We took our first trip on June 26th after we moved to Tokyo. To be honest, I had never heard of this place "蓼科 (Tatesina)" in Nagano prefecture before this trip. When our original plan to go to Hakone got canceled due to the hotel situation, we turned to our sister Ritsuko who has a membership to use high-quality facilities in resort areas and reserved a room at
the hotel in Tateshina.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't so good on the weekend as it was in the middle of the rainy season and we couldn't get a full view of the mountains.
We took an express train called "Super Azusa" from Shinjuku station which took us to Chino in about 2 hours. From there, we took a shuttle to the hotel.
Waiting for a shuttle at the outside of Chino station. Zach loves his phone.. They are inseparable!
We checked in at the hotel around 11 a.m. As our room was not ready yet and we were not cut out for sitting back at a cafe or hanging out at the resort to kill time, we decided to walk around the neighborhood a little... However, we encountered a tiny problem.. It was that things which were under the category "What's in the neighborhood" were not actually in neighborhood unless people had a car and all we had were our healthy not-so-lengthy legs.
We decided to talk to the cable car (.... Oops! Typo.. Yet, it'd be really cool if we could..) and to go to the garden on the top of the mountain. 5 km on the map. "It can't be that hard, can it???" ..... Well, it could be if it was uphill and a baby sitting in one's tummy.
Ready to be on board!
We took the cable car to the top. The closer it got to the station, the denser the mist became.
In to the mist...
It was very windy and chilly on the top... Walking the major trail in the park would take about 30 mins, but we could not enjoy leasury walk as we feared that we might freeze into one of those icy rocks.. So what we did was more like a heal-and-toe walking (or rather marching) and we got it done in 15 mins.
Walking in the water
Yes! We are on the right track! And Yes! I'm wearing fish-net stocking.
The bus runs once every two hours there. We managed to catch one on time. We were the only passengers on that bus. Our personal bus ride! How do the bus company manage to keep the buses running in the route, I wonder...
4 wheels are more powerful than 2 legs...?! I was ready to trade mine with the four.
When we got back to the hotel, our room was ready. As we walked in the room.. or more precisely "rooms", we were finally ready to enjoy sitting back and just relax! Do nothing. No more walking...
Japanese-style room
Western-style room with a balcony
Bedroom
The rest of the day was consisted of swimming in a heated pool and relaxing in hot spring, and stuffing ourselves at a buffet style restaurant, and watching a World Cup game Korea v.s. Uruguay.
Next day after breakfast, we took a walk in the garden and took off.
We could see a patch of blue sky when we got to the station. Oh.. how badly did we miss the blue in the sky!
Zach and Locomotive
A patch of the blue sky over the bridge
"
Ekiben" (Railway boxed meal) is an equivalent of McDonald on the road trip in the U.S. (at least it is to me!), and I like eating Ekiben on the train as it enhanced the feel that we are on the trip!
Here's happy Zach with Bento.
Taking Super Azusa back to Tokyo...
No. 4 compartment, Non-reserved seat, No smoking
A swordsman at the platform
Where will our next destination be? Hakone? Nikko? ... So many places to visit around Tokyo!
