Hakone Chokoku no Mori Club

Spent the night in Hakone Chokoku no Mori Club (箱根彫刻の森クラブ) after the Kamakura (鎌倉) trip. Hakone is a mountainous area located in the Kanagawa Prefecture (神奈川県) just next to Tokyo (東京都). It is famous as a tourist spot for both locals and foreigners. During weekends and holidays, the place is usually crowded with tourists who mostly go there for the hotsprings (温泉, onsen).

Oh, the hotel we spent the night at was superb. The room consists of two sections. One Western-styled room with two queen-sized bed, a TV and a toilet.

The toilet comes with the most incredible invention of all... Tada!

This control panel is for heating the toilet seat, and for adjusting the bidet (especially cool for anal stimulation). Not that it's a brouhaha actually. Most Japanese toilets come with it. It's just that it always looks curious to me, that's all.

And it comes with the instructions! But make sure you understand well before you even think of touching the buttons. The consequence can be dire...

The other section of the hotel room is a Japanese-styled room with tatami mats and futon.

And, another TV.

The dinner was a full Japanese course! Tried all sorts of Japanese food for the first time; food that I can't afford! Don't let the quantity fool you. Even though they're served little by little, by the end of the course, you'll feel as if you' ve just eaten a whole cow.

Not to forget, there's the onsen, of course. Like most (but not all) Japanese hotsprings, this one is segregated.

Entered a Japanese hotspring for the first time. Just in case you don't know, you have to enter N-A-K-E-D, except with a small towel, which is not allowed in certain places, though. Luckily, since it was a weekday, the three of us where the only guests in the hotel. Phew!

Yup. It was scalding-hot. As hot as 42゜C! Going to a hotspring during summer? Some people must be nuts!

- 25 July 2006, Tuesday -