Hotel Granvia Hiroshima (ホテルグランヴィア広島)

Another work trip stay at Hiroshima.

I arrived at Hiroshima and dropped by Ekie dining for some Hiroshimayaki again before checking into my hotel.

This time I chose to stay at Hotel Granvia Hiroshima (ホテルグランヴィア広島) because it is a lot nearer to the station compared to Daiwa Roynet.

Website: https://www.hgh.co.jp/

The view from the door.

The room is very spacious. And I like that they have a separate table and chair, other than just the work desk.

The bathroom here is smaller than Daiwa Roynet's, which has a separate bath and toilet. But this bathroom here is clean and I like the bathtub too, despite it being a shared bathroom and toilet.

The genkan area.

My view of the hotel on the opposite side. The station is on the right side.

After checking in, I dropped by BOSTON (Patissier KURISU) which is located on the same building, right outside the breakfast area. Got myself a little strawberry cake for dessert. The cake was lovely and while the size is small, it was quite pricey. I guess it is because of the location that I am in.

Here is breakfast the next morning. I chose the western set with eggs benedict. 

The eggs benedict was interesting because it came with rice instead of bread. Not sure if it was intentional because there is already a separate bread basket. Overall I am very happy with the breakfast. The portion is big and the food is good. My favourite is the egg custard pudding that you have to take yourself from near the drinks corner.

I will definitely stay here again. The only complaint is their that their breakfast do not start early enough. As I usually need to travel the next morning for work. I prefer if hotels start their breakfast early at 6am.

Nakameguro sakura

Visited Nakameguro for some sakura shots before the season passes.

We were there super early to avoid the crowd.

J just got a new phone so he wanted to test out his new phone's camera.

My hair is still slightly pink with a tinge of orange here.

While this place is pretty, it can get super packed later in the day, especially before the pandemic.

We initially wanted to grab breakfast at Starbucks Reserve, but it was super packed so we ended up at Tokyo Soup Stock instead.

Plus the place was pretty empty, which was good during this pandemic. I always enjoy their lobster bisque with focaccia.

 

Satoyama Garden (里山ガーデン)

Visiting Satoyama Garden (里山ガーデン) again.

This time we visited with T&I's family.

As usual, we arrived before the place opened and hence, we were able to get some nice pictures without anyone in the background.

Our little picnic area :)

Early in the morning, when there are not many people, you can pick a spot that you like. When it gets later, there are more and more people. When we left, the space around us were pretty busy.

Bakwa made by I. So happy to be able to have some Bakwa in Japan.

So happy that they are still ume left.

Not sure what these yellow ones are called but they look really good in pictures.

I really like this garden because the flowers are pretty and it is not as crowded as other places.

While this place is a bit far away from the station, the place is free and less crowded so you can snap lots of nice pictures here.

Look at this beautiful elephant.

After the garden, we went to Costco and had dinner at Sushi Ro. Thanks to T&I for fetching us around and sending us back home.

 

Road trip to Kawanehon, Shizuoka

Early morning in Shizuoka station, where we grabbed breakfast!

Ochazuke to warm the tummy!

We actually started our journey at Yokohama station where we used the JR seishun 18 kippu to get to Shizukoka station.

Then from Shizuoka, we took the rental for this trip to Kawanehon in Shizuoka. The trip there was definitely not easy as the mountainous roads were narrow and curvy. Not recommended for those who get car sick easily.

Here we are at Okuizumi station to get on the Ogawa Railway to see the beautiful blue lake.

This is the Ogawa Railway, which is a steam locomotive train. 

This is the Oi River.

Look at the beautiful colour.

Trains here have a Showa style interior.

I can't get enough of this beautiful view.

Such a small and cute station.

The timetable LOL

At the Okuōikojō Station (奥大井湖上駅), where we got down to enjoy the view.

The train passes by this Okuōi Rainbow Bridge (奥大井レインボーブリッジ)

There are toilets and a small cafe for those who want to grab some coffee or light snacks.

Enjoying the view, but the lake could be a lot bluer if the sun was out. When we were there, it was really cloudy, so the lake appeared green.

While we did not get a nice blue colour of the lake, 

After this, we took the train back to where we parked and drove to another parking area to hike up to this spot here, where we can see Okuōikojō Station (奥大井湖上駅) from afar.

The view was amazing.

We waited for the train to pass to get this shot here before leaving.

Here we are, queuing to cross the Yume no Tsuribashi suspension bridge (夢のつり橋). This is a 90m long bridge that extends over the Oma Dam Lake.

Website: https://yumenotsuribashi-sumatakyo.com/

Finally crossing the bridge

The olour looks pretty similar to their banner.

After crossing the bridge, we had to hike up some stairs, up the hill and take a long detour to where we came from. Hence, we were able to capture this pic here.

After returning our rental car, we took a quick dinner at Shizuoka Station, before taking the JR train back to Yokohama.

For dinner, we had sashimi don at 沼津魚がし鮨 プレミアム静岡本店.

We were very hungry by the time we got dinner and luckily, the food was good too.

Ended the meal with a sakura youkan.

By the time we got back to Yokohama station, it was late and we were tired. However, it was a nice day trip to see such a nice scenery. Though I will not go on this same trip again due to the dangerous roads that we had to take to get there.