It has been too long since we visited to Japan, so Herbstfeiren (fall break) was the clearest path. This was probably the simplest trip to Japan, as we basically stayed around Tokyo, but even so the calendar was full before we even started.

I had arrived a day earlier and got the opportunity to drop in on my colleagues in the Toyko Office. Once the crew arrived, it was time to celebrate the big day — Kai’s 13th birthday. Yes, we finally have a teenager running loose. But that didn’t stop him from spending the morning eating his favorite matcha ice cream and playing video games at the Pokemon center before going to his favorite restaurant where you get to catch what you eat. The following day, I got to go back to my favorite Gyoza restaurant and then explored the new Kabukicho tower.

Thursday the big adventure began: a visit to Hakone to enjoy a mini onsen trip. We opt-ed out of the car, and enjoyed a day of trains, funicular, and cable cars. It was a beautful fall day, and the adventure took control. After exploring, we checked into the hotel. It’s hard to put the experience into perspective for western customers, but the model is that you really don’t need to bring anything with you — not even clothes. You wear house kimonos in the hotel and in the rooms, all the ammenities like toothbrushes and razors are all in the room, and when you are chilling in the onsen you just arrive like the day you are born.

While it might seem suprising we chose the western dining option in Japan, when offered choice of lobster or waygu steak with the fois gras upgrade option it’s hard to say no. Adding the 4 course wine pairing on top was sublime. It was so good, we decided we might as well incorporate our 15 year wedding anniversary into the mix as it would be hard to top this.

It was so hard to go from such a epic trip to heading to the airport less than 24 hours later. So I guess it’s time to start planning the next trip.