Good morning. Today, everything is foggy, and the weather forecast is raining all day. We were lucky to have one good day of weather yesterday.
I guess this is one of the reasons I prefer using Excel to chart my travel itinerary. Since many of my places to go in Japan are outdoors, we are often at the mercy of the weather. We always need an extra day allowance and the flexibility to swap things around depending on the weather conditions.
I’ve been trying to find an application that can serve my needs, but they’re either overly complicated or lacking vital features. If you know of any good ones, please leave a comment below! (There’s one I have been using lately. The app uses Google Maps as a base. However, the drawback is that it’s in Chinese. Available on both IOS and Google Play store. Search for chicTrip 去趣)
Today, both groups decided to take a break from each other after seeing each other for the past week. (It was a good decision that we rented a car each.)
My wife and I missed the doughnuts from Mister Donut. We saw one outlet not far from our hotel, so we visited for breakfast. They often change their menu, and this time, they have some Pokemon specials.
After breakfast, we leisurely drove to Hakone-Yumoto Station. Supposedly, there is a walking street with lots of street food.
Parking was a challenge; it was full of people, too.
Since we are already there, we might as well explore and enjoy the place. Honestly, you can finish the stretch in less than 45 minutes. There is nothing noteworthy there, in my opinion.
Perhaps only the fish cake on skewers by Kagoya Seijiro. The fish cake was good.
There are several souvenir shops on the street, but you can find nothing elsewhere. And imagine trudging along the crowded streets with shopping bags with people bumping into you every 5 seconds.
With some time to spare between now and dinner, we wanted to visit the Hakone Ropeway. However, the ropeway was closed due to bad weather, so we had Kyoho grape ice cream downstairs instead.
Ah, yes. People go up the Hakone Ropeway to have two black eggs, which is believed to prolong life. Do not worry; the souvenir shop at the ticket station also sells black eggs. You can get some without going up the volcanic valley. (it’s just regular eggs, i did not take any photos of them)
Dinner at 御殿場駅近く 鰻のひろ田. Dinner at this yakitori was the saving grace for a rather uneventful day.
Just when I thought the entire Gotemba seemed full of tourist traps, I found this wonderful joint.
The shop is located on the second floor of a run-down building. It is not exactly easy to find as there is no visible frontage.
For a moment, I was doubting if I have got the location correct. LOL.
Besides the three of us, the patrons are all locals.
As the name suggests, their speciality is unagi, but every item we ordered was delicious. The prices were very reasonable, too.
Their unagi is just lightly salted and grilled, and it is enjoyed with wasabi. There’s no additional layer of sweet sauce glaze on it (at least, I cannot tell). Actually, I very much like it this way as I can better taste the sweetness of the unagi.
This cold salted tomato is so sweet and juicy. I saw the table next to us ordered, and we followed suit. It was a good call.
Crunchy unagi bones paired with warm sake. Perfect combo.
After a satisfying dinner, I ended the night with this 白色恋人 ice cream mochi.
Tomorrow, we will pack and head for Izu.
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Click below for day 9!
Autumn in Japan, Two Weeks Self-Drive Travel Itinerary (Nagano, Hakone, Izu, Tokyo) – Day 9
Click below to read about the rest of my trip!
Autumn in Japan, Two Weeks Self-Drive Travel Itinerary (Nagano, Hakone, Izu, Tokyo)
