Casual start to the day as our Shinkansen bullet train was booked for 12:07 and were only a 30 minute bus ride from Odawara Station. We were a bit too casual though, and just missed our bus so had to wait an extra 40 minutes. We reached Odawara around 9:30.am. This gave us 2.5 hours before our train, so we put our bags into two lockers at the station and had breakfast at Mr Donuts, before walking to Odawara Castle. We followed the directions to the main gate and walked through to the castle. It was lovely walk, with cherry blossoms lining the main road. When we finally reached the castle, there was a long queue going into the castle, so we decided we didn’t have time and continued our walk through the park when we ... read more

Early start to catch the Fuji Excursion train to Kawaghchiko. We managed to get our 3 days supplies into my big bag and 3 back-packs, after forwarding our other two bags to Kyoto. We left the hotel at 7:20 and reached Platform 9 at Shinjuku for the Fuji Excursion train with 30 minutes to spare. We departed on schedule at 8:30. The train is very comfortable, and the seats are7 wide enough, with the arm-rest up, for Oscar to sit between Krissy and Daisy. Oscar is young enough for a free ride, but no seat. You can take this train without a reserved seat but there is a risk you have to stand for the entire journey. About 45 minutes out, the terrain gets hilly and bushy and it feels like you've left Tokyo. We arrived ... read more

Had the hotel buffet breakfast again before leaving at 8:30. We reached Ghibli Museum just before opening time at 10am. Ghibli tickets sell out within an hour or so. They go on sale for a month on the first day of that month at 10am. I had registered but even though I logged in at that time, I was still customer 3,000 plus in the queue. The queue moved quickly and I got on after about 45 minutes, but by then, the days we are in Tokyo were already sold out. I then googled and found out Klook and Trip.com sell them. I already knew about Klook but the price is outrageous, at bout $90 each. Normal prices are just $10 for adults, $1 for toddlers. I paid $130 for ours, so $90 extra, but at ... read more

Started our first full day with a buffet breakfast and set off around 8:50 expecting to reach our first stop, Small Worlds around 10am but I made a mistake thinking we had to change trains, when in fact, it was a matter of staying on the same train even though the line changed. I didn’t even realise that was possible. Luckily, I realised we were going in the wrong direction after the change and Krissy noticed how Google Maps said “remain on train”. I guess it was another Seniors moment. We reached Small World’s at 10:30am and we enjoyed looking at all the miniature model scenes, especially Oscar, which was the main reason we chose this attraction. Being a Monday, it wasn’t busy so it was very easy to look around. They can even make miniature ... read more

Had our eggs and mangosteens for breakfast and finished packing before meeting our driver Alit who I met on the path leading to the entry car park. I left Daisy and our luggage at the side car park as it was close to our villa and would save us carrying it down. I hopped into Alit's car and we drove around to the side car park, packed our luggage in and set off on our day tour. First stop was the Ceking Rice Terraces, Tegallalang. We did one of the big swings together which was fun and then set off on a trek through the rice Terraces which was great. You did have to be careful as parts were a bit muddy and slippery, but it was a great little hike. We stopped for a drink ... read more