Hello guys! (If anyone is still here..), I decided today I'm motivated enough to write up a quick post about my trip (which is now... like six months ago oh my). Its totally awkward now but that aside, uhm ... following on from Yamagata we went to Hakone, which is sort of near Tokyo and another city called Takayama! I managed to get a glimpse of Mt. Fuji whilst on the bullet train, which I thought was really lucky. Yes I did take the photo while the train was still moving, skills right?
Yeah, so we checked into the hotel and tried to find vincent some food before dinner but alas there was nothing around so he curled up into a ball and took a long as nap on the floor whilst I went to have a dip in the private hot spring bath in my room.
Then..... dinner was served. Was loving all this food so much, I even came down dressed in a Yukata and the little wrap around shawl that came with it. I get too excited about these things.
After dinner Pk, vincent & I popped on some hellokitty facemasks.. well I made vincent put one on and the result was so hilarious but I don't think he'd appreciate it very much if I showed it to you all. Because you can never un-see it. HAHAHA. The masks were hilarious though.
.. soft skin + tea + oranges for a restful evening afterwards.
In the morning I managed to hop into the hot springs before heading to breakfast and trying some more Natto.. blending in with the Japanese people now.
Breakfast was all sorts of things I never tried before - but I ended up giving most of my fish away since I don't really like seafood all that much, which is a bit of a shame really since half the Japanese diet is seafood but anyhow. I love my pickled plums. Can't wait till I go japan again in July.
That was pretty much the end of our Hakone trip, there was this glass museum which seemed really pretty but we didn't have time to go but there is always next time I guess :P
We went to Takayama afterwards, which is a little rural town near Gifu prefecture if I'm correct. It is famous for Takayama apples and Hida beef. We stayed at a hostel this time, which I highly recommend by the way. It was called K's hostel. Looked pretty much like a standard hotel room but much cheaper.
Room was pretty small, but hey its clean and looks good so no complaining. We even bought some Choya (alcohol) and enjoyed it next to the bed.
Pk, vincent & I went for a little walk around the town and it was mostly just lots of little food stalls with a quiet ambience to it. But we spotted an adorable dog omg. A shiba Inu.
I went back to the same ramen place I had dinner at back in 2011 and to my amazement it was still there!!!! Brings back so many nostalgic memories, the ramen egg was so delicious. I swear the chefs/employees will still the same people too.
This street is famous because of it traditional buildings but they sold lots of the famous snacks like beef on rice crackers etc. which I had heaps of before dinner. The plan was to go for a bit of a trek in the park but we got there only to find numerous signs which warned us of bears so we decided not to take our chances.
Nevertheless, a great view don't you think? We bought some Haagen-daz icecream after dinner and power walked all the way home with some peach Choya and proceeded to plan out the next day which proved slightly hectic as we were going to try on Kimono/Yukatas but that is for another day!
I feel so lame just summarizing things from so long ago - maybe I'm meant to talk more about my thoughts or something interesting but ah well. 10/10 for awkwardness.
I feel so lame just summarizing things from so long ago - maybe I'm meant to talk more about my thoughts or something interesting but ah well. 10/10 for awkwardness.
Good night to you all :)
Penny
P.S. On a side note for something ACTUALLY recent in my life - I GOT A NEW CAR !!!!!!!!! It is a beautiful red Mazda 3 and I am in love.
P.S. On a side note for something ACTUALLY recent in my life - I GOT A NEW CAR !!!!!!!!! It is a beautiful red Mazda 3 and I am in love.
