Hakone, Robots and Golden Gai
We have a full day ahead, Theresa in toe. Bang. We're off like a bullet... On our first high speed, Shinkansen train. The sun is out and we are in pursuit of Mt Fuji.
Our first bullet train!
As our speed slows and we transition to a local train to reach our destination, Hakone, it looks like the clouds have outrun us. It seems as if the blue skies and clear views were left back in Tokyo. But our pursuit continues. Refueling only quickly, for soba noodles. Regionally renowned. Authentically good.
Our feet take us through a gorgeous cedar forest and onto a boat that is authentically touristy. Old has never looked so new.
On the other side of the lake, our pursuit to see the nearby Mt Fuji starts to take a decline — it's 3pm and the gondolas are no longer taking passengers up to the viewpoint today. As we turn back and wait for a return bus, all we can do is watch the passing gondolas go up incline, without passengers. Talk about adding insult to injury.
On the bus we check our guidebooks and see no mention of the gondolas closing at 3pm. Adding to our frustration is the overcrowding on this local bus. Not a seat in sight, standing room only.Every stop brings more passengers who push us further down the aisle and we get even farther away from Mt Fuji. Clouds are definitely in the air. The road to and from Hakone seems hard, unnecessarily so.
Evening hits as our bullet train reaches its destination in Tokyo. While in transit we decided to transition intoour evening without stopping. If we did stop, we may fall behind schedule or worse, crash – lights out, day over.
We walk into the night with stars in our eyes – from above, but not from as high as one would think. Our stars are from the movie Lost in Translation – set in Japan, grounded by the “ New York Bar’” at the Park Hyatt. A great watch if you’ve not seen it and an appropriate haven on the 52nd floor, in a country that can be bewilder westerners. This could be the single most expensive drink of our journey, but worth it’s value given the fabulous views and live music.
As we come back down to earth, the bright lights of Shinjuku shoot us our senses back to a place of high alert. The crowd of flashing lights and people compete for our attention but we havelanded with tickets. So our sights are set on dinner and a show at Robot Restaurant.
Our arrival provides our senses with no relief here the lights are brighter and this place drips head-to-toe in spectacle. More is more... and then some more. The food is not worth writing about but the show is certainly an experience one that is best described by it's spectators a mix of claps and laughter, dropped-jaws and folded-arms, astonishment and bewilderment. Our experience ran the gamut.
After the show, we say our final farewell to our Tokyo partner-in-crime, Theresa, as we all head in different directions throughout the beautiful land of Japan. Until we meet again!
As we leave the robots behind and head out into the bright lights of the evening for a drink to calm the senses. We pass by the big bars and look for the small in Golden Gai, a cluster of hundreds of tiny bars in Shinjuku that are connected by a few narrow pedestrian-only streets. Here the lights dim and the crowds divide into establishments made to only seat a handful. We choose the quiet of the quiet to come together and close our day, regaling the sights seen and unseen, which for the most part were lost in translation.
