Blogs from Shizuoka, Japan, Asia - page 5

Jetlag woke me up by 4a, no! At 7:15, we checked out and reached Gotenba station right on time at 7:45. 3 buses were waiting along with a long line of participants. It was getting more real than ever!! Although the check in process seemed inefficient, our bus left at 8:15 and arrived at Kodomo no kuni ahead of the schedule. We must have walked a good mile of uphill to the event setup...so uncalled for...huff puff. Shige-san spotted us right away. He had arrived 20min earlier and already had pitched a picnic. We had to proceed to check-in. Check in to get the race packet was fast but the next step was a long wait, airport security style. We had to go through impromptu 6-item mandatory gear spot-check. Missing anything could lead to DQ. I ... read more

After all the hustle-bustle of a packed one day business conference at Tokyo, I was eagerly looking forward to my (purposefully) extended weekend trip to Mt. Fuji, the magnificent world heritage site. Accompanied by my newly introduced friend, who lives and works in Japan, needless to say, we had our plan handy for the most rewarding one-day trip from Tokyo. Conserving our tapering energy levels for some much needed sleep, we boarded a 30-seater coach that drove us from Shin-ju-ku to Mt. Fuji in about two hours. A bit annoyed by the slow-moving traffic that left us complaining, just until we got a breath-taking view of the captivating, snow-capped, mighty peak, standing still 3,776 meters above sea level. OMG! I was truly thankful for being blessed with splendid weather, giving us a crystal clear view of ... read more

We started our Japan adventure with perhaps one of the most iconic images – Mt Fuji. And possibly one of the coldest places we could find! We landed late afternoon at Narita Airport and stayed the first night in an airport hotel. It was average. Large room (meant to be a triple but had two doubles and a single, plus a cot for Katrina), hot shower, double glazing and blackout curtains. But worn. We took their free shuttle back to the airport and joined the long queue to swap our Japan Rail (JR) Pass voucher for our pass. We were glad the kids woke early and we went back to the airport earlier than we'd planned! We took the new N'EX train into Shinjuku station, one of Tokyo's transit hubs. As with all the trains we'll ... read more

Happy new year everyone. Hope you had a splendid time and have a wonderful 2014.We had sake this morning as we were leaving the hotel. Very civilised, albeit at 7.20am!We had a wonderful New Year's Eve walking around Kyoto. new year is a big deal for the Japanese and they go wild buying very special and expensive food for sharing on New Year's Day. So we joined in the general melee in a department store food centre. I now understand what the term food porn means. There were so many dazzling and unusual things to buy. Cost an arm and a leg mind you. I put up a few photos. Peter, on the other hand sat in the foyer with the other old people.On New Year's Eve Japanese politeness is abandoned in their eagerness to buy ... read more

Another Shinkansen train ride! No matter how many times we ride it, I am excited each time. Today was our last ride on this trip - I hope I get to ride it again someday. Anyhoo, we blasted out of Osaka and headed to Mount Fuji. It was about two and a half hours by train where we transferred to a bus headed to the Fifth Level of Mount Fuji. It was in a more rural area and once you got into hills the scenery was incredible. All sorts of little waterfalls and rivers and everything was green. The best thing about Mount Fuji (or, as the locals call it, Fujisan), was that it was cooler in temperature. At the Fifth Level there is a bunch of shops and lodges and shrines to check out. You ... read more