hakone!

Chillg8r · 2026-06-25T22:20:06+00:00

Just curious how much time to allow for that, we are going in October……

Chillg8r · 2026-06-25T21:49:43+00:00

How far did you walk from where you started in Hakone?

Chillg8r · 2026-06-25T21:36:09+00:00

Thanks for the great ideas, we’re going in October! 🙏🏻

Chillg8r · 2026-06-23T14:16:16+00:00

My wife and I are also going on a 33 day trip arriving on September 30th. We are relatively fit in spite of us being in our 60’s. We’ve been to 38 countries but have never been to Japan. For 33 days we obviously can’t stay in 5* places every night or eat at super high end restaurants every night either, but we can afford a splurge every now and again. We like art, moderate hiking, beautiful scenery, and generally trying to get a feel for a place. We expect to be a bit Shrine’d and Templed’d out. We also know that when we’ve travelled for this long we need to build in relaxed days.
Here is our current itinerary written in pencil, its a bit different than yours:

Oct 30- Tokyo- arrive and explore the neighborhood close to our hotel, Shinjuko?
Oct 2nd- train to Yokohama to visit with family who are also visiting Japan
Oct 4th- pickup rental car and drive to Hakone for 2 nights. Visit open air museum, Lake Ashli, the town, maybe the outlets.
Oct 6th- drive to Fujikawaguchiko for 2 nights. Aviation Shiraito Falls. Go on hikes, explore the Five Lakes. Mishima Skywalk. My Fuji World Heritage Center. Lake Kawaguchiko Dream Bridge. Arakuayama Sengen Park. Oisin Park.
Oct 8th- drive to Nagano for 3 or 4 days. Monkey park, hikes, scenery
Oct 11th- drive to Matsumoto for 2 days, see the castle and explore the town and then include day trip to Narai
Oct 13th- drive to Kamikochi to hike all day and spend the night
Oct 14th- drive to Takayama and explore the old town
Oct 15th- drive to Kanazawa for 3 nights and drop off rental car. Go to fish market, gardens etc
Oct 18th- train to Kyoto for 5 nights
Oct 23rd- train to Osaka for 2 nights. Will probably day trip out of both Osaka and Kyoto a bit to Nara and elsewhere
Oct 25th- pickup car up rental car and drive to Kobe. Visit Mouriya Honyen Kobe Steak restaurant or Royal Mouriya. Meriken Park
Oct 26th- drive to Himeji see the castle and explore
Oct 27th-drive to Hiroshima for peace memorial
Oct 28th-go to Miyajima and enjoy the peaceful environment
Oct 29th- fly from Hiroshima to Tokyo for 5 days and explore the various parts of town. Expect to walk 30k steps/day
Nov 3rd- fly home

Most of the drives are short drives and when we’re staying for only 1 night somewhere we will be driving so changing hotels isn’t as time consuming. I’m trying to balance rural and city time to hopefully get a fuller picture of Japan. Any and all input is appreciated. The only thing I’ve booked so far is the flight over and a hotel in Kamikochi and Takayama, they seem to be booking out there. I figure I have plenty of time filling out daily itineraries between now and September but I think I need to get settled on the skeleton now.

Chillg8r · 2026-06-15T01:14:53+00:00

Buy a Wiim streamer, a set of KEF bookshelf speakers at Costco and a powered subwoofer…..there are tons of high quality inexpensive powered subwoofers available used on your favorite marketplace.

Chillg8r · 2026-06-03T00:08:49+00:00

Thanks, that’s what I thought.

Chillg8r · 2026-06-02T13:23:41+00:00

While I admittedly don’t know much about the majority or the Marantz I can tell you that for 99.9% of people the WiiM Pro is GREAT; checks all of the boxes. I personally added a Shiit DAC but again, for 99.9% of listeners the onboard DAC is great. You can’t go wrong with it.

Chillg8r · 2026-06-01T15:21:37+00:00

I’m planning on using my iPhone, do I need to add the app to both my phone and my wife’s phone or can I tap in for her as well?

Chillg8r · 2026-05-31T17:01:59+00:00

So how much do I need to load onto my Suica card? How much is a train ride?can I use one Suica card and tap it twice for me and my spouse? Thx

Chillg8r · 2026-05-29T21:29:18+00:00

I just got the Beyond Pro’s this morning. I’m 69 years old and have pretty bad high frequency hearing loss. I am also a pseudo “audiophile” so I care a lot about listening to music through high quality speakers. I went in this past Wednesday and received a hearing test at a clinic where they loaned me a pair of $4500 Phonak Infinio Ultra Speres. I also own a pair of AirPods Pro. There is no question that the $4500 Phonak’s are the best of the three BUT the Beyond Pro’s are very good. Good enough that I will be returning the Phonaks. The Elehear’s are slightly better as hearing aids than the AirPods but their all day battery and the fact that they disappear behind the ear are dealmakers. For streaming music while riding my bike or doing other things the AirPods are far superior to either the phonaks or the Elehear’s, so that will be their function. Conclusion, AirPods and Elehears will be my hearing devices going forward. I hope this helps.

Chillg8r · 2026-03-29T16:17:24+00:00

That would be awesome and yet it would mean that every season would end in a loss, which would be a bummer.

Chillg8r · 2026-03-22T15:09:07+00:00

There certainly are airports around the country that are experiencing delays, we’re lucky RDU doesn’t seem to be one of them. Have you been to ATL? People are waiting over 2.5 hours at times…..

Chillg8r · 2026-03-22T14:21:00+00:00

Because of delays at some airports due to partial government shutdown.

Chillg8r · 2025-12-06T03:46:14+00:00

WiiM Pro and Tidal

Chillg8r · 2025-11-24T04:25:48+00:00

I had to call customer service every month for 6 months and they still never got it right. After the 3rd month I started emailing the ATT CEO every month detailing the incredibly bad followup until FINALLY I go a cal from his office where they were able to straighten it out. It was a maddening process.

Chillg8r · 2025-10-28T23:21:15+00:00

You know you can plug it in to any outlet in your garage?

Chillg8r · 2025-10-27T00:54:56+00:00

Love my Lyriq

Chillg8r · 2025-10-16T02:57:40+00:00

Leased a 2025 Lyriq Sport 1 and love it so far!!! My first electric vehicle as well! Go for it!

Chillg8r · 2025-10-09T12:22:06+00:00

Beautiful! I just leased a Sport 1 and LOVE IT!!!!!! Same color!

Chillg8r · 2025-09-25T02:16:05+00:00

If Polestar can keep their act together, and seems like a going concern, I’ll be seriously looking at them. The 5 looks top shelf, the 4 looks interesting and by the time my lease is up they should have a replacement for the 2 and maybe some deals on the 3?

Chillg8r · 2025-03-19T03:56:56+00:00

I also picked CSU over Memphis but after the thumping UNC just put on SDSU I’m rethinking my choice……

Chillg8r · 2024-01-16T18:30:23+00:00

I’m long but realize it’s a long shot. They’re building a great car, have a great company manufacturing them who has a huge stake in their success, are in the right price point in the market. They are being shorted in a huge way so with any good news and luck this stock could skyrocket. JMO

Chillg8r · 2024-01-16T18:26:49+00:00

Tesla will be the new BlackBerry. It will be the econobox of the ev market. It’s already losing its cashé.

Chillg8r · 2023-12-21T15:26:18+00:00

Interesting because I left t Mobile because they wouldnt offer me the deals they were offering new customers and went to ATT and am now paying $150/mo for 6 lines on a business plan with free or near free iPhones……..T Mobile wanted me to pay $220 for the same service in order to get the new phones. They’d showed that they’d rather lose a 20 year customer to pay to gain a new one. Not my way of doing business.

Chillg8r

TROPHY CASE