Fuji-tastic

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Day Two: my five fluent basic Japanese greetings and phrases are being stretched to the limit.

This morning we had breakfast at the bakery next to our hotel because it just smells so good. Pastry= breakfast. They also played awesome jazz music in there.

We then walked down to Shinjuku station to take the first of two trains to Kawaguchico (Mt Fuji.) We could not go the whole way up the mountain because of snow, so we found other entertainment.

We walked around the local area and found a very small shrine. On the way back into town we found a traditional Teppanyaki restaurant. James ate possibly one of the best meals of his life here.

A small distance out of the town centre, was an Onsen (hot spring). We endeavoured to walk there. once at the onsen you must remove all of your clothes and put your valuables in the lockers. There are separate mens and women's onsen. There were 3 hot springs, outdoors and indoors, all with different temperatures. However, all of them were damned hot. Whilst the idea of being naked in front of strangers was awkward at first, the relaxing warmth of the hot spring melted any of that tension away. Most of the women were more preoccupied with their own beauty regimes anyway. Next time I see an onsen, I am jumping in it!

I was struggling to stay awake on the journey back, considerate as ever, James decided to get me a bottled coffee from a vending machine. it was hot. This was good news, as my hands had turned to ice in the Japanese winter. However I took a sip and concluded that somone must have accidentally tipped instant coffee in dishwater and bottled it. It was appalling. Good hand warmer though.

When we reached Shinjuku again, we accidentally found a funky food district. We settled on a dumpling restaurant. I had a pretty tasty eggroll. Oh, and some more sake. Dessert took the cake though- red bean, with green tea ice cream and rice dumplings. Oishi!

Or Yummy!





Until next time...

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