Exploring Hakone (by every means of transport available)

I woke up stupidly early this morning so I could head to Hakone for the day, essentially with the aim of taking a bath. Hakone sits at the top of the Izu peninsula and is surrounded by active volcanoes, which provide fantastic hot springs that you can bathe in - it is these onsen that make Hakone a famous tourist destination.

I started my journey by taking the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Odawara and then buying a Hakone freepass. This two-day pass set me back £27 and was well worth it. I then hopped on the 'normal' train to Hakone's Yumoto station, where I switched onto the Tozan train. This ancient old electric train winds its way up through the jungle and into the mountains, taking forever to do so but allowing for some pretty views. I got off at Chokokunomori and went to the Hakone Open Air Museum. The name is a bit misleading as this is actually a huge art gallery with expansive sculpture gardens and the largest collection of Picasso works outside of Spain. It is easliy one of the best art galleries I have ever been to.

The whole site is landscaped beautifully so that you keep stumbling across new areas by accident. I could have spent all day just walking around, wishing that I was under the age of 13 so that I could play on the kids areas, which were so awesome!



I really like the way that they used the surrounding scenery to enhance the impact of a lot of the outdoor sculptures:



Here are a few of my other favourites:



It hasn't come out too well in the photo, but the giant head in the pond was actually crying...

After spending far too long looking at art, I hopped back on the Tozan train to Gora to get some lunch. My boss had recommended a tonkatsu restaurant and now I know why - the hirekatsu was delicious!


I then took the funicular train up the side of Mt Komagatake to the stop at Sounzan, where I got on the cable car. This goes over 'death valley' (a very friendly place...) where the mountain (it's actually a volcano) lets off steam through loads of vents and also deposits lots of sulphur.


The overpowering smell of egg is not the nicest thing, especially when I don't even like eggs. A local delicacy are eggs that have been cooked over the sulphurous vents - this makes the eggs cook from the inside out and they're eaten when the whites are still a bit runny. I just took people's word for it when they told me that they tasted good...

From up the cable car, on a clear day, you can get fantastic panoramic views of Mt Fuji. This is what it should look like:


And this is what I could see:


I swear that they just photoshop Mt Fuji into all these photos and that it doesn't actually exist - I have been living next to it for 6 weeks now and still haven't managed to see it!!

At the end of the cable car at Togendai is the massive Lake Ashi that sits in part of an ancient crater at an altitude of over 700m. It's pretty cool and the scenery is beautiful. I decided to get to the other side of the lake (and back to Hakone) by taking the Hakone Sightseeing Cruise, as this sounded like a good idea. It turned out to be a fantastic idea; check out the boats!



To be honest, there weren't that many 'sights' to be seen (although the audio tape came up with a few dubious ones...) but the faux pirate galleon more than made up for it. It was definitely one of the 'only in Japan' moments that I experience regularly!

I then caught the Tozan bus to Tenzan onsen. This complex of buildings and outdoor hotsprings was just fantastic. All the buildings are traditional Japanese ones, inside and out, and there were lots of different types of onsen to choose from. There were huge reading/relaxation rooms to chill out in before and after you bathe, as well as a bar and a few restaurants. The onsen themselves were amazing - they are all set into the hillside and surrounded by lovely plants and trees. There was one that went into a wee cave and another that was all cloudy because the water was full of some combination of minerals. After considerable showering and soaking, I can honestly say that I have never felt so relaxed. I only wish that we had onsen at home! Although then we would have to have volcanoes too; so maybe I'll take back that wish...

It's matsuri time!

I spent Thursday and Frday with the structures desk again, this time looking at the products in more detail. I spent a lot of time working out how to make different pay-out structures using combinations of simple put and call options and then establishing the range of delta and gamma for different moves in the spot price. This was really interesting or me to practice doing and it made it a lot easier to understand the whole process of hedging individual trades by analysing these so-called 'Greeks'.

Unfortunately, I found out on Friday morning that I failed my JSDA exam. I felt pretty crap about this for a while (I've got over it now) as I had worked quite hard for it, was doing well in the past papers and thought that I'd answered enough correctly on the day to pass it. Oh well... It's all still good experience and will be making an appearance on my CV.

After work on Friday, me and the guys on the structures desk headed over to Azubu Juban to check out the 10-bang matsuri (no idea why it's called that, but 'ju' is 10 in Japanese, so it sounds kind of like Juban, and matsuri is just a word for a festival). It was really cool - loads of stalls selling different food and drink and also a few with the usual funfair games. The food was great, especially the stuff on sticks:



In the main sqaure, there was a stage set up with a samba band and lots of dancers from the local samba school. The music was good and the costumes were brilliant:


All in all, I thouroughly enjoyed my first matsuri. I only wish that I lived in Tokyo so I could go to more - each district throws its own every summer.

Vending machines

These electronic dispensers are absoutely everywhere you go (I go past 7 soft drink vending machines in the 100 yards I walk along my street until I get to my apartment!) and are super convenient. I have seen some really weird and wonderful vending machines recently, so I thought I'd make a list of some of my favourites.

At number 7, we have the vending machines that surround an unsuspecting tree in Yokohama:


Sticking with the theme of nature is this floral drinks machine in Kyoto, at number 6:


I wonder how long this beer vending machine would remain in one piece in the UK? Machines that dispense alcoholic beverages come in fifth place:


In fourth position is this beast that dispensed hot pot noodles at a temple in Kyoto:


Third place is awarded to the every-so-handy umbrella vending machines that can be found in most train stations:


The final two places were hotly contested, but, slipping behind in second is this one in Akihabara:


I'm pretty sure (but not enirely certain) that the cans contain some sort of Japanese stew; by inspection of the picture on the front:


First place had to be awarded to the oh-so-strange 'canned bread' vending machine, also spotted in Akihabara:



For all those times that you're really desperate for some flavoured bread that's been sealed and cooked in a can. Honestly, what will they think of next?

Studying in the summer holidays?

Not cool! I have not got a huge amount to report on as I was stuck inside revising all weekend and on Monday AND on Tuesday. This was not what I signed up for! I did try to get outside and study in the nice weather - I went to Yoyogi-koen (the big park in Harajuku) to sit in the sun and work but gave up after about two hours as the insect world kept invading my personal space. There were so many ants that kept crawling over my books and myself (I thankfully didn't get bitten), and this guy got far too close for my liking:


I had the JSDA Sales Representative Class 2 exam this morning. It could have been worse but, unfortunately, the questions that I found the trickiest also happened to be the questions that were worth the most marks. Bummer. Major bummer. Hopefully I've answered just enough correctly to pass (I need 70%...) - I find out my result on Friday, so fingers crossed! I wasn't nervous before as I didn't care enough about a qualification that was going to lapse in 90 days time, but now that I've gone to the effort of actually sitting the thing, I would quite like to pass and be able to put it on my CV. We shall see... To celebrate the end of having to study obscure corporate law, I went and got myself a manicure. I am now the proud owner of some glittery, lilac nails.


Anyway, being stuck inside for four days did have its perks: take out food :) Here is a sample of some of the things I have eaten recently.

A lemon green tea frappuccino and raspberry macaroon from Starbucks (much better than the Starbucks at home).


A delicious selection of gyoza and sui mai.


Pancakes sandwiched together with custard.


Strange fried batter-balls with chunks of octopus in the middle. This sounds unusual but street vendors sell them all over the place and there is a bar/take out joint down the round from me (where I got these ones from) that only sells beer and different flavours of octopus balls.



And a tasty chocolate and orange mousse from the posh hotel patisserie that's down the road.


I did have an absolute FAIL moment one morning when I went to the coffee shop on the corner to buy a mocha and ended up with this instead:


It's a matcha latte - powdered green tea with sweetened boiled milk. It smelled and tasted exactly as disgusting as it sounds. This lurid green concoction was not a good way to start the day and I ended up pouring it down the sink :(

On one of my many coffee runs, I saw this lot being taken on a trip from (presumably) the local nursery. What a clever way to ferry toddlers around a city!



(For those of you with too much time on your hands, I have eventually uploaded all my photos onto my flickr account.)

More Comiket

I decided to take a break from studying this afternoon and headed back to Comiket to see some more cosplay and actually walk around the inside arena too. In what turned out to be an inspired idea, I took the Yurikamome monorail there but this time, stood at the frint of the leading train section. The monorail is completely electric and has no driver, just a massive window at the front, so it felt like I was driving it! (Admittedly, I was standing with lots of small children who actually pretend to drive the train and I got a few odd looks for being the only person over the age of ten standing so close to the front...) I was treated to even better views of the Tokyo Bay area and Odaiba from the front of the train compared to when I took it before and could only look out the side windows. (If you look closely, you can see Gundam poking out the top of the trees.)



I thought that I was being clever by going to Comiket in the afternoon this time, to avoid the crowds. I hadn't factored in the fact that it was Saturday today and also everybody else would have had my 'good idea' after heading along yesterday morning. It was even busier today! I didn't think that it would be possible, but I swear there were ten times as many people! Especially in the cosplay area outside - I could hardly contain myself and took far too many photos. The costumes this afternoon were even more impressive and lots more people had turned up in themed pairs or groups. I only spent an hour wandering around, but could have easily spent a whole day there watching everyone. Here are a few photos but, seeing as I loved them all, I'll upload everything onto my flickr account (eventually...).





(This Mario was definitely one of my favourites!)


Inside was just as crazy as outside (but thankfully air conditioned). Here, they employ people to dress up to help sell comics and merchandise:


But just about everything was already sold out by this afternoon anyway. There seemed to be quite a few interviews with writers/film directors going on that people were crowding around, and apparently you're not meant to take photos of them. Here is what happened when I tried:



I headed back home to do some more past paper questions, got bored, so went out for some okonomiyaki.


I've been told that this is Japan's version of a pizza, but it's more like a cross between a crepe and an omlette with lots of stuff inside and sauce on top. Yum yum! Anyway, I have been trying to work but I seem to have the attention span of a hamster and have ended up blogging instead.

Must. Study. For. Exam...

Kyoto: my ryokan and the food

My ryokan couldn't have been more perfect. I wanted to stay in a traditional Japanese-style hotel that served Japanese food and I got more than what I wanted - a fantastic room, very friendly staff, delicious food and located in the Gion district, right in the centre of Kyoto. Perfect! I couldn't recommend 'Kamogawa-kan Inn' more if you ever need a place to stay in Kyoto.

My room was surprisingly big and decked out in traditional Japanese tatami and furniture, with paper sliding windows.



I had just enough time to settle in before the two, old Japanese ladies who worked in the ryokan started to bring my kaiseki (Japanese haute cuisine) dinner. They were so kind and friendly and did absolutely everything for me!


The plates of food just kept on coming - this is what my table ended up looking like:


Every dish came with its own dipping sauce and I got a big tub of rice on the side too. It was all presented beautifully, but my favourite had to be the snow-igloo that my sashimi came in.


The food was all so delicious, so it's a bit of a shame that I still have no idea what some of it was! I asked, but didn't understand the Japanese response... The meal as a whole is very different to meals in the UK - there is a very odd mix of savoury and sweet flavours on the same plate and often in the same item. For example, small, crispy, sugared fish: salty on the inside, syrupy on the outside. The first one was a bit of a surprise, the second was quite enjoyable, but buy the third one, I had eaten enough!

The Japanese women then insisted that I got changed into the yukata that came with the room, so I obliged and got them to help me tie it. I am going to have to get myself one as they're really good.


Breakfast the next morning was another multi-course extravaganza. Again, no idea what half of it was - prizes to whoever knows what the contents of the little dishes were!


After breakfast, I was asked whether I wanted a kaiseki dinner again or shabu shabu (kind of like a meat fondue). I couldn't make my mind up so they gave me kaiseki with my own little mini shabu shabu as one of the courses! I had clearly been given the gaijin-friendly kaiseki the first night, but, impressed that I had eaten all of that, they gave me the real deal on Saturday:


One of the dishes was a speciality from the Osaka region (I think that's what she said...) and consisted solely of two fish heads. Now, whenever I eat whole fish at home, I usually stop before I get to the face. There turned out to be a surprising amount of flesh in there actually, although I couldn't face eating the eyes. The sashimi dish included sea urchin this time - I've already tried this on sushi I didn't really fancy eating it again, but did out of politeness... You know the smell of the sea lion enclosure at the zoo? That's exactly what uni tastes like.

I managed enough Japanese to have wee conversations with the two ladies and they thought I was hilarious as a result of my efforts. I must have been semi-articulate as they empathised with me when I explained how hot I was finding the weather in Kyoto compared to at home. They were so nice and took this into account when preparing my breakfast for Sunday morning; giving me dishes that were designed to cool me down, like iced tofu.


The meals were just incredicble - I want to go back just to eat some more!

For lunch, I just got food while I was out and about. Kyoto happens to have a chain of coffee houses with a very appropriate name:


I found one of my new favourite places too: Mister Donut. This is pretty much the Japanese equivalent of Krispy Kreme and every donut is only 100yen (60p!).


So on Sunday, I decided to have a variety of doughnuts for my lunch. Why? Because I'm a grown-up and can eat doughnuts for my lunch if I want to :)