Day 2 We had an early first night, ready to brave our second day at Tokyo Disneyland, the so-talked- about land of the kids'world. I was persuaded to follow along, as I çhickened-out'to venture on my own with Nate. The day greeted us hot and sunny. Already, a large crowd had gathered at the entrance to buy tickets. Our first ride was Monsters-Inc. We queued for 45mins! The longest wait ever. We used a torch and shone at objects with a helmet 'M' and a surprise appeared. Kids had fun shining the torches. Next ride was Buzz light year. The kids went on their own. We waited for them at the exit. It was cute to see them chatting along the queue of people. They have grown up, increasingly independent. Hannah's favourite was the Peter Pan flight. She enjoyed bouncing on the plane from room to room and the feeling of going up and down. Starwars ride was a complete surprise as there was no queue at all. We walked right into the spaceship and had a 4D encounter. It was wow. Entering straight after lunch was not a good idea at all. Winnie the pooh honey hunt was another kiddie ride, driving in a cute little car shaped like a hot air balloon and seeing all the characters from Pooh and friends. The disco dance floor was quite amazing. Then, there was the jungle boat tour, similar to but more interesting than the one we went on at Universal Studio, and finally a train ride. We were totally exhausted from the heat, the crowd and glad to end the day early.
Day 3 First thing first, we visited a world famous seafood market that sells everything fresh from catch, apparently. I had eel with rice, LC had fresh salmon and tuna. It was good. Busy streets lined with tourists, shopping for seafood produce, nuts, crackers,sweets and green tea and whats not. Next, was a special treat to a traditional Onsen bath! It was our first experience soaking ourselves in a 30-40 degrees hot tub naked, together with other women. Initially, we were shy, but it just takes a little while, and we got used to it. I was surprised Hannah actually liked it. She was practically swimming in a little tub, all by herself. The fun bit about the visit was we got to dress up in traditional Jap costumes, kimono, and snapped some pictures.
Day 4 Possibly the highlight of our Japan trip was the Adventure play ground (Shimizu Park). The experience was unforgettable and thrilling. The dry play ground was nothing to shout about, some ropes, some slides and climbing frames, nothing much the average child couldn't conquer, but till we went across to the wet play ground did we realise what we almost missed out. LC had a alot of fun crossing over a row of barrels on water. Hannah's favourite was a raft that she could row along by pulling the ropes at the side. Then, there was the splash boats that would slide down a small ramp and gave them a little splash. It was exhilarating watching others try their stunts and some unfortunately had fallen into the waist-deep water and got themselves soaking wet from the waist down. Not so bad. I do wonder why they wouldnt allow swim wear at the wet playground? Conservative Jap culture perhaps?
Shopping at Toyko was exciting too, with Uniqlo, Daiso, Isetan and more. There was a famous traffic crossing LC was raving about, so we settled ourselves in a pretty but very overpriced cafe where he could satisfy his curiosity of the crossing. Some interest of his puzzles me sometimes. But he also has my interest at heart, bringing me to a paper house! Colourful beautifully printed paper lined the walls, and all kinds of art and craft occupy 7 storey of a building, even a green farm house one floor. I helped myself with some paper and tapes! How can I leave without any purchase in this amazing place - a wonder for handicraft lovers.
After a 4 days action packed fun in Tokyo, we took a high speed train over 30mins to Kawaguchiko where we spent the next 3 nights. The weather was beautiful with the sun setting when we arrived. We took some great sun set shots of the great Mt Fuji which we came here for. The high mountain with its snow peak top and distinct slopes against the lake was amazing. It is no wonder why it is world famous and draws crowds from all over.
Day 5 We rented a car, good old reliable Toyota, 11-21. We did a short but rather dangerous hike to see Mt Fuji closer. There was not another soul around. Some parts of the climb was scary, both Nathan and I were very affected and started humming songs about Jesus to keep our spirits and bravery up. What a tremendous relief to descend after an hr! The view from the top was not spectacular, I personally preferred the view from the lake.
Day 6 Fuji safari park was fantastic! We got up close to ferocious and wild families of carnivores - bears, lions, tigers, cheetahs, and other herbivores , zebras, giraffes and rhino, elephants and bison. Most of them, we have at our own zoo, but to see free roaming ones was a first for us. We drove through the separate enclosures with camera in hand and eyes wide opened. we saw families of bears, strolling right in front of our car, then the lions too, mouth wide opened, giving a yawn, and tigers prowling about, cheetahs running along, being chased by a safari vehicle. It was an exciting ride. Though we had the protection of the windows wound up, we could not but hide our fear being so up close with these wild jungle animals. There were other attractions at the Fuji Safari park. Hannah and I checked out a cat's world, where cats roam freely and we could stroke the friendlier ones. I snapped some nice shots of her stroking some kittens to sleep. Some do have very nice fur, not the common stray ones we see around. Quite a sight. Boys went to pat some rabbits. Some really huge ones.
Day 7 Unfortunately a very rainy day. When we awoke and looked up the sky, we knew we wouldn't see Fuji for the rest of the day. We went shopping at Gotemba shopping outlet. Both LC and I bought a top each at banana Republic, the only time we would actually buy something from a branded store. The rest of the shops weren't a shout. We stopped by Tully Cafe (we see this cafe almost everywhere, about the next most popular after Starbucks), to have tea and hot chocolate, while kids played with Starwars figurines we bought for them at Disney outlet shop. We also went for another onsen, the three of us, while Nathan stayed back at K house alone. This onsen was very quiet. Hannah and I had fun soaking in a flavour bath. We would stay there for a longer time if we didn't have to keep watch of time. Knowing Nate was alone in the house. We dined at the same italian restaurant twice at Fuji area, coz littlest girl loved the creamy bacon pasta so much.
On the final morning at Fuji, we went on a paddle swan ride. The fuji view was great with partial sunshine, lots of wind, and we were the only boat in the lake. Tranquil is the word to describe our experience. Unfortunately for me, nature calls and we had to cut short our ride, and dashed back in the car back to K house for a toilet rescue. Poor me, and sad kids that their adventure on a paddle boat was brief.
Day 8 We took a fast speed train to Kyoto! This house was a little smaller than the tokyo one, no TV, not even a toaster! How disappointing. Boys slept on Tatami, we girls had a bed. But room was warm enough. Hannah got a few mozzie bites, so that was a big minus at this house. Maybe it was rainy season.
At Kyoto, in the swing of a local mood, we bought Hannah a kimono that cost us $50! Dad said she had to wear it all the way till we reached the foot of the street, and she agreed. But the weather was way too hot and we had many pretty shots of her in the costume with a grumpy face. Not so pretty afterall. LC helped himself to yet more green tea ice cream with mango toppings. He had developed quite a sweet tooth in this trip, with green tea matcha jelly and ice cream. I am so jealous of him, my stomach wouldn't quite agree with all that junk.
Day 9 We explored Kyoto on foot alot. Walking the traditional streets, lined with shops for tourists to see and taste. There were also many who dressed up in kimono and snapping pictures. Its the place to see and to be seen. Streets were crowded, and weather was too hot to enjoy ourselves, drained us of our energy altogether. We checked out an ancient castle- Himeiji. It was practically empty in there, but the facade was breath taking. Given its long and amazing history, it is still worth a look around for tourists, but I wouldn't return a second time.
Day 10. We visited Nara Nature park. There were free roaming Nara deer everywhere! We bought some deer biscuits and they came running after us when they smelt the cookies in our hands. We also climbed a 'grandmother hill' according to LC. Well, much easier than most of the other hills we had climbed before, many steps, and the view from the top was pretty spectacular. The nice thing about it was a small crowd, and breezy. That was a small adventure of the day.
For dinner, we returned to a 'food court' at a mall where we ordered sumptuos steak meal. Reasonably priced at $25 per slab, they were very good quality. Kids had their usual ramen again, no surprises.
Day 11. Last day in Japan, we took fast speed train from Kyoto to Tokyo, reached just before lunch to check out an owl cafe. LC aggravated one and it started flapping its wings. When they spread their wings, the owls do look rather intimidating. There were 1-3 mth old owls too, and we tried to feed them fresh bite sized chicken pieces. The experience was interesting. Before long, we took a train to the airport to catch our flight home and we were due to touch down at midnight, singapore time.
Japan is a civilised society, very clean and orderly. We had difficulty finding bins to throw our stuff, they are so into recycling, where you find bins, there would be choices, and we should dump our trash accordingly. Buses and trains were efficient, on the dot punctual. Food is good too, if only we were more adventurous. We liked the countryside more, fresh air, lesser crowd and lots of space, added plus that we could drive around, that was really nice. In the city, naturally crowded, though many things to see and do, if we had double the strength and energy.
Ask me if we would return to visit Japan again, a definite "Yes". There are many things to see and do, shop and eat, and just simply immerse ourselves in the unique culture of the locals. We would love to visit some other parts of the beautiful country especially the country side, and Nathan is indeed looking forward to drinking more of the Hokkaido fresh milk.