Fujisan and Tokyo 4-Day Itinerary: Day Four

Read Day 1 here � Satsuki and Mei�s House, Osu Kannon

Read Day 2 here � Mount Fuji, Kawaguchiko

Read Day 3 here � Tokyo Tower, Shibuya

Read Day 4 here � Tsukiji Market, Yokohama Chinatown

Last day of the trip. We went to Tsukiji Market (????) in the late morning and it was filled with many tourists. The market was bigger than I thought and the number of restaurant choices was incredible. We waited in line for an hour at a small restaurant with only 12 seats nearer to the tuna auction area. At the end of our wait we were able to enjoy a fresh bowl of kaisen don (???). I chose a bowl with tuna, salmon and uni. This cost about 2400 yen and all the rice kept me full till late evening.

Tsukiji Market

Kaisen don

After the market we took a train to Yokohama�s Chinatown at Ishikawacho Station (??). It was clean and there were a good number of people roaming around but it was quite laid back compared to Tokyo. We tried an egg tart from a place that had signs hinting that their tarts were number one but it wasn�t quite right. Though I am probably biased towards Hong Kong and Macau egg tarts.

Yokohama Chinatown

We took the JR train to Shinagawa Station (??) then switched to the Keikyu Line to Haneda Airport (????). We bought a one-way flight from Haneda Airport to Kobe Airport (????) which was almost half the cost of taking the Shinkansen back. Our flight with Skymark went smoothly and there was a 15 minute delay but it wasn�t a big deal. From Kobe Airport, we took the Portliner train to Sannomiya (??) then JR Rapid Service Train to Himeji (??).

That is the end of our four day, three night trip. We packed a decent amount into our itinerary with enough breaks to rest. Only the first day was very tiring with the long train ride to Nagoya.

Read Day 1 here � Satsuki and Mei�s House, Osu Kannon

Read Day 2 here � Mount Fuji, Kawaguchiko

Read Day 3 here � Tokyo Tower, Shibuya

Read Day 4 here � Tsukiji Market, Yokohama Chinatown

Fujisan and Tokyo 4-Day Itinerary: Day Three

Read Day 1 here � Satsuki and Mei�s House, Osu Kannon

Read Day 2 here � Mount Fuji, Kawaguchiko

Read Day 3 here � Tokyo Tower, Shibuya

Read Day 4 here � Tsukiji Market, Yokohama Chinatown

We had a full day in Tokyo (??) and started off by heading to Tokyo Tower. There was a poster that promoted City Light Fantasia in the observatory deck in the evening so we decided to come back at night to see it.

Tokyo Tower by day

Next we intended to go to Shibuya (??) but overslept on the subway so we ended up at Futakotamagawa station (????) and RISE shopping centre so we browsed around there. There were many shopping buildings next to the residential towers. We decided to shop here instead and went to Shibuya after because I have not seen the famous Shibuya crossing yet.

Shibuya

After a quick ramen dinner in Shibuya, we went back to Tokyo Tower which was now lit up orange and white. It cost 900 yen to go up to the main observatory. Upon exiting the elevator we could hear dramatic music which fitted the fantasy themed projections on the upper window panels while the lower panels allowed a 360 degrees view of the city. City lights dotted the horizon as far as the eye could see. I enjoyed the projection show and was glad we came in the evening.

Tokyo Tower by night

Light displays outside of Tokyo Tower

Main observatory deck of Tokyo Tower

On floor one of the observatory deck was a cafe and fairy lights decked the ceiling. Two DJs were playing songs that you could request from a set list. We enjoyed some cake and tea while overlooking the cityscape. I didn�t expect it to be so but Tokyo Tower was a good place to enjoy a nice evening.

View from observatory deck

Read Day 1 here � Satsuki and Mei�s House, Osu Kannon

Read Day 2 here � Mount Fuji, Kawaguchiko

Read Day 3 here � Tokyo Tower, Shibuya

Read Day 4 here � Tsukiji Market, Yokohama Chinatown

Fujisan and Tokyo 4-Day Itinerary: Day Two

Read Day 1 here � Satsuki and Mei�s House, Osu Kannon

Read Day 2 here � Mount Fuji, Kawaguchiko

Read Day 3 here � Tokyo Tower, Shibuya

Read Day 4 here � Tsukiji Market, Yokohama Chinatown

We arrived at Fuji-Q Highland (????????) at about 7:15am in the morning and stumbled off the bus half asleep. Everyone alighted the bus so we assumed it was the last stop but I believe there is actually a stop afterward called Kawaguchiko (???) that is a better location if you�re not going to the theme park. Fujisan (???) was there to greet us when we alighted the bus and I was pleasantly surprised by how beautiful it is.

Fujisan and Fuji Q Highland behind me

Anywho, we rested for a while at the bus centre to plan our day and then set off. We walked around the theme park to reach the Fujikyu-Highland Station which took about 15 minutes. From there we took the train for one stop to Kawaguchiko Station and locked our bags in the coin locker there.

Local area train

Following clear signs that pointed to Kawaguchi Lake, we walked for a short distance from the station when I noticed a bike rental shop to the left. We rented bikes for 1500 yen each for the day and used the local area map supplied by the shopkeeper. It was very convenient with a bike and enjoyable on this sunny winter day. I had the impression that the Fujisan area would be cold in early January but it was surprisingly warm and I felt fine in a knit sweater without a coat in the afternoon.

Our rental bikes

Our first stop was to the Mount Kachi Kachi Ropeway (????????????????). The ride up offered a great view of the lake and at the top you could see Fujisan in its entirety at the observatory deck. It was really beautiful and I simply leaned on the wooden railing for a while to take in the scenery as best as I could.

Mt Kachi Kachi Ropeway

View from observation deck

Descending from the mountain, we biked around to find lunch and a local shopkeeper recommended that we visit Fuji Tempura Idaten (????? ???) which is supposedly the second best restaurant in the area. It was easy to find as it was nearby the Kawaguchiko Station. We were seated around a U-shaped bar where the chef�s frying station was in the centre. We watched him fry each piece, pass the pan full of goodies to the server and the server walk over to place and explain each item to us.

Tempura station at Idaten

Tempura set

This was definitely the freshest tempura I have ever had and he was even able to fry the egg to half-boiled. It was very delicious and we ordered extras of individual pieces in addition to our set meal such as fugu and ebi.

Post-lunch we biked back down to the lake to the Kawaguchi Ohashi (?????) aka bridge. We parked our bikes and took the stairs up to the bridge which offered a superb view of Fujisan (???) with the lake as its foreground when you stand at the arch of the bridge.

Walking up to Kawaguchi Bridge

View of Fujisan from the bridge

We read that someone recommended lavender soft serve ice cream on their blog when we searched up Idaten so we biked to the herb garden to try some. I was a bit sceptical that it would taste synthetic but it was actually creamy with a fragrant lavender taste.

Lavender soft serve

We returned our bikes and went back to Kawaguchiko Station to get our bags. There is an easy to use machine at the station with an English option where we bought our bus tickets for Tokyo Station (??). It cost 1750 yen for one-way. The journey was supposed to be 3 hours but ended up being 4 hours long due to traffic.

Bus from Kawaguchiko to Tokyo

Tokyo Station

Once in Tokyo, we dropped off our bags at the accommodation then took the subway to the Din Tai Fung (???) in the Chuo area for dinner. Our ICOCA cards could be used on all the subway lines we used on this trip which was convenient. The Din Tai Fung is located on the basement level of a Takashimaya Department Store. I have been to Din Tai Fung in Taipei, Sydney, Bellevue and Singapore and the one in Taipei is still the best (naturally since the chain began there.)

Read Day 1 here � Satsuki and Mei�s House, Osu Kannon

Read Day 2 here � Mount Fuji, Kawaguchiko

Read Day 3 here � Tokyo Tower, Shibuya

Read Day 4 here � Tsukiji Market, Yokohama Chinatown

Fujisan and Tokyo 4-Day Itinerary: Day One

Read Day 1 here � Satsuki and Mei�s House, Osu Kannon

Read Day 2 here � Mount Fuji, Kawaguchiko

Read Day 3 here � Tokyo Tower, Shibuya

Read Day 4 here � Tsukiji Market, Yokohama Chinatown

First trip of 2016! ?

For our four day, three night trip we used a combination of the Seishun 18 kippu (??18???), bus and a flight. The Seishun 18 kippu is sold during the three holiday periods of the year and costs 11,850 yen for five full days of unlimited rides on JR local and rapid service trains.

Our first day was by far the most tedious in terms of commuting and it is not suitable for everyone but you are able to save money. Most importantly, I think you should travel only with a backpack (no rolling suitcases) if you choose this route.

I used HyperDia (http://www.hyperdia.com/en/) to plan our journey ahead of time. This is necessary because our shortest connection was only 4 minutes so we barely had time to read the signs and figure out which train to board. You can select for the results to only show the trains eligible for Seishun 18 kippu.

We departed from Himeji Station (??) at 8:55am. Two transfers and about 3.5 hours later we arrived in Nagoya (???) at 12:43pm. Fortunately we were able to get a seat on the full trains. Our first destination of the day was the Expo 2005 site in Aichi (? ?) so we boarded another train. There is a more direct way to the site but on this particular day we used the following route. We took the JR train from Nagoya to Kozoji (???) for 29 minutes, then the Aichi Loop Line from Kozoji to Yakusa (??) for 17 minutes. The latter was not JR so it cost 390 yen. Lastly we took the Linimo (???), an urban maglev train, for two stops to Aichikyuhaku kinen koen (?�???????Expo Memorial Park) for 170 yen.

Expo 2005 park in Aichi

We finally arrived at the Expo site at about 2:15pm and rushed to Satsuki and Mei�s house (????????) for our 2:30pm tour. There is a free shuttle bus on site but it is infrequent so despite being quite far from the Linimo station, it was faster for us to walk. I bought the tickets on the Lawson Loppi Machine (Lawson is a chain of convenience stores) beforehand and they were 510 yen each.

Satsuki and Mei's house

Satsuki and Mei's house

I thoroughly enjoyed viewing the house which is an exact replica of the one in My Neighbour Totoro. Water came out from the pump and each item in the house looked like it was from the era the movie was set. I especially liked how they set up the dad�s study room.

Peek into dad's study

The tour ended after 3pm and we went to the observatory deck to see the house from there. Then we walked to the shuttle bus station and took it to Koen-nishi station (???) of the Linimo. There was a lot of open space and many kids were playing jumping rope and walking on stilts. I�m not sure if these were provided by a facility in the park or if they brought their own.

We took the Linimo to Fujigaoka station (???) then switched to the local subway to Osu Kannon station (????). Unfortunately our ICOCA cards didn�t work here. There were many people lining up to go into the temple since it was the New Year�s holiday and many more in the adjacent shopping arcade.

By the time I was finished shopping it was dinner time so we went to the famous Misokatsu Yabaton for food. We went to the Honten location and there was about a 15-20 minute wait but it was worth it. It tastes sweet and savoury and the sauce goes great with rice.

After dinner we walked around the Don Quijote in Sakae which was impressively big and opened 24 hours. We were taking an overnight bus in the evening so we went to an onsen to bathe. We went to Tenpu no Yu (????????) which was a bit pricier than other onsens I have been to but was also one of the best. It costs 770 yen and another 100 yen for the shoe locker. The outdoor onsen area was the best part complete with a TV to watch local programming, individual bowls and an area with many rubber ducks if you go with kids.

We took the subway back to Nagoya Station and found the Meitetsu Bus Centre about 10 minutes before our bus for Fujisan departed at 11:10pm. We booked the ticket online and seating is assigned. The ticket cost 4110 yen per person and we arrived at about 7:15am. There were stops to extend the journey so that we arrive at a reasonable time in the morning. The bus did not have a USB outlet like other Japanese highway buses to charge your phone and it was a regular tour bus so the seats could be a bit cramped for sleeping long periods. However it did save us travel time in the day and a night of accommodation.

I was able to rest reasonably in the seats but it depends on your luck because we were accompanied by a group of chatty teenagers and very unhappy toddler who screamed starting at 2am. I was glad I brought earplugs with me to dampen some of the noise.

Read Day 1 here � Satsuki and Mei�s House, Osu Kannon

Read Day 2 here � Mount Fuji, Kawaguchiko

Read Day 3 here � Tokyo Tower, Shibuya

Read Day 4 here � Tsukiji Market, Yokohama Chinatown

Taipei 4-Day Itinerary: Day Four

Read Day 1 here - Ping Xi, Shifen Old Street, Raohe Night Market

Read Day 2 here - Wufenpu, Xinyi area

Read Day 3 here - Wanhua, Yehliu Geopark

Read Day 4 here - Elephant Mountain, Yangminshan

It is already my last full day of this trip. I had a reunion with local friends for lunch at a pizza place which sold boba milk tea dessert pizza. It was interesting to say the least but I still prefer drinking instead of eating my boba/bubble tea.

Boba milk tea pizza

After lunch, they accompanied me to get souvenirs and I got some boxes of Taiwanese food goodies from the supermarket. Then we went to Ximending (???) so I could get my favourite mochi from Tai He Traditional Bakery (??). The packaging was now much nicer than when I last had it but unfortunately it was no longer as soft and amazing as it used to be since it is premade and put in the fridge instead of freshly sold in a wooden crate.

We took the MRT to City Hall Station, locked our bags in the coin locker and rented U-Bikes. They are easy to use if you have an EasyCard (Taipei�s transit card) and the first 30 minutes is free. We rode it to Elephant Mountain Station (??) and locked the bikes in. Then we walked to the Elephant Mountain trail.

View from Elephant Mountain

The hike up didn�t take long, about 20-30 minutes, but there were a lot of stairs. The sun was setting as we went up and despite the foggy, cloudy sky the view was beautiful. We could see Taipei 101 clearly since it was close by and I saw Miramar�s Ferris Wheel from afar. There were quite a few photographers there with their tripods capturing the scenery.

In the evening I had another experience that was possible thanks to my Taiwanese friend. She asked her friends to bring us around for the evening on their motorbikes since some places weren�t accessible by public transport. First we went to Hao Ji (??) for dinner and then we rode up Yangminshan to a place called Cao Shan (??). The restaurant was called Sleepless (?????) and there was an inside and outside area with small tables and patio umbrellas overlooking the city. The undersides of the outdoor tables were heated like a kotatsu. The view was spectacular.

Dinner at Hao Ji

View from Yangminshan

It is a restaurant so you can order food but since we already had dinner we ordered drinks and stayed until 12am. I was told that there is usually a live singer and you can choose songs but there wasn�t one tonight probably due to the rainy, windy weather.

We stayed until 12am because they wanted to go to a place in Shilin (??) that only opens after midnight when the Shilin Night Market (????) and shops are closed. It was a food cart that made re chao (??) with tables and chairs placed on the sides of the street. It was one of those places that only locals knew about and each dish was only NTD 100!

Getting food was a competition. They say only first timers will order food but frequenters will not. When a dish was ready, one employee would hold multiples of the same dish in his hands and go around asking who ordered it since it is a free flowing system. So all you have to do is shout, �We did! Over here please!� when you see a dish you like even if you did not order it. I was amused by this business model as the four men worked at extreme speeds. The food was pretty good and it was just a fun experience to eat street food in one of the most famous night markets, Shilin, while it was closed. It was as if the locals waited for the tourists of Shilin to leave at night before they brought out the good stuff.

Read Day 1 here - Ping Xi, Shifen Old Street, Raohe Night Market

Read Day 2 here - Wufenpu, Xinyi area

Read Day 3 here - Wanhua, Yehliu Geopark

Read Day 4 here - Elephant Mountain, Yangminshan

Taipei 4-Day Itinerary: Day Three

Read Day 1 here - Ping Xi, Shifen Old Street, Raohe Night Market

Read Day 2 here - Wufenpu, Xinyi area

Read Day 3 here - Wanhua, Yehliu Geopark

Read Day 4 here - Elephant Mountain, Yangminshan

Today I went to visit my host family from when I stayed in Taipei in the summer of 2013. It was nostalgic to be back in Wanhua (??) and I was pleased that I still remembered exactly how to walk to their place from the MRT station. Not much has changed except there is now a Pizza Hut in the neighbourhood. It was great to catch up and I am forever grateful for their hospitality.

Streets of Wanhua

After the visit I went to Yehliu (??) by bus. I went to the Taipei Main Station bus terminal, got a roundtrip ticket to Yehliu (NTD 178) and sat for 1.5 hours. The journey might seem long but it went by quickly with a nap.

Yehliu Fishing Port

After alighting from the bus I walked about 600 metres to the Geopark (??????). The walk downhill was pleasant and I passed by the Yehliu Port. The Geopark itself was crowded with tourists and many of them in tour groups. Entrance cost NTD 80 for adults and NTD 40 if you have a student card. I know the International Student Identity Card (ISIC) definitely works but I am unsure about individual schools� cards.

Yehliu Geopark

It was gorgeous to see the geological landscape despite the overcast skies. I loved watching the waves crash loudly against the shore. Of course, the interesting rock formations are why this place is famous and they�re a sight as well! It was a bit sad to see some tourists ignoring the signs and walking on parts that were clearly labelled as �Do Not Cross� which could ruin the natural beauty. Happenings like these give me urgency to travel to see things before they are ruined by humans due to popularity.

Read Day 1 here - Ping Xi, Shifen Old Street, Raohe Night Market

Read Day 2 here - Wufenpu, Xinyi area

Read Day 3 here - Wanhua, Yehliu Geopark

Read Day 4 here - Elephant Mountain, Yangminshan