A lot might be freaked out with why we spent most of our 9pm onwards flying solo in our respective hotel rooms for our Day 1 and Day 2. To answer that, it’s probably because we are a group of introverts dealing with people starting at a 7am breakfast, and it mutually drained our life force. Lol. To be honest it didn’t feel like time was wasted at all despite being ready for bed at 10pm.
Anyhow, day 3 was our trip to see Mt Fuji. It was a 3-hour bus ride to Narusawa, where I spent 2 hours finishing up my paper due 1pm of that same day.
Our call time was an earlier 7:30am, and our ETA was 10am. Despite my paper, I didn’t let myself be deprived of awe on the way, though. But unfortunately, someone sat on my earlier seat on the bus, which blocked the better bus view of Mt Fuji from afar. 🙄
Anyhow, glad I was able to submit my paper before we arrived so I was a free girl.
We were lucky enough that the weather was to our advantage. According to our tour guide, Hana, Mt Fuji would often hide away from the crowd.
We took the opportunity for a company group shot with Mt Fuji in the back.
There is also an observation deck in the area with a clearer view of Mt Fuji as well as a breathtaking panoramic view of the alps from afar, just by paying 100¥ (₱50).
Obligatory groupie with the Fuji:
Weirdly, I appreciated Mt Fuji more when we were on the way, farther with a landscape, than we arrived at the Fifth Station, nearer to its peak.
It wasn’t until later on that I found out there was a bit of snow in the area or I would have taken opportunity to literally feel it haha.
We left the place around 11:30 and was bound for our lunch buffet in Bella Foresta in Hakone, arriving around 2pm.
The restaurant food was so-so, but the view from the area was amazing. Just below it was our supposedly second stop, Hakone Open-Air Museum, and our third and last was Hakone Roadway (cable car), which was unfortunately canceled to allow us to enjoy the museum in less pressing time.
Hakone Open-Air Museum was a huge park area of greenery, filled with different sculptures and artworks from artists such as and Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Yasuo Mizui, and Pablo Picasso. To be completely honest, the selection is amazing, however, I was still disappointed with the fact that the cable car experience was canceled. I was upset and irritated the whole time we were there. I was really looking forward to it since the itinerary was released and it made it easier for me to be doing my paper on the trip and finishing it before then.
Anyway, photos below are grabbed from my best friend, Armen, for appreciation, since I wasn’t able to take a lot of photos due to my kaartehan. You can check his portfolio as well as hire him through @armenavy on Instagram.
We left the museum around 4:30 and headed back to our dinner in The Oven American Buffet near our hotel. I didn’t join dinner because I wanted to shop before stores closed at 9pm. Fatz and Ing also had the same mindset. Good thing I was able to purchase a couple items there (more info on why later on!).
After our individual shopping, we met up at McDonald’s at Decks mall for dinner. I had a cheeseburger, large Coke and medium fries for 690¥ (₱340).
During the meal, we planned on spending the night playing Exploding Kittens. We headed back to the hotel, cleaned ourselves up, and regrouped at Fatz and Ing’s room around 10pm.
Ing and Fatz were new to Exploding Kittens, so we had to explain and do a trial run. Fatz actually won a game. We spent the time playing and sharing memorable romantic histories till 1am. Lol.
I took a bath and browsed on my phone afterwards until 3am. Was half-asleep when Armen called to discuss our game plan the following day.
Since we extended our trip from the original plan of only until April 21, we had to discuss the day’s plan: Disneyland and moving to our (way cheaper) accommodation… at 3am. Once finalized, I dozed off and woke up 2.5 hours later to get our plan in motion.
Traveling to Japan? Read this for important know-how’s!
Featured image care of Armen Bongao | @armenavy on Instagram
Life and Lemons 