Day 7: Hakone

Hakone was my dad's idea. One of his areas on his mission was somewhat close to there, and he thought it would be fun to visit.

Hakone is something of a resort town, known primarily for its on-sen. On-sen are Japanese hot-springs used for public bathing. I have debated about putting this experience on my list of things to do in Japan, but finally decided against it because of a lack of desire to see other people naked.

I think, overall, my dad was slightly disappointed in the Hakone experience. He thought it was a little too much like Disneyland. I guess you can be the judge:

Here we are riding a sky tram through the woods. We stood on a platform where people loaded and unloaded from these things.

Here's a shot of the line we stood in while we were waiting to ride the boat across Lake Ashi:
Notice how it winds around.

Here's a shot of the boat, er-ship, we took across Lake Ashi.

And a shot of some paddle boats other people were riding in:
And, lastly, a shot of my dad with a pirate:
So, I guess, at least from this post, you could gather that Hakone shares some similarities with Disneyland. One notable difference, however, is that, instead of selling giant turkey legs like they do in Disneyland, Hakone offers roasted squid-on-a-stick.

I took a bite myself, mostly to say I'd done it. My dad described the texture as "boiled flip-flop." That's pretty accurate.

We had dinner in Odawara in a restaurant called Braissere (or something like that), where they gave us a funny look when we asked for extra rice. However, when we got back to Tokyo, Shane and Maria wanted to go to a gyoza (potsticker) restaurant. Since they were paying, we tagged along.

Gyoza is probably my favorite food. In the winter, I eat it at least twice a week with white or brown rice. In Texas, I have two options for gyoza:

• Pay $5 for about 10 pieces in the grocery store.
• Pay $5 for a huge bag with of about 60 with a mysterious expiration date from the Asian specialty store.

I am ashamed to say that I usually go with the second option.

So, I was really unprepared for how good gyoza could really be. We went to a place down some back alley in Tokyo that made gyoza and rice and not much else.

I will pause at this point to explain something that Shane told me yesterday: most Japanese cuisine goes back to drinking. I didn't really believe him until I was looking at one of my guidebooks, which listed several Japanese foods with descriptions that frequently included phrases like, "wonderful with sake" or "commonly served alongside beer in bars." What I am trying to say is that most of the people in this gyoza place were drinking.

This is one of those instances in which some knowledge I acquired somewhere that seemed random and irrelevant later became useful. During my San Diego conference, I sat in on a session about genetics and alcoholism. One phenomenon genetically relevant is the Asian flush, common to about 50% of Japanese and Chinese people. Basically, what it means is that many Asians have a lower tolerance for alcohol, and get "flushed" faster. I actually saw this phenomenon around me at the gyoza shop.


You can't see it in this picture. The stuff in the mug is peach soda. Trust me, though, it was all around us. But the gyoza was amazing. And no one gave us funny looks for ordering extra rice.

And, for the occasion, Brooklyn wore, for the first time, her denim jumper that Aunt Melanee gave her.



I think those are my feet with the chipped toenail polish and the funky flip-flop tan.