A British vacation (but I'm also going to Japan)

[rbjhan]

Is that the customs exit codes? (Kind of like the go to lane 1/2 etc here in Australia).

Also I've dine TPP shopping without the QR code. You just have to tell them a few times that it's not in your passport anymore which is confusing on my passport as at any given time i should have "an active" JP immigration QR sticker.

Immigration, not customs. This was before we even got to the immigration counters.
But no idea really since they never came up again! And mother and I were allowed to go as a group even though we had different codes.

Edit, to add a bit more info. So after getting off the plane we used these new machines first. Seemed to me like they were handling the VisitJapanWeb info (and fingerprints), which previously was done by staff at counters.

Oh I know it can be done with JTPP card, I did it quite a few times last trip. Some sales persons in Tokyo actually knew them!
But most had no idea and it cost me quite some time....My Japanese were also not good enough to explain this thingy clearly....

 

[rbjhan]

I knew the jetlag would be bad...so decided to take it easy the first two days in Japan...

Booked a fancy ryokan in Izu Inatori

We got off the Saphir Odoriko at Izu Inatori Station, ryokan was maybe 20 mins walk away. But not to worry - there's a shuttle bus, in fact you wouldn't expect anything less!
We were offered a hot face towel on the bus, nice.

Lobby


It's quite a large ryokan, but we were looking for a two bedroom suite and this was the best I could find within budget...

Layout
Public bath on Level 2, Lounge and Main Dining Room on Level 6.
Additional dining places on level 8.


Half of level 6 was the lounge/dining, another half were 7 suites, ours was one of them.


** We paid 92K Yen for the suite, dinner and breakfast included.
After London and Edinburgh, oh my this was a total bargin!

 

[rbjhan]

Floorplan, 92 m2.


Entrance was massive, with two toilets.

And first bedroom

Living area and outdoor onsen





2nd bedroom


This was a large suite.


Dressing and sink area


Later I saw in the shops the hairdryer retails for 40K Yen.

 

[rbjhan]

The lounge opened 24 hours.
Between 2-5pm they served welcome drinks, fruits, snacks etc.


Okay this I copied from their website
5-7pm: beer, coughtail, wine, snacks etc.
7-9.30pm dessert time, we'll get to it later.
10pm - 12am: some alcoholic drinks, soft drinks, snacks
12am - 5am: tea and water only.
5-8am: soft drinks, coffe, tea.
8-11am: juice, coffee, tea, etc.
11am - 2pm: onigiri, salad, drinks (this is for guests staying more than one night)

 

[rbjhan]

Dinner time was allocated at check in. Amazingly, even though we arrived before 2pm, was told the 7pm dinner were full already!
Reluctantly we accepted the 6pm time slot...

Dining room pic from hotel website:


We had a table by the window but it was already dark outside....

Entree, very much a Autumn theme.


Soup


Sashimi. The famous Ise-ebi 伊勢海老 on the left.


Next, another famous local delicacy Kinmedai 金目鯛 made a dramatic entrance


A close up.


Notice the chopsticks above, this would be a gift to the guests( wipes were provided).

 

[rbjhan]

Wagyu steak




Abalone and other things.


These were side dishes for your rice.


And dinner concluded here!

 

[rbjhan]

Then we moved to the lounge.
Desserts!!






As the dessert time finished 9.30pm, we actually went for a walk down to the lobby, admired the gold fish there, played some table tennis.....And went back for round 2!

The gold fish were so well fed, once they say people coming, instantly all gathered together expecting food!

 

[rbjhan]

Ordered in-room massage that night.
Then had another soak in the private onsen.

***was planning to visit the public bath but didn't feel like walking down after massage Plus it was on level 2 so ours should have a better view, right?!

Picture from hotel website.