Eating Hakone

Hello monkeys! In case you need reminding (which you probably do), this past Friday was my birthday. Akemi and I took a trip with her parents to Hakone. Hakone is a quaint resort area up in the mountains close to a huge lake (Ashinoko) near Mt. Fuji. There's not so many active things to do there, other than hiking, but there are plenty of museums and great places to eat. Akemi's parents have a time-share apartment there, which has a great onsen (natural hot spring bath). On Saturday, we visited a botanical garden, then had lunch at a great restaurant called "Souan", which apparently is very hard to get reservations at. Akemi's mom booked the place about a month ago! They feature French-style multi-course meals, but of course with a Japanese twist. My lunch consisted of a mushroom chawanmushi (Japanese egg-custard soup), then sanma (a type of pike fish) embedded in a satoimo paste (mountain potato) patty encrusted with pickled eggplant, followed by the main entree of a salmon medallion in a white wine sauce accompanied by baked satoimo, a mashed potato croquette, and shirako (fish testicles!!). It also came with miso soup, a chestnut/yamaimo onigiri (rice ball), pumpkin soup, and dessert (I had the sweet potato creme brulee). (Sounds like I'm making all this crap up, doesn't it?) It was all delicious, and I washed it down with Yebisu beer. It's not often that I eat at that kind of frou-frou, fancy-pants restaurant, but it was a special occasion and it was damn good! The building's interior was decorated in a simple Japanese-traditional style, complete with tatami floors. The staff were extremely friendly (and they weren't vampires!! -- lucky for you Tony!). In fact, our waiter gave us a ride to the bus stop in his own car because he forgot to call us a taxi!! Here are some photos:


Akemi & Mom in front of Souan


Geeks R Us






Akemi & Dad

On Sunday, after a bath and a quick breakfast, we took a cable car down to the Fujiya Hotel. The hotel is a Japanese historical landmark. Built in 1891 (I think; though it had later additions), it's still open for business. I guess it's famous not only for it's unique mix of Japanese and Western architecture, which became vogue with the ushering in of the Meiji Restoration, but also for it's famous guest list, which has included Charlie Chaplin, Helen Keller, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and Generals Eisenhower and Macarthur. We spent about an hour perusing about the old lobby and the vast garden. It was really cool to see this site which has withstood many an era, but I can't imagine that the rooms are very comfortable. And I bet it's haunted.








On our way home, we stopped at a Hakone beer garden, where you can try Hakone's own home brew. After all, what would an outing be without beer? Along with the beer, you can try a Hakone specialty, kama boko, or ground-fish paste cakes. Sounds crazy, but it's the bomb. They mix in different ingredients, like cheese, corn, or edamame, then deep fry it. Oishi!




Later fruitcakes!