Warm Home

Since we didn't want to spend the entire first day on transportation, we finally chose a flight departing at 6:30 AM, which meant we needed to solve the transportation problem to Taoyuan Airport. The airport MRT doesn't run in the early morning, and we didn't want to stay up all night at the airport, so we chose airport transfer service. Although some people online had bad experiences, fortunately we arrived at the airport smoothly.

Taoyuan Airport Terminal 2

The airport was already very busy at this time, with long lines of passengers in front of EVA Air's counters. After completing check-in, we went directly through immigration, and Nana was hungry. We searched along the terminal, but only Jinxian Shrimp Rolls and Starbucks were open. We finally chose the expensive Jinxian Shrimp Rolls - 80 NTD per plate, averaging 20 NTD per roll. If it weren't for the heat, Bobo could have eaten the whole plate in one bite given the size. This price still bothers us to this day.

After eating the shrimp rolls, we went to the gate to wait for boarding, but there was no sign of boarding starting. After wandering around, we discovered the waiting area was very large, so large it was divided into sections, and boarding had already started 30 meters away. Since the Benzaiten in Kamakura hadn't responded yet, we couldn't afford business class, so it wasn't our turn to board yet. And it wasn't direct boarding either - we had to take a shuttle bus first. The shuttle bus took a long detour before reaching the plane, and it felt like it was going to delay the departure time.

Komatsu Airport

During immigration, a little dog sniffed Nana's luggage several times, then went around sniffing other things, looking quite reluctant to work, but the staff member nearby kept encouraging it to keep trying. Then at the exit, we asked about how to get to Kanazawa, and a man in uniform directly led us to the ticket machine. We bought tickets and just made it onto the bus.

Kanazawa Station

At Kanazawa Station, we bought Shinkansen tickets to Toyama, but the ticket machines seemed very complicated - so complicated that even men who looked like Japanese business professionals couldn't buy tickets smoothly. We finally successfully bought reserved seat tickets and boarded (remembering "Toyama" in English before departure was helpful!). There were very few people, probably due to the high ticket price. The 20-minute journey cost 3,390 yen times two.

Toyama Station

When we got off, Toyama was about to start raining. We first bought drinks at a drugstore, planning to bring them up Mount Tateyama with bread. Then we went to "Concept Hotel WAQ" to drop off our luggage. The hotel required us to take off our shoes, which were stored in a shoe cabinet in front of the counter. There was a large roll of paper towels in front of the counter, and we diligently dried ourselves and our luggage. We even carefully wiped the wheels, but later discovered there was a carpet at the entrance - we could have just rolled the wheels on it.

Then we went back to Toyama Station to buy a one-day tram pass. The man at the tourist counter said he had been to Taiwan many times and earnestly explained the tickets to us. However, we completely didn't understand, and the tickets were very small, with an even smaller route map printed on them, reminding Bobo again that I'm already showing signs of presbyopia. Although we couldn't read the station route map, we bravely boarded a random tram and asked the conductor if it would go to "Toyama City Hall." Although the conductor responded earnestly, we also earnestly couldn't understand, only sensing that the conductor's tone was "affirmative," so we found seats. Although we completely couldn't understand, the conductor mentioned "SAKURA BUS" (one of the few Japanese words we could understand). We originally thought there was a "Sakura Bus," but after sitting down and studying the map, we discovered there was a "Sakurabashi" station near Toyama City Hall, and finally arrived at our destination with relief (it was actually sakura bashi, 桜橋).

D&DEPARTMENT TOYAMA

On Sakurabashi, you could see a tower (possibly for broadcasting, not sure), which we jokingly called "Toyama Tower." Walking along Matsukawa, we saw many statues and cherry trees not in bloom, and finally reached Nana's first destination of this trip: "D&DEPARTMENT TOYAMA." Nana said this place was famous, but to me it just looked like a hipster café, selling some hipster items besides lunch. Nana finally bought a large red tote bag (only started feeling expensive after returning to Taiwan).

After lunch, the rain started getting heavier. We walked to the "Toyama City Hall" bus stop across the street to study the route, preparing to go to the legendary bakery "Boulangerie Trente et Un" (legend from Nana),

Boulangerie Trente et Un

The bakery seemed to be run by two people, and every bread looked delicious (later confirmed - they tasted great too, especially compared to the tasteless bread from the convenience store near our home). Finally, for the next day's Mount Tateyama trip, we bought seven breads as trail food. After buying the bread, the rain got even heavier, and we looked for a bus back to the hotel to check in.

Concept Hotel WAQ

Check-in, rest, find dinner.

Isshin Ramen

Searching for the legendary (by Youtuber) ramen shop in heavy rain, following Google Maps and going around in circles in the Toyama tram station, we finally discovered the station wasn't connected internally, so we braved the rain. If it had been just a bit harder to find, dinner would have become McDonald's.

Concept Hotel WAQ

After returning to the hotel, Nana enthusiastically went to the hot spring, and before leaving, asked Bobo to check the transportation for the next day (since we weren't sure about the process of going to Mount Tateyama). However, Bobo was very sleepy at this time, and after lying on the bed for a while, Bobo passed out. When Nana came back and found zero progress, there were signs of an explosion. Bobo had to enter 50% boot mode and let her tell him about the problems we would face tomorrow morning. There were mainly two problems: how to buy tickets? How to inform Tateyamakan that we would check in later?

The first problem was easy to solve. We originally planned to arrive at Murodo as early as possible, but when the first train of Dentetsu-Toyama Station departs, the counter at Toyama Station isn't open yet. The information we found online said "first buy tickets from the automatic ticket machine to Tateyama, then buy tickets from Tateyama to Murodo." However, we finally didn't want to give up the breakfast provided by the hotel, so we decided to depart later. By then, the Tateyama tourist counter at Dentetsu-Toyama Station would also be open, and we could buy tickets directly to Murodo (one ticket for the railway, cable car, and bus).

The second problem was that our time coming down the mountain might be later than expected, and we were worried the owner of Tateyamakan would think we stood them up, so we hoped to notify them in advance. However, Tateyamakan only accepts phone contact (only two people, and they don't speak English), and we completely don't speak Japanese. In Bobo's half-asleep state, I noticed there was a gap of more than half an hour between arriving at Tateyama and transferring to the cable car, so I decided to go directly to Tateyamakan at that time and communicate with gestures.

Problem solved. Happy wife, happy life.