Planning for Hakone 12 -13 Oct

Sorry for disappearing for so long.... But work has really kicked in and i've been really busy late.. and will be quite busy still till probably next March?? .... but please do check our blog regularly...
will post as regularly as I can..

right so my family visited on 9 Oct, but I was busy with work and was running up and down Tokyo and Atsugi almost everyday.. that means 4hrs of travel each day... 2hrs per leg, if I am lucky to the express trains or the Romance Car.. Why all the trouble to run up and down?
well firstly, coz I miss my baby boy .. ha ha ha i'm not ashame to admit that :P secondly, my family is here...

Anyway... everything was kind of rush, all the rushing up and down and entertaining my family and plus Zayne having a COLD.. ( that means sleepless nights AGAIN for both pauline and me)..
I had to plan for a holiday Onsen holiday ... hmm since when did I sign up a tour guide job ah??...

In japan, everyone really plan out their holidays... some even months beforehand... here I am, desperately trying to find a Onsen Ryokan for a party of 6, but everywhere is either full or dun really accept babies... but FINALLY .. on Friday night or should I say Sat morning .. its was 4am I think, I finally found a ryokan, and Booked it without much thought... Price was not an issue anymore..(hahaha ... well subconciously, it still is lah) .. got ourselves booked into the Ryokan 12-13 Oct .. for 120,000++ yen .

Next Challenge was to get the Hakone Free pass.. was thinking of running down to get the tickets at Shinjuku station before hand, but it was too late by the time we were done shopping with my family... so shouldn't be that difficult right??... WELL... being me, I stayed up late yet again... and did my research the best I can... think I slept at 5am .... n we were suppose to get up at 8am..

The plan was suppose to get there about 10-ish so that we have time to sight-see a little before the check-in at 2.30pm.. Anyway, my advise is, PLAN your trip and really BUY all your tickets before hand...:p i'm a natural optimist... so i can still see bright side of things... but think my wife and sis was a little piss at times... but well ke ke ke no choice... i'm the only half-baked japanese speaker..

So .. reaching Shinjuku at about 11++, made our way to buy the Hakone-Freepass (2 days)
that was a walk through the park.... was planning to catch the 11.45am ROMANCE CAR.. that was a limited express train that goes direct to Hakone-Yumoto station... Being the season traveller on the romance car (or so I thought!!, because of work)... I confidently when to buy the Top-up ticket. The free-pass only allows you to take the normal trians.. top-up ticket is required for the romance-car limited express...

Never knew getting the top-up ticket could be such a nightmare!!... I almost felt like a very in-experience Floor trader... before I could call out a bid, somebody else has already closed it.. what do I mean? .. .. well, I had to buy 4 adult and 1 child top-up tix.. the stupid machine only has a "convenient" button for 3 adult n 1 child.... .. so if I did that, it will mean the last top-up for the adult, will end up sitting totally separate from the rest ... ( that I know from experience.)..
so I push the 2adult n 1 child button first... got that ticket... and proceeded to buy the other 2 adult top-up... TRAIN IS FULL ... WTF ..!!!! so now I am stuck ... DAMN it... didn't know train tickets is like the stock exchange!!!

so manage to catch a Platform officer and explained to him my situation.... and asked him what do I need to do now to refund the 3 tics I have in hand so that I can buy the Top-up for the next train.. which is at 12.10.. I was told I had to go all the way out to the front to get my refund, and then re-buy my top-up again... Hmmm.....Right.. so told everyone to sit tight while I dash to the front gate.. ( its already 11.50am) ..

Got my refund, no hassle. was told I had to buy the top-up outside... good think I have the free-pass, I can go in and out unlimited times. At the Top-up Ticket machine... as I punch the buttons frantically so that I can buy ticket faster than the other 20 or so other people at the other ticket machines..... DAMN!!! 12.10 FULL --... DAMN DAMN DAMN... 12.45 Full!!.
no choice... left with 13.10... SIGH... no choice... punch the 2+1 and then 2 topup ... PHEWs..... finally got the top up ticket... was just about to walk back into the station... WAIT A MINUTE!!.. All the seats are apart!!.. only have 2 seats together .. WAH LAO EH.. (ha ha ha when I am frustated, i will lapse into singlish... sorry :P) ,....

but this time, I lost quite abit of my cheerfulness.. Anyway.... since there is about 1 hr before our train... asked my family to exit the station first,....while I try my luck at the manned ticketing counter to ask if they can change our seats together.... Finally got everything sorted out at 12.20.. and made our way to grab a quick lunch before our train ride.... MAN.. what an adventure even before we made the trip!!!..... to be con't......