X am - I Can't Breathe!
Woke in discomfort, my throat sore and dry as a desert. Gah, that was worse than the situation in Tokyo and Osaka combined, 10 times over. Swallowing was as painful as breathing and attempting to talk. I badly need some moisture in the air. The heavy blanket prohibited movement. Burying my face under the blanket helped eventually.
Now I understand why Japanese hotels loan humidifiers.
5.45am - Rise and shine... not
We were supposed to watch the sunrise and Mt Fuji, but as mentioned in the previous entry, it's not such a good idea. If we wanted to watch from outside the hotel, i supposed we would have to get to the opposite bank of the lake, since the Kukuna Hotel has Mt Fuji view for all its rooms. Yup, our hotel was back-facing the crown jewel lah, that's why so cheap mah. I mean, relatively.
So, Brother wanted more sleep and I wasn't about to make everybody go on an expedition at dawn, so I just sat by the window while Sister went to the rooftop observatory.
Clouds just metres above the lake surface.
Meanwhile, Sister was at the observatory, but not for long, as the temperature had dipped to nearly zero. Another reason not to stay was that the highly-anticipated view, the reason we came here, was marred.
My sister then went to the indoor viewing room.
The unkempt swimming and jacuzzi pool downstairs. Too cold for that! Anyone should prefer the onsen now.
7.09am - Brekkie
Time for our buffet breakfast at the same restaurant. Food food woohoo!
The half-boiled egg was cooked in hotspring water I think. If I had known, I might have given it a try.
Eat halfway got to run to toilet >.<
Guess what this is? Hint: It's touted to be a health food.
Sticky gooey goodness, 納豆 なっとう fermented soybean. The "goodness" certainly does not apply to the taste, but to its nutritional value. I don't know if this dish has made it to Fear Factor, but it's so damn sticky, X100 of lady's finger, smells really weird, and worst of all, the taste is indescribably unpalatable. Indeed, it's an acquired taste. I couldn't take more than half a bean. NO MORE.
So little pictures of food! Camerawoman must be sleeping!
Enjoy the scenery while eating. One side has lake view while the opposite side has Mt Fuji view. We chose to sit by the lake since Fuji had all but disappeared into the clouds.
Boy, I'm glad I didn't shell out a bomb on one of those hotels opposite. *gloats*
8.05am - Rest
Appetite not so good in the mornings :( This was gonna be brunch, but there's only so much I could hold down. We still had time before check-out, so we went back to pack up and maybe catch a nap. Sister made the green tea that we were supposed to have yesterday. Nice. I kept a towel as my eye-shield wasn't as good as expected. We can take it back right?
Sister chose to go to the public onsen. Not many people there. The open-air portion was deserted. Too bad it would be twisted to bring a camera in.
This meant that we wouldn't be going to the momiji tunnel to watch autumn leaves. Might as well, since I wasn't sure how accessible the place was.
10am - Check-out
We wanted to open the fridge to get our stuff, but it's locked!! How could it be locked?! Then we saw a notice about the fridge auto-locking at 8am. Wtf, haven't even check-out lor, lock so early for what? Had to call them to unlock it. What's in there? I think there were the mineral water and the again-forgotten cucumber, which had suffered frost damage. Ouch. Eat the edible parts now, don't want to bring back to Tokyo already!
Ok, we've got our stuff. Goodbye room!
Checked out. Returned the key. Getting the bill should be a depressing moment, but our eyes lit up when we saw it.
They didn't charge us for the onsen.
Faster pay and don't make noise!! 赚到啊! :D
We arranged for the drive to the bus terminal and deposited our luggage. We'll leave earlier than scheduled to make more room for Tokyo.
Now that they didn't charge us for the onsen, we couldn't use the ¥2000 voucher to offset it as planned. So what should we do with it? Well, there's the souvenir shop, a place I could never imagine myself shopping at. Bo bian, let's do it!
Hey hey they have the lake fish! BUY!
No 马油 here. I would surely get if it's available. Free mah.
Bought a box of the complimentary dessert in our room. Forgot if we got anything else, but that's about it. Still had to top up a few yen.
I went toured the parts of the hotel that I didn't get to see. The public onsen was accessible be stairs only, so I wouldn't be able to go even if I wanted to. There was a water cooler dispensing spring water o_O Then there was a row of massage chairs. Hey, we should have come here! Nobody also, all checked out and left already! Wasted :(
Then, to the cafe to enjoy our complimentary drink.
A fireplace. Looked functional.
Our table with autumn scenery outside.
The barren bar.
There! UCC coffee and 2 glasses of
Admiring our bill. See, no onsen!
Wonder what's the use of this stamp. Can I tear out and redeem for cash? *fat hope*
11.20am - Jalan-Jalan
Not much time left, but there was always enough for a walk around. We stepped out of our hotel and decided to turn right today. There was a flaming-red tree and 2 ladies were taking turns to take photo with it, but had difficulty 自拍ing. Aiyah, this kind need training one! The experts are whom you call "cam-whore"!
They spoke and the accent was unmistakeable. Fellow country-women! Wow, what a coincidence, at such an apparently not-so-hot destination. Ok help you so you can be on your way sooner and we could have our turn with the tree. They helped us take our photo too, so there's an addition to the rare portrait of 3-in-1.
By now, the temperature had risen to a comfortable 14°C, but there's still the wind.
The tree that's responsible for the yellow.
Btw the sap stank like hell. It's incredible that the population would put up with the smell for the sake of beauty.
Continued along the road, which was about as deserted as Kamo.
Even creeping plants turn color.
Just centimetres away from the lake water, but nobody wanted to test the temperature of the lake water. Here's 2 guys fishing. Maybe go home can make their own lake fish.
Just look at this park!
Flora and fauna. Wonder if those berries were edible. I could conduct animal testing on the cat nearby.
A teddy bear museum. Looked inaccessible and also not a big fan of teddies, so gave it a miss.
Just as we were finding the area boring, we passed by this place in the nick of time.
I thought we would just be taking a look, but my siblings started playing instead. So you slot in the coins, get a baseball bat and whack the balls coming at you.
Don't underestimate the ball dispenser!
That's because Brother's was 高难度 lor! Only found out that it was the hardest course when we were leaving.
Time to retrace our steps. We have a van to catch!
Another drain cover art. おすい means sewage water btw, not the name of some local yellow flower! Pronounced or-su-yi, how apt.
Sister bought a bread from a bakery. Looked ordinary to me, but it's Japanese bread to her.
The sky started drizzling. Zipped up in my jacket again. Why this trip so suay huh, kena rain twice?
12.20am - Leaving Kawaguchiko
Visited the ultra-clean and spacious toilet for the last time, claimed our luggage and boarded the waiting van.
Totally couldn't see Mt Fuji this time. Better luck next time, if there's a next time...
Display train carriage. Not sure what's the highlight about.
Buying tickets at the counter, they had buses terminated at Shinjuku and Tokyo terminals. Well, we were going to Tokyo City View in Roppongi, which is nearer to Tokyo terminal right? So how come I put Shinjuku in the plan instead of Tokyo? O no... can't remember... lost my memory... we almost bought Tokyo when I finally recalled... because the Tokyo one is a longer ride, 3hrs vs 1.5hrs! Heng man... but even if we bought wrongly, we could make a detour to Gotemba Premium Outlet heehee.
We had 25min to wait out. The wind was too cold, so we just stayed indoors, at the cafe. Just when I was wondering whether there was truly no f&b at the terminal. No appetite for lunch yet. We recced and located the bus bay to be visible from the cafe, good!
1.10pm, but still no sight of the bus. Japan's public transport is seldom late. Did we miss it? Did we have our eyes on the correct bus bay? Did the bus decide to use another bus bay instead? Hmm... we should be safe since there's a growing queue at the bus bay.
1.20pm - Bus to Shinjuku
Byebye kampung, back to the city!
Tired and wanted to sleep, but the feeling of fullness had turned into bloat and soon burps, fast into nausea. Tried to sleep it away, but I was more comfortable keeping my eyes on the road. More attentive than the driver lor... but so fucking sleepy. Got really sick nearing the end. So glad to see the city.
3pm - Shinjuku 新宿
Even more glad to be off the bus. Hmm... it's probably been about 16 years since I last got carsick. Went to the toilet in a department store and pondered the itinerary at the same time. In the end, I took a pill and decided to go back to the hotel to sleep. There goes the Tokyo City View. Sorry guys :(
4pm - Sick (And Lost in Otemachi 大手町)
Remembering the horrific experience in Kudanshita from just 2 days ago, we were not about to put ourselves through it again. Yup, that route is on the banned list now. Fortunately, I have stared at the station maps long enough for preparation, so it wasn't hard to come up with an alternative route on the fly.
I decided on Otemachi, the station where we went on an underground tour the day we arrived from Osaka. Been there, done that, no problem!
Aha, the difference was that now we were going from the Marunouchi Line to Tozai Line, not from JR shinkansen to Tozai. Now, although Otemachi on Marunouchi and Tozai Lines belonged to the same company, metro, they were really 2 separate entities located at least 200m apart, straight line distance. There was no barrier-free underground route. We must have spent 30min (probably less lah, considering our low patience level) on a merry-go-round up and down lifts and asking clueless people. Heck, the police didn't know either (of course, why should we expect him to).
We ended up relying on our bearings and walked above the ground. Nothing much to see. Construction and lots of office buildings lor. Looked like their CBD. Passed by a dental clinic, but no medical clinic along the way. Not that I needed to see a doctor lah.
... and we found the life-saver lift with a blue Metro sign... Tozai Line!! *muack muack!* Yeah we did it!
5pm - Hotel Lumiere Kasai ホテルルミエール葛西
Hotel sweet hotel. Our luggage was still around. Thanks guys! Room without washing machine again *yawnz*
Plopped on the bed and k.o. for the rest of the night. Siblings took turn to go out for dinner and Brother did the laundry. Ya, days of stinky clothes.
Sister's buns from Kawaguchiko.
Brother's dinner. Looks deliciously oily and salty.
Lemon drink. I didn't get to drink it. 10% lemon, haha still dare to put so big in front.
Apparently, there was a row of eateries next to the supermarket. There was also a shop selling lots of cheap booze. We should check them out!
My dinner was porridge cooked by Sister using instant rice and fresh fish from the supermarket. May I remind you that we have a conduction cooker in the room... just need to borrow a pan heehee.
Didn't bathe, just wiped. Didn't shampoo too. Tomorrow sure bad hair day :(
Route map for today is pretty much the same for Day 9, just reverse the Start and End icon. So I shall not repeat myself.
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