.

Unfortunately I didn't have enough time more to explore the Hakone Shrine on near the Moto Hakone. Oh well. The red gate pic is more than enough, then.

16.35 – 18.30 à Following that round course schedule, I add my own preference for my last-before-last destination: before going back to Hakone Yumoto after finishing the course, I went for an onsen called Tenzan which located right between the Moto Hakone bus stop and Hakone Yumoto bus stop. I drop at a station called Okuyumoto Iriguchi and the onsen is right down the hill. Admission is 1200 yen with the Hakone Free Pass.

I think this is quite a recommended place to go, since several of my local friends recommended this place for enjoying onsen in Hakone. And not to mention so many foreign tourist went here too!!

Super. Satisfied.

After a long walking-all-day trip non stop, relaxing at an onsen was the best way to chill ever. I think I fell asleep on the powder room a while after the bath as it relaxed me so much.

18.30 - As the onsen itself has its own bus that delivered people to Hakone Yumoto until quite late, around 20.40 for the last bus, I can quite relax a bit at the onsen. Take off on 18.30 and from there to Hakone Yumoto, went back to Shinjuku with the same track; transfer at Odawara and from there was 1 and half hour to Shinjuku.

And that’s the end of my Hakone one day round trip.

As for me, I was very satisfied with this trip as it didn't cost me much money, and I can finish all the round trip in one day. And moreover, this is my first solo trip far from Tokyo and it was a big success!! I didn't get lost, can catch all the bus on time and had a quite high accuracy on the time estimation.

I think I should do another solo trip more!!

While I can say I covered almost all of the main attractions in Hakone which is mainly from the cable car to the sightseeing boat, I have to say that still, maybe 2 days trip were still the best options if you have more time. 1 day for the round course, and another day to visit several art museums available (so many interesting art museum in Hakone) and maybe even can visit the famous Gotemba Outlet that were famous for it’s Fuji Mountain scenery that can be seen during clear days while you shop. And it will be less tiring, of course, minus the time pressure.

However however!!

I’m glad I made it to Hakone and went back Tokyo safe and sound (since I was quite afraid I get lost, missed the last train and have to stay there for one night..I have no money left this month). What an exhilarating experience!!

See you on my next trip!!

Not so soon though.

Gotta breathe...

(and save money.)

Tokyo Nail Expo 2014

I know it’s superrrrr late, but I want to blog a bit about my last year November’s visit to Tokyo Nail Expo in Tokyo Big Sight, Odaiba. Because I thought the next Tokyo Beauty Expo is starting soon, this will be a good chance to share what will it be look like in a beauty event itself. Although this time of event focus is for nails only, I think the flow and the feeling will be more or less the same.

The event hall was only 10 minutes walk froma station called Kokusai Tenjijo.

I went with my classmates in nail school. Before we enter, somewhat we have to buy the ticket around 3000yen/pax, but since we were a student, our teacher have given us and all of the student free entrance to go, so, we can avoid the ticket queue which is quite frustrating long.

Once we enter the site, the crowd can be seen everywhere.

What I can found in this Nail expo is, several things such as nail competition, art exhibition, special event sale (which already well known that in this event, usually all nail equipment such as LED light + colour set, brushes, accessories, stones etc is below usual average price, so expect a very long queue only just to pay), nail art demo, free nail class, new spring style trend introduction, free nail art (usually only 1 finger 1 person per stall) and so on.

This event is basically an annually long awaited nail event in Japan which famous for its advanced nail art, so people from all around the world such as USA, Singapore, Taiwan, and China all came here. And of course almost all the famous nail-related company brands have their own stall here. 

Quite crazy.

This is one of the teachers giving a free nail art demo, and the result is very pretty!!

And this is another crowd watching other nail art demo in another stall.

Usually each stall/brand has its own free nail art demo and it’s schedule, so we can pick which demo we would like to see. Of course, the latest trending nail art style demo will have unbelievable crowd waiting.

Tired of seeing several demos, I decided to shop a bit (even takes around 3 hours only to queue..) and take a look of the nail art sample which were placed everywhere.

OMG all so damn pretty I don’t know how they can make it???? Strolling around, “tsk tsk tsk”-ing samples cause amazed by their skill here. Japanese really take it to another level.

WTF just how did they make it???????

And several nail set introduced for nail competition.

Not to mention predicted spring style and color trend too.

Overall, if the amount of crowds were to be put aside, this event rocks. As a nailist it is heaven. All the colour, utilities, etc it was worth it to save all the money and spend it here.

What I learn from my visit were these things:

•  Instead of bringing credit cards, bring a lot, lot of cash. Of course several stall can use credit card but most of them are cash only. Even stall that receive credit card, usually only open 1 register specified for credit card, so imagine the queue. I spent most of my time queued for credit card because I don’t have enough cash to pay.

• Bring compatible food here. Bread, onigiri, milk whatsoever. There will be not enough food stall, not enough seats so literally everything have to be done while walking or standing. Expect all of your body hurts when came home at the end of the day.

• Bring carry case or baggage, in case you prepared for a big haul. Case with 4 wheels is the most recommended since there will be a lot of people there, carrying 2 wheeled carry case will just make other people angry because you and your baggage takes a lot of space when walking. 

• Compact phone charger, always. You will be taking pictures like mad, and dear sweety phone battery will be easily dropped. Not to mention if you were separated from you friend too!!

The event itself actually were 2 days, but I can only visit on the first day because of my work the next day, so I was focusing myself on buying things at that time. I didn't see that much nail art demo (cry) which I’m curious about.  And I didn't take much photos too since my hand were too full of my shopping bag. 

In my opinion, it will be just right i u can visit both 2 days in a row. Especially in the final days. All the climax were there; the ultimate nail art technique were introduced, several actress as nail models came out, and super sale for several booth to clear their stock. Too bad I couldn't go at that time.

So now I’m waiting for another expo next spring. Since this is the first nail expo a.k.a a beauty event that I have visited, I’m really curious about how the next event will turn out to be!!

Kawagoe Strolling

Last time I had my company training in around Saitama area and right after completing our training, me and several of my friends decided to take a stroll around an area called Kawagoe, which is famous for its Edo style preserved buildings environment. During that Edo period, this town was an important commercial resource to Tokyo that it grew so wealthy more than the other town.

We stopped on a station called “Kawagoe” (川越) and then we walked around 15-20 minutes to the center of the old town of Kawagoe called the “Warehouse District” which apparently has the strongest Edo-style buildings environment.

My bad was, at that time, my friends lead us all the way so I kinda didn’t remember how we got there, but all I knew was that he took a map from the station and directly followed the instruction there based on my research on web, apparently it was much more closer to a station called “Kawagoeshi” (川越市) and its just a walk straight to the Warehouse District. However, since there are so many shops along the road to the warehouse district, we enjoyed the 20 minute walk a lot.

Even they have some branded shops there such as Zara, Starbucks etc. Wtf. Talking about building-style generation gap. Hahahah.

Walking the roads, we can see the building style changed from modern to Edo-style buildings slowly. Kinda have that feeling of creepiness (I know I played horror games too much).

Some shops were so old style we don’t even know whether it is operating or just standing there doing nothing...

Reaching the main spot, we slowly felt that the crowd were increasing, and we know we’re on the right track.

I think the Warehouse District starts from the famous bean shops here.

They sell all kind of Japanese style beans with several flavour such as Kinako which appears to be the most famous one, matcha, chocolate, and several more that I even can’t remember. We can bring around our toothpick gave by the shop assistant, walk around the store and try all the samples that were put on the trays. It’s like, bean buffet. Eat all the beaaaaansss.

Not just eating of course, I brought some beans back home and it cost around 500-700 yen per box. They sell other items too such as chips etc however their beans seems like the famous one, so I didn’t bother to look at the other stuff beside beans.

Continue.

We keep strolling around the area, found one cute Hello Kitty store. 

Since I went with 3 guys, my visit here was less than 10 minutes. I keep walking inside the store and they be like, already standing in front of the store waiting for me with their “C'mon we have to continue” face without mercy. Bah.

But it was quit reasonable. It was around 4 at that time and most of the stores there start closing around 5, so we kinda have to walk faster to explore all of the best spots.

From there, we just walk strolling around the road and visited several stores with less than 5 minutes each inside.

And we reached the candy alley (at least that’s what they called in the website) ! They sell all the very old style Japanese sweets, and, weird toys.

They have the weighed candy spot where I can put all the flavoured candy that I want in one bag. It cost around 200 yen for 100 gr. Quite exciting. But sorry I didn’t take any photos of it.

This is the continuance of the candy alley, marked with several stores selling the same style candies and Japanese traditional foods. And we found several coffee shops, bread store, and hotels.

My friends were fascinated by all the koi fishes inside the pond outside a random restaurant. They look at these boring things and won’t let me look at the Hello Kitty longer. Booo.

And here we are, reached the main spot, the landmark of Kawagoe, the Bell Tower! The tower was rebuilt in 1984 after a fire destroyed it on 1983.

And just beside the Bell Tower, there was a shop that sells best-ever taro flavour Ice cream that I ever taste in my life. At first I hesitated to buy but after I ate it, I swear it was the best thing ever.

And sadly to say, my taro-flavored ice cream marked the end of our journey. Since it was already 6 plus and most of the store were closing down, we decided to walk back to Kawagoe Station and take a train back home to Tokyo.

It was an exciting short trip after all! Escaping all the city lights and crowds from Tokyo. Enjoying a different environment once in a while is definitely my one way, or, our way to release the city stress a little bit. Maybe I won’t be back here again for a near time, or, maybe never again, since there were still so much of the cities in Tokyo that worth to be explored. However, this city didn’t fail to leave great memories I cannot forget and I will keep looking forward to be back here again someday.