Fri, May 9 Hakodate to Tokyo, Japan

Our hotel, La Vista Hakodate Bay, is a fairly traditional Japanese hotel, it included an onsen.  An onsen is a traditional Japanese soaking bath.  I don’t really get it, it’s kind of like a hot tub, but they’re not my thing either. BTW you are naked in an onsen.  Many (most of the) times they are by gender and do not allow tattoos to be visible.  

Our bed was a platform and kind of low to the ground but very comfortable.  I did bash my shin on the platform a couple times.  We were told the hotel was popular with Japanese people (makes sense, it’s kind of a resort area in Japan), they come for the onsen and the breakfast.  It’s acceptable to wear your pajamas (hotel provided) everywhere in the hotel except the lobby.  

The breakfast buffet was quite extensive and fish heavy. I was a little overwhelmed with the fish smell. We were told the Japanese do not differentiate what they eat for  meals. I am not a fan of fish for breakfast so it was kind of a tough start to my day. The funny thing is how we thought there were so many people working at breakfast.  Turns out it was guests in their black pajamas.  We had a good laugh. 

This morning we did a tour of the fish market/old town. There is a fishing tank where people can fish for their own fish, they’ll also cook it right there for you too.  

The biggest crab legs, ~$93.  Various forms of squid was also popular. 

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We had a look around and bought lunch for the Shinkansen (bullet) train ride to Tokyo.  The train trip was about 4 hours. It’s similar to a plane trip, comfortable (but roomier seats) reserved seats. The 1st Shinkansen tunnel, Seikan, opened in 1983.

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We arrived in Tokyo and had a bus ride to our hotel. Tom & I had dinner at a beer hall where before they seated us told us we could only stay for 2 hours. 

Pictures continue in Tokyo. Busy street with lots of visual stimulation. The cat is a giant screen above the street with a lifelike cat. You can see we did encounter Godzilla!