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Shangrila Tsuruoka Hotel - Kamakura - A Review

October 24, 2008 by Jeff · Leave a Comment 

We stayed at the Shangrila Tsuruoka Hotel in Kamakura at the start of October 2008. We found the hotel by simply wandering the main street in Kamakura. Definitely, not the best way to find a cheap hotel in a touristy location. However, it's a very good way to get a hotel in a good location! From all of our travels it seems that Price and Location are joined at the hip!

Anyway, here's a review of the Shangrilla Tsuruoka Hotel in Kamakura


Rooms

It's a little tough for us to judge exactly what the rooms are like as we had a deluxe room. No we aren't some rich tourists, tourists yes, rich tourists, no. We stayed in a deluxe room as it was one of the cheaper places to stay in Kamakura. We probably could have looked elsewhere, however, based on the places we'd checked prior to this place they were all around the same price (without the word deluxe attached to the end).

Anyway, our deluxe room was quite nice. It was basically the same as any normal room that we've stayed in Japan, however, it was bit more.... gaudy! The bed spreads, couch and wall paper all looked very dated, not dirty, just dated. The one nice thing about the deluxe room is that we had a very good view of the street with a little patio.

Location

The location of the Shangrila Tsukuroka in Kamakura is almost perfect. You're half way up the main strip between the post office and the main temple. You're close to plenty of restaurants and little shops. In fact, just behind the hotel is a really neat street with lots of cool little shops selling everything from Kimono's to Ice Cream to Fruit.



Price

The price was a bit on the expensive side for the deluxe room, 16000 yen (~$160 Canadian). Again, this is because we had to get a Deluxe Room. However, the 'basic' rooms are one of the cheaper western style hotels in Kamakura.

Overall

Overall this was a good hotel in Kamakura. We actually spent a bit of time as we were exhausted from our hike around Kamakura so it worked out nice to have a decent hotel room. I'd recommend for people to stay here but don't splurge on the Deluxe Room unless you can't find any other cheaper rooms in town.

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I Say You Yunessun and Relax in Hakone, Japan

October 17, 2008 by Jeff · Leave a Comment 

If you're headed to Hakone Yumoto in Japan after a hard day of viewing Mt. Fuji be sure to make one of your stops at either an Onsen or the Yunessun.

An Onsen is the Japanese version of a Hot Tub but only sorta. The idea behind an Onsen is that you wash yourself thoroughly prior to entering the Onsen. Then the Onsen is simply a hot water bath. Male and Female are separated as you go 'O Natural'. Although, this is a pleasant experience and and a 'must do' if you're in Japan you can't spend time with your Kids or Partner in the Onsen. Another option in Hakone, Japan is the Yunessun.

The Yunessun is a bathing suit wearing waterpark. However, it's not a water park in the North American manner. Yes, there are three water slides (or Rodeo slides as they're called). However, the real features of the Yunessun come with the water baths. There are over 30 water baths at the Yunessun. These range from simply hot water to Coffee to Wine to Sake to Salt Water. Here's a run down of some of the more popular water baths and my thoughts (pictures from the Yunessun website).

Coffee

The Coffee Water bath, although, sounds good in principal is actually not that well done. I was really looking forward to this bath as it sounded terrific. However, it didn't smell very strongly like coffee.



Wine
The wine bath is neat because it makes everything look really pink. The bath again doesn't have a distinct 'wine' smell but it definitely looks neat.

Green Tea
The Green Tea bath is not suprisingly the strongest smelling bath. It really smells as if you're soaking in Green Tea.

Sake
The Sake bath didn't smell strongly of Sake, however, right above where the water drops into the bath a drip of Sake is released every 20 seconds or so. You can actually go and taste the Sake above the water if you like!

Dead Sea Salt Bath
The dead sea salt water bath was really cool. It made your skin and the pool feel really slimey but the neatest part is the weightlessness. You are literally buoyant in the water and can just lie on your back and float around. It's really cool!

All that being said the highlight of the whole Water Park or Yunessun is the Garra Rufa fish as I mentioned here. It's quite the experience having a group of fish gnawing at your feet.

We went on a Sunday which is one of the busier days and it was actually not as busy as we'd expected. Overall I'd say if you're looking for a nice day of relaxing visit the Yunessun. Be warned that you do need at least 2-3 hours to really see and enjoy everything at the Yunessun.

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Landmark Tower - Yokohama, Japan

October 7, 2008 by Jeff · 2 Comments 

We went up the Landmark Tower in Yokohama, Japan at the start of October 2008.  This was one of my highlights in Yokohama and I definitely recommend the experience for those visiting Yokohama.  It is a little pricey at $10, however, you get a superb view of the city and a fun ride up the elevator.

The Landmark Tower is actually the tallest buildling in Japan and has the highest observation platform in Japan.  The elevator ride takes 40 seconds to go up 69 floors.  You can actually feel your ears pop as you go up the 297 meters!  This works out to almost 1000ft!

We went up the Landmark Tower at night because we though it'd be neat to see Yokohama at night.   It's really quite the sight at the top of the Tower.  The number and density of the lights is truly amazing.  It's also neat to see Tokyo in the distance and you can pick out the Tokyo tower too!

We spent quite a while at the top taking pictures and walking around the observation floor.  There is a spot to sit and have a romantic drink if you so desire.  We popped around the corner and had a hot-chocolate from the vending machine as there was a nice place to sit and nobody around.

Anyway, here are some pictures from our trip up the tower.  On the walk back to our Hotel Toyoko Inn Yokohama, we stopped and took another few night shots of the Landmark Tower and large Ferris wheel.


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The Best Time to See Mt. Fuji

October 6, 2008 by Jeff · 1 Comment 

Today we were lucky enough to see Mt. Fuji. Sure it wasn't as clear as we would have liked, but it was still surreal to see Fujisan, as the Japanese call the revered mountain.

Based on our limited knowledge we've determined that the morning is the best time to see Mt. Fuji. We were able to get up to the Owakudani viewing area around 10:30 am and were able to have a clear view of Mt. Fuji. When we were leaving at around 11 the haze and cloud were starting to block the view of the mountain.

If you're looking to get an early start the earliest the Ropeway opens (which we call a cable car) is at 8:45am. However, you'll probably need to take the cable car up the mountain from Gora to Sounzan first. The first cable car is also at 8:45 am. If you're looking to be on the Ropeway at 8:45 then ask information which bus to take up to Sounzan.

As a side note from our experience... the mountain is VERY symmetrical which makes picture taking terrific. We took over 100 photos of the beautiful mountain and took some not centered in the middle. Although, these were neat shots the natural symmetry of Mt. Fuji makes taking a centered picture very simple and easy.

All in all seeing Mt. Fuji is one of the highlights of our trip to Japan. If you have a chance to visit Hakone it's worth venturing out just for a chance to see the wonderful mountain. The view that you have at the Owakudani Viewing Area is so close and clear that you'll truly be amazed!

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Great Adventure (and great walk) in Kamakura Japan

October 5, 2008 by Jeff · 3 Comments 

We started the day off by heading to the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu shrine. It's located right in the middle of Kamakura at the end of the main strip. It's a pretty cool shrine with a massive temple and lots of people all taking in the sights. It's quite neat watching people throw the money and bow their heads for a quick prayer. We ended up paying $2.00 to go into the 'museum' at the shrine. It'd advise against doing this as it seemed like a bit of a tourist trap. If you want to see an actual Japanese warrior armour, helmet and some authentic kimono's then it's worth it. Although, it is only $2.00.

The next shrine we ventured too was the Kenchoji shrine, approximately a 20-30 minute walk from the Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine. This was the best shrine 'complex' that we've visited. It's really neat because it's the grounds of a buddhist monastery too, so this is where they actually learn how to become monks. Neat stuff! The complex is really cool with some really massive buildings and great architecture. You are even able to take your shoes off and walk in a building.

At the Kenchoji Shrine we ventured up to the Hakono temple which is located at the back of the complex. Once you get to the near the back of the complex you venture up the side of the road (on the left). Follow this road until you hit a fork and stay straight (left gets you to a soccer field used for boys soccer). You'll then have to climb around 200 stairs (or something like that) and you'll get to the top. Once there you'll have amazing sweeping views of Kamakura and the beach. It's quite spectacular and pictures really can't do it justice! It was a pretty busy day at the Kenchoji shrine but at the viewpoint we were the only ones their for a little while.

From here we walked to the Jochiji shrine and headed for the walking trail to the great buddha (Daibutsu Hiking Course). You don't need to pay to get on the trail if you just stay to the left when going up the Jochiji shrine. Although, venturing to the shrine is probably nice too (we didn't for time sake).

The Great Buddha hiking trail is very nice. Lots of ups and downs, up roots, down roots, up and down through a forested area. It's 3 Km's and quite a nice adventure. The reward of the Kotokuin (Daibutsu) or Great Buddha at the end is really cool too! He is such an immense statue built back in the 13th century from Bronze. It's so massive that it's actually quite intimidating!  Oh, and for 20 yen (20 cents) you can go inside the Buddha!

From here we walked back to our hotel along the beach stopping for dinner. The whole circuit took about 6-7 hours and is a nice day trip. Although, be warned that good walking shoes and some handy nutrition is needed throughout your day. Hindsight is 20-20! lol!

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