Next, a day with the ladies for their version of culture lessons. These are the same ladies who we had lunch with earlier in the week but instead of Mama's house, we were going to Mrs. O's house.

We needed to be at Mrs. O's house at 10:00, which was a bit challenging with all 5 of us getting ready and eating breakfast. But we made it, with Teaghan off to school first at 7:00 or so, Rich to work at 9:00, and the 3 of us women out the door at 9:40.

Navigation system didn't fail us, and we arrived at Mrs. O's right on time.

We were warmly greeted by 3 of the ladies...Mama had yet to arrive as she was doing a bit of shopping for sweets.

First, we were whisked into a room where there were several yukatas waiting for us. I don't know how they do it so fast, but in under 5 minutes, all 3 of us were wrapped and tied in yukatas. Then we were escorted out into their beautiful garden, which Mr. O has made himself over the years. There are all sorts of plants and trees, a waterfall and a pond, and large stones of various shapes from all over japan. It is really a gorgeous garden.

After some photos, we moved into the room for tea ceremony. We all tried to make foamy green tea. New York Mama and San Francisco SIL were good at whisking the tea so that good foam was formed. I was not, and my foam was really quite pathetic. We then were taught how to drink, first by turning the bowl, then sipping, then wiping the rim. The tea was accompanied by 2 types of sweets, one beans and one decorative sugar. The bean sweets were nice and I prefer them to the sugar ones, though the sugar ones are really pretty.

Then, we got out of yukatas and began calligraphy. We used ink and brushes to write a few kanji on practice paper, then chose one we liked to do a final copy on a board for display. The ladies' kanji was gorgeous, ours was OK in terms of shape, but it was obvious who had studied　and practiced for years and years and who had practiced for 10 minutes. They were great, though, guiding our hands to help. It really is tricky, as it is very important to know when to use pressure and when not to, when to pause and when not to...it is all very controlled in that way and you can see in the final result when you paused for too long or when the pressure was too much or not enough.
Next we made onigiri (rice balls) with all sorts of fillings...salted salmon, tsukudani (all sorts of sweet/salty soy sauce stewed little fish and seaweed), umeboshi (pickled plums) and then ate them with miso soup and chawanmushi (savory egg custard). Simple and delicious lunch.

Then origami...balloons and cranes folded from colored squares of paper. Origami is universal here, with everyone knowing how to do it from a very young age. Children can do origami long before they can write their name.

These ladies were so happy to have us there and to share a little bit of culture. It was a very nice day that is not typical tourist stuff. Of course, tourists can do these things if they know where (tourist info counters can direct you), but doing them with friends in a home is comfortable and relaxing and less contrived I think. It was a bit hard to leave as it was so enjoyable.

Very interesting reading about the tiny village. It sounds so unique, I am sure your guests must have thoroughly enjoyed learning so much about the Japanese culture and history.
The Japanese garden at your friends house, the tea ceremony and learning the caligraphy also sound like a fun-filled activity for all. You are lucky you live there and have helped your guests learn so much in a more friendly manner, not like usual tourists.

Now we begin the 8 days of travel in Japan. First destination, Nara.

We left Kanazawa at around 7:00, stopping first at a convenience store for drinks and some really lousy packaged donuts (that we threw out later). Got on the highway and headed south for Nara. At about the halway point, we stopped at a parking area for breakfast and bathrooms.

The restaurant in the parking area was pretty much empty, but the plastic breakfasts in the window display looked pretty good, so we went in. In this place, you order at the cashier, pay, then sit down. Coffee, tea and other drinks are on a drink bar where you help yourself as many times as you like for one price. The cappuccino was not at all bad.

I had a Japanese breakfast of rice, miso soup, pickles, grilled salted salmon, salad....it was very good. The others had pancakes, an egg breakfast, and Rich had soba. Pretty good breakfast for a reasonable price and quick, too.

Continued on our way, and arrived in Nara at around noon. First stop was Kasuga Taisha, which is my favorite temple/shrine in Nara. It is set up a hill that most people walk up, but there is a parking lot very near that eliminates much of the hill walk, so we parked there to make it as easy as possible for MIL to get there.

In August, we went there especially to see the lanterns lit, and it was stunning then. During the daytime and without the crowds of the special night lantern lighting, it is possible to wander at a very leisurely pace and have a close look at the lanterns, all of which are different. There is a special dark room with a few lanterns with light bulbs in it so you can sort of see the effect of having all of the lanterns lit at night...and that is as close as you'll get to seeing that unless you go on the two specified occasions in February and August when they light all of them.

The shrine itself is quite nice, with a lot of red. It is a happy feeling place. They offer omikuji (like lottery fortune) in English, so we all got one of those. You pay (a little, maybe ¥200), then shake a stick out of the container and look at the number, which you tell to the attendant, who then gives you the corresponding fortune. If it is good, you keep it. If it is bad, you tie it to a tree or other place in the shrine grounds and the bad luck won't follow you.

There was a wedding the day we visited Kasuga Taisha, so we were lucky to see the elaborately dressed bride and groom. Shrine weddings are less popular now, so it is a treat to stumble across one. Shrines are not closed to the public for a wedding.

Next, we headed down by car in search of parking near Todaiji, home of the huge Buddha. Todaiji is huge, really huge, and is apparently the largest wooden structure in Japan. The approach is long, and during high season, the road leading to Todaiji is lined with yatai (stalls) selling all sorts of food and drinks, but not this day.

Inside the main hall of the temple is a huge Buddha, which is truly impressive. At the back, there is a column with a small hole in the bottom of it...if you can go through the hole, you will have enlightenment in your next life. Small children can easily fit through, but any bigger and it is a very tight or impossible squeeze.

In Nara, we stayed at Ryokan Matsumae, a place we stayed at and found OK in May of this year. They have one room with two twin beds, and MIL and SIL had that room. We had a tatami room with futons, that looked fine at the time we checked in.

We relaxed a bit, I went for a walk around Naramachi, then went to dinner.

Dinner was at a Vietnamese restaurant we'd been to twice before. I don't know the name, but it is easy to find on the covered shopping street just up from MacDonald's. Delicious. Spare ribs with mango sauce, coconut chicken curry with toasted French bread, meatballs in fish sauce (sounds gross but is so good), pho (noodle soup), crab stir fried rice noodles...and non-alcoholic drinks that are just as good as the alcoholic ones. If we lived in Nara, we'd eat there very often.

Then we slept, and I woke up scratching my wrist bloody. Went back to sleep, and woke again, scratching the other wrist bloody. Hmmm...got up, and noticed some small blood smears on the pillow....then I saw the first one, a tiny brown speck moving across the sheet, then another. Squashed one, and it left a bloody stain. Ah hah! The source of the itching, and at least some of the blood. Lifted the futon up, and saw more little critters. Lifted Teaghan's blanket, and saw the telltale blood smears. Same with Rich.

We had shared our room with a dani colony, and the dani had had a feast on us during the night. Dani are tatami bugs...they don't seem to inhabit places where there is not tatami...and if you have them in your tatami, only a fogging of get out of the house all day chemicals will begin to help your trouble. Our room was infested, not by a couple, but by hundreds I'm sure. I collected some in a cup and brought them down to the kitchen where the owners were preparing breakfast.

Me: "Um, I think our room has dani, lots of dani. Here are a few."

Owner: "Oh, yes. I'm sorry."

Time lapse.

Owner: "Do you want to change rooms?"

Me: "No, as it is morning and we will leave soon."

Owner: "OK. Cream for itching?"

Me: "No thanks." (It was way too late for that since I already scratched myself bloody before waking up).

Owner: "Sorry."

Breakfast was very good. They offer Japanese or Western breakfast. Japanese is rice, miso soup, tofu boiled in soy milk, grilled fish, pickles, vegetables...Western is salad, cereal, fruit, eggs, toast. I can't fault the breakfast.

Check out...I pay full price for both rooms...no discount, no free breakfast, no offer of apology again, no acknowledgment of the bugs...that is just unacceptable service recovery to me, regardless of the price. I expected, perhaps wrongly, to be given something for having experienced a night in a bug infested room. I know that were it my ryokan, I would have comped the room. Not them, though. Everthing full price. So now, I do not recommend them any more. It sure made the Hyatt in Kyoto look good, though.

Ewwwwwwwwwwwww bugs! I would never want to go to that ryokan, and what terrible customer service for any business.
Loving all the details

Aloha!

wow that was a bad experience.....did the in-laws escape??

i assume it would not be correct to ask for a discount?

Are you going to post this on TA? You should. Seems to have mostly glowing reviews of this particular ryokan there.

KimJapan: I have an out of topic request.
Since you live there, I am curious to find out when is the Japanese Independence Day and how is it celebrated, Do the kids have lots of activities like we have in the US--parades, fireworks, picnics etc.
Thanks and no rush to reply immediately, I will wait patiently.

No Independence Day in Japan, although there is a Constitution Day on May 3, which falls during Golden Week, one of the heaviest travel times of the year for Japanese and those of us living in Japan.

After checking out of the "lovely" Ryokan Matsumae, we wandered a while in Naramachi.

Rhkkmk and HT - I have trouble asking for a discount in such situations...just how would I phrase it, what would I say, I'm just not sure. Japan is not a discount place really, but I have gotten price reductions on electronics and cars. Service is overall good, but when it is bad, service recovery tends to be poor. I remember one case when I was having lunch with a coworker and she found a cockroach in her noodles (dead, but..). She complained, of course, and they brought her a new dish of noodles, which she neither wanted nor ate. Time to pay, we were charged full price for both of our lunches, and when she acted surprised and mentioned the cockroach, the shop staff said, sort of incredulously, that the second bowl was free of charge. So, I just did not ask for anything at Matsumae. They knew we were not happy, and did not seem to care much beyond saying sorry.

Will I post on Trip Advisor...not sure.

Back to Naramachi. We visited the Lattice House, which is an old machiya (home/shop) which has been preserved as a sort of museum. Entrance is free of charge, and it is a really pretty house with interesting use of space. We went into a few shops as well, and we purchased some linen noren (door curtains) dyed a graduated indigo color. Naramachi is largely still "old Japan" and is really a nice place to wander...old style buildings, narrow winding roads, unique shops and restaurants. Note that most shops do not open before 11:00 AM.

The weather forecast for this day was rain, so we decided to move on to Uji before we got rained out of that. We wanted to see Byoudoin, the temple you can see on the back of a ¥10 coin. it is a World Heritage site. Uji is also home to a Tales of Genji museum, which sounds and looks interesting from the outside, but we did not visit.

The drive from Nara to Uji took just about an hour, and thanks to navigation in the car, we did not get lost. We found parking pretty close to Byoudouin, and walked there along the river. There are tourist boats all along the river, mostly for the night time cormorant fishing when in season, but some also offer lunch and dinner meal cruises...tables are low, and seating is on mats on the floor of the boats. There are at least a couple of decent looking ryokan riverside, and both Rich and I commented that Uji is a place to return to with more time, even perhaps to spend a night.

Byoudouin is really nice...much nicer than the image on the ¥10 coin might lead you to believe. It sits over a pond, and a walking bridge connects it to the main garden. It is an additional fee to join a group to enter the actual temple. A walking path circles the complex, and it is a nice walking spot. There is a big wisteria arbor which must be gorgeous when in bloom in early May. There is also a decent museum that you "have to" go through if you follow the prescribed walking course...it's air conditioned, which is great during the hot and humid months. The walking course ends in the, surprise! - gift shop. They actually have some nice things for sale, though, which is refreshing after so many crappy souvenir stands that sell the same old, same old made in China junk.

We had a noodle lunch in one of the many restaurants outside the temple. Uji is famous for tea, and the chasoba (tea flavored soba) is excellent. As it looked like rain was not far off, we set off for the car and about 3 minutes out it started to pour. No problem...we got a little wet, but did not melt.

Off to Kyoto, in the pouring rain, which right on cue produced an immediate tripling in the number of cars on the road. Using the handy dandy navigation system, we skirted around a signal that was proving troublesome and slow to get through and were on our way to the Hyatt Regency Kyoto.

The Hyatt Regency Kyoto was such a good value that it deserves its own post devoted to just the stay there. We paid ¥31,000/night/room for a Deluxe Room including tax/service, breakfast, ¥3500 food and beverage credit per room per stay, and upgrade upon arrival if available (no upgrade available at the time of our stay). Our booking was with a Virtuoso agent, and the rate we paid was lower than the best available rate for room only for the dates of our stay (I know because I obsessively checked and rechecked this during the months leading up to our stay).

Arrival was nice, with several staff members taking our luggage from the car quickly and politely. I was directed to the parking garage below the hotel, and the others went inside to check in.

For some reason, they had our length of stay wrong, but it was no problem to fix it. Check in seemed to take quite a while, but perhaps that was because she was trying to manage to upgrade us. We were invited to sit on the lobby sofas while she completed the paperwork, which took maybe 10 minutes.

The same person who checked us in took us to our rooms, which were side by side very near to the lobby (our room number was 1111, which we though was funny...and later at the Peninsula in Tokyo our room number was 1212...what are the chances?).

The Deluxe rooms are quite large, almost 40 m2, with 2x 150 cm wide "twin" beds, making it possible for the two of us to share a bed and give Teaghan the other one. The room had a

I don't know what happened to the rest of the last post...

Here is the whole thing.

The Hyatt Regency Kyoto was such a good value that it deserves its own post devoted to just the stay there. We paid ¥31,000/night/room for a Deluxe Room including tax/service, breakfast, ¥3500 food and beverage credit per room per stay, and upgrade upon arrival if available (no upgrade available at the time of our stay). Our booking was with a Virtuoso agent, and the rate we paid was lower than the best available rate for room only for the dates of our stay (I know because I obsessively checked and rechecked this during the months leading up to our stay).

Arrival was nice, with several staff members taking our luggage from the car quickly and politely. I was directed to the parking garage below the hotel, and the others went inside to check in.

For some reason, they had our length of stay wrong, but it was no problem to fix it. Check in seemed to take quite a while, but perhaps that was because she was trying to manage to upgrade us. We were invited to sit on the lobby sofas while she completed the paperwork, which took maybe 10 minutes.

The same person who checked us in took us to our rooms, which were side by side very near to the lobby (our room number was 1111, which we though was funny...and later at the Peninsula in Tokyo our room number was 1212...what are the chances?).

The Deluxe rooms are quite large, almost 40 m2, with 2x 150 cm wide "twin" beds, making it possible for the two of us to share a bed and give Teaghan the other one. The room has a nice flat screen TV and dvd player, and you can borrow dvds from the front desk free of charge...they will deliver a list to your room if you ask.

The bathrooms are quite nice, with a toilet room, a sink room, and a big walk in shower and tub room with a rainshower, massage shower, and deep soaking tub Japanese style. They use cedar soap dishes, and the smell is lovely. Amenities are run of the mill, not special, but they do the job and there is plenty of everything. Amenities include soap, shampoo, conditioner, bath gel, toothbrush and toothpaste, brush/comb combo, razor and shaving cream, cotton buds, sewing kit...I'm sure there is more.

Our room was serviced every day while we were out, and we never encountered housekeeping staff in our room, meaning they were good at keeping their service time to periods when we were out. They do use carts, though, and you see them in the hallways sometimes.

Restaurants...we tried the Touzan Bar soon after check in, and found service friendly and attentive, a nice wine and beer selection, and they had no trouble making virgin pina coladas for Teaghan, and since she had 4 of them, they must have been good. The only "problem" with the bar is that they keep it a bit darker than all of us would have liked.

We had a dinner in the Trattoria Italian restaurant, and the food was excellent, as was the service...a waiter from Nepal. Considering that our party of 5 ordered 4 starters and 5 main dishes, drinks, dessert...we didn't hold back at all...a final bill of ¥30,000 or so was not at all unreasonable. It would certainly be possible to have a meal there and be satisfied for much less than ¥6000 per person if you were less greedy than we were...but we so rarely get good Italian in Kanazawa...

The Grill also has dinner, and we tried that seperately over the next couple of nights. They make a good Caesar salad, and according to Teaghan, the lobster is excellent.

Breakfast in the Grill is very good. A buffet with eggs to order if you like. The choice isn't huge, but the quality of what they have is very good. The others report that the ham they serve sliced to order and "grilled" in the oven is excellent.

There is a spa and fitness center but no pool. I am a massage junkie, so tried the spa twice. They had a special deal with 60 minutes massage being only ¥10,000, which is a fabulous price. Massages were very good...not blissful like the Spa in the Peninsula Bangkok, but very good, and a very good value.

The concierge desk was very good as well. I had a brake light go out and wanted to replace it, and the concierge easily found the nearest VW shop, made an appointment for me, and later delivered to our room a map for me, just in case I needed it. When we were leaving, 2 more staff members knew we were going there and both asked to make sure we were fine to get there...I thought it was nice that they communicated with each other about some small thing about a guest that the guest might need help with. They were also great in helping us plan our days, and knew very well what places were open and closed and when, as well as which places required advanced booking and which did not. And they were friendly, and spoke excellent English.
Overall, an excellent stay, and an excellent value. I would certainly recommend it.

Yeah, another Italian food lover!

What was the view like from your deluxe rooms? I like the Hyatt brand more so than the Sheraton, Marriot or Hilton brands, although all have their own quirks. Sounds like we are going to like the Hyatt Kyoto.

How do you become a Virtuoso? Do you have to actually talk to someone? Is there a specific agent you can recommend? The site seems a little obscure to these novice eyes.
I couldn't figure out what to do

Aloha!

You don't become Virtuoso, you book through an agent who is a member of Virtuoso. There is no fee (or if there is, change agents). Virtuoso deals only in luxury properties and tours and cruises. On Virtuoso's own website you can fill in a form to have an agent referred to you if you like. I use Coastline Travel in California. Properties don't always have Virtuoso rates on offer, but when they do, in my experience, it has been worthwhile booking through a Virtuoso agent as I've always gotten a better price and more perks than any other way of booking.

Hyatt Regency Kyoto deluxe room 1111 had a view of the inner garden, though we didn't much look at it. Balcony rooms seem to be streetside as they say their views are of the museum from upper floors. Deluxe corner double rooms are a huge 59 m2 and have a view of the adjacent building, and deluxe corner kings are 57 m2 and I don't know the view. The price difference from deluxe to deluxe corner or balcony is big...the price pretty much doubles. We were happy in the deluxe room, and I would not pay the extra for the bigger room there, but of course would happily accept an upgrade.

Kyoto sightseeing for 2 days...

We tend to sightsee slowly, much more slowly than the average traveler I think. You'll see what I mean when I describe what we did in 2 days.

Day 1: Kiyomizu, Sanjusangendo, batik

Day 2: Nijojo, Nishiki Ichiba

Kiyomizu has a killer approach for those with mobility or age or fitness issues. It is a pretty long uphill walk then up more stairs to get up there. The Hyatt concierge recommended we take a taxi to the highest point that we could go by car and walk from there, so we did that. Then we only had a very short uphill walk through some shops of snacks, drinks and souvenirs to reach the temple entrance. Even so, the stairs were too much for MIL to challenge, so she chose to sit on a bench at the bottom of the temple and watch people. I'm sure that she had plenty to watch as Kiyomizu is the most popular sightseeing spot in Kyoto. Teaghan, SIL and I headed up the stairs and into the temple complex.

There is a place where you can wash and drink water before entering, then you pay your admission and are free to wander. There was an exhibit of treasures in one of the halls on this day only and then not again until (insert date far into the future as I forget the exact one), so we paid a bit extra for a look at those. It was crowded, hot, but still, the treasures and such we saw were nice...though we lack an understanding of all the objects actually are or mean.

There is a huge platform where the photo op is too good to pass up, so I competed with a few others to get a good spot to stand to take a picture. Overall, it's very civilized, with most people taking their photo and moving on so the next people can do the same.

Up a flight of stairs we came across people walking with their eyes closed and arms outstretched. Seems that if you can manage to walk from one stone to the other with your eyes closed, you will find true love.

There is a path around the grounds that we did not follow as we were beginning to feel that we had left MIL on the bench for long enough, so we went down a staircase of about a million stairs, not a million but a lot, enough to make me dizzy, and walked along the path past a few rest shops that sold drinks and snacks, and joined MIL.

We wandered downhill along one of the narrow roads lined with shops. There was a place where you could try making pottery, but MIL and SIL were not interested. T and I will maybe try that next time we visit Kyoto. Anyway, we ended up at a toilet station (how convenient) and took a taxi back to the hotel from there.

After a break, we headed next door to Sanjusangendo. There are lots of Kannon lined up inside, and if I had paid proper attention I would know how many there were, but I forget and can't find my brochure right now. It's an impressive place, and the nightingale floor is fun.

Then we were off to batik at http://www.roketsu.com/ . We drove there using the navigation system, and I am 100% sure that without the navigation, we would never have found it.

First, you need to choose if you will make a t-shirt or noren, and if noren, which size and type. Then you can choose a pattern or make a pattern, and then paint it onto your fabric with hot wax. They have these lighted tables so that the pattern can easily be traced. The wax is really hot and a little bit smelly. It takes a fair bit of time to paint on the pattern, and only after you finish does the old lady tell you that it has to be done twice, so you have to go back and do every line once more.

It is really quite OK to be sloppy about the lines, and had I known that I would have spent less time worrying about the thickness of my lines...thick lines look better and are easier to do.

After the wax is all painted on, the fabric gets dumped into this ominous looking box of black liquid, and it should be stirred around and lifted up and down with a stick for 20 minutes. In preparation for this, we all were given beautiful rubber boots, a very fashionable rubber apron and long rubber gloves...we looked great!

Then the fabric is rinsed, cooked or ironed, spun and dried. Only as it dries does it become a nice blue color...just out of the pots it is muddy green/black.

The whole process took over 2 hours, and the old lady who helped us was especially entertaining in her way of helping us make our wax drawing look just like hers. She also brought us tea and cookies and senbei, which we ate all of since we had skipped lunch. Nice experience with a great souvenir as a result. Recommended.

KimJapan:Thoroughly enjoying your description of sights and your experiences. The batik activity sounds like fun. Will save all your threads in hopes of using someday when I travel to Japan.
By the way, how were the deer in Nara. Did you enjoy walking around them?

KimJapan, have you lived in Kanazawa for the entire 13 years? How did you get so lucky? I spent a weekend in Kanazawa this past July. My cousins from Tokyo got relocated there a few years ago and love it so much, they won't go back to Tokyo anymore, not even for New Years. He finally gave in and got a drivers license as transporation isn't as readily available as in Tokyo.

We also ate soft ice cream (milk?) at one of the dairy farms, and also walked around to look at the animals. We had a hard time getting my daughter out of the bunny house!

We went to the old samurai village, visited the ninja-dera (which was the highlight of my daughter's entire 6-week vacation in Japan), and had tea at the Kenrokuen gardens. My cousins decided to surprise me and took me to a kimono art shop where they dressed me up in kimono which were actually two piece outfits. I REALLY didn't want to do it but they paid for me so I reluctantly went along.

By the way, the Kanazawa station is beautiful!

Answer to offlady...we have lived in Kanazawa for the whole time we've been here. I was recruited to work at a technical college here, and although that job has ended, we are still here. It is a great place to live.

Kyoto, Day 2

After breakfast, we had halfway planned to go to Arashiyama and ride the train, walk around the bamboo forest, relax...but the concierge informed us that the train required reservations. She phoned, and they were sold out. So we went with plan B, which was good, too.

Plan B had us take a taxi to Nijojo - 2 taxis as we were 5 people. It's possible to take the bus/subway, but with 5 of us, taxis are about the same price for nearish destinations and much less hassle than the bus/subway. I think from the Hyatt to Nijojo was under ¥1000...but I don't exactly remember. I do remember, though, when things are expensive, so by default this taxi ride was not expensive because I don't remember.

Nijojo is a beautiful place, both buildings and gardens. We spent about 2 hours I think, maybe more, there, just walking through the building, wandering the gardens. It is a nice place for walking.

There are no smoking signs prominently posted all over the place, and I was dismayed to see 2 foreigners sitting right beside one of the no smoking signs, smoking. I was irritated by that, so I said to them that there was no smoking and pointed out the sign...the woman said to me, "It's OK...thank you in accented English and spoke to her partner in French." and continued to smoke.

This kind of behavior drives me crazy because foreigners in Japan are discriminated against in many circumstances because some foreigners could not follow the rules...prime example is the Otaru Onsen discrimination case where all foreigners were banned from onsens/baths because some Russian sailors were unruly, rowdy and did not use the baths properly. It's not fair to ban all on the actions of a few, but I can't help but see the point of the business owner who will lose the local business if foreigners are allowed to enter and carouse.

Another example directly related to tourism is the recent closing of parts of Tsukiji. Tourists were using flash for photos in spite of signs and instructions not to, were getting in the way of workers and heavy equipment so much that it was both dangerous and disruptive...solution is to close the tuna auction and some other areas to all but select guided tours and restrict casual visitors to access to limited areas only.

Sorry, had to get that off of my chest.

After Nijojo, we headed by taxi to Nishiki Ichiba. Pickles galore, and miso, some fish, some vegetables, a few souvenir shops. It's a nice market, with some of "old Japan" and some of "new Japan" right under one roof. Nishiki Ichiba extends into a big shopping area with shops selling clothes and accessories in all price ranges. It's nice because it is a pedestrian zone so it's quiet and safe.

We had lunch in a restaurant called Kyoto Dining (I think), but it was good. We chose based on the plastic food outside. Inside it was kind of funky, new Asian style, and food was an eclectic mix of Japanese and SEAsian cuisines, which was nice. Price was about ¥1500/person, very reasonable, and portions were huge and taste was good. I'd go back.

After lunch we wandered a bit more, then headed back to the hotel for cocktails and relaxation. I went to the spa for the second time and had a nice massage while everyone else ate dinner. Recommend the spa, too...for Japan, the price is good and the massages are very good.

Up early on Wednesday morning for breakfast, packing and out of the hotel by 9:00. First stop, the VW dealer that the concierge found for me to replace a brake light that was out. 15 minutes, ¥800, and we were served tea while we waited.

Then onto the highway for the drive to Hakone, which we expected to take 6 hours (and it did). One traffic jam due to road construction that took about 10 minutes to clear was our only difficulty. We saw Fuji from the parking area we stopped at for toilets and Starbucks, and it was the only glimpse of Fuji we would have.

The drive from the Gotemba exit off the highway to Gora is windy, very windy. I really had to pay attention. But it was worthwhile.

Gora is a cute town, small and nice, touristy but not overbuilt or tacky. We drove through some of the bigger towns on the way out and I did not like those areas much...very built up with big, ugly concrete box hotels dominating the scenery.

We stayed at Lalaca, which was a good find. For ¥15,000 per person, we got room (one room with twin beds, toilet, bath and shower and one room with futons, toilet), dinner with Ise Ebi (like lobster but no claws), shabu shabu, tempura, many sides, rice, soup, dessert, coffee, and a huge breakfast as well (Japanese style, and if you want they will give you omelet instead of grilled fish).

They have a ping pong table set up in their big room that also has massage chairs and foot massage machines, so we spent about an hour playing ping pong. We didn't keep score, but I think everyone would agree that ping pong is not my best game.

The rooms were very nice, and the food, imo, was excellent (and it was also much too much for us to eat all of). The public bath can be reserved for private use, which we did. There are only 8 rooms (or it 11?)...which means that the bath is pretty much empty anyway. We reserved it for 8:00, after dinner, and enjoyed it. It is simple, 6 shower stations and one big tub, but the water is hot and milky (From the minerals) and the window is open and looking out on their small garden which is fenced to maintain privacy. This bath was a real skin treat for me as I have easily irritated skin that is frequently red and angry...this bath was like medicine for me, so i went again at 6:00 AM when I woke up.

After breakfast, we loaded the car with our luggage but left the car at Lalaca. The owner's son gave us a ride to the station and we took the cablecar to Sounzan. There we bought a special one-day ticket to use the ropeway and the boats that was considerably cheaper than buying single trip tickets, and also cheaper than a Freepass, which we did not need as we had a car.

First stop was Owakudani for viewing the volcanic landscape and black eggs. Smelly place (sulfur) and chilly, so everyone except me bought lovely black windbreakers (I had on a long-sleeved shirt and was OK). We walked over to where you can walk up to the pools, and the prominently displayed sign in 4 languages has warnings that those who have heart trouble, asthma, other breathing disorders, generally not feeling well...basically everyone...may experience trouble and perhaps die if they continue, and if you do choose to continue to not stay a long time. MIL read the sign, and told me my plan to do her in wasn't going to work. We decided to turn back and head on to the pirate ships.

They really are pirate ships, and are fun to look at. We rode a loop all the way around as we were pressed for time, enjoying the boat ride and the scenery, although it was too overcast to see Fuji at all on this day.

We backtracked back to Lalaca to fetch the car, and left Hakone at around 2:00 to head for Tokyo. The drive took 90 minutes, no traffic, not lost, overall very good.

Next up, the Peninsula Tokyo detailed review.

We arrived by car at the Peninsula Tokyo, just minutes after my husband had arrived by taxi. He was at the check in counter and had called us minutes before to ask if we wanted only one of our two rooms upgraded or if we preferred no upgrade if both could not be upgraded.

Our car was met by a staff member at each door. Our luggage was quickly unloaded, the valet took the car, and we were escorted to check in where we met Rich. He was just finishing check in and getting keys.

Our deluxe room for MIL and SIL was ready, as was the connecting deluxe corner room for us, but we had accepted an upgrade to executive suite for us and would have about a 30 minute wait for that room to be prepared. We took a look at the deluxe corner room, and it was very nice, very big and comfortable looking. We passed up the connecting rooms for the suite, and were so glad we did. Although the deluxe corner room is huge and gorgeous, the executive suite offered a bigger dining table, more living room seating, a separate bedroom. It would be more comfortable for hanging around in than either of the regular rooms. We waited together in the deluxe room for about 30 minutes for them to prepare the suite for us.

When you are shown to your room, you get a tour of the room's facilities, which include a high tech entertainment system and espresso machine, complete with your choice of coffee, decaf or espresso, milk and sugar...complimentary and refilled every time you leave the room.

In our suite, we received a complimentary bottle of Peninsula label Paulliac wine in addition to the fruit which all rooms receive daily, which we proceded to drink with some light lunch we ordered from room service. The room service order arrived quickly and was very nice and at a price not too exhorbitant. The charcuterie plate was a huge amount of assorted Italian meats at a price of about 1/2 of what we would pay to purchase the same in a supermarket, so we were really pleased with that offering.

The suite itself was stunning, with living area with a big sofa and an armchair and coffee table, huge flatscreen tv and dvd player, a 4 seat dining table, a desk with large workspace and fax machine, as well as a box containing stapler, eraser, ruler, etc..very thoroughly and thoughtfully equipped. Floor to ceiling windows look toward the Ginza. The minibar was well stocked, and the espresso machine was well used by us.

The bedroom has another small desk, 2 twin beds (but bigger than usual twins), a huge flatscreen tv, another minibar. The beds are so comfortable it was hard to get up in the morning. At turndown, a bottle of mineral water and a fresh glass are placed bedside along with fresh slippers and a bathmat.

The dressing room is really a room with a huge walk in closet with plenty of hangers, plenty of drawers, a place for suitcases, a vanity with regular mirror and magnifying light mirror, nail dryer?!, hair dryer...absolutely nothing is missing. The valet box is convenient for sending out laundry or pressing and receiving messages, newspapers and the daily weather forecast, and affords complete privacy by eliminating the need to have staff enter your room to pick up or deliver something.

The bathroom was also wonderful, with two sinks, a long and deep tub with a window over it to enjoy night view of the city lights, and a very large shower booth with rain shower and massage shower. Amenities are Davi.

I have to say that the room is the best equipped, most comfortable hotel room I have stayed in. Everything you need is there, and it is right where you expect it to be. Every room in the suite is equipped with mood lighting which lets you dim the lights to two levels - great for a romantic evening. Very well thought out rooms. We never wanted to leave.

Overall, service was also outstanding. The concierge was patient and helpful, and provided excellent recommendations. She located and put a hold on a book that my MIL wanted to buy for a relative at home, which saved us a lot of time we would have had to spend going to bookstores looking for it. Her restaurant recommendation for us was perfect...we wanted a place that would have something for everyone, and it did, and it was reasonably priced, too.

The Spa was excellent, everything I expected it to be after having experienced the spa in the Peninsula Bangkok. Staff and treatments were top notch, and the environment was peaceful. One day I had an aromatherapy massage and another one of their signature treaments, the Keihatsu Enlightenment. Before and after treatments, guests are free to use the relaxation room, which is equipiped with special lounge chairs with pillows and comforters, juice, fruit, water, headphones for music, magazines. It is dimly lit, private and a fantastic place to wind down before a treatment and equally good to ease back into the day following a treatment.

My only complaint is the restaurant The Lobby, where breakfast was served and where we ate one dinner. Food was good, but service was uncoordinated at every meal we had there. While all of the hotel staff we interacted with spoke excellent English, the waitress we had at both dinner and the first breakfast spoke little English...we could not understand her and she could not understand us. That is not a problem for us in most circumstances, but considering the high level of English competence of the rest of the staff, her lack of English competence surprised us, especially considering that she must interact with English speaking guests much of the time she is working. Breakfast was included in our rate, and each morning when we were seated we were asked our room number...but then given a check for the breakfasts that then had to be redone into two checks, one for each room (that they knew because they asked us when we were seated), which just wasted everyone's time and energy. Food was very good though. We missed having a buffet, which they sometimes have at their Chinese restaurant Hei Fung Terrace, but was not available during our stay.

We had room service on 3 occasions...1 snack, 1 birthday cake and 1 dinner. Every time it was quick, beautifully presented and high quality. Room service staff was friendly and professional. When finished eating, they are also quick to return when you call and clean everything up.

Fitness Center and swimming pool are gorgeous. Staff is attentive, bringing water and setting up your pool chair when you arrive. They have swim caps and goggles for guests to use....caps are required. There is a long and warm jacuzzi with a bench seat which is lovely. Four chairs are on a small balcony outside overlooking Hibiya Park and the Imperial Palace Garden. Very impressive fitness facilities.

Location is fantastic, right at Hibiya Station and Yurakucho station, with Ginza right in back and the Marunouchi area and Tokyo station a quick subway ride or 10 - 15 minute walk. Very convenient location.

Our rate was booked through a Virtuoso agent and included daily breakfast for two, upgrade on arrival if available, a ¥10,000 food and beverage credit once per room per stay, at the same rate as the published corporate rate, which represents quite a good value.

I would love to go back. It is expensive, but except for the lobby restaurant, they really deliver on the service, and the rooms and facilities are spot on perfect. The small issues in the The Lobby are not issues that are big enough to spoil a stay or prevent a return visit.

Kim, I am drooling on the keyboard. Peninsula Tokyo sounds marvelous.

Also, this is the best review of Kyoto Hyatt I have seen.

I am a massage junkie too. Thanks for the details!