Birthday Trip to Japan - Hakone

Hakone got to be our favorite destination during our entire trip. It is very famous for its onsen sources and ryokan resorts. I have always wanted to try dipping into an onsen as, aside from its health and beauty benefits, I believe that we have not entirely experienced Japan if we did not try one of its central feature. Thus, to get to Hakone, I booked the Romancecar a month in advance to get the front and back observation decks which are considered to be the best seats for good view. 

A photo of the front observation deck taken on our way back to Tokyo

(Image source: tripadvisor.com)

If you really want to book a good seats like me, make sure you visit the Odakyu website exactly a month beforehand as all front/back observation decks seats will be taken within a few minutes. It is definitely worth the trouble as you will get to enjoy a better view like...

.... this one. 

If you are lucky enough, you may even get to see Mount Fuji on clear days.

Not to mention, there are plenty of leg room as well.

The seats are incredibly comfortable! 

The reason it is called the Romance Car is because of its two-person seats without separating armrests which gave me the opportunity to lie comfortably on my dear during the entire trip.

I love "loveseat"!!

A better photo of me taken when my dear fell asleep.

If you are planning to visit Hakone, I will recommend you to get a Hakone Freepass which is a discount excursion ticket offering full coverage of the popular sightseeing destination in Hakone. In addition, it also allows you to get on and off different types of transports free and provides discount admission to various attraction within the area. FYI, a 2-Day freepass cost approximately 5200yen for adults.

Using the Romancecar train ride, it took us 85 minutes to reach Hakone from Shinjuku station which is considered one of the fastest mode of transport. Once we arrived there, we took a shuttle bus to our first destination - Hakone Yuryo.

At the entrance of Hakone Yuryo. 

We chose this hot spring resort mainly because it is one of the few places in Japan that offers private open-air onsen (since we did not like the idea of sharing public hot springs with strangers). Private onsen is considered a luxury as it can be quite a costly experience.

Before we started soaking in our private onsen, we headed for their restaurant to fill our stomachs.

 

The restaurant interior looks very traditional and cosy.

Surprisingly, their cuisine were the best we had eaten in our entire trip. We would love to dine there again!

After a satisfying lunch, we headed over to our private onsen.

As the other rooms which were cheaper but had smaller onsens were fully booked, we got no choice but to settle for the most expensive one. I regretted not making a reservation in advance o(´^｀)o.

The entrance

Our private room

Our open-air onsen which was smaller than we had expected as it was supposed to look like the photo below:

Nevertheless, it was still beautiful.

They provide some excellent and expensive hair and body products for our after onsen use. 

I'm dressed in a yukata (＾▽＾)!

My dear looks so handsome in his yukata (´∀｀)♡!!

After soaking in the onsen, the body aches that we were having previously, due to many hours of walking and travelling, magically vanished (/ﾟДﾟ)/! We were equally surprised that our skin became smoother and a shade fairer!! I had read about the many health and skincare benefits of different onsen around Japan. Some hot springs are said to provide the skin-tightening effect while others have the abilities to lower high blood pressure and cure 40,000 different types of diseases and disorders. Therefore, they called onsen the Healing Waters. However, I definitely did not expect it to have such immediate effect. We left the resort feeling like we obtained new and better bodies (-^〇^-). It had left such an immediate and deep impression on us that we will surely visit one again.

Feeling refreshed, we headed over to Lake Ashi. It was a 40 minutes bus ride which we got to witness so many beautiful sceneries on our way up the mountain.

The rare beauty of an untouched nature...

...with clouds so near us.

At the entrance of Lake Ashi

It was pretty cooling and cloudy at Lake Ashi as it was located somewhere high in the mountain.

Lake Ashi was formed in the caldera of Mount Hakone after the volcano's last eruption 3000 years ago. Today, it is a popular tourist destination that is famous for the pirate ships, picturesque views of the surrounding mountains and the floating torri of Hakone Shrine.

I was so mesmerised by the unsurpassed beauty of Lake Ashi. As I stared out at the open lake, I felt complete peace and calmness for the first time; seemingly washing away all my problems and worries.

 It was love at first sight. 

Although it started to rain after a brief while, we were so in love with the place that we decided to tour the lake on their famous pirate ship.

Here's a closer look of the superior pirate ship.

We paid for an upgrade to the first class cabin and realized that we were the only passengers there. Thus, we had the whole upper deck to ourselves ヾ(☆▽☆)!

How glamorous is that?!

We definitely felt like King and Queen (≧∇≦) !

We decided to venture out from the comfort of our fine inner deck as soon as the rain lightened.

The view outside was just breathtaking!

Even though we couldn't catch a glimpse of Mount Fuji due to the heavy mist, we thoroughly enjoyed the magnificent view that only Lake Ashi can offer.

I was so madly in love with the lake that I savor every moment of appreciating its existence.
Japan has got one of the most beautiful and peaceful place on earth.

There was a divider that separated us from the economic cabin which granted us complete privacy.

So, since we were the only ones on the open deck, we were able to re-enact Titanic. It was another romantic moment without the tragedy. I must be the luckiest girl in the world to be able to experience such spectacular view with a prince who appreciate romance as much as I do (´∀｀)♡.

What an unmatched beauty!

It was a pity that we didn't have the time to visit the Hakone shrine which is famous for its huge torri gates and its beautiful heavily misty surrounding. Then again, it provides us with another good reason to visit this marvellous place which we love so much again.

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Our next trip will be back to Bali - To celebrate my dear's birthday ヽ(*≧ω≦)ﾉ!!!

♔Ashley♔

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