This is the second day of my weekend trip to the Fuji-Goko area. It was such a perfect day- with perfect weather, views of Fujisan literally everywhere I went. The day started off with me biking around Kawaguchiko, then hopped on some of the world’s best coasters at FujiQ Highland, and finally relaxed at the Fujiyama Onsen nearby before bussing back to Yokosuka. It’s by far my most favorite day in Japan =D
Retro Bus that went around Lake Saiko
Continued from Part 1… After a short trip to see Shibazakura, I bussed back to Kawaguchiko station to take the Retro tour bus. There were two retro bus lines, one went around the Kawaguchiko lake, to places such as museums; while the other one (the one I took) was bound for Lake Saiko. I bought a 2-day pass for 1300 yen, but ended up using it for that day only.
Night view of Kawaguchiko (河口湖)
OK, Fuji-goko (富士五湖)is not on my travel wish list… It all starting with reading this post from a blog that I frequent in the middle of last week. WOW, I thought, I would like to see Mt. Fuji from this paradise too. OK, I can occasionally spot Mt. Fuji from the office… but this is certainly different… where you feel like you’re just right under the mountain, and it’s decorated by a carpet of Shibazakura(Mos Phlox, 芝桜). And the Shibazakura Festival event lasted until May 27th… which meant, either I went last weekend or I would forever miss the chance to see such a beautiful sight. However, I did not plan the trip until Friday night… because I was caught up with work, and I was uncertain about the weather during the weekend. People say there is no point going if you can’t see Mt. Fuji- because even on a clear and sunny day, Fuji-san may still be blocked by clouds, due to its altitude. The best season to visit would be in winter, while summer (June/July) is the worst because it’s a stormy season. One of my colleagues said she visited twice, but she missed Fuji both times. What a pity!
Setting up our area…
Yesterday (Sat), we had a team BBQ at 上郷・森の家 , located in Yokohama. The place is a family resort, with hot springs, spa, sports facilities and BBQ grounds. This event was organized by Y-san, and she prepared everything (food, drinks, tools) for us. I thank her for that!
On Sunday, I went to Harajuku (原宿)- and bought quite a lot of things =D
It just feels like the train is about to depart, and I haven’t purchased my ticket. Actually- worse, not even done packing my belongings yet.
On the first day that I arrived at Japan, I installed an app on my phone called “Days Since”- it is, obviously, a day counter and reminds me (whenever I look at my homescreen), the number of days I’ve been here.
And today, it’s time to celebrate the 110th day Anniversary. Don’t ask me why not celebrate the 100th instead… I did not even realize it. The point is- I only have about 3 months left… how do I live the rest of my life (in Japan) to the fullest? Now, if I’m the protagonist in some Korean drama, I should be writing my wishlist (already did)with teary eyes as the background plays the saddest song ever.
On the last Shinkansen train of the night, heading home.
Lots had happened during our Golden Week trip to Kyushu: Good and Bad. I won’t write too much details of the trip here, because I have to first write about Kyoto. However, this post will be an summary of the ‘memorable’ bits and pieces, lessons learnt and etc.
Warning: This post won’t have any photos because as you may know already, I lost nearly half of my pictures (more about it later)!! And after some recovery efforts, photos of the first 2 days were still missing! As for the rest, I’ve got too many photos to sort through, so it’ll take a while. Read on if you don’t mind super wordy posts. XD
The symbol of Kamakura- Daibutsu (the great buddha)
Hm, so where was I? Read Part I, if you haven’t.
Went indoor rock climbing (bouldering) today after work with a bunch of colleagues.
I’m back! Actually, was back from Kyushu a week ago. Just didn’t have the time or mood to blog about anything (many things happened in the Kyushu trip, one of them is losing half of my precious photos! So I’ve been trying to recover them these days after work). I know I have tons to catch up on… so hopefully I can get some posts out of the way this weekend.
Haneda Airport.
As I am typing this, my mother is still not out. Her flight was delayed for several hours from 9:35pm to 12:15am!! This mean no more trains and we have to stay the night SOMEWHERE. Anyhow, will go to the Cathay Pacific counter to see if they are compensating us. What a great start to the GW. WIth the extra time, I could have gone to the after work party.. but gotta get rid of piles of things in my room, plus I should save the party $ for Kyushu. God knows how much I will spend, I already took out entire month’s salary =) Well, at least I got some time to clean my room (swept floor three times), cook, shower, watch some shows… a productive evening indeed.
To celebrate, I bought some cakes for tonight's dinner. The nan bread is from Mos Burger, pretty yum. (to be honest, I have no time to cook, so I buy =D )
Woot! Yeah, I am counting down… I am THAT excited, this is the longest holiday I have in Japan. I know it’ll be crowded, but I am heading to Kyushu, can’t be as bad as Tokyo right? I have been losing sleep every night, adjusting my Kyushu trip plan and browsing for hotels (I have booked them already, but I still want to look for cheaper/better ones). My wish is to stay at a resort with private hot spring in my room and Kaiseki-dinner/breakfast~ Haha, no, I’m just day dreaming.
Bad News – The overnight train that I wanted to take on the way back to Yokohama was already full. Apparently it is pretty popular amongst tourists and locals alike. And pretty impossible to get on unless you reserve well in advanced. Sigh, will I get to take it someday? Perhaps I will make a long weekend trip to Hokkaido sometime in July. 😀 Anyway, so for the last day of the trip, either we leave at 5 pm or stay an extra night in Hakata. Can’t decide, I wanted to stay longer for night view, shopping and Yatai… but an extra night means ~4000 yen / person.
Good News– Supervisor approves of my 2 “vacation” days… because this year’s GW, there are actually 2 work days in between. And I must take day offs in order to go to Kyushu… but apparently, the entire team will be off those 2 days, so haha, 2 extra holidays for me. Oh and I am not going to Beppu別府 (Not really interested in seeing hotsprings.. the colors are different, so what?), instead gonna go see 阿笨與阿占 live@ Cuddly Dominion.
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OK, I should be starting on my coop report now.. I haven’t written a word yet, not even the title ;-P See what procrastination is? Oh, and I’m aiming to hand in to my supervisor tomorrow, meaning- an all nighter.. hopefully I won’t get distracted.
Blah. 