Day 6: Cablecar - Ropeway - Pirate Ship - Hakone-machi - Pola Museum - Gotemba Premium Outlet - Onsen

To compensate for our extravagant dinner the night before, the noodles we bought from Lawson ends up being our breakfast. So much for living it up!

Our first stop for the day was Gora Park. We hiked all the way up from the station to get there only to later realise we could of caught a free bus. Typical! Gora Park was underwelming, I almost wanted to tell the people who were heading there to take a u-turn because it wasn't worth seeing. The pictures on the paper given to me when I entered Gora Park were much more vibrant than the photographs I came away with. I'm sure this was largely due to the cold weather Hakone was experiencing. 

Today was the day we chose to do all the touristy activities. And today was also the most worst possible weather you of could imagine to do a day trip in Hakone. We experienced the trifecta: cold, wind and rain.

Most of the scenery I saw were of hundreds of water droplets on the frosted glasses of the cable cars and ropeways. Whatever pretty scenery there was, it was all lost on me. 

Even the pirate ship was disastrous! I couldn't see that lovely fuji-san background or torii gates I was hoping for. Instead most of the tourists decided to just stay inside the ship. But for the brave few souls, like myself who ventured out on the decks, all that I could make out were ghostly silhouettes of mountains. Ironically, my only views of Mt Fuji ended up being from my hotel window in Tokyo.

When we arrived in Hakone-Machi, the weather got even worst. My friend and I decided to escape back to our hotel to have a nice lunch and more cake from our new favourite bakery. This was enough to get us re-energised and prepare us for Phase Two of the day.

The Pola Musuem was our next stop. Of all the places, I was definitely not expecting to see the famous "Water Lily Pond" painting by Claude Monet here, so I was pleasantly surprised.

After this we decided to check out the Gotemba Premium Outlet and well, I guess they called it "premium" for a reason. There were suppose to be great views of Mt Fuji from this outlet too, but as usual I don't see any. Instead all that I remember vividly was getting hammered by the wind and rain.

One of my most lowest points on the entire Japan trip was walking across the bridge that connects the west and east zone of Gotemba. This was where my umbrella snapped and it was also where I experienced a "moment."  I think, we all at one point experience these "moments" when we're really far away from home. For me, the umbrella incident made me feel really homesick. 

The "moment" however, was fleeting as I ended up trashing my old umbrella in the ladies toilets and buying another one. Buying an umbrella proved to be much harder than I thought because my options were limited to stuff like frills, lace and other girly embellishments and patterns when all I really wanted was something simple. 

After opening my umbrella for the first time, my friend and I both study it for a second before bursting into laughters. My umbrella looks like something that came off the set of the My Fair Lady movie (which FYI is totally not my style).

When we finally arrived back at the hotel, it was really late but I was still looking forward to having my first onsen experience. I had already chickened out earlier from doing the public onsen which was why I ended up paying for a private onsen experience. The experience ended up being amazing and it felt really good to finish the day on a high note.

Day 7: Open Air Museum - Venetian Glass Museum - 
Lalique Museum - Bullet Train to Hiroshima

Yesterday's weather had really gotten to my friend so she decided to rest up at the hotel for the day while I tackled the elements. 

This was our last day in Hakone and I was determined to not let a bit of rain, wind and cold weather stop me from seeing the things I wanted to see here. The weather looked like it was going to be a repeat of yesterday as I made my way to the Open Air Museum. 

Descending down the escalators and through this dark tunnel made me feel like I was going down the rabbit-hole. I really didn't know what to expect. To my delight, this amazing scenery revealed itself to me and I could see outdoor sculptures, one by Henry Moore and many others just scattered along this picturesque mountainside. It was here, the rain finally decided to stop. 

It doesn't take long for me to realise this is one of best museums I have ever been to and I wish my friend was here to see it as it would of definitely changed her mind about all museums being boring. I could of lingered on for hours at this museum, but the luxury of time was something I didn't have.

The next museum I visited was the Venetian Glass Museum. This was also an amazing museum to see, especially with all the outdoor glass sculptures on its ground. My final museum for the day was Lalique Museum. I couldn't take much photos here, as cameras weren't permitted, but what I did get to see at Lalique were displays of some really exquisite glass pieces like perfume bottles, brooches and jewellery.

While I waited for my bus to arrive to take me back to the hotel, the mountain scenery on this side of Hakone feels so reminiscent of the Glasshouse Mountains in Maleny that for a fleeting moment it feels like I'm back home. It's a strange feeling when the lines between your dream and reality are blurred and even though it's obvious where you are, you still have to pinch yourself when you think "I really am in Japan!"

When I finally made it back to the hotel, it was rather late in the afternoon. My friend was worried because she thought I got lost... but I didn't! In fact, I was slightly chuffed with myself for having navigated all around Hakone for the day. 

We were both ready to leave this miserable weather behind us and make the five hour bullet (shinkansen) train trip to Hiroshima.

The first time we saw the bullet train was AWESOME! And a little scary too, especially when it roared right pass us. Getting to ride on one was really exciting. On our way to Hiroshima, we caught glimpses of some of the cities like Kyoto, Kobe and Osaka which we would later come to visit on our trip. We also had heaps of time to kill and for whatever reason, we decided to put on a mini photoshoot session with our Japanese notes and coins. This was unexpectedly fun and kept us entertained for a bit on our long commute.

That night we rode the streetcars in Hiroshima for the first time before checking-in to our hotel.