13th day in Tokyo on the way to Hakone national park

We decided that a day trip was in order before we left Japan.

Hakone national park is only about 1 1/2 on the train from Tokyo and there are quite a few things to do there. There are hot springs there with sulfur and it is well equipped there for people to spend a day there. There are cable cars, train railways and even a pirate ship ferry to move you around and about the area. There is also an indoor water fun park to go to if it takes you fancy. A little steep to get into but it might be fun if you're staying around the area for a couple of days.


Train railway up the mountain

Cable car for a scenic view over the sulfuric mountainside

Sulfur coming up from the ground

Pirate ship

These ice cream wafers are absolutely fantastic, they have now become a favourite for us. The wafer is not soggy, its soft and the ice cream tastes great. Love 'em.

13th day in Shibuya at night

After Hakone we came back into Shibuya and soaked up the busy atmosphere of Shibuya

I loved the Shibuya 101 shopping complex. There was so much fashion in this one complex and this is where all the younger japanese girls get their clothes. Every shop as a definitive style where the sales assistance dress and go all out in the style!

So there is from boho chick, to french country style, feminine rock chic and bubblegum styles all clothing merchandise to be bought from the one place. It is a definite place to be visited.









Shibuya is also home to one of the busiest intersections in the world and even though this is a weeknight i think it was still quite busy.

12th day in Sushi Dai at Tsukiji market again for Sushi Dai

Sushi Dai

We were on a mding articles and blogs on the internet and found that we should've waited in line to try Sushi Dai. I was dubious as to how much better sushi could be after we had caught benito and kingfish previously in Narooma in Australia ourselves on a fishing trip and the fact that the blogs had warned of long waiting lines. In addition to that they are open from 5:30am till only 2pm. Were we going to make it?

To add insult to an already wary mind it was raining and there is not enough awning to wait underneath the line. We were there from ission to go back to Tsukiji fish markets to try Sushi Dai. After our first trip we were rea8:30am (we couldn't be bothered waking up early again). But we were wrong. There was already a line underneath their awning (which is about an hour wait from there) but also a line around the corner of the building in the rain. It poured and we waited underneath our umbrellas all us tourists watching for people to not to push in line underneath the awning without knowing that us poor people in the rain were also waiting for the same place.

So we waited in sans- awning line for about 1 1/2 and finally we were getting somewhere and got underneath the coveted awning where we could see satisfied and happy people eating, chatting and taking their time (cause we'd all waited at least 2 hours to get in there). There was no turning back from here. We weren't going to turn away now we were so close....We decided to go without the "set menu" and we wanted to order a la carte. We befriended other tourists and chatted and finally after 2 and 3/4 hours of waiting at 11:50am we were in!

Octopus

Red Clam

Abalone

Baby Shrimp

Botan Shrimp

White Bait

Sea Eel

Japanese Pan Shell

Japanese Gizzard Shad

Spanish Mackerel and Fatty Tuna

Omelette

Baby Snapper

Sea Urchin

Half Beak

our favourite sushi were the baby shrimp, Sea eel and spanish mackerel

12th day in Tokyo

After visiting the Sensoji temple at asakusabashi (lots of little stalls with a shrine at the end of the long line of stalls) we wanted to find soba noodle bar we had read about in some articles.

This soba noodle place is around 160 m south from the main entrance (past 3 intersections) from the temple down the main road on the right. It is a small place called Namiki Yabusoba. We ordered some cold soba noodles which is served on a bamboo plate and dipped into a dashi-soy sauce with toasted seaweed, white onion and wasabi. when the noodles are finished the water from cooking the soba noodles can then be mixed with the left over soy sauce dip and enjoyed like a soup to finish.

11th day in Tokyo

We moved hotels to the Olympic Inn Shibuya. Not really worth it if you don't smoke. The non smoking rooms are just non smoking if you don't smoke in there. Apart from that we smelt like cigarette smoke until we got home a few days later. The train station closest is not shibuya either it is Ikejiro-hashi.

Although the hotel was not as nice as we had experienced in our previous ones we did have a nice shabu shabu at a restaurant very close to the station, bbq'd leeks with soy bean paste (their specialty), cold tofu with benito flakes, shallots and soy sauce and a platter of grilled pork, chicken, and duck on skewers. It was a great meal and we had a lot of fun there when we finally got some help from a Japanese customer who helped us order.

10th day in Tokyo

Meiji Jengu shrine at Harajuku

It was a rainy day today but we decided we would check out the Japanese Meiji Jengu shrine. It was a nice walk into the shrine the pathways full of pebbles. The sound of it and even though it was raining it was still a lovely site as you pass underneath the Torii.


,

sake

prayer plaques

We were lucky enough to see a wedding that was taking place at the shrine

Day 9 in Tokyo

We really wanted to check out the best Tofu place in town. It is called Tofuya and they are famous for their homemade tofu. They are located underneath Tokyo tower so its easy to find. It has a lovely japanese style garden outside as you meander down the stone path to the restaurant. It was a bit more to eat there than we had reserved but we were able to go into their souvenir/retail vendor in the restaurants garden and purchased some tofu products that we could try.

We had a tofu skin wrapped soft tofu adorned with shrimp on the top. It was quite nice and in addition some tofu skin. The tofu was nice but next time we will have to dress up before we actually eat in their restaurant.

9th day in Japan, Kawazu

After our nice stay at Amagisou we were dropped off at Kawazu station before heading back into Tokyo. We went on yet another food adventure to a local supermarket where we got sweet and tasty strawberries, cheesecake, peach yoghurt and a blueberry milk jelly. We had so much fun waiting for our train.

It was a lovely place indeed.

8th day on the way from Tokyo to Amagisou spa

Woke up early to trek our way to Tokyo's main train station to get on a 3 hour train ride on the Odakyu train to the Shizuoka region to a spa resort called Amagisou which we had researched before arriving that had us sold. We were able to go into outdoor heated pools with a backdrop of a waterfall.

Tokyo's main train station is amazing! There's so much food that you can buy there that we had so much fun just eating our way there.
We had some cheese cake, green tea cake and a red bean bun. They were a lovely start to the day.





Once you get out into the rural areas of Tokyo its so beautiful with lots of rice paddies and when we got towards the coast it was breathtaking.



Amagisou Spa Resort

The waterfall from their website did not disappoint. It was actually better than we had expected, the creek running from the waterfall was quite cold as it is still May and not quite summer yet.




Here are some of the outdoor heated pools you can find in Amagisou



Here is a cave one that was quite nice but a little too intense with the amount of heat that is contained in here.


Dinner at Amagisou
We had a set menu, kaiseki with lots of different foods


The Menu with Cold Starters

Sashimi with Prawn and Fresh Horseradish for Wasabi Soy

Prawns with Roe

Bbq Fish

Preserved Veg and Black Fungi

Hot Pot with Black and White Fungus and Vegetables

Deep Fried Onions with Daikon and Soy Sauce

Baked Egg Custard (savoury)

Miso soup

Strawberry Cheesecake