Lookin' for some hot stuff, baby this evenin'

For some reason or another, every time Blake and I have planned a trip to Hakone, a mountain town southwest of Tokyo well known for its volcanic hot springs resorts and views of Mount Fuji and only a couple of hours away from us, something has come up and we've had to cancel. We kept hearing of friends' adventures there and seeing beautiful photos and just never making it ourselves.

Just walking around the town is charming!

Until this weekend! We finally made it! We could make it one long day trip, but that would mean close to five or six hours on trains and buses just getting there and back, not to mention any travel around. We chose to make it a little more relaxing of a getaway and did the long trip out there Friday after work and stayed the night at a hotel to rest up before a day of exploring. We found a nice western-style hotel with an onsen, instead a more pricey (but definitely worth the experience when you're in Japan) traditional Japanese inn or ryokan. I took advantage of the onsen before bed for even more relaxation, and we both enjoyed the breakfast provided in the morning.

One night away from home and we accidentally pack the same shirt (our family reunion shirt from when Blake's entire family came to visit us this summer). Luckily, we both wore hoodies most of the day.

The first few hours of our day seemed like just going from one mode of transportation to another, but the variety of transportation methods and the lovely views of the fall leaves in the Hakone National Park were the point. The joy is in the journey, after all.

Our first stop was Hakone Shrine and the gorgeous torii gate submerged into Lake Ashi, a volcanic crater lake.

Then, even though it hadn't been high on our priority list, we took a reproduction pirate cruise ship north on Lake Ashi. It was included in our Hakone Free Pass, a pass we decided to buy at the last minute that covered most bus routes and all the other transportation we took plus discounts or entry at a variety of other places in the area that was well worth the money, and it was going from where we were to where we wanted to be for the next leg of our adventure, so why not? It was a lovely little cruise with excellent leaf peeping opportunities. On clearer days, we would have seen Mount Fuji.

The ship Victory

The same torii gate from earlier!

It dropped us off at the beginning station of the Hakone Ropeway, which we took all the way to the end and then took a cable car.

We stopped at Owakudani, a volcanic valley with active sulphur vents, including a new one from a small eruption in 2015. Here, you can eat black eggs that have been boiled in the sulphuric water. Each one you eat is said to add seven years to your life!

After lunch at a Ninja Cafe, where the staff were dressed as ninjas, we headed to Yunessun, which was conveniently only a few minutes by bus from the end of the cable car line we had just chosen to take to the end and go from there. It's almost like I planned that! (Maybe part of me knew this, but I did surprisingly little advanced planning for this trip. I knew what we wanted to do and kind of where stuff was, but we figured out the travel parts as we went.)

Yunessun is basically a onsen themed water park. There is a traditional onsen portion, though we skipped that this time, but the main attraction is the family friendly, bathing suit area with a variety of different themed baths. We tried just about all of them! It was a chilly day, so relaxing in a warm bath was just what we needed. Besides the ones pictured below, we tried a few different tea baths, one in a cave with an aquarium of jellyfish, and more!

Coffee bath (sorry about the water on the lens)

Sake!

Wine - This one was probably our favorite. Fun color and nice temperature, so we started and ended our bath exploration here.

Then, though there were many other attractions in the region that we could spend days locating and enjoying, we decided that we would also be well served by not completely exhausting ourselves and heading home in time for dinner (which we picked up on the way).

It was a great day and we're so glad we finally made it! Hopefully, we can go back and see some of the things we missed!

Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggety dog

In order to have any sort of home based business on our base here in Japan, you have to have base approval. The application you submit says that you will abide by base and local policies and procedures, your sponsor's (spouse or parent) command is aware of what you're up to, and your business doesn't compete with those already provided by the base. This applies to any goods you may sell or services you provide. It's not terribly complicated, but it has to go through multiple channels to be fully approved and then you're allowed to advertise your business and actually ask for money in exchange.

Couch snuggles - Malcolm (left) and Stella (right) and me

I decided that since I already have to walk Malcolm, he likes having friends to play with, and we are allowed to have up to two pets in our home at once, I would get base approval to take care of other pets so I could bring in a little extra cash. I was able to secure that approval and Malcolm became the CEO (Chief Entertainment Officer) of my little pet care business.  I've watched some cats and one hamster, but I primarily take care of other dogs - sometimes in their home, sometimes in ours.

Malcolm doesn't look very sure about Parker, but they actually got along just fine

Every dog has their quirks, but we find we usually enjoy giving Malcolm a new buddy to play with once in awhile. I always meet new clients with Malcolm ahead of time, to make sure everyone gets along, so we really haven't had any problems. Virginia still holds the title of Malcolm's best friend, but we've made some other good dog friends along this journey as well.

Virginia stayed with us for six weeks this summer while her family went to the States. Two big dogs in the bath was extra adventurous.

It's time to re-certify my approval (it's only good for one year), and I filled out my part of the paperwork before writing this post. I'll send it with Blake on Monday to route through his chain of command and then we'll go from there! I've enjoyed this little business opportunity, especially when more formal work that I'm both interested in and qualified for has been rather elusive. We're good either way, but I like being able to contribute and feel like I'm accomplishing something, and being helpful to my neighbors and friends at the same time!

I checked on Parker at his house while Virginia stayed at ours. I can handle three dogs on a walk at once, but it's always helpful when Blake joins us.

Everyday, it's a gettin' closer,

Hi friends. It's been a minute. I started off the year strong and then . . . well, nothing. Nothing for months. I'm sorry about that. I honestly don't have a great excuse - I've just been out of the habit.

I know one challenge is that I don't have a typical schedule. There is almost nothing predictable about my schedule most weeks. Sometimes I have classes or rehearsals, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I have an extra dog to care for. Sometimes I don't. No 9 to 5 job for two years now. Every day is a little different.

I've tried to come up with routines and schedule my days to actually get things done and use all this time and flexibility I have to do as I please and sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. I'm a big fan of my life right now and I actually do get a lot of things done and have great adventures, so I don't really regret my inability to consistently do ALL of the things AND keep a good record of it. There is always more I could be doing, sure, but as long as I'm doing something, it's better than nothing.

I really enjoyed a talk from the most recent General Conference of the The Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints titled "Divine Discontent", which outlines the different between divine discontent and paralyzing discouragement. Divine discontent, an inspired feeling of the need to do more, can lead us to action, doing good, and come closer to Christ. Paralyzing discouragement does the opposite - convinces us there is no point to even trying, it won't make a difference and we'll never get any better. I've certainly experienced that kind of discouragement, but I also certainly prefer the divine discontent.

As Gordon B. Hinckley said, we should "go with determination to try a little harder to be a little better." That's what I'm going to do. It's NaBloPoMo season, and I haven't missed one yet, so I'm going to try and get back in the groove. Again. I'll try to talk about current events, adventures of the last year, and life in Japan updates. Life is good!

Malcolm napping today. He's a weirdo.

Do you want to build a snowman? Do you want to go and play?

When I checked the weather forecast this morning, I saw a possibility of rain turning to snow with an accumulation of 1-3 inches. Having already been here for one previous winter and having only one snowy day (with minimal accumulation), my response was definitely one of "I'll believe it when I see it." It definitely snows in Japan, which we've seen in Nagano and Hokkaido, but just not frequently in the Tokyo area.

Well, now I've seen it and I definitely believe it! And it is significantly more than 1-3 inches! Sadly, Blake is back in Arizona for a family funeral (his paternal grandmother passed away), so he's missing it completely!

It started snowing a little bit in the morning, flurries with big, fat flakes. It started accumulating in the mid-afternoon and there was about an inch when I left for main base, where it wasn't sticking at all, just snowy, wet, and cold.

The view from our balcony in the early afternoon

About two hours later though, once the Officers Club was closing early and our command function (a Hail and Farewell) was ending by default, it was building up there too. Several of us piled in a van and got a ride to the train station, which was much appreciated. The trains were running, thankfully, though with significant delays. I was traveling with a couple of neighbors from our command, so we commiserated as we shivered on the train platform. Eventually, we made it to our station and trudged through the snow that was easily 3-4 inches deep up to our building.

Immediately upon returning, I changed into slightly more practical clothes for the weather (waterproof pants instead of a long tunic and leggings) and Malcolm and I met up with our next door neighbor and their dog, Georgia, for a romp in the snow!

The dog park before our pups destroyed it

My mom requested that I make a snowman for my nephew - happy to comply!

I felt a bit like the snowman kid in the old Campbell's soup commercial

After we got home and I peeled off the wet layers,  Malcolm had dinner and I made myself some popcorn and mint truffle hot chocolate, with which I had my second ever Tim Tam slam (where have these been all my life!?). Just as I was feeling toasty and finishing my hot chocolate, Malcolm decided he needed to go out again for his final walk for the evening. Silly boy.

View from the balcony of the apartment where I'm checking on cats twice a day

We haven't seen snow like this in almost two years, so while this is just daily life for many (and has been for us at times), it felt novel and amazing to me! It's still coming down at press time, but probably ending soon and the forecast high for tomorrow is 50 degrees, so this is probably it for a while again!

You only see him when you're very young, a magical adventure for you!

Between the holidays and travels and life, I haven't been on a good solo adventure for a little bit. I am quite pleased with opportunities for outings with friends and of course I savor the time I get to spend with Blake, but I also need to do things on my own sometimes. I'm an introvert, after all, and solo time is how I recharge. So, today, I got out on my own for the afternoon and found Fushimi Hakuseki Inari Shrine.

I first found out about this shrine from a local blog I follow call Deep Yokosuka, and they suggested it might be a place you would find Totoro. Since I've finally seen that movie and now that I've been there, I can completely agree with that connection (and have titled this post with a lyric from the movie's English version theme song)!

The back side of the first section - inscribed with who donated the gate and when

According to another source I used to locate the actual shrine, Fushimi Hakuseki Inari Shrine is related to the more famous Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, which we visited over Memorial Day weekend in 2017 (and I failed to blog about) and is known for its 1000s of vermillion torii gates. They both are built in reverence to the deity Inari, the Shinto god of rice.

Foxes are said to be messengers to Inari

This shrine is located near the Taura station in Yokosuka, which is much closer to me than Kyoto! Even though it was reportedly built early in the Showa period (1926-1989), it is still in use today by locals.

My sources warned of its many stairs, and I got warm hiking them even on a cool January day. According to my Fitbit, I climbed the equivalent of 23 flights of stairs to get to the top. It had rained yesterday, so it was pretty slick and maybe I should have brought my hiking boots or walking stick, but I managed.

Ultimately, I counted that I walked through 56 torii gates, which are believed to purify your soul. What's charming about this one was that even though it's not even a century old yet, it's certainly in more disrepair and overgrown than it's more famous Kyoto counterpart. To me, it just added to the magic.

Looking from the top back down the trail - you can see it curve off to the right through the trees

Even though I took my time, I was up and down in a little more than 30 minutes, but the walk to and from the station is about 20 minutes each way. Not a bad walk, but I definitely recommend carrying water.

It was a small outing, but just what I needed today.

The milk flavored ice cream I got on the way home was pretty good too

Where do we go from here?

On Saturday, January 13, Blake and I embarked on what is probably one of my favorite Tokyo adventures thus far - The Underground Mysteries! It's a scavenger hunt using the Tokyo Metro and nearby sites. You have to find things around the city to solve puzzles and figure out your next destination. They offer the game in both Japanese and English, thank goodness. For the locals reading this, it's available until the end of the month!

Part of a puzzle!

For us, it took somewhere around 4-5 hours, including a couple stops for snacks and lunch (during which we worked out the latest puzzle). We saw a lot of Japanese couples and friends and a handful of Western families doing it as well, and it was always a good sign we were on the right track when we ran into a bunch of other people with puzzle kits doing the same things we were doing.

Puzzle kit! Each participant has to buy one and it includes a 24 hour pass to the Tokyo Metro

Snack break! Cupcake like thing filled with a layer of vanilla custard and a layer of strawberry jam. Yum!

Another part of the puzzle!

Puzzle solving lunch break!

More clues!

My favorite parts were the couple of times we got on a train and didn't know where we were heading. We were just following instructions to get on the next train at a particular platform and go to the next stop or, even better, to follow clues along the way and get off when certain clues were observed. I loved the mystery!

On the train!

Blake's favorite part was a puzzle that involved "reading" some stone pillars of varying heights. He started reading them so fast I stopped trying to keep up and stuck with verifying that his interpretation made sense.

We really enjoyed doing this together too - what would stump one of us was usually solved by the other and we just generally make a really good team. As much as I am into solo adventures sometimes, this wouldn't have been a good one. I am also grateful for the opportunity to work on navigating the Tokyo Metro without our smart phones! Instead, we only used the map and clues provided. The Metro alone isn't too bad, but you add the JR and Keikyu lines and other municipal and private train companies, it leads to a whole bunch of options that really confusing really quickly. Smartphones are a lifesaver for sure, but it's nice to do it without one when we can.

Not great on the detail, but one of the final clues!

If they do another one this fall (and I'm subscribed to their email newsletter to find out) - we are in!