Dark Eggs to Infinite Booze

I got to check a lot of things off my list of to-dos today.  It started off a little worrying.  So last I left off I was riding a bus to the likely location I wanted to get to.  The buses suck compared to the trains here.  The bus system, I know now, is you grab a ticket as you board the bus.  Your fare increases as the ride continues.  At the end you drop the ticket into the slot and either swipe a prepaid card as a lot of folks do, or pay exact change, no breaking bills.  So the bus driver got really annoyed with me when I had the change out, and I`m like, I just want to pay, and he said `baschikketto, baschikeeto`.  If I had calmed down instead of slightly panicking I would have realized he was saying bus ticket, and I figured it out and apologized and he kinda harumphed and went on about his route.

First order was breakfast.  I stopped at my now usual Lawson`s for lemon chicken, a Calpis Soda (which is just the regular yogurty drink but carbonated and not as good as I found out), and charged my phone a little.  This also helped get some change in preparation for the next bus ride.

Hakone has a reputation as a summery getaway for folks in Tokyo with great photo opps.  Its part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu national park.  Hakone temple has a very famous Tori gate partially submerged in water that folks like to take photos at.  Today was overcast for the mostpart, and when I got down to the Tori gate, it was under construction and covered in metal scaffolding.  I took a selfie anyway.  I walked around for a bit down a very nice path along the lake.  On my way back I spotted a dude crouching down in front of his girlfriend, and creeper took a picture of him proposing.  I think he got a yes and they kissed and I skulked off in the other direction...back into the shadows....So he didn`t let the gloomy day and no view get him down.

Lake Ashi also has a number of tour boats that go around it.  For some reason they thought it would be a great tourist draw if they made 3 of them pirate galleons, and they were right I guess.  People seem to really like them.  They just make no sense.

I headed the other direction now, past Lawson`s.  My next point of interest was the Hakone Checkpoint.   On the way over there, there was a park entrance and I decided to check it out.  It has an arrow pointing up a long flight of stairs to a Mt Fuji lookout.  So I hiked on up and got to the observatory.  Those dang clouds, Mt Fuji was occasionally fairly visible, but minus the iconic peak.  I took some photos for a Chinese tourist and his friends, and in return got him to take a shot of me with Fuji, the lake, and a couple pirate ships in the background.  I held my company flag for the shot which I brought along for basically this shot.  It`ll have to do.

On my way back down a thought occurred to me.  There was this park building from like the 70`s or 80`s there.  If any building would have what I was looking for it would be this.  I`m talking about the iconic Japanese squatty potty.  They don`t really have them anymore because Japanese love their heated toilet seats with bidets, self cleaning functions, and sensors, and honestly I love them now too.  But the trip wouldn`t be complete without it.  I went into the bathroom even though I didn`t have a need and checked first stall, no luck.  Second stall, JACKPOT.  Took some pictures, gave it a whirl.  I get why they don`t make them anymore.  My feet and legs are already tricky to manage on this trip, having angle your body and keep your clothes from touching the public restroom floor is like a circus act I tell you what.

Now I was feeling pretty good, that was an unexpected happy surprise.  Next was the checkpoint.  The Hakone Checkpoint is a historic landmark from ye olden times.  The shogun put in place the Sekisho system, that is a series of checkpoints (called Sekisho) that would cover roads throughout the country, but specifically around Edo (now Tokyo).  The Shogun would keep the local lords (Daimyos) loyalty by forcing their wives to live in Edo as collateral.  The most important role of these Sekisho`s was to make sure wives weren`t sneaking out.  When women passed through they needed very specific passes which identified their features and the purpose of their movement.  The checkpoints also served to limit weapon entrance to Edo, all very interesting stuff.  The site is a reconstruction, but it was done faithfully to techniques, materials, and locations of all previous construction.  All original construction was left intact which was: stairs, foundations, a well.  Part of why I wanted to view this as well was I first saw it in my favorite anime "Samurai Champloo".  After finding out it was a real place I thought it was pretty cool, and it is.  After that they had a short museum on items recovered, the history of it, and how the reconstruction was done.

Next on my Hakone to-do list: find an egg.  Not just any egg, Hakone is famous for its Black eggs.  So I guess when you cook an egg in sulfurous water it turns black or some such?  At any rate I didn`t have to look far.  The first stand outside of the checkpoint was selling them for 100 yen each.  I bought one and he was good enough to hand me some table salt as well.  Eating these is said to add at least 10 years to your lifespan, and Nori-san had recommended it to me when I told him I was going to Hakone.  So I peeled off the black outer shell, my fingerprints now leaving black smudges on the egg, added a touch of salt and took a bit.  Honestly not nearly as bad as I thought.  It tasted fairly normal but it did have a distinct unpleasant sulfury taste.  I was hungry though and scarfed it down and washed it down with some Calpis.

I decided to skip the onsen in Hakone since it was cloudy, and my major reason for wanting to go was to chill in a hot bath and stare at Mt Fuji.  Also I`d already had a great onsen experience.  So one last quick thing before I left was find the Old Tokaido Road.

The Tokaido Road still exists, but its now paved for regular car traffic.  However bits and pieces of the old road exist and it connected Tokyo and Kyoto and was one of the most trafficked and policed roads back in the day.  I followed a tour group to it, but that was a terrible idea.  I let two groups get ahead of me.  The path itself was pretty boring and had rocks, but I would`ve walked it further.  The tour groups had a bunch of questions about Samurai and Ninja using the road and circling around and taking pictures and oos and ahhhs.  So I decided I had my fill and checked on the next bus time.

Bus ride back to the station was ok this time.  In the end each bus fare was about 12 bucks which is on the expensive side of travel I`d had here so far.  I had a quick cheap meal at Sukiya outside the station, same bowl I had before and then went to search for a train.  I looked up the lowest fare on my phone and found one from the JS line but couldn`t find it.  It was around 15 bucks and took 1.5 hours.  By comparison the Shinkansen Bullet Train takes like 35 minutes and cost 40, and other trains were showing up at around 20 bucks.  So I went and asked the info booth, and she`s like "Oh that`s not OUR railline but we can get you there faster or for the same price go ask at the booth".  So I was waiting in line with the plebs that speak 0 Japanese in the tourist information booth (which honestly I speak barely speak any anyways) waiting to get info I already knew.

Surprise to me, the guy is like, we can get you on this one without reserved seats for 7 bucks, or this one with reserved seats for 14 bucks.  I don`t know if its a mystery tourist discount or what but I got the cheapo ticket to Shinjuku station.

Ah, I forgot to mention.  I could update my previous paragraph but I`m a few drinks in so I won`t.  I met a guy from Germany who was here for 2 months!  He just came from Tokyo, I met him in Hakone.  Apparently he`s 32, worked for 15 years and up and sold his appartment and possessions and started travelling the world.  Seemed a little to final for me.  Also he didn`t speak a lick of Japanese which amazed me.  Anyway, he warned me with Tokyo that you`ll never think there could be any higher concentration of people than where you`re at.  Then you go to another area of Tokyo and think the exact same thing.

So, because of that I was a little nervous now of Tokyo.  The train also progressively was getting more and more full as it got closer.  Got of the train, walked outside...and it was ok.  Yeah it was crowded, but I`d been in more crowded particular areas.  Not so bad, felt better.

I had a target in mind to spend the night...but first walking around, restroom, phone charging, important stuff.  McDonalds, again.  I`m sorry everyone, but seriously it has everything I need and at the moment it had a bathroom.  I ordered a soda and a ShakeShake Fry that has wasabi flavor.  Naturally they once again got my order wrong, and I got a ShakeShake Chicken with Cheese.  It was pretty good.  You add what`s basically that powdered mac and cheese powder to a fried chicken patty and it has the novelty that you shake it then tear open the bag.  No bun.

After that I wandered, lots and lots of games stores and crane games.  Lots of lights.  There`s also a lot of higherish end stuff like Burberry and Coach and Louis Vuitton.  There was a BookOff I checked out that was pretty good.  As I wandered I came across the famous red light district of Shinjuku:  Kabukicho.  The main road is fairly tame, there`s a couple of 4D/3D sex shops where you don a VR headset and get a private room.  There`s various lady bars that are similar to the maid cafes from back in Osaka except they provide an extra service.  And then theres just like normal stores like more arcade games.  There`s a really cool Robot Cabaret.  Its like super touristy but so amazing it might be worth it.  Look up pictures folks!

Then the side streets are sketchier.  They have Kabukicho Information centers, with curtains covering the them.  From peeking between the cracks looks like you pay for `information` about women seeking men.  Mmmhmmm, nice disguise.  There`s also dating hookup places with the same ruse.  There`s also just ordinary restaurants in the mix that look pretty good!

Now it was around 7:30, I was sore from walking, again.  So I went to my target.  Raum internet cafe.  Now this has mixed reviews from google, but one from Kotaku showed up in my news feed.  Raum is cheap, has a vague smokey smell even in the non-smoking section.  But for 15 bucks you also get all you can drink booze for 12 hours.  I met the receptionist and just like at Popeye its a little tricky to get signed up for the first time.  They have various room plans and types and you need that sign in card and to explain you don`t have one.

I caved and for the first time used google translate in a regular conversation, and it was wonderful.  I got to shut my brain off for a little bit.  I want a room with no chair.  I need to register.  etc etc.  Also my first room the keyboard didn`t work because someone gooped up the buttons (hopefully by spilling their booze on it).  Went back with google translate in hand and was like "My keyboard don`t work!", and I got a new room.  Very nice very cool.

The booze.  So the booze, there`s a beer pouring machine that tilts your mug and fills it up to the correct amount.  There are a few freestanding items like Vodka, Gin, cheap wine, some liquours.  There`s a highball machine that auto adds whiskey and soda.  And the mixers are fairly plentiful.

So far my count is:
1 beer
1 mimosa
1 highball

But the night is young.  If I get up early enough I`ll get through some more mimosas.  Very pleasant, hopefully the entire process goes this smooth.  Will stay here again tomorrow night as on the 30th I need to go just west of here to make it to the Ghibli Museum.