Here's a video I edited of my train rides on the Shinkansen from Nagano, Kyoto and Tokyo. Also, bits of places that I went to ; ) You'll get to see my favourite spot in the woods at a temple I was talking about in my earlier post. Fujisan too! (and my face freezin away eeep)

Everything shot with my trusty iPhone 5.



At first glance, the view doesn't seem as spectacular as its night view.
But take a closer look on the left and you will notice this...




It's Mt Fuji peeking at us from the horizon!!!!!!!!
I was so freakin excited when I discovered it. After visiting the observation tower, I saw so many other monuments and when I went back to my hotel, I thought to myself, if I can see so many of them already from my own hotel, it means that I'd be able to see Mt.Fuji too?!?!?

So I scanned the horizon and there it was with its snow peak.... How happy I was!! Sneaky little thing. Can you imagine how spectacular a view I had the 3 days and nights at the hotel?? I didn't wanna let it go :'(

Not everyone who visits Japan manages to catch a glimpse of Mt.Fuji, but on this trip we saw it a grand total of 4 times! Not counting the 3 mornings I spent staring at it from my hotel room.

Today's post to Hakone is a spam of Mt. Fuji. He truly is a beautiful gorgeous mountain.

My Japanese relatives, the Kuretakes, rented a car to drive us up to Hakone. It was funnnn albeit cold and windy, and I think it was good family time for them too coz they hardly get out of the house together as a family.


So after 2-3 hours of driving, we reached Hakone and did a short mini hike up. It was so bloody cold I tell you and I was underdressed not expecting any sharp strong winds.

It was all worth it however when we reached the top, check out the view!!




Mt. Fuji was slightly covered by clouds at the time we were there. He's on the left. Yeah, I'm talking about him like he's human.

Argh, this view of Mt.Fuji has reaffirmed my love for mountains..... I truly love mountains! I dunno when I'll get to do another real mountain hike but I hope the time is soon.




This is him up close and personal. Oh whoops sorry about the focus on the plants. Old foggey dad took it hahaha.

All the while during our hike up, my dad was tryna blow the clouds away coz he wanted to see the full mountain view of Fujisan.

Us kids, we were havin' fun.








I dunno if you can tell but I was really, really happy.
Spammed thousands of photos and selfies together with my kuzzies.

Family photos too with Fuji at the back,




The Tan and Kuretake family.


The whole place reeked of fart coz of the sulphur from the hot springs.
Had a chance to eat black eggs boiled from the saunas,



It was a black egg, which was white inside with a yellow yolk.
Some racial identity crisis right there, Mr Eggy.


Soon, we noticed the clouds started to clear and Fujisan revealed itself to us!!!





Oh you majestic thing you!!!
What a flasher as well...

There are so many more photos of Mt.Fuji that I have but I think I accidentally picked the not so goodlookin ones lol.


Went back down from our mini hike and bought... ice creammm. I know it was so cold but eating ice cream in the cold is thrilling hahaha.

Best of all, my ice cream was black. It was vanilla flavoured but black. Can you imagine how excited I was??? My bro tried wasabi ice cream. Siao.




I took these pictures in the store to see the extent of the blackness on my teeth and mouth,



WITCHY.

I turned around and saw an old Japanese couple smiling and laughing and they couldn't help but say "Gomenasai", which means sorry but we just all continued laughing hahahahaha.


We then drove further downwards to Lake Ashi and caught the golden hour,






It was too bloody cold though! Look at me sufferinggggggg.

Didn't stay there for long, and hid ourselves at a quaint cafe.




Yes, I bet you mouthed the cafe's name out loud right hahaha. Seriously?? It's sucha cute funky name man, only in Japan lol.




Golden clouds to boot~~

The day ended so quickly even though we started out at about 9:30am. By the time we reached Tokyo after another long drive, it was 8pm.

I really enjoyed myself very much and it may not be my last time visiting Hakone.


After the day trip to Hakone, the next day in Tokyo was to be our last.

We did all our last minute shopping till 12 before we caught our shuttle bus to the airport to catch our flight at 5:50pm.

Had lunch with our relatives at Narita airport before we bed them goodbye. My aunt broke down while we were having tea and then my mom teared. I've never actually seen my mom cry before other than funerals, which were a long time ago when I was 11. So can you imagine how sad it was to see my mom cry. Even I felt like crying. Just seeing the both of them so devastated at each other's departure from the airport made me realise that actually, being away from your family and embracing another culture in a foreign land for good is quite a scary thing. I'm young and all and haven't thought about how tough it actually is to settle down some place else for the rest of your life coz I only have the thought of being a short-term stayer at a country or some call it, a sojourner. But long-term, not at all. It hit me that the ties that bind are still deeply rooted in the place you grew up in, no matter where you may be now. And having to uproot yourself and settle down somewhere else forever can be difficult. Both for you and your loved ones coz they'd prolly never be able to see you as often again. That's why it hurts for both parties.

It was time to go and we left for our flight at the gates. Grabbed some last minute good sushi before the wheels of our plane left the tarmac onwards to Singapore.


Andddd here I am! Where real life begins once more, what a bore haha.

This trip to Japan was so precious because family trips overseas aren't often since they're expensive. The last family trip overseas with the 4 of us was to the UK in 2011 when I had just completed my A levels. Interestingly enough, we had planned for a trip to Hokkaido but had to back out due to the devastating tsunami in March 2011. And I honestly don't know when the next trip will be. My bro's done with school. I will be done with school soon next year. We'll both start work and all of us will simply have lesser and lesser time together as a family. I wanted to thank my parents for the trip but didn't manage to. Maybe I will.

As for now, I really do miss my time spent in Japan. I struggled a lot at the start of the trip having to not think about work and still have fun travelling at the same time. But towards the end, I just sorta let it all go and did my best to feel at ease and not have a care in the world. Mount Fuji and the Japanese were all very welcoming so it will be a trip to remember.

Till the next family trip, I'll be looking for more adventures in life! Seize the moment!

Did I tell you that I had a great time watching inflight movies? Boyhood is good and its last line has to do with "the moment seizing you" instead of the other way around.

Powerful. I won't forget that phrase.