07/01/13: Three words sums up today up: I LOVE JAPAN!!!! Best day out of my entire trip overseas!
We left Shinjuku early to catch the shinkansen (bullet train) to Hakone, and the shinkansen did not disappoint at all! SOOO fast, so clean (yay for Japan's lovely cleaners who made the train spotless before passengers boarded), you could even charge your phone on the train!
Hakone is a town near the mountains, but sadly we couldn't see Mt. Fuji and some beautiful lake (Ashi?) today since the trip would take 5 hours and when we got to Hakone it was too late, and it was getting dark. But....we shall be waking up super early to go see the sights tomorrow, then rush off to Kyoto!
Anyway, we ate at a picturesque traditional Japanese noodle restaurant, and the eight of us were seated in a traditional Japanese dining room, with a low little table, comfy cushions on the floor and doors constructed of rice paper! Food was delicious, yet I'm a little sick of eating too much tempura prawn :P
There were also some cool temples around, and the most picturesque (ah, I need another word to describe the truly aesthetic appearance of Hakone!) little running streams. Oh my gosh, I just adore Japan!
I'm blogging close to 1am right now, but I gotta say that the hotel experience is truly fantastic - the Japanese really know how to treat guests well (Hotel is Maille Coeur, and it IS divine, highly recommended!!!). Very very expensive (~450 AUD for 1 night), but it is so worth it. Dining: divine, my first high class dinner! (as high class meals go, portions were small, but there were soooo many servings! never thought I would enjoy raw fish,,,,but yummmmm). Rooms: stunningly beautiful and spacious, true Japanese-style with luxuriously soft beds and futons that the hotel staff made when we were at dinner (thank you to them!!). Also...HOT SPRINGS....OMG I WENT INTO REAL HOT SPRINGS provided by the hotel!! So comfy, and clean and luxurious :) Also dressed in traditional Japanese wear for hot springs :P :P soooo many good photos!
Also Jap people are sooooo much nicer than Chinese people - they treat foreigners well (many good experiences in Japan), whereas in China, if you speak English, people give you shit. Sanitation compared to China: incomparable!! OMGGGGG perf! Warm toilet seats, toilet seat covers, disinfectant, clean as heck. Trains have very warm seat heaters too!
Definitely going to enjoy the rest of the Japan trip and shall properly learn some Japanese & Mando after I get back !! Also really glad to find out that Ayaha and Ayaka, my super cute relatives - are actually very closely related to my sis and I, we are actually their aunties!!!
Okay, over and out
-r
08/01/13: Saw Mt. Fuji and nearby lake Ashinoko today! SO breathtaking and sublime..omgosh. Also the air had a stench that was quite foul because of natural sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide produced by natural hot springs up in the mountains...BUT oh my, it was so gorgeous! The view was amazing, the air was so cold, and there was snow on the ground (no snow in the metropolitan areas). Felt a little disappointed that people built on top of the natural sites near Mt Fuji ...but was admiring the high level technology used to construct awesome cable cars to view the mountain and lake!! The boat ride across lake Ashinoko was also so cute /full of awesomeness(?) since the boat was a pirate ship! I think I am getting overexcited, but I really like how everything in Japan is so well thought out and quirky :) Then left Hakone (*sob*....oh yeah BEST asian / western buffet I have ever ate in my life!!) and went to Kyoto via shinkansen...and now I can't remember if we did anything except find our hotel, indulge and eat out (getting a little sick of ramen and udon soup!!)
09/01/13: Travelled to Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Kinkakuji and Yasaka Shrine - one word: AMAZINGGGG (man I gotta find better words to describe the awesomeness of these sites!!). I am quite the easily excitable and amazed tourist. But the former two places are definitely suitable to be UNESCO world heritage sites...the gold material on Kinkakuji reflecting the sun made me go *______* and Kiyomizu-dera was soooo pretty and magnificent too. People like to buy votive wooden pictures and write their wishes down, and then hang them on special places in the shrines. I am not religious, but was totally digging the votive and ancient vibe and thought, why not? Bought one, my sis and I both wrote our wishes down, and hung ours up next to someone's message which hoped KRudd would succeed (or something of that nature) with courage and faith, haha (: Also dubbing Yoshinoya as the "Single men's joint" LOOOOOL. Ate there for brekky and dinner (thanks to dad >_>), was a little awks because the chef recognised us and gave us 50% discount...discounts never happen... omgggg, never eating there again -_- anyway it's "Single men's joint" since besides our family, frequent customers are ALL men...who eat by themselves. Haha. Also went to uniqlo (got my entire family into this store), daiso (AU daiso can't be compared to the Jap one) and Isetan (equvalent of DJ's...) and bought good quality reasonably priced shoessss (: so buttery soft, all have soft insoles and the heels are so low that all shoes are walk-able for long periods of time, yayy! But I wanna weep at cosmetics :(((( so friggin expensive I wanna die!! MAC is more expensive than in Australia wtf...and also you get 5% tax on items less than 10, 500 yen or something >:(
Admiring the fat rubber duck in Syd as well, thanks for posting it Bitter! Also got your Japanese chopsticks ;P
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