To Be A supErwoMAN: My Japan Trip 4

Day 5 - Mt Fuji

We woke up at 6.30am this morning and headed for Mt Fuji after breakfast by JR line. Our journey there was a little rough since some of us havent had a good slenight sleep and were hence moody. It got a little frustrating when Mom was insisting her way and not listening to the rest. It's been ongoing since day 1..

Upon reaching Hawagouchiko station, we had lunch in one of the nearby restaurants. I had Tempura Udon. It costs about 750 yen which is about S$10.50. Quite expensive for some udon, a prawn and a green pepper. But it is the chepaest meal I had so far in Japan.

Then, we took a retro bus to our hotel. It's quite a neat place and I was realli surprised to find that we would be spending the night in a Japanese style hotel room. This is how it looks like.

tt's my dad.. his fav pic.. wahaha..

It is furnished with tatami and wooden floor, Japanese beds and a little tea table. It was the biggest room we've stayed in Japan so far. O ya, the furniture and all inspired my fmaily to make a short clip of "the ring" in the hotel room in the evening when we didnt have anything to do. Haha.. unfortuntely, I cant put it up here..

It was about 2.30pm by the time we settled down. Since the sky turns dark much ealier in winter and the bus service stops at about 6pm, we decided to go to Doggy Park, one of the top attractions in our list. Unfortunately, Doggy Park is out of the bus route. So we had to take a taxi up to the place. It took us only about 15min but the taxi fare was veyr expensive. The ride costs us 1730 yen which is more than 20 bucks sing. Our day became even more disappointing when we found out that it would be closing in an hour's time. Thank god the kind uncle at the ticket booth only charged us for half the entrance fee. Still, I feel that it wasnt worth our money. There wasnt much to see. It's probably an ideal place for the locals to bring their pet to since there were many play grounds for the dogs. The dog show has ended and the staff were starting to clear up some of the places. Well, we could only tried to make the best of what we have. I was quite happy that we got to the "communication square" before closing to play around with some very friendly dogs. Even mom had a great time.

The model-wannabe in Doggy Park

The dog's enjoying Stessen's great back scratching skills

The most whiny dog around with me

see how guai they are?

may be Mom wont mind me getting another dog :P

my new found 2nd best to Maltese - Schnauzer

I saw many Huskys, St Bernard, Boxton Terrier and other rare breeds that I am not sure of their names. I bet I'll be able to play with many other dogs if we came at the right time. I must visit the place again if I go to Japan again next time.

We settled our dinner in our hotel room. Cooked maggie mee and canned food.. coz it is very expensive to eat around that area and the hotel restaurant was closed.. Poor us..

O ya I forgot to comment about Mt Fuji.. I think it;s a magnificent product of nature. It is certainly magnificent. It almost looked unreal.. Like a printed wall paper placed behind the trees and houses.. And sometimes you'll get to see clouds around the moutain. It seemed like Mt Fuji was floating in the sky. I should take more picture of it tomorrow if I have a chance.

Day 6 - Mt Fuji to Osaka

We took the first bus of the day to another river in the west . The view of Mt Fuji is much better there. I managed to take a couple of close up pics of the mountain. Our schedule was tight since we have to check out of our hotel room by 11pm.

We visited a few attractions along our way. First was a garden and some sort building called the lifestyle building or something like tt. Unfortuntately, it was winter and the garden wasnt at it's best appearance. I'm sure the place will be a lot more beautiful in spring.

Next, it;s my fav spot of the day - The Lava Cave. Yes volcano lava! We were told that the temperature in the cave was 0 degree celsius and there is a natural fridge and storage place deep in the cave. Icicles lined along the walls of the cave as we explore deeper. It was realli dark and my brother almost knocked on the stone ceilings of the cave many times because he was too tall. Ha...

We then explored into a forest where the pathways and surroundings were covered with dried lava.

Lastly, we visted the perfume and herb centres where they grew many strong smelling plants in a glass house and dried plants upside down on the ceiling to retain their natural shape.

Overall, it was a pleasant experience to visit Mt Fuji where we got in touch with many sides of nature. I guess I prefer the beautiful scenery of nature in Japan to the bustling city in Tokyo.

The later half of the day was mpostly spent on trains and railway stations. It was a longjourney back to Osaka. We took Sinkansen, the fmaous bullet train where we had to change twice to local trains before we meet Keiko Aunty again. On the train, there was this Japanese school girl with blond rebonded dolly hair. I thought it was rather inviting for the men around. She was ignorant of her surroundings and was sitting with her legs wide apart. Dun blame me for comparing her to the Japanese pron stars. Coz the way she was sitting with her hand between those open legs of hers, she realli look like a Japanese porn star in action. I am not exactly comfortable with this "culture" in Japan. Young school girls with heavy make up in their uniform. Ridiculously short skirts in the cold winter. What are their parents busy with?

By the time we reached Osaka, it was 9pm. We were very sorry that Keiko Aunty and her husband had to wait an hour for us. Wwe had dinner in one of the subway sushi restaurant but was disappointed with the variety and quality. Well I guess they were closing.. wad can we expect.. Noticing that Dad havent had much, the generous couple took us to a bbq resturant 10min away from their place where he got to try cow's tongue and stomach for the very first time. Ew.... :P

Here's some pic that I have taken in Osaka: