Mt. Fuji Sightseeing Tour

Mt. Fuji (or Fuji-san in Japanese) is another symbolic icon when you think of Japan so we were really excited to take advantage of a sightseeing tour the base offered last weekend. It took about three hours to get there by bus so Bern and I just slept pretty much the whole time since we left Yokosuka at 5:30am. Our first stop on the tour was the Fuji Peace Park; which is home to a massive 155' tall Buddhist Pagoda. Inside this pagoda is a shrine with an actual bone from Buddha's body. The path is aligned with guardian dog statues from different Asian countries that practice Buddhism.

 

 

Weather permitting, we were supposed to get a view of Mt. Fuji from this Peace Park similar to this: 

 

 

But due to the lousy weather conditions that day, we got:

 

Nonetheless, we still enjoyed walking around the unique site.

 

 

The next stop was the Yamanashi Prefectural Fuji Visitor Center to watch a short video about Mt. Fuji. Learned some interesting facts about this prestigious mountain, here are just a couple I thought you might enjoy:

1. Mt. Fuji is an active volcano which last erupted in 1707.

2. Because of all the volcanic activity throughout its history, Mt. Fuji is actually made up of four different volcanos in one.

After the visitor center, we then drove up to the 5th station of Mt. Fuji which was about 7,600 feet above sea level (a little more than half way up the 12,388 feet high summit). This is somewhat the unofficial starting point to climb Mt. Fuji. Here we grabbed lunch and picked up a few souvenirs.

 

This place was crowded due to the fact that we were right in the middle of the climbing season, which started on July 1st and ends in late-August. Bern and I plan on climbing up Fujisan either next year or in 2015 in case you're interested in joining us! Let's do this!  

 

 

Following the 5th station, we drove back down to the foot of Mt. Fuji and arrived at the Sengen Jinja, a shrine dedicated to the Shinto deity of Fujisan.

Built in 1615, this is just one of the several "1st stations" on the journey to climb up Mt. Fuji.



1st station

The shrine is right in the middle of these humongous trees which are approximately 75 feet wide and about 1,000 years old.

 

 

The last stop on our tour was Oshino Hakkai, a small village area with eight famous ponds resulting from the eruption of Mt. Fuji.

 

 

 

These ponds are still fed by the melted snow coming down from Mt. Fuji. It's then filtered down the mountain by the all the layers of volcanic lava rock resulting in the freshest, cleanest spring water you can drink. We both tried it and could instantly tell the difference or as Bobby Boucher would say in the movie The Waterboy, "Thas Quality H2O!"

 

   

This purification pond tested our focus by seeing if we could leave our hands in extremely cold water for at least 30 seconds. Right when you put your hands in, it's like a thousand needles hitting you at once that totally numbs your bones. Bern seemed to enjoy it though saying it felt therapeutic; so much so that she did it twice...CRAZY! haha  

 

As we were about ready to leave the area and head back for home, the clouds parted ways slightly to give a tiny glimpse of Mt. Fuji. We were so thrilled that we got to see Fujisan atleast once during this trip!   

 

 

Until next time Mt. Fuji!

 

           



  

 

 

 

 

  

Odawara Castle & The Matsunaga Memorial

The town of Odawara is about a two hour train ride west of Yokosuka. Our first stop was the famous Odawara Castle which was built in the mid-15th century. A number of different Japanese clans have ruled the castle throughout the years but it's now a Japanese national historic site.

Walking through the Umadashi-mon gate

 

 

 

 

Bern enjoying the ocean breeze on the top floor

   

Inside the castle is a museum with four levels of historic artifacts, including some really cool Samurai armor and swords.

 

Since we wanted to spend the entire day in Odawara, we decided to take a short taxi ride after the castle to check out The Matsunaga Memorial Hall. This place was dedicated to Yasuzaemon Matsunaga, who was very influential in the beginnings of Japan's electricity system in the early 1900's. Because of his work, Yasuzaemon was nicknamed "the demon of power." He was also a very famous master of the tea ceremony who lived out his retirement years here in Odawara. Within the compound was a main residence, another building which housed his many antiques, and right in the middle a huge koi pond.

 

 

 

Not sure if we are related in anyway, but it was a little surreal to visit a memorial pavilion bearing the Matsunaga name. Nonetheless, something I'm really glad we got to see during our trip to Odawara.

 

  

             

 

 

 

 

4th of July & Ninjas

To celebrate America's birthday, we checked out the 4th of July festival on base with Bern's cousin Melissa & her family. The carnival-like atmosphere included games for kids, a petting zoo, live music & of course great food. And no 4th of July celebration would be complete without a fireworks show which really lit up the Yokosuka summer sky.

 

The following day, Melissa & her husband, Raul, took us to a Ninja inspired restaurant in Tokyo. The outside of the restaurant was very inconspicuous to really go along with the whole Ninja theme.    

  

 

Once inside, a ninja appeared from a secret door to escort us to our table. We had to first walk through another secret door ourselves into a dark, cave like setting with very narrow passageways. During our trek, we seemed to hit a dead end when the Ninja yelled out something in Japanese (maybe a secret password) then a draw bridge appeared to take us through the final leg of our journey. Really cool way to start the evening! The menus were on blackened scrolls about 4 feet long

 

 

After we ordered, we were looking around & noticed a small nameplate above Melissa's seat. We took a closer look and discovered that famed director Steven Spielberg actually sat at this very table a few years ago.

 

 

 

Obviously all the dishes were "Ninja" inspired, take our appetizer for instance where the cracker-chips were made to look like Shuriken (Ninja throwing stars)

 

 

 

Overall, it was a fun & interesting dinner experience which is ultimately what you pay for. The food was good but overpriced to say the least. But I'm really glad we got the opportunity to get out of Yokosuka & eat somewhere really unique. There is also a Ninja theme park here in Japan as well so this is certainly not the last time you'll be reading about these ancient Japanese warriors on this blog!

 

    

 

We hope you had a great 4th of July weekend as well readers!

 

      

 

 



 

     

  

  

Hong Kong for Maynard & Joyce's Wedding

Bern and I recently went to Hong Kong for my cousin Maynard's wedding and had a great time while we were there (despite the humid 90 degree plus weather). I think what really made this trip was the fact that we got to see our family which we haven't done since moving to Japan four months ago. Not everyone could have made it though since this was a destination wedding, but it was nice just to be around loved ones again. Here are some highlights:

Bern and I just getting into Hong Kong. Once we arrived at the airport, there is an express train that takes you right to Central Hong Kong in exactly 24 minutes.

The first full day in Hong Kong was spent checking out all the sites. So we took a bus tour that takes you around the entire island. The main tourist attraction is The Peak where you can get a bird's eye view of the city including the Kowloon side of Hong Kong.

The Peak just so happened to be a part of the cult classic movie Bloodsport, staring Jean Cluade Van Damme. So I had to cease this once in a lifetime opportunity to re-create the scene. Bern, along with some strangers, were just shaking their heads with amusing disbelief but I didn't care.

See for yourself:

            

Later on that evening, we boarded a ferry to take us to the Kowloon side of Hong Kong for dinner and shopping at the Night Market.

On top of a double-decker bus in Kowloon

The Night Market was very similar to a swap-meet with vendors selling everything from Chinese souvenirs to fake Rolex's. The cool part was haggling with the owners to get the best possible deal. 



Hong Kong at Night

The following day we went out for dim sum at one of the local eateries near our hotel. The only two differences I noticed here in Hong Kong is that one; you have to actually go up to the carts and get the items you want just because there's no room for them to get around the tables. And two, the chopsticks and soup spoons I guess are not clean so they place a big bowl in the center of the table along with a pot of hot water in order for you to clean your own utensils. Really?! After dim sum, we went to Macau which is about an hour by a "turbo-jet" ferry.    

Macau was a former Portuguese colony but is now famous for their casinos. It's almost like Vegas with The MGM, Wynn, Sands, Hard Rock, & The Venetian all present but the only difference is that the Macau casinos bring in five times more the revenue than Vegas...crazy huh?! I soon discovered why when we tried to find a table at the Venetian but the minimums started at around $75 USD a bet. Since none of us were high-rollers, Bern, my cousin Merve & I decided to walk over to the Sands where we found $1 video poker machines. I was just glad we got to see the Venetian which happens to be the biggest casino in the WORLD & where Manny Pacquiao fights his battles.

When we got back from Macau, we unfortunately missed the rehearsal dinner so we ended up meeting the groom-to-be; my cousin Maynard for some drinks in an area of Hong Kong simply referred to LFK (Lan Kwai Fong). It's really the party district of the city where all the bars and clubs are located. Good Times that night, 'nuff said!  HAHA 

   

The wedding was on Saturday which came with all sorts of logistical problems to say the least, but everything seemed to work itself out at the end. The reception was held at the Hong Kong Jokey Club overlooking the horse racetrack. We all had so much fun celebrating the night away; especially thanks to the open bar. HAHA Indeed a joyful occasion overall!

Following a nice Sunday brunch, we had the rest of the day to explore more of Hong Kong and complete any last-minute shopping so here are just a few shots from the day:

Filipinos on the streets of HK singing karaoke

Sunday night was a family-only Chinese seafood dinner. The last chance for us to break bread with the bride and groom before they took off for their European honeymoon.   

All the Cousins

Congratulations Maynard & Joyce! Thank you for everything and welcome to the family Joyce!