Hakone Day 4: Now, that’s living the life (pg 5)
Written by silver on April 22nd, 2008
Back at the ryokan we checked out our rooms. We shared a room with Diem and Binh while Jason and Di had their own room. Our rooms were one of the best ones they offer at the ryokan, they each came with their own outdoor private baths! Bathing is quite popular in Japan, especially in Hakone where all the ryokan boast about the number of baths their facilities have. Our room was pretty big, it had a living/sleeping tatami covered space, a separate living room space, bathroom and a bath in the balcony. The living/sleeping space was set up with a low table and 4 chairs. The other room was a little bit smaller but had similar amenities.
At dinnertime we weren’t sure if we were supposed to wear the robes. Robes at dinner seemed quite foreign to us. Most western countries would possibly change into nice clothes for dinner out, but certainly not wear a bath robe to the table! Binh went to steal a look and came back announcing that everyone there were wearing their robes. Ok… when in Rome…Most of the girls just put the robes over our clothes, the guys wanted a more ‘authentic’ experience and disrobed underneath.
Dinner was Fabulous! There was a buffet table for flavored rice, miso soup and tea. At our table, each of us got tiny plates of rather interesting pickles, many I didn’t recognize. After the individual sized fried fish, we got the sushi boats, filled to the brim with sashimi, normal sized raw shrimps and tiny raw shrimps, followed by shabu shabu. The food was delicious. My only complaint was that the table full of guys in front of us got more and more comfortable in their robes as dinner went on and beer flowed freely. The robes opening up, legs all over the place, it wasn’t a pretty sight…. I’d much prefer if people changed into nice clothes for dinner rather than a skimpy bath robe.
Exhaustion caught up with us after the meal. Di and Jason passed out before they go to use the indoor family bath we reserved. Diem and Binh and us swapped with each other, taking baths in the family bath and then spending some time relaxing and soaking in our smaller private outdoor bath.
The family bath was much larger and was fully equipped with a changing room, a shower and scrub area and a 3 foot deep pool to soak afterwards.
Sidebar: Beer in a box
Binh was especially excited about the fact that beer was sold alongside sodas and teas in the vending machine. For cheap too! he says.