Maigo 迷途

Kanto Maigo – Day 1

Day 1 begins monotonously with the ever renovating Sydney Airport. The larger change this year was the every traveller’s harbour – McDonald, being moved further off toward the second concourse. A much posher but crowded space.

 

第一天,一樣從永遠在裝潢的雪梨機場,單調的開始。今年比較不一樣的是旅行者的港口,麥當勞,被搬到更靠第二大廳的地方。一個更高檔但很擁擠的空間。

 

The flight to Hong Kong was uneventful. Because of the tight transfer there was no time to hit the lounge in HK. The flight to Haneda was also went uneventfully. Actually, I did find out that Cathay can cook up decent flight meals (still not as good as EVA or China Airline, but it’s night and day compared to their usual fare). Why they don’t put in the effort on their other routes is beyond me.

 

到香港的飛程無可細說的。在香港的轉機時間很短,這次沒有空去貴賓室。飛到羽田的旅程沒也發生什麼。喔還是有的,我發現國泰其實是有能力做出還可吃的飛機餐(沒有長榮華航好,但跟國泰一般水準有日夜之差)。不懂為何飛其他航線時不使出同樣水準。

Cathay food to Haneda. Curry rice and soba

Arrival in Haneda was almost half an hour early. Now looking at checking in by 10:30 if things went smoothly.

 

飛機降落羽田比預期早了近半小時。看來順利的話10:30前可以入住。

 

I walked down the moving walkways at a brisk pace and breezed through customs. Haneda Airport was unexpectedly large, I had thought most international traffic went through Narita (though I suppose Narita does now have 3 terminals). If I had the time I would have liked to take a better look around.

 

On to business first. First and only item on the agenda was getting a data sim.

 

很快的走過電動步道,通過海關。羽田機場比預期的大,原本想大部分的國際班機是飛成田(不過成田有三個航廈就是)。如果有多餘的時間真想稍微逛一逛。

 

不過正事先辦。首先,也是唯一必做就是買網卡。

Haneda

On previous trips I had gotten data sims beforehand, more reliable and time saving that way. Australia however had few sim options and the ones available was very costly for what few megabytes I needed to access google map and emails.

 

Haneda supposedly had plenty of options, from umobile to Japan Travel, Freetel and many more. Worse come to worse, there was always the option of getting one after getting into the city centre from BIC CAMERA.

 

過去旅行時我都是預先買好網卡,安心也省時間。但澳洲網卡選項不多,對於我這種只需幾mb看google地圖和信箱來說也太貴了。

 

羽田似乎有不少選項,從umobile到japan travel, freetel等等。就算真沒有的話也可以等進入市區後再到BIC CAMERA買。

7-11 outside Keikyu Haneda

I first checked the 7-11 on level 3 just outside the Keikyu station area. On the shelves were the umobile sims, but not the nano-size I needed.

 

No worries, the Air Lawson on level 1 was supposed to stock them too.

 

我首先到三樓京急車站外的7-11。架子上有umobile的sim卡,但沒有nano大小規格的。

 

沒關係,一樓的Air Lawson應該也有。

No nano size sim

I got lost initially as there were two level 1 areas accessed by separate escalators. An area directly below Keikyu station area lead out to the taxi stands, the Air Lawson was in the area below the main area and leads out to the bus stands.

 

一開始迷路走錯了,一樓有兩個區域,分別用不同的手扶梯上下。在京急正下方的通往計程車站,而Air Lawson是在主區樓下通往巴士站的一樓。

 

Already annoyed by the wasted precious minutes, I stared blankly at Lawson’s empty shelves. They had no umobile left, or hardly any sim card. Only a few J Travel sims hung angled like rejected goods.

 

I would have even settled for a umobile 14 day since I was there for 8 days plus however many hours left till I get to the capsule hotel. Alas there were none.

 

浪費了時間有點心煩,我又無神的看著Lawson空蕩蕩的架子。沒有剩下任何umobile,連其他網卡基本上也所剩無幾。只有幾張賣不出去,歪歪掛著的J Travel網卡。

 

如果有umobile 14天的話我也可接受,畢竟這次要待8天+我今晚到膠囊旅館前的這一段時間。可嘆就是沒有。

 

I ran through the options.

 

  1. Settle for a different sim card. Not desirable as the ones on the shelves were total data over a given period instead of quota per day with unlimited throttling. It’s not likely that I would use that much data, still, accidents were possible in this age of automatic updates and synchs.
  2. Continue to the capsule hotel and get a card from BIC CAMERA next morning. Problem was this required waiting for BIC CAMERA to open and delay getting to Kusatsu.

 

我想了想可行的方案

  1. 買別牌的網卡。這不太妥當,架子上的網卡是算流量總量的,不是每天給多少流量超過降速繼續無限使用。我不太可能用那麼多流量,但現在一堆自動更新,同位下載的,意外絕不是不可能。
  2. 繼續到膠囊旅館,明天早上再去BIC CAMERA買。這的壞處是必須等BIC CAMERA開門,影響到草津的時間。

 

Or….

 

I went back to the 7-11 upstairs, grabbed the umobile standard size sim and went to the counter. “Is the nano-sized sim of this one sold out?” I blurted out, then realized it was asked in a very counter intuitive way. “Nano sized, do you have nano-sized ones?”

 

或著說….

 

我回到樓上的7-11,拿了包umobile sim卡一般大小的到櫃檯。請問nano大小的賣完了嗎,我說完立刻意識到這是個很彆扭的問法。有nano大小的嗎,你們有沒有nano大小的。

 

“What kind?”

 

The staff was not sure what sized sim I was asking (I wonder how nano could be pronounced in Japanese). She did get enough hint that I was asking for one that’s not the one I was holding.

 

哪一種?

 

櫃檯人員不確定我在問哪一種(nano日文怎麼發啊)。但她大略可猜出我要的種類不是我拿的。

 

I typed out nano on the phone. She turned around, fished about in a drawer and produced a nano sized 7 day umobile sim pack.(7 day, 2376Y)

 

我在手機上輸入nano給她看。她轉過身,在抽屜內翻了翻找出一張nano大小的7天umobile網卡包。(7天, 2376Y)

 

Huray!

 

Despite the delay I got what I needed. I hopped on a Keikyu train for Shinagawa.

 

萬歲。

 

雖然有點耽擱但終於到手了。我跳上京急奔往品川。

Keikyu platform

 

 

Global Cabin Gotanda is two stop away from Shinagawa on the Yamanote line, all up just over 20 minutes from Haneda.

 

It was about 10:30 when I reached Gotanda, still plenty of buzz on the streets. The area felt like a typical station district. A very confusing station front with a bus loop, a pachinko of sort and lots of izakayas.

 

Global Cabin五反田在山手線上距離品川兩站,從羽田車程加起來20分鐘多一點。

 

抵達五反田時大概10點半,街上還有不少人氣。這地區感覺上跟一般的車站周遭沒什麼兩樣。站前有個容易令人混亂的巴士圓環,有家小鋼珠還有一堆居酒屋。

 

I almost missed Global Cabin as I had miscounted the intersections and had to double back a block. Note to self, stick to the main road where one can’t miss.

 

我算錯了交叉路口差點錯過Global Cabin了,結果必須折返回上一個街口。提醒自己,還是走不可能錯過的大路。

Global Cabin, the Lawson is right downstairs

Global Cabin was chosen because I still wasn’t fully committed to the idea of a capsule. Felt too claustrophobic and nowhere to put luggages, going to the lockers or front desk was too much of a hassle and will have to open and organize things in public. Global Cabin offered a halfway solution between a capsule and a room, what is now usually called a cabin. Basically a capsule with extra space and privacy.

 

選Global Cabin是因為我還是對膠囊有點不放心。太小了,又沒地方放行李,若要去置物櫃或櫃檯放太麻煩了,要整理行李又必須在公共空間弄。Global Cabin是一個介於膠囊和房間的解決方案,在膠囊上多提供一些空間和隱私。

 

The most well known cabin chain in Japan is probably First Cabin. They offered two types of cabin, one with extra headroom (no capsule on top) and full cabin where it’s essentially a full room minus bath/toilets, oh and one gets a curtain instead of a door.

 

日本最有名客艙連鎖是First Cabin。他們的房型有兩種,一種是增加頭頂上空間(上方沒有膠囊),另一是完整的一等艙,基本上就是一個房間去掉衛浴,還有沒有門只有簾子。

 

Global Cabin offers their own take. The capsules are still stacked on top of each other, but they opened on opposite sides where each individual gets a small narrow “room”. Again, no doors, just curtains. One still get bothered by the neighbors climbing into their bed below or above, but otherwise gets entire isolated space and never sees each other. One the floor one could leave the luggages, and lock the valuables in the small safe provided when going to the bath or when asleep.

 

Global Cabin客艙有另一番的設計解讀。膠囊一樣是上下堆疊,但往反方向開,連結個人窄小的一個房間。一樣沒有門,只有簾子。當隔壁間的人爬入上面或是下面的膠囊時仍然會互相影響到,不然的話每個人擁有獨立的空間,更不會見到對方。地上可以放置行李,去洗澡或睡覺時貴重物可鎖在小保險庫內。

 

Global Cabin belonged to the Dormy Inn chain, probably the most premium business hotel chain (they get free soba/ramen at night), some level of quality was assured.

 

Global Cabin歸屬於Dormy Inn系列的分支,這系列差不多是最高級的連鎖商務了(晚上有免費蕎麥麵/拉麵),可確信有一定水準。

 

I checked in and was given a cabin number and an access card. The card granted access to the floor my cabin was on and also the public bath on the top floor. It gave some level of security from non-guests and men off the lady-only floors.

 

我辦理入住後拿到我的客艙號碼和門禁卡。需要刷卡才能進入客艙所在的樓層還有頂樓的公共澡堂。這提供某程度的安全性,確保外面的人無法隨意進入,也不會有人亂跑入女性專屬樓層。

 

The cabin floor was cool, dim and quiet. The curtain door had a magnetic clip so it stuck to the door frame and required some effort to close and open with a snap. While the sound of opening and closing the curtain was going to be a little annoying, it gave an extra feeling of security, it took effort to go peeking around and anyone that tried to sneak into the cabin was not going to do it quietly.

 

客艙樓層很涼爽,昏暗又安靜。客艙的門簾有一個磁鐵扣會吸住門框,要拉開需要使上點勁,感覺上比較安全。不容易偷窺,且若有人想偷進入客艙的話一定會發出聲響。

Rows of cabins

Cabin, the capsule is on the left

 

Capsule bunk

 

On the bunk (I had chosen an upstairs bunk) was a basket containing towels.

 

在床上(選的是上舖)有一個裝了毛巾的提袋。

 

I quickly shoved my valuables into the safe (it’s big enough to stick the camera inside) and headed for the bath.

 

我匆忙把貴重物塞入保險箱(大小夠塞入相機)後去澡堂。

 

In addition to the rows of showers each floor had, Global Cabin also have a public bath on the top floor (men only). The bath had a Japanese traditional onsen decor, with plenty of wood, soft music and warm lightning. Next to the wooden sliding door and blue curtain was a few potted plants on a pebble stone bed. One could almost forget one was on the top floor of a concrete building.

 

除了每層樓有的一排淋浴間外,Global Cabin在頂樓還有一個澡堂(限男性)。澡堂走的是傳統日式的風格,有許多木頭,輕音樂和暖色燈光。木頭滑門和藍色門簾旁的碎石床上擺著盆栽。幾乎可忘記自己是在鋼筋水泥建築的頂樓。

Bath entrance

 

Changing area

 

The bath was large enough for maybe 6 or 7 people. Since it was late there was only one other person and he was gone by the time I finished showering.

 

大浴池大概夠6-7個人泡。現在夜色已深,澡堂裡只有另外一個人,在我淋浴完之前就離開了。

 

The bath is what’s promoted as ultra soft water, supposedly more gentle on the skin. Did not feel any different. Was very relaxing to have a hot bath after flying.

 

浴池用的水宣傳上是稱超軟水,說是對肌膚比較溫和。感覺不出差異。剛下飛機能泡個熱澡真是舒服。

 

After feeling very refreshed, I headed downstairs to have a stretch outside. Directly below Global Cabin was a Lawson (lobby is on the 2nd). I took a quick look and headed back upstairs.

 

感覺清醒多了,我下樓出去伸展一下。Global Cabin樓下就是Lawson(旅館櫃檯在二樓)。我稍微晃了下後回到樓上。

 

The lobby had a row of counter seats by the window with power sockets for charging. There was also a coffee machine offering free beverages, a fridge where bottled water was offered (one per guest, honor system) and to my surprise, free Dormy Inn brand instant ramen.

 

大廳窗戶旁有一排座位,還有插座可充電。有咖啡機提供免費咖啡,冰箱裡有礦泉水(一人一瓶,自我約束),還有另外的驚喜,有免費的Dormy Inn自己品牌的泡麵。

Dormy Inn Ramen

Global Cabin coffee

Not a fancy ramen, delicious all the same. A hot bowl of ramen with smooth Japanese coffee late at night, it was as luxurious as lobster at a five star hotel.

 

沒什麼料,但一樣很好吃。深夜裡熱騰騰的拉麵配上滑順的日本咖啡,跟五星級飯店的龍蝦一般奢侈的享受。

 

Things were quiet, broken by the occasional check-ins and people getting coffee. One, joined in with a late night ramen.

 

靜悄悄的寧靜,偶而被入住的房客和拿咖啡的人打破。有一位加入吃泡麵宵夜的一員。

 

After the meal I went back up to bed. The capsule space was more spacious than expected, high enough that I ran no risk at bumping my head when sitting up, and wider than a full roll to either side. There were two kinds of lightning, a spot light for reading and a general illumination emitted off two LED strips to either side of the backboard, angled so they would not shine directly into one’s eyes even when looking up the capsule.

 

吃完後我回到客艙準備睡覺。膠囊空間比想像的寬闊,高度夠坐著不用擔心撞到頭,寬度夠左右翻身滾一圈。有兩種照明,一個看書的檯燈和一個一般照明,頭板左右兩排LED燈,裝的角度斜斜的避免從膠囊底部往內看時刺到眼睛。

 

A flat TV mounted on a folded arm could be swung out and adjusted to comfortable position. Not much interesting on the late night shows.

 

平板電視架在一個可收放的支架上,可以調到舒適的位子。深夜節目沒什麼好看的。

 

I drifted off to sleep. The occasional closing and opening of curtains in the distance hardly bothering a weary traveller.

 

我漸漸進入夢鄉。偶爾傳來的開關門簾聲對疲憊的旅客並不足以構成干擾。

 

Kanto Maigo – Foreword

One would think that after so many trips, planning for a trip would be a matter of going through the motions and things would no doubt go smoothly.

 

經過這麼多次旅行,可能會認為規劃旅程已經是駕輕就熟,按步就章輕而易舉的事。

 

It’s actually the other way, I think. The more experience one has the more one knows how things could go wrong and begins to consider all of the factors. Overthinking, is just much a headache as ignorance.

 

事實上正好相反,我想。經驗越多,也越知道可能出錯的地方,也會開始去考慮這些因素。想太多跟天真無知同樣令人頭疼。

 

That’s how things ended up being quite messy for this trip’s planning. A lot of back and forth, a lot of indecisions, and way too much shifting around.

 

這就是為什麼這次規劃上變得如此混亂。反覆不斷的決定,很多猶豫不覺,還有太多調整修正。

 

Initially the trip was prompted by the Shinkai Makoto exhibition, a celebration looking back at the road which the director took over the decade from the humble debut of Voices of a Distant Star to the phenomenon hit Your Name.

 

一開始會有去旅行的念頭是因為新海誠的展覽,回顧導演從出道的『星之聲』到爆紅鉅作『你的名字』十多年來經歷過的路途。

 

The exhibition was touring around Japan, starting from the Z-Kai Kotoba Museum which had hosted the previous Shinkai World exhibit, to Koumi Museum near Shinkai’s hometown in Nagano, Tokyo in Nov-Dec then to Sapporo in Jan-Feb 2018.

 

這個展覽正在日本巡迴展出,首站是上次展出新海誠的世界展的Z-Kai的大信交流館,到新海誠長野老家附近的小海藝術館,東京11-12月,到2018年1-2月在札幌展出。

 

The Sapporo date overlapped with the Sapporo Snow Festival so the idea came about. Why not hit the snow festival and the exhibition at the same time, can also throw in the penguin parade at Asahikawa zoo.

 

札幌的展出日期與札幌雪季正好重疊,於是想說何不展覽和雪季一次解決,再丟進旭川動物園的冬季企鵝遊行。

 

Planning initially went smoothly. The trip would either be Sapporo in-out, or Hakodate-Sapporo in-out. Or if time permitted, perhaps even enter via Tokyo or Sendai.

 

I really miss that milk curry ramen in Aomori.

 

一開始安排得很順利。可能札幌進出或札幌函館進出。若時間允許的話乾脆東京或仙台進。

 

真的太想念青森的那碗牛奶咖哩拉麵了。

 

A friend Y also indicated an interest in being dragged along which I happily agreed to. Travelling by oneself was very exhausting and sometimes demoralizing. Having a companion would help keep things interesting and keep from slacking off back to the hotel early as I had done several times before.

 

這時一個朋友Y表示有興趣當個旅行跟班。我當然是再歡迎不過。一個人玩真的很累,有時心情上也會很失落。多一個人很多事情都會有趣的多,也不會像前幾次偷懶提早回旅館。

 

There was always a nagging problem though. Hokkaido is really hard to plan in winter.

 

不過一直有個小煩惱。北海道在冬天真的是不好安排。

 

Hokkaido in winter is cold, the daylight short, and the weather unpredictable. Since it’s the off-season many tourist spots either don’t open at all or has shortened hours. Combined with the long travel distances between the main towns, it makes planning meaningful trips a headache.

 

北海道在冬天很冷,白天很短,天氣也不穩定。冬天是旅遊淡季,許多觀光地不是沒有營業就是縮短營業時間。加上幾個主要城鎮間長距離舟車勞頓,要安排充實的旅程實在令人頭痛。

 

Since daylight is limited, travelling during the day is really not desired, problem is most locations do not have enough attractions to warrant a full day. Otaru maybe just over half a day, Asahikawa however long one can spend in the zoo, Hakodate has enough for a day except one would want to arrive early enough to see the nighttime scenery which either means giving up one morning or one afternoon travelling to/from Sapporo.

 

由於白晝短暫珍貴,要盡力避免白天坐車,問題是大多地點並沒有足夠玩上一整天的景點。小樽大概夠半天多,旭川看能在動物園混多久,函館雖足夠玩上一天,但為了早到欣賞夜景,要就放棄早上或下午從札幌去回。

 

Within Sapporo itself it’s not much better, outside of the Sapporo Beer Museum and Shiroi Koibito Park, there’s shopping, eating and… that’s more or less it.

 

札幌市內也沒有多好,除了札幌啤酒博物館和白色戀人樂園外,有的就是逛街…吃東西…大概就這些吧。

 

What are at best C list tourist spots in other areas ends up on the B list for Hokkaido, and there just aren’t that many A grade spots in Hokkaido. So one either force oneself to spend too much time at one location to make the most of the day given how long it took to get there, or spend less time at each place and waste most of the trip on the trains.

 

其他地方只算的上C咖的景點在這也能算B咖,北海道算的上A咖的景點真的不多。所以只有兩個選擇,要就強迫自己為了不浪費珍貴的白天和抵達此地花費的交通時間,而在一個地點待太久,不然就是每個地方待短一點然後旅程大部分時間浪費在電車上。

 

Extra considerations also had to be built into the schedule in case blizzards stopped the trains or worse flights. There had to be a few flexible days that could be shuffled around for the Asahikawa zoo day trip, and the first and last night had to be in the city.

 

此外還必須在行程上排入暴風雪電車停駛或更糟一點班機停飛的可能性。一定需要有幾天可調度好一天來回去旭川動物園,第一和最後一晚也一定需要在市區。

 

Nevertheless, planning continued and hotel bookings were made with a few additional days on either side to be adjusted closer to the date.

 

不過怎樣,行程規劃繼續著,旅館也先訂了下來,兩頭還另多卡了幾天等比較接近出發日時再調整。

 

Then I started looking at flights, and it was clear that it was going to be too difficult.

 

然後開始看機票,才發現這是最困難的關卡。

 

Despite still almost half a year away, the tickets prices were getting high and the seats getting few. Unless the flight could be locked down within a week or two it was quite possible for the more suitable dates to be sold out.

 

即便還有近半年,價錢已經開始飆高,機位也所剩不多。若不能在一兩周內確認機票可能適合的日期會一票難求。

 

The decision was made then to scrap the idea of going to Hokkaido and bring the trip forward to visit the exhibition in Tokyo.

 

所以才決定不去北海道了,把旅行計畫提前去看東京的展出。

 

That caused its own sets of problems. Namely I’m not particularly fond of Tokyo – too much shops, not enough other stuff. Some people can spend an entire day (or days) doing the strip at Omotesando or Shinjuku. Something that will barely last me two hours.

 

這安排也有另一批自己的問題。首要的就是我不是說很喜歡東京。太多逛街,沒太多其他的。有些人光是表參道那一條或新宿就可打發一整天(或許多天)。我大概兩小時都未必撐的到。

 

The other thing that Tokyo had plenty of are places to eat. Problem is they all tend to require queuing up. Something again I am terrible with.

 

東京當然還有的就是美食。問題是大多需要排隊。這點我也不太擅長。

 

So I decided to aim for either the Christmas lights in early December, or the autumn leaves in late November.

 

所以我決定看是12月出的聖誕燈飾,或是11月末的紅葉。

 

Two set of plans were thus drawn up, targeting the different periods. More lights, or more leaves.

 

於是規劃了兩套行程,分別針對兩個不同的時段。一個燈多一些,另一個紅葉多一些。

 

Things started looking up. The Shinkai Makoto exhibition was going to take half a day, maybe a few hours doing the pilgrimage around Shinjuku visiting spots that appeared in Your Name. Throw in a day in Hakone, a day in Kamakura, a half day out to the west to visit a sake brewery followed by half a day being healed by penguins in the aquarium plus some sightseeing/snacking in Ginza. Fits in fairly well for a 5-6 day trip.

 

看起來還不錯。新海誠展大概半天,另外花幾個小時在新宿附近電影場景朝聖。丟進一天去箱根,一天去鎌倉,半天去西邊參觀清酒廠然後半天水族館看企鵝治癒心靈,另外塞一點銀座逛街吃點心。作為5-6天行程恰恰好。

 

In fact, Tokyo had changed quite a lot since I visited in 2011. There were a lot of new spots to visit, such as the Skytree, the Daikanyama T-Site, the Manseibashi complex beneath the former station platforms, even Asakusa had changed quite a bit (not that I did it justice the last time).

 

事實上東京在我2011那次去之後有了許多改變。多了許多景點,天空樹,代官山的T-Site,万世橋利用舊車站設立的新商店街,連淺草也有多許多變化(上次去也沒好好逛就是)。

 

Then Y mentioned that only 2 days off was possible, meaning including weekends at best 4 days.

 

然後Y提到說只能請兩天假,含週末頂多只有四天的時間

 

Around the same time I also realized that it was possible to book what was called open jaw flights, that is a return flight to Taiwan cost the same as a flight to Japan then a return flight from Taiwan, I only had to book an additional single flight from Japan to Taiwan. This meant compared to what I had done before, booking a Taiwan return from Sydney, then a Japan return from Taiwan, doing a triangle flight of Sydney->Japan->Taiwan->Sydney saved an entire day and the cost of a single flight.

 

差不多同一時間我發覺國泰可以訂開口機票,也就是說台灣來回的機票跟飛日本,台灣回的機票價格是一樣的,這樣就只需要多定日本回台灣的單程機票就夠了。跟我以往的飛法比較,雪梨台灣來回再另外台灣日本來回,用開口機票飛雪梨->日本->台灣->雪梨這樣的三角形不但省錢還可省上一整天。

 

This presented me with a different problem. I was suddenly presented with additional days compared to what I had previously planned for. Whereas before it might have been Tuesday to Sunday, I was now looking at Sunday to Sunday.

 

這也給了另一種不同的難題。突然間在日本的天數超出預期。原本可能只是週二到週日,現在看來卻變成週日到周日了。

 

The trip became two halves. The first half I would be on my own, then meet up with Y for the second half.

 

行程上分成了兩半。第一半是獨自旅遊,然後跟Y會合後是另一半。

 

The exhibition was of course moved to the first half, then I had the vague idea of doing the kanto area using the Kanto Area pass. Kusatsu Onsen maybe, since I always wanted to visit it but never did find the time, at this stage not sure about the rest.

 

新海成展自然移到第一半囉,然後有個模糊的概念,用關東pass晃晃關東景點。可能草津溫泉吧,一直都想去但都沒有機會去,至於剩餘的天數如何利用目前還沒有想到。

 

The sudden opening up of options aside, I decided to aim for the early 20s of November for the later half, a bit of a gamble between autumn leaves and Christmas lights. It turned out to be a good choice too as came December comes the off peak season and many shops would have been closed in Hakone and Karuizawa.

 

暫且不管多出的許多選項,先選定日期為11月20幾,算是楓葉和聖誕燈飾折衷的賭注。結果上選這日期還是對的,進入12月淡季連箱根和輕井澤的店家也有許多會休業。

 

Ideally a week earlier would have been better for autumn leaves in Hakone, but that risked being too early for Christmas lights in Tokyo. By picking the 20s, I figured even if I missed out on the autumn leaves, we’d get to see the ginkyo leaves in Tokyo at least.

 

若可以的話再早一周看箱根的紅葉會比較適當,但那樣可能東京的燈飾還沒出來。選20幾號,想若真的沒有紅葉了也可以看東京的銀杏。

 

Tiger Air offered a red eye flight with arrival in Haneda at 4am, so thankfully Y’s first day can be a full day, if a very tiring one. Since I wanted to keep day 2 and 3 flexible for Hakone in case of weather, I allocated the first day for the trip to the sake brewery as its english guided tour required advanced reservations.

 

虎航有一班清晨4點到羽田的紅眼班機,所幸這樣雖然Y第一天到還是可以有整天可以安排,雖然會比較累。由於第二天和第三天要視天氣安排箱根,第一天就先安排參觀釀酒廠了,酒廠的英文導覽需要先預約。

 

With a vague timeline drawn up, I moved on to securing accommodations.

 

時間上大致有個底後,開始處理住宿問題。

 

The usual places to stay in Tokyo was either west side (Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Shibuya), or east side Ueno/Akihabara or area near Tokyo station/Ginza/Nihonbashi.

 

一般來說東京主要住宿地點分西側(新宿,池袋,澀谷),或是東側(上野,秋葉原或東京車站一帶,銀座,日本橋)。

 

Shinjuku was discarded as I had no desire of risking Kabukicho. If I was on my own it might have been fine, just had to skirt around the edges and stick to the main road when getting to and from the hotel, but I was responsible for more than myself on this trip. Outside of Kabukicho the hotels tended to be some distance away from the station, not to mention expensive. Shinjuku station is also a nightmare to navigate.

 

新宿一開始就不考慮。主要是不想想避開歌舞伎町。若只有我的話或許可以考慮,來往旅館時盡量走大路,但這次還需多付一個人的責任。除了歌舞伎町外新宿的旅館離車站有點距離,也較貴。新宿車站本身也很容易迷路。

 

Tokyo accommodation prices have really gone up since I last visited.

 

話說東京住宿價格比上一次又貴了許多。

 

Ikebukuro and Shibuya I saw little reason to stay at, since they were a little out of the way for the places I had planned on visiting.

 

池袋和澀谷好像沒什麼住在那的理由,跟想要去的景點不是那麼順路。

 

That leaves the east side, which had better access to airports anyway.

 

所以就考慮東側了,機場交通也比較方便。

 

Last time I had stayed at Ueno, looking at it now with more experience, it was surprisingly poorly situated if one wasn’t heading to the north east. Yamanote line was slow, to access the west side it was generally much faster to take the Chuo line or pick one of the metros (which Ueno had especially poor access to). Akihabara was well situated but hotel choices were few.

 

上一次來是住上野。現在比較懂了,發覺若沒有要往東北郊區的話上野其實交通說不上很好。山手線太慢了,要去西側還是中央線比較快,或是直接用地鐵(上野地鐵轉接不方便)。秋葉原地點很好但旅館選擇不多。

 

Kinshicho, which I had never even heard of before, stood out as a place that’s surprisingly convenient despite being outside of the central areas. It has access to both Chuo and Sobu line meaning it can access Shinjuku and Tokyo station without transfer. The metro Honzomon line north south through it giving it access to Skytree and Shibuya and easy transfers to other lines. For the cost of 10 extra minutes getting into Tokyo central, one could get some really cheap hotels.

 

錦糸町,從前從沒聽過的地點,在眾多可能性中意外的顯目。雖然屬外圍區,但有中央和總武線,不用轉車就可到新宿和東京車站。地鐵半藏門線走南北向,北通天空樹,南往澀谷,轉到其他線也都很方便。交通上要進入市區多10分鐘,價錢可省不少。

 

The other focus was along the Asakusa line, which has direct access to both Haneda and Narita airport now that there is through service to the Keikyu and Keisei line.

 

另外瞄準的區域是淺草線沿線,現在跟京急和京城有直通後可直接到羽田和成田機場。

 

During the search I also ran across the Shin-Nihonbashi/Mitsukoshi-mae area, which while not having access to the Asakusa line, did provide decent rail access if usually requiring transfers. It traded some convenience for cheaper prices.

 

在搜尋時也看上了新日本橋/三越前這一帶,雖然不在淺草線上交通上也不算差,需要轉車就是。沒那麼方便但價錢也相對低一階。

 

The focus though, really fell to Shinbashi. It’s very much an office area and not a shopping area, which is probably why it doesn’t usually rank very high on people’s radars. The hotels here were slightly more expensive, more than places like Ueno but cheaper than Shinjuku/Ikebukuro/Shibuya. It does however have amazing access for what I had planned.

 

真的看上的地點還是新橋。主要是個商辦區域而不是百貨購物區,大概也是為什麼一般人中不太受歡迎。旅館算是比較貴的,比上野這類地點貴,但比新宿等副都心便宜。但對我考慮的行程來說是太方便了。

 

Yamanote line. Via the Asakusa line direct access to both airports and of course, Asakusa. Ginza line gives it access up the Ginza strip and out west to Shibuya and Meiji Jingu Mae. A short walk to Shiodome and we get the Christmas lights at Caretta and the Oedo line goes west to Roppongi and Shibuya and east to Tsukiji.

 

山手線上。通過淺草線直通羽田成田,當然的了,也到淺草寺。銀座線可到銀座,往西到新宿和明治神宮外苑。稍微走一點到汐留就是Caretta的聖誕燈飾還有大江戶線,可到六本木,澀谷,往東則是築地。

 

The Shinbashi/Shiodome combination gave access to Yamanote and JR main line, 3 metros, 4 if one counted the Mita line which is also within walking distance. Outside of Ikebukuro it had direct access to every location I had potentially planned. There is also the Yurikamome line to Odaiba, providing the option of going to the Oedo Monogatari Onsen early morning on Y’s arrival if the situation called for rest and recovery.

 

新橋和汐留合起來有山手和JR本線,三條地鐵線,若算附近也走得到的三田線就有四條。除了池袋外其他我有在考慮的地點都可不用轉車。另外還有通到台場的百合海鷗線,Y到的當天視情況有需要也可一大早去大江戶溫泉物語休息。

 

Access to the airport is of particular importance. Since Shinbashi is so near to Haneda it allowed me to go to the airport to pick up Y and allowed dropping off the luggage as soon as possible. On the last day we can make use of the morning without checking out, returning only when it’s time to go hop on the train directly to Narita.

 

機場交通對這次安排上很重要。因為新橋離羽田很近,我可以一大早去機場接Y,也可很快安置好行李。最後一天也可一早出去晃而不用check out,只要時間到了回來,跳上直達成田的列車就好了。

 

There is also another critical factor which led to ultimately choosing Shinbashi, that is outside of Shinjuku, this was the one location that could realistically do a day trip to Hakone.

 

另外選新橋還有決定性的一點,那就是除了新宿之外,這裡大概是唯一可以一天箱根來回的地點了。

 

In the end as I had often done and perhaps too much so throughout this trip, I opted for convenience over cost over most things, and Shinbashi was settled on as the place to stay for the second half.

 

最後決定,跟這次旅行中各種取捨上同樣的,可能做了太多次的,還是在方便和價錢中選了前者。

 

Once the second half was more or less outlined, I looked back to the first half. Kusatsu Onsen was going to take basically 2 days since it takes 3-4 hours just to get there. The remaining day was going to be either Karuizawa or Kamakura. It was going to be a day trip and was left open ended while I worked on more pressing parts of the schedule.

 

行程第二半終於大致有譜了,此時才回頭安排第一半。草津溫泉基本上需要兩天,因為光去就需要3-4小時車程。剩下的一天大概會是輕井澤或是鎌倉。當天來回所以就先擱著了,當務之急是處理其他必須確認的細節。

 

Incidentally I had some air miles up for expiry and instead of trading them for gift cards, I decided to look into what I accomodation I could get for them. Turned out I could get some really good deals, about 3 times what I could have gotten with gift cards. Either they had really good discounts with the partner hotels or they bought the rooms on a fixed rate that was less subject to seasonal fluctuations.

 

碰巧這時我有一些國泰里程數快過期了。一般來說里程數都是換禮卷,不過這次我想說看看能換什麼住宿。結果才發覺換住宿挺划算的,大概是能換禮卷價值三倍的住宿。要不是他們與打契約的旅館能拿到很好的折扣,不然就是打契約時用的價格比較不受旺季影響。

 

Sunday in Kusatsu, Monday, Tuesday in a separate hotel booked using air miles, then Wednesday in Shinbashi, a day earlier than Y to check out the area beforehand and also provide a place to throw luggage on the day.

 

星期天住草津,一二住用里程數換的住宿,然後星期三住新橋,比Y早一天好確認周遭,當天也好有個地方丟行李。

 

Unfortunately my leave got approved later than expected so not only did I miss out on the cheapest fair, I also missed out on the Saturday red-eye with Sunday morning arrival. I had to settle for a Saturday day time flight with 9pm Haneda arrival instead and had to book an extra night close to the airport. Considering possible delays I was expecting check in possibly after 11pm. Given the circumstances, I decided a capsule hotel was probably the best, despite my reservations about them.

 

有點不幸,在准假時拖延了好幾天,所以我不但錯過了最好的機票價格,也沒能拿到週日一大早到的週六紅眼班機。只好求其次選了週六飛白天,晚上9點到羽田的班機,需要多一晚住機場附近。考慮到班機誤點還有通關延誤之類的,check in時大概會是11點之後。考慮這狀況,我決定最好是住膠囊旅館,雖然一直對這種形式的旅館有所保留。

 

With accomodation and flight locked in, planning fell back into an endless loop of adding and removing, at the same time keeping a close eye on the autumn leave forecast.

 

住宿和班機都訂下來了,剩下的就是不斷的添加刪除景點,同時注意紅葉的預報。

 

An unusually late typhoon brought after it an early cold front, crashed the thermometer and started the autumn leave this year a week or two early. It looked like Hakone may be entirely out of autumn leaves by the planned dates. Worse, the typhoon blew away all the snow on top of Mount Fuji, leaving its peak barren and a sore sight.

 

一個異常晚的秋颱過後帶來了一個寒流,溫度計急降,今年的紅葉季因此早開始了一兩週。看起來箱根在計畫的日期時可能葉子已經掉光了。更慘的是颱風把富士山上的雪全吹走了,山頂變的光禿禿的。

 

A backup to Hakone was hurriedly planned. Centered around possibly going to Tofuya Ukai Shiba, followed by maybe a walk of the old districts of Nippori, plus several gardens in Tokyo famed for autumn leaves.

 

我連忙規劃了若不去箱根的備用計畫。考慮去豆腐屋芝,然後去日暮里周遭的懷舊區,加上東京內幾個可賞楓的公園。

 

The backup plan turned out to be fruitless as I was not able to secure a booking at Tofuya, and the autumn leaves in Hakone turned out to be surprisingly resilient.

 

備用計畫結果沒用上,因為沒有訂到豆腐屋,箱根的紅葉也出乎意料的耐。

 

Nevertheless all the backup plans took most of the attention and I was glad that neither Kusatsu Onsen nor Karuizawa required much researching.

 

就算這樣,準備備用計畫用上了我大多心神,幸好去草津溫泉和輕井澤並不需要研究什麼。

 

Onsen Maigo – Onsen comparison

這次找溫泉旅館時莫名其妙查了一堆溫泉地的資料 稍微與大家分享一下

第一段是黑川溫泉與其他溫泉地的每分湧出量 泊客收容數 (總共一天可住幾人)年間宿泊客数(一整年的住客數)

第二段是黑川溫泉我找的到湧泉量的旅館和他們是否有為調節溫度加水 (jalan說有加水則有加水 若jalan標100%則需強調沒加水或寫”源泉100かけ流し”才為100%)

純粹好玩 不用太認真看待這些數字

__________

 

黑川溫泉
總湧出量: 2480 L/min
旅館數: 30
總房間數: ~488
總泊客收容數: ~1,937
年間宿泊客数: ~30萬
Src: http://www2.meijo.ac.jp/mei-ura/ura2010a2.pdf

對比

草津温泉
總湧出量: 37000 L/min
旅館數: ~150
總泊客收容數: ~12000
年間宿泊客数: ~200萬
src: 2013年度 温泉まちづくり研究会 ディスカッション記録

由布院温泉
總湧出量: ~44000 L/min
旅館數: ~169
總泊客收容數: ~7500
年間宿泊客数: ~92萬
src: 湯布院地域の景観まちづくりの現状と課題

有馬温泉
總湧出量: ~900 L/min
旅館數: ~30
總泊客收容數: ~6000
年間宿泊客数: 90萬
src: http://www.rokkosan-katsuyo.com/info/81/
http://ubetan.jp/facebook/summit/image/talk_beppu.pdf
城崎温泉
總湧出量: ~1350 L/min
旅館數: ~80
總泊客收容數:
年間宿泊客数: ~60萬
src: http://www.kinosakionsen-zaisanku.com/syuchu/04.html
http://www.jpc-net.jp/paper/highservice20081015.html

鬼怒川温泉
總湧出量: ~4000 L/min
旅館數: ??
總泊客收容數: ??
年間宿泊客数: ~160萬
src: http://ubetan.jp/facebook/summit/image/talk_beppu.pdf

箱根温泉郷
總湧出量: ~22500 L/min
旅館數: ~438
總泊客收容數: 29472
年間宿泊客数: ~417.9萬
src: http://www.hakone-ryokan.or.jp/001_hakoneguide.html
http://business.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/report/20150223/277859/
http://www.onken.odawara.kanagawa.jp/files/PDF/tayori/58/onkendayori58-6.pdf

白浜温泉
總湧出量: ~14000 L/min
旅館數: ~158
總泊客收容數: ~15000
年間宿泊客数: ~206 萬
src: http://www.pref.wakayama.lg.jp/prefg/062400/documents/h25doutaityosa.pdf
http://www.town.shirahama.wakayama.jp/ikkrwebBrowse/material/files/group/34/shirahamaonsengai.pdf
http://www.kitohan.sakuraweb.com/jidai/shiyowa/s-41-45/s-44-kankoukiyokai_panfu/00-s-44-00-00-shirahama_kankoukiyokai.htm
____________________________________

帆山亭
かけ流し: Y
100%: N (加水)
湧出量:179.2
房間數: 11
src: http://www.hikyou.jp/detail.php?shid=30381

こうの湯
かけ流し: Y
100%: Y
湧出量: 202
房間數: 9
src: http://www.kounoyu.jp/aboutspa.html

ふもと旅館
かけ流し: Y
100%:Y
湧出量: 300
房間數: 14
src: http://www.fumotoryokan.com/spa_report.html

里の湯 和らく
かけ流し: Y
100%: N 加水
湧出量: 100
房間數:11
src: http://www.satonoyu-waraku.jp/spa/

旅館 山河
かけ流し: Y
100%: Y
湧出量: 300
房間數: 16
src: http://www.hikyou.jp/detail.php?shid=30369

お宿 玄河
かけ流し: Y
100%: N (加水)
湧出量: <104 (用觀光協會的共用泉)
房間數: 4
src: http://blog.livedoor.jp/oyu_buccho2675/archives/1758535.html

旅館わかば
かけ流し: Y
100%: N (added water)
湧出量: 101
房間數:15
src: http://blog.livedoor.jp/s_yossy/tag/%E7%86%8A%E6%9C%AC%E7%9C%8C%E3%81%AE%E6%B8%A9%E6%B3%89

お宿 野の花
かけ流し: Y
100%: ?
湧出量: 200
房間數:8
src: http://blog.livedoor.jp/oyu_buccho2675/archives/1622736.html

花泊まり
かけ流し: Y
100%: ?
湧出量: 100
房間數: 28
src: http://www.hikyou.jp/detail.php?shid=30379

黒川荘
かけ流し: Y
100%: N (加水)
湧出量: 194
房間數: 25
src: http://www.hikyou.jp/detail.php?shid=30375

御客屋
100%: かけ流し: Y
100%: N (added water)
湧出量: 220
房間數:13 src: http://blog.livedoor.jp/s_yossy/tag/%E7%86%8A%E6%9C%AC%E7%9C%8C%E3%81%AE%E6%B8%A9%E6%B3%89

和風旅館 美里
かけ流し: Y
100%: N (加水)
湧出量: 200
房間數:12
src: http://www.xn--octt84bmki.com/%E4%BC%9A%E5%93%A1%E5%AE%BF%E4%BB%A5%E5%A4%96%E3%81%AE%E6%B8%A9%E6%B3%89%E5%AE%BF/kumamoto-kurokawa-misato/

やまびこ旅館
かけ流し: Y
100%: Y
湧出量: >80
房間數:18
src: http://blog.livedoor.jp/s_yossy/archives/54399967.html

新明館
かけ流し: Y
100%: Y
湧出量: >38
房間數:13 src: http://blog.livedoor.jp/s_yossy/tag/%E7%86%8A%E6%9C%AC%E7%9C%8C%E3%81%AE%E6%B8%A9%E6%B3%89

三愛高原ホテル
かけ流し: N
100%: N
湧出量: 120
房間數:34
src: http://spamegur.exblog.jp/17579324

南城苑
かけ流し: 改裝中
100%: 改裝中
湧出量: 50
房間數:改裝中
src: http://tabizanmai.blogspot.com.au/2006/03/ryokan-nanjoen-daytrip-spa-review-kurokawa-onsen-kumamoto-japan.html

奥の湯
かけ流し: Y
100%: N (加水)
湧出量: 210
房間數: 26
src: http://www.spa.or.jp/search_f/detail_f/?F_ID=1278

Onsen Maigo – Extra – Renting car

When renting cars in Japan there are a few things to watch for.

日本租車要注意幾樣事情

 

1.Always get the complete insurance and make sure it includes NOC (Non-Operating Charge). 一定要保全險還要確定有包含NOC (營業損失賠償)

A common mistake people make is buying insurance and is then surprised when they have an accident to be handed a 20-30k bill. What about the insurance? A lot of times what’s termed full insurance only covers cost of repairing the vehicle. The rental charge company will charge a Non-Operating Charge to compensate for the time the vehicle is being repaired and could not be rented out.

一個容易犯的錯誤是買了保險出意外時卻收到兩三萬的求償單。保險呢?有很多保險只包含車子的維修。租車公司會另外要求賠償車子修理時無法租出去的損失。

 

  1. Don’t trust GPS navigation by phone number 不要太相信用電話號碼來導航

 

Usually GPS navigation in Japan works by inputting the destination’s phone number. The problem then is that the directory gets out of date and some places’ phone number leads somewhere entirely different from the location. If one is not careful one can easily become lost. Always manually double check the destination found by the GPS before getting on the road.

在日本通常使用gps導航時,輸入目的地可以用目的地(如旅館)的電話號碼。問題是資料庫未必準確,會有過時的資料,有些地點的電話號碼會導航到錯誤的地方。使用時若不小心很可能會迷路。上路前一定要手動確認gps導航的目的地地點無誤。

 

  1. Lookup Mapcode 用mapcode

 

The sure safe way of telling the GPS where to go is by inputting a MapCode. It is kind of like a long lat coordinate but specific to Japan. One should locate the location on a mapcode site like mapion (http://www.mapion.co.jp/) and get the mapcode beforehand, then feed the GPS the mapcode address.

gps導航比較穩當的方法是輸入MapCode。有點類似經緯度座標但只有日本在用。建議預先在mapcode搜尋網站(http://www.mapion.co.jp/)上找到地點記下mapcode,然後需要時再輸入gps。

 

  1. Always call the police and rental company 出事報警通知租車公司

 

If the rental car is involved in an accident, no matter how minor, even if no one else is involved and the car simply scratched a wall, one should always contact the police and the rental company to have the incident logged. If one does not contact the police and rental company then any insurances is voided and one may be liable for full damages.

若租車發生任何意外,不管多小,就算沒有撞到他人只是擦到牆,也一定要報警通知租車公司,不然買的保險會無效,可能會負擔全部損失賠償。