Overnight Trip to Gotemba & Hakone (Part 5) / 御殿場・箱根一泊旅行 （パート５）

Our first stop on our Hakone drive was the Jyukokku Ridge. It is also known as Higanesan.

箱根で最初に行った場所は十国峠。別名で日金山（ひげなさん）とも言う。

Jyukkoku Cable Car / 十国ケーブルカー


View from the top of the ridge / 峠の上からの眺め


The view is beautiful, but it was windy and cold and the top of the ridge.

眺めは素敵ですけど、峠の上の風は強くって結構寒かった。


At least it wasn't raining.

雨が降ってなくて良かった。

At the top of the ridge is an "Onegai Jizou".

峠の上に“お願い地蔵”がありました。

As the English may be difficult to read in the picture above, the "Onegai Jizou" was built to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Jyukkoku Cable Car and to offer a prayer of safety to all travelers.

Not only is there an "Onegai Jizou" on top of the ridge, there is also a cemetery and a park as well. The cemetery is part of the Tokoji Temple (also located on this ridge).

「お願い地蔵」の他に日金山東光寺とか姫の沢公園もあります。

As we were headed to the park, we also came across this monument which is a historical marker commemorating a poem that was believed to be written here by the third Kamakura Shogun, Minamoto no Sanetomo.

It's quite a walk to the park as well / 公園まで距離も思ったよりちょっと遠い


Entrance to Hime no Sawa Park / 姫の沢公園の入り口

Park items like these brings out the kid in me.

こういう物があると自分の中の子供が出てきますね。

There is no law against being silly!

子供心に戻ると馬鹿の事もやりますね。

A fair view of Mt. Fuji from Jyukkoku Ridge / 十国峠での記念写真

After enjoying our little walk around the top of the ridge, it was time to head to our next destination. But first, off to the gift shop!

十国峠を堪能したあとはまた降りて次の目的地へ、でもその前にお土産さんをちょっと覗いてみる。

Overnight Trip to Gotemba & Hakone (Part 4) / 御殿場・箱根一泊旅行 （パート４）

I suppose you were all wondering when I was going to continue my posts about our overnight trip to Gotemba and Hakone. After dinner we enjoyed the onsen of course (which was most awesome but not a place to take pictures). Afterwards, we bought some snacks and beer (of course) and just had a pleasant evening. In the morning, we enjoyed a breakfast buffet (part of our package deal) and then it was off to Hakone. But before that, we decided to walk around the neighborhood. Endo-san's girlfriend had to go to work so it was just me, Mikako and Endo-san on our little driving tour.

一泊旅行のつづき忘れてませんよ。夕飯の後は楽しみの温泉。（残念ながら、温泉内は写真撮ってません）。お風呂上がりはやっぱりビールとおつまみ。朝はブレクファストの食べ放題 （宿代に含まれてました）。今日は箱根を堪能する予定。今日も晴れてたので、食べたあとにちょっと散歩。

Mt. Fuji / 富士山

There was a little shrine at the top of this hill so we went to check that out as well. It was the Haniwa Shrine. What's a haniwa? It's a kind of ceramic art that originated in the 3rd century (of course I had to look that up). Apparently, you make your own haniwa near this shrine.

丘の上の小さな神社がありまして、それを見に行きました。埴輪神社でした。神社の周りに埴輪がいっぱい置かれてました。埴輪って何？自分も気になって、調べました。どうやら日本の古墳時代の特有の素焼きの焼き物。古墳時代はいつ頃も調べました。３世紀半かば過ぎから７世紀末頃までの約４００年。この神社の近くで自分の埴輪が作れるらしい。

Haniwa Shrine / 埴輪神社

View of Mt. Fuji from Haniwa Shrine / 埴輪神社から見える富士山

More Haniwa figures / 埴輪がいろいろ

A teepee village in Japan? / 日本でネイティブアメリカンの村？

Love the domed-shaped onsen in the large Dome Village / ドーム型の温泉可愛い

The Little Prince / 星の王子様

Pet Hotel in the Dome Village

Sign on the Pet Hotel says "We are very sorry, but we cannot accommodate lions".

Okay, so we still haven't left for Hakone.

まだ御殿場時のすみかから離れてません。

To be continued...

つづく。。。

Craft Beer Restaurant [Grand Table] / 地ビールレストラン 「グランドテーブル」

Oh my goodness, it wouldn't be me if I didn't focus on what and where we had dinner on our overnight trip to Gotemba. After checking out the fountain illumination show and the long illumination tunnel, it was time to eat. We had made reservations for 7:00pm but decided to see if we could get a table a little earlier. We went to the restaurant at 6:00pm and found to our delight, that we could get a table immediately. Welcoming the warm interior of the restaurant (one of many to choose from at Gotemba Toki no Sumika, we chose the Grand Table), we were led to our large table where our first order of business was to choose which Gotemba microbrew to drink. Although I always enjoy their bock (yes, I've been here on previous occasions, also with Endo-san), but I have a weakness for specials, so I ordered the Schwarz which is a dark beer.

御殿場・箱根一泊旅行で吹かせないネタはやっぱり何処で何を食べたことですね。イルミネーションを堪能したあと、お腹が空いたので夕飯の時間だ。七時に予約を入れましたが、ちょっと一時間前にレストランの様子を見て、時間が変更出来るのかを調べてみた。ラッキーな事に、席が空いてたので、温かい店の中に。御殿場時のすみかに何件の飲食店もあるので、私たちが決めたのは地ビールレストラン「グランドテーブル」。地ビールが大好きな僕なので、ここしかないと判断（とは言え、私と遠藤さんは以前にも何回もこの店に来たことがある）。この店の地ビールと言えば御殿場高原ビール。僕はこの店に来るといつもヴァイッツェンを注文しますが、限定という言葉に弱く、今回頼んだのはシュバルツの黒ビール。

Schwarz Beer / シュバルツ

And now for the food. This restaurant is a large family restaurant that also features a stage for live performances. The menu has a variety to choose from satisfying even the most pickiest of eaters. There are your standards of chicken wings and fries, pasta and salads. They also offer roast beef and ribs as well as pizzas, sausages and a variety of appetizers. Just check out the picks below to see what we had (and remember, there were four of us!)

さてさて、お待ちかね。どういう料理を食べたかは下記の写真でゆっくりご覧になって下さいませ。量がかなりあると思うが、これは大人４人で食べたので、僕一人で食べた訳ではございません！地ビールがメインと言っても、ここはファミリレスです。メニューも豊富で選ぶのに迷います。定番のパスタや唐揚、ピザとサラダはもちろん。それにローストビーフやスペアリブなど量が多い肉料理。前菜もいろいろあって、全てのメニューが美味しそうで全部が食べたい位です。

Korean Style Tuna Tartar / マグロのユッケ風

Our first item was a Korean Style Tuna Tartar appetizer. It may look like a tomato in the picture above, but believe me, it is maguro! The mayonnaise and seaweed are a perfect match for it too. Delicious!

最初に食べたのは前菜のマグロのユッケ風。写真ではトマトに見えますが、マグロです！マヨネーズと海苔に凄く合う。絶品でした。

Our choice of salad was a Japanese Radish Salad with Dried Baby Sardines.

サラダはしゃっきり節大根とカリカリじゃこサラダ。

The pizza we chose was called a Mediterrano. Fairly standard but still good.

選んだピザはメディテッラーノ。普通に美味しかったです。

Sausages goes great with beer! This is the assorted sausage plate.

ビールと合うのはやっぱりソーセージですね。メニューで書かれてるのは“ソーセージおじさんの仲間たち”。

And of course, the main event, the dish I had been waiting for - pork spare ribs! (And no, I didn't eat the whole thing myself, thank you very much!)

やっぱり一番待ってたのはこれですね。山賊のスパリブ！や～、幸せですね。（えい、一人で食べた訳ないですよ！）

Bon Appetit!

いただきます！

Overnight Trip to Gotemba & Hakone (Part 3) / 御殿場・箱根一泊旅行 （パート３）

Continuing to check out the illumination show before having dinner:

夕食食べる前にイルミネーション観察がつづく：

Nope, we don't know the couple with the baby in front of the train.

いえ、機関車の前の家族は知り合いではございません。

Santa checked out the illumination as well.

サンタさんもイルミネーションを見にきてたみたい。

Church (didn't get the name of it though) / 教会 （教会の名前は分かりません）

Group photo / 記念撮影

Overnight Trip to Gotemba & Hakone (Part 2) / 御殿場・箱根一泊旅行 （パート２）

After checking into our lodge, it was time to check out the illumination show!

チェックインしたあとは、イルミネーションを見に行った！

The Little Prince / 保持の王子様

The above pictures were of the fountain illumination show. It was beautiful (unfortunately, the video clips I took do not seem to be compatible with this blog, but some of you may have seen them on my Facebook page).

上記の写真は噴水のイルミネーションショーでした。残念ながら、撮った動画がこのブログと合わないみたい。自分のフェイスブックページで動画をアップしましたが。

More illumination pics to follow...

イルミネーションはまだつづく。。。