hotel de yama

There is a hotel along Lake Ashi called Hotel de Yama

And this year it is celebrating being in business for 77 years

Their azaleas have been on my “to see” list for some time

We had planned to go on Sunday but the weather seemed wonky, and then turned out to be a beautiful day! grrr

Satoshi said, "you go check it out Kat"

So I did yesterday

I mapped my route according to Google maps…well when it told me to get off the bus, I did

And then I had to find my way (safely) down to the town (no sidewalks)

Luckily I wasn't that far off from where I needed to be...

As I was walking, I then realized that there was a path along the water, so I walked along it.

and, I came upon this.

Everyone was waiting their turn to take a photo...Instead of waiting though, I just snapped one of whoever was there...

The water was super calm

The walkway wasn't too flat, so gotta be careful, especially since it was a day after it had rained.

By the time I reached the hotel, Mount Fuji went into hiding.

Mount Fuji should look like this...(from the hotel's IG page) I think they took this photo from their restaurant terrace area 

It’s been blazing, so the azaleas looked like they might have been past their peak, still, it was nice to see.

(TIPS: I had read somewhere that there was a free shuttle to and from Motohakoneko to the hotel for their guests, but if you "silently" get on board their bus, they'll take you...

To get to the Motohakoneko area by bus from Hakone Yumoto Station, you can either take Hakone Tozan Bus routes: H, R or K

When I arrived at Hakone Yumoto, everyone was standing in line for the H & R buses, so I went in the K line and this was a much nicer route and was not as crowded.

Coming back to Hakone Yumoto I jumped on the first bus that came and went on the H route...the bus driver was whipping the turns...talk about getting motion sickness..blah)

when I got back to Odawara, I went in search of lunch...and went back to Rokuzaemon

This time I tried their ume and my favorite okaka with ginger and takuan

I'm glad they let me sit on the bench in front of their shop to eat.

After lunch, I went in search of Moriya Bakery.

They have been in business since 1921 and are apparently well known for their breads.

By the time I went though, they were out of most things.

Luckily I was able to buy 2 anpan...was hot! out of the oven! 480 yen (tax included) for the 2

We had the anpan for breakfast today.

Filled with sweet bean paste

The bread was so soft! almost like sweet bread, so ono!

I'm glad I got to check out the azaleas yesterday and wander a bit around Odawara.

Moriya Bakery

2-2-2 Sakaecho

Odawara, Kanagawa

Closed: Sundays & Mondays

*cash only

this and that

Came across blood oranges and bought some but most were dried out...boo!

Satoshi's co-worker also received the early retirement package and they had lunch together the other day.

He gave Satoshi these sweets as a thank you! we hope he enjoys his retirement!

When Satoshi and I were out walking we stumbled upon a new (to us) area...Umeyashiki.

Love the store fronts.

Like this fruit stand that has been in business for over 70 years.

Oogoshi makes all sorts of okazuya, main dishes as well as side dishes and has also been in business for over 70 years.

We tried their kakiage, a fried mix of shrimp and veggies...so good and not oily.

Saito Seimen which has been in business since 1961 makes noodles.

The cute grandpa that makes the noodles also makes yakisoba (fried noodles).

So delicious!

Sakaeya Bakery is also run by a nice elderly couple.

It is a little farther away from Umeyashiki, but I am glad we got to try them.

Their prices are super reasonable and look at how much custard cream is in their cream pan....filled to the gills.

Nearby Sakaeya Bakery is this pocket park...with a beautiful wisteria tree!

We also picked up Kirin Coffee's atsugiri tamago sandwich...a thick omelette sandwich with a little mayo and okonomiyaki/tonkatsu type of sauce.

We look forward to eating breakfast and lunch, actually just hanging out here when it is safer to eat in.

Satoshi went on two guide excursions last Saturday & Sunday...this is where he was on Sunday...Lake Ashi.

And the Hakone Open Museum...he says it isn't for "play"....yeah, but look how beautiful the weather is.. 

He was scheduled to go to Nikko tomorrow but it has been postponed because of our “stay at home” orders.

Last Tuesday I had a dental emergency....and after some discussion with the dentist, we pulled out one of my molars this past Tuesday because the gum was so weak and every time I would eat something it would be pretty painful with the tooth wiggling around.

There is a wisdom tooth that seems to be coming in, so hopefully it will fall into the extracted tooth's space.

There might be a little loss in translation, but did you know that Japanese in Kansai (West Japan) believe that when your upper baby tooth falls out, you throw it under the house so that the adult tooth will come in straight and strong...the lower baby tooth is thrown on the roof of the house so that the adult tooth will come "up" straight and it was also believed that it would come in strong like a rat's.

I'm sad that he had to pull it out, but glad there is no pain now...and how cute is the case that the dentist put my extracted tooth in.

Japan's case numbers have taken off due to the variants.

Unfortunately, in the past couple of weeks this non-aggressive type of state of emergencies have not been working.

On top of that Golden Week is coming up and it doesn't look too good with people all antsy to travel and get out and about.

Have a safe weekend everyone.

Oogoshi

2-4-3 Kamata

Ota, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3738.2036

Closed Sundays

Hours: 9:30-18:30

Saito Seimen (UPDATE: 2024 no longer in business)

2-1-4 Kamata

Ota, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3732.2621

Closed Sundays

Hours: 10:00-18:00

Sakaeya Bakery (UPDATE: 2024 no longer in business)

1-11-9 Omori Minami

Ota, Tokyo

Phone: n/a

Hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays 6:00-18:00, Saturdays 6:00-14:00

Kirin Coffee

7-7-20 Omori Higashi

Ota, Tokyo

Phone: 03.6424.4275

Closed Mondays

Hours: Tuesdays-Fridays 7:00-20:00, Saturdays-Sundays 8:30-20:00

yumotochaya-tokyo

The next morning was leisurely and breakfast was later than our "normal" time.

And it was quite hearty.

After breakfast, we spent the time until check-out hanging out in the room (Satoshi went back to the hot springs) and just relaxing.

This was a shot of the flowers in the lobby.

After we checked out, we caught the bus to Hakone Yumoto and had lunch at Ortensia.

Onsen (hot spring) pasta, caught Satoshi's eye, so he ordered it.

Apparently some hot springs have sodium in their water, so this Italian restaurant uses a similar sodium amount when they cook their pasta, thus "onsen pasta".

I had their pepperoncino...chili oil and tons of garlic...stinky goodness!

After lunch, we bought some marron (chestnut) pies...flaky pastry, whole chestnut and sweet bean paste...from Sagamiya.

And a coconut krispie thingy also from Sagamiya...way too sweet! and needed more coconut.

And then it was back to Odawara...huge Odawara jochin (paper lantern) that the area is known for.

Pretty stained glass titled "Sun, Moon, Mountain, Sea, Odawara"...also in the station.

And then back to Tokyo.

It was a short trip, a nice way to celebrate our wedding anniversary as well as my birthday.

Even though we didn't really get to see Mount Fuji, I told Satoshi, "hopefully we’ll be able to see Mount Fuji almost everyday from our lanai"

Hope you enjoyed this as much as we did.

Ortensia
706 Yumoto, Marujima Building 4F
Hakonemachi, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa
Phone: 0460.85.8388
Hours: 11:00-17:30

Sagamiya
706-35 Yumoto
Hakonemachi, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa
Phone: 0460.85.6610
Hours: 9:00-17:00

gora-yumotochaya

The next day, breakfast was kinda huge...salad, fruits, poached egg, mashed potatoes and 3 types of bread (toast, roll, & croissant)...we could also have juice and coffee or tea.

Satoshi's breakfast was with risotto instead of the bread...huge portions!

Usually we eat breakfast early, check-out and then go galavanting, but on this trip, we stayed in our room until check-out time.

Lunch was at Soun Gora.

The backstory: Back in 2006 when we climbed Mount Fuji, on the day that my parents had to go back to the hospital to get things checked out, my aunties and the others in our party went sightseeing.

In the evening they had dinner at Tonkatsu Rikyu and rave about the tonkatsu to this day.

Since we were planning to revisit Gora, I had asked my aunty what the shop's name was.

Unfortunately, when I looked online, they closed back in 2016 when the owner/chef passed away.

Had I been more organized, we could've visited them back in 2014...

Now in its place is Soun Gora.

The restaurant was apparently from the Kami-Gora area and moved to this spot in 2016.

I ordered the beef suji (tendon) demi-glace omurice...rich demi glace covers a fluffy omelette and ketchup sauteed rice.

Satoshi had their beef stew omurice...the beef was fork tender.

While we both enjoyed our lunch, we felt the owner/chef was not too friendly...oh, well, at least we got to try this place.

After lunch, we were going on our same route and were excited because the sign said...you can see Mount Fuji from Owakudani...

But by the time we reached Owakudani, there were lots of clouds...boo!

Vaguely visible from Motohakone Port...can you see her?!

Then it was onto another bus to get to the hotel we would be staying at....talk about winding roads...blah!

Hoshino Resorts are high-end hot spring resorts in Japan with some properties around the world too.

Their top brand is Hoshinoya and their first onsen resort was established in 1914!

The theme of the Kai properties is Japanese ryokan (inn), so the meals served are washoku (Japanese style)

Dinner was huge! Sakizuke: Salmon Parissoise--cold soup with salmon

Satoshi's cold sake with cute Mount Fuji ochoko (sake cup)

Hassun short video here

close up of part of the hassun

O-wan: deep fried crab with fish paste

Futamono: kabu (turnip) and tara (cod) manju

Yakimono: shirako (milt) horakuyaki (cooked in a clay dish)

Dainomono: meringue hot pot

Cheese Mousse Dessert

Baked Apple Dessert

I was so full and actually stopped eating after the Futamono...

Lots of the interior pieces used the Hakone yosegi zaiku, parquetry.

They even had othello and jenga.

We played Jenga (it was Satoshi's first time) and since I couldn't remember the rules, we played the game wrong...but still had fun (plus I won).

How cool is this smartphone parquetry speaker?!

It was a long day...too much food, but super relaxing atmosphere...

Soun Gora
1300-356 Gora
Hakonemachi, Ashigarashimo
Kanagawa
Phone: 0460.82.8626
Hours: 11:00-15:00 (lunch), temporarily closed for dinner : cash only

Kai Hoshino Resort Hakone
230 Yumotochaya, Hakonemachi,
Ashigarashimo, Kanagawa