Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Day 4: Hakone rules

Group picture with master of Kurata Izakaya.

River next to Hakone-yumoto station.

Stew pork soba at Hakone. The main dish was yuba tofu soba which was way too healthy for me.

Yes, smoking and ping pong at Ohmiya Ryokan. They had ping pong bats so we didn`t need to use slippers.

To Yao Ken aka Will J, this is what you are missing out when you decided to FFK us. Did I mention that they got two ashtrays in our rooms and in the toilets!

Chicken skin yakitori! Yes, Jeff they are even tastier than Melbourne`s.

Chanko nabe stew. Apparently E. Honda eats this so he can do the flying headbutt.

Our rock band singer plus the best maracas in Japan = win!

I finally got to sing Love Machine at a karaoke! Unfortunately, my mind went blank at the beginning of the song much to the amusement of my friends.

Yes those are real geisha. Thanks to Hellcar and his gaijin ninja shot skills.

Rei failing at busu-kawaii. Clearly he had enough alcohol at this point.

Billy showing us his excitement from being so close to the geisha.

More Hellcar gaijin ninja shot skills. I need to rent me a geisha in order to practice my Japanese with.

Two guys and 3 geisha? Throw us a bone here mate!

Waking up 10 minutes from check out time.

View from overhead bridge at Hakone-yumoto station.

Our rooms at Ohmiya Ryokan.

Random notes and observations:
- We went to an outdoor onsen and it was really good. Thank god I`m short sighted so I didn`t really see anything. There was a wall divider like in the doramas/anime but it wasn`t to the female section. Ohmiya Ryokan also had a private indoor onsen which I woke up at 6am to enjoy.
- Kimutaku`s ads suck.
- Ohgura Yuko seems to be a staple of variety shows. Saw her in two different shows and she`s no longer speaking in her fake voice although its still very kawaii.
- The boss of Ohmiya Ryokan and master of Kurata Izakaya really went out of their way to make us welcome. Ohmiya Ryokan gave us free tickets for the onsen and made a booking for us at Kurata. I really had a lot of fun and would definitely come back here again. I wish we could have stayed an extra day.
- Now in Kyoto and its raining so we couldn`t be stuffed going to shrines etc. Off to Osaka tomorrow!

18 comments:

Alex Mitchell-Dawson said...

geisha and onsen are good and all, but where are the schoolgirl pictures already?.

Barron said...

Looks like fun! It's interesting to see photos of the infamous hamsapsukebe.

bframe5 said...

Looks like you're having a good time!

I'll head to Osaka on Saturday after I finish my photoshoot with this girl =D ↓
http://www.central-j.com/search/newface/14.html

(Probably arrive around 7PM..)

Since I'm not too familiar with Osaka, finding a good snack is next to impossible, so how about a good kyabakura?
(Pretty easy to look up a good place on a site like http://www.naimaga.com/kansai/)

Anyways, I'll give you a shout.

Anonymous said...

The food really looks great. Geisha's? sheesh! I could have helped them with their kimono's or something.

I still demand pantsu, or at the very least a picture with you and two real schools girls.

Come on, you saw Love Exposure, you know the drill.

- FlyRogue

Akiramike said...

Where are you having your photoshoot? I'm game for kyabakura!

Anonymous said...

*green in envy* BTW, how much is it for one of those geisha? You know, just to talk. :)

bframe5 said...

The photoshoot is in Nagoya.
But, it's kind of a waste of time coming to Nagoya, I think.. nothing really special.

Which station is closest to your hotel in Osaka?

pcurve said...

man, you guys blend right in with the local. You all have that Osakan bum look. lmao

Akiramike said...

bframe5, we`re staying at J-Hoppers Osaka. The nearest station is Fukushima. Heres the map
http://maps.google.co.jp/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

We can meet at Osaka station or wherever it is easier for you. Is there a dress code for kyabakura and about how much would we expect to spend per person? Only of my friends wants to come along.

jaycbll said...

looks like a lot of fun ~

Anonymous said...

Anonymous wrote:
Come on, you saw Love Exposure, you know the drill.

I was just waiting to hear this. Should I laugh, cry, maybe both. :/
Just come home safe and sound Mike. Don't want you to take a closer look at the Japanese jail. :)

Akiramike said...

pcurve: that`s why we had to bring a gaijin along.

Alex: we`re staying next to a primary school in Osaka. You still want pictures?

Anonymous said...

Akiramike wrote:
Alex: we`re staying next to a primary school in Osaka. You still want pictures?

Random quote that came to mind from The Simpsons: "What about the children?! Won't somebody please think of the children!?"

Wewi said...

I second Alex MD (Mitchell Dawson).
Where? WHEREE??
Btw, still waiting on the well endowed Japanese girls pictures.

I just simply can't imagine that it's like to play ping pong while puffing cigarettes away.. I MUST experience this before I die. Going in the bucket list for sure.
Oh.. and OMG DIU LEIII!! I shouldn't have FFK'ed! ARGHHH!!!!!

Akiramike said...

Alex, you want me to buy some U-15 magazines for you?

stanley said...

@Akiramike: I'm interested to stay in ohmiya ryokan but I can't find any contact number for reservation. May I know where do you book? Any contact number (phone, email) related to ohmiya ryokan will be very helpful for me. Thanks a lot, looking forward the reply :)

stanley said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Akiramike said...

Booked through hostelworld but if you're in Japan their number is 0460-85-7345.