Wawa's Ramblings

On our second day in Tokyo, we joined the JTB Sunrise Mount Fuji-Hakone one day return by Shinkansen tour which costs 15,000 yen ($202), inclusive of lunch. The tour guide was a sprightly Japanese man in his seventies who was very entertaining and spoke good English. Mount Fuji is Japan's highest mountain (3,776 m) and is highly revered by the Japanese. We did not go up to the 5th Station as there was a sudden change of weather and it was raining hailstones. We also did not get a good view of Mount Fuji at the 4th Station due to the clouds and bbrrrr....it was freezing cold outside. We felt like we were playing a game of 'hide and seek' with the Fuji san, just when we catch a glimpse of it through the clouds, a split second later, it has disappered!.

We ended spending more time instead at the Fujiyama Museum looking at the many paintings and artwork of Mount Fuji during the four seasons.

Lunch was at the Highland resort which had a nice garden with some colourful maple trees and we were all so fascinated with this little girl in a kimono. She gamely posed for pictures too!

The Lake Ashi cruise in Hakone was disappointing. On a clear day, there is a good view of Mount Fuji, but today, nothing can be seen. The Mount Komagatake aerial cableway for a view of Hakone National Park was cancelled and was replaced by the Mount Kawaguchi ropeway.

The trip ended with a bullet train ride from Odawara station to Shinjuku station.

We also visited Disneysea on our first evening in Tokyo (starlight passport costing 310 yen or $43) but it was such a letdown. The park was dimly lit and the atmosphere was so different from Disneyland.

We had a fantastic time in Disneyland, with the added bonus of the Christmas trees and festive decorations around the park. But we had to walk about 1 km in Tokyo station just to change platform and train to Maihama station (Disney stop). It was also so amusing to watch grown up people with the Disney character hats/caps, including men in business suits! (should have taken a picture as proof). The entrance fee for Disneyland was 580 yen ($81). As usual, we spent time in the shops just oohing and aahing over the many pretty tins on display.