Japan Trip Day 2: Lake Kawaguchiko - Mt Fuji

 PS: Useful links will provided at the end of the post (´◡`)

"Mount Fuji is arguably one of the most well-known attractions in Japan, both internationally and domestically. Nothing can be more frustrating than to plan a trip to see 富士山 (Fujisan – as it is called locally) only to be thwarted by clouds and low visibility"  - Tokyo From The Inside

Yeah, still feeling shock from yesterday's weather where it's totally different from what I've expected in SUMMER. Instead of blazing sunny weather, we've got dark clouds and rain instead. We didn't really sleep right away last night, but we were browsing for tomorrow's weather forecast in Mount Fuji here and there. All of the weather sites simply said "Cloudy and Raining" with percentage range from 40-60% but there was only this one site which said it's percentage is 20%. 

Since the weather for the next days until July 6 will be more likely have a chance of raining (percentage above 70%), we didn't swap our schedule and still went as planned. From all of our itinerary, there are only 2 days which absolutely need sunny weather since most of the sightseeing spots are outdoor and the transportation fee to go there are undoubtedly the most expensive ones compared to other days. Yep, so we bet our luck on that one website's percentage .....

People are used to say that you can't be said have visited Japan if you haven't seen Mt Fuji yet. Yep, I thought that too. There are unbelievably so many INTERESTING spots around Mt Fuji. Making and arranging an itinerary to here is definitely a torture because all of the tourism websites provide very complete information and they really stabbed my heart because I won't have the time to check every sightseeing spots since it's only a day trip.

Actually, there are 2 famous spots to start your Mt Fuji journey. You could enjoy Mt Fuji view from Fuji Five Lakes or the nearby hot spring town, Hakone. We finally chose Fuji Five Lakes as our starting point and out of all 5 lakes, we chose the largest one and undoubtedly the most crowded one since it has many sightseeing spots: Lake Kawaguchiko.

So finally our day begins! Wake up at 3 AM, making instant cereal milk, switching my Charles and Keith Sling Bag into Nike Backpack, preparing this and that, and went outside at 4.30 AM since we need to catch the first train at 5 AM.

Even Tokyo Sky Tree is still enshrouded by mist

On our way to Asakusa Subway, we stop for a while at Paku Paku Delica to buy bento box to be eaten in the bus~

Asakusa in early morning, waiting for the green traffic light for pedestrian

Finally we manage to catch the first train!

By the time we step our feet into the last step of stairs, the train is already on the platform.

So we rushed off inside, whew....quite an exercise to refresh our sleepy face.

Hellen and me

Shenna and Angel

There are 2 affordable public transportations that you could use to go to Kawaguchiko Station: train and highway bus. We have checked Hyperdia and we have to change train for 3 or 4 times and it's about 2 hours long ride in total if we use train. While if you ride highway bus, you just need to go to the designated bus terminal, board the bus, and you could sleep all the way to there. The transportation fare is cheaper too by using highway bus. Alright, all of the positive points go to highway bus!

So our first destination is Shibuya. We plan to ride highway bus to Kawaguchiko Station on 6.45 AM from Shibuya Mark City Terminal. Actually there are 2 highway bus terminal: Shinjuku and Shibuya. But I chose Shibuya because when I arranged the itinerary, the terminal's direction guide said that we will pass along the Hachiko Statue so we could take photos with Hachiko Statue without being photobombed since it's workday in early morning (｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ .... and, uh... the transportation fee is 40 yen cheaper than to Shinjuku .... 

Just a little bit tips, you could make highway bus reservation for free! You didn't need to pay anything and there isn't any penalty if you suddenly cancel the trip. From some traveler forum that I've looked into, they said that the first bus is almost always full and this one traveler didn't able to aboard the first bus. So it is really better to make reservation!

 

My Reservation Form

If you go on a day trip, it's better to board the first bus so you could enjoy sightseeing there for the longest time you could. All you need is an extra time to click this and that on the website, then print your reservation form. One ticket costs 1800 ¥ if you board on from Shibuya and 1750 ¥  from Shinjuku.


Hint: But this decision turns out to be almost nightmare. Keep reading to find out why....


So from JR Line Shibuya Station, take Hachiko Exit and you will find the Hachiko Statue!

Natsukashii and Hachiko Statue

Do you wonder who took our photos? Yep, we used tripod!

I brought that 1.5 kg tripod all along to Japan....almost everyday in our itinerary plan.

Yeah, independent women should bring their equipment by themselves, no?

Yeah, introducing our new friend stranger that we met on that day, let's just call him Mr.X. Suddenly this guy approached us out of nowhere with his friend. OMG, guys in Shibuya are indeed really different from other places in Japan. Is it this typical scene in shoujo manga where you are being picked up after school? (⊙_◎)

Uh, no.... he just suddenly posed in front of Hachiko Statue and gave us signals to take photos of him. At first, I think he is a tourist and just like what common for tourist to do.... asking another stranger to take photos. But... hey he didn't give us his device and he spoke Japanese. His friend just stood by the road and smiling with meanings .... and we, 4 young women left completely dazzled. But from what we grasped in the situation, it seems that he wanted us (tourists) to take pictures of him so he will be famous because we will upload it into social media? Just like what I'm doing right now, publishing it into my blog? LOL.

Well I didn't think it's strange if he thought that, because we really took serious effort in photography. My tripod which stood there, my friend's DSLR camera, .... and Selca Stick ('tongsis' in Indonesian).

Hahha, anyway, it's good that they didn't mean any harm and quite funny in their own way. Okay, Mr.X you have given us another new experience in Japan. Because you're quite good-looking funny, I appreciate your effort to entertain us (?)

Until next time, Mr.X!

This cute green bus is located just across the Hachiko Statue~

Okay, it's 6.15 AM so we need to hurry off to Shibuya Mark City which is just a few steps from Hachiko Statue.

It's actually a mall that has just opened recently. The building exterior and interior seems interesting, especially with "SALE" banner everywhere we passed, but we're here to search the bus terminal and the shop still isn't opened anyway. From the direction's guide, it is said that we just need to go up until 5F and there it will be.....  but ....

It turns out that we could only go up as high as 3F. All access are still closed, the elevator being chained, and the elevator is also still off. Ergh, anything aside the weather ... I think this is the first frustration we had on our way to Mt Fuji *sigh*  ... We checked the direction over and over again 'till our eyes gone numb and still.... there is no way up there to 5F. For God's sake, it's just 2 floors above us.

https://www.highwaybus.com/html/gp/foreign/shibuya/en/index.html

Okay, it's 6.48 AM now... no more time to hesitant. We quickly decided to swap into Shinjuku Bus Terminal where the first bus will board on 7.10 AM. Shinjuku Station is 3 minutes from Shibuya by train. We ran with all of our might to catch the train!

It's quite a long walk distance from Shinjuku Station to the bus terminal. Our hearts are full of uncertain feelings ... will we able to catch the first bus? Will we able to find the terminal ? Will we...able to go see Mt Fuji?

After about 9 minutes walk with high speed of pace, we finally find it! Long story short, yep...we are able to board the first bus! Exactly at 7.10 AM! Bought the ticket at 7.10 AM too and the bus attendant showed us signals to go outside where the bus is and hop in quickly.

Whew, first stage of frustration is CLEARED. Breath recovery inside the bus and 1 hour later we decided to eat our breakfast: Paku Paku Delica Bento.

Chicken Kaarage with Stir-Fried Vegetable and Sweet Sauce

Here is the scenery along the way.

Well my second frustration is quite accumulated again because it is raining outside and dark clouds everywhere.

Fuji-Q Highland Theme Park

And finally we arrive!

We go to the toilet and take a look inside the station~

The wrapping is super KAWAII ~

Notice that Hello Kitty Boxer?

Peach and Grape Cookies!

Liquor Booth

That famous Strawberry Cheese Cake Fuji KitKat !

Dare to try the Wasabi Flavor?

All the snacks here are so tempting!!!

Whew, after looking around ... we already quite had decision what to buy here before we going back home. After that, we bought our Sightseeing Bus Pass since we will tour around the lake. There is only 1 kind of pass which could be used for 2 days and not only Lake Kawaguchiko (Red Line Bus), but also for Lake Saiko (Green Line Bus)! The price ..... is 1200 yen. Quite expensive, but still slightly cheaper than usual ride (about 200-400 yen per stop, depends on the distance)

 Anyway, it's in the shape of postcard. 

So it could be kept as a nice memento!

Here is the map of area which you could visit by using this retro bus pass!

After purchasing your ticket, you will be given this map along with the retro bus timetable behind the page.

http://bus-en.fujikyu.co.jp/heritage-tour/detail/id/1/

While waiting for the bus, we took a picture with this banner outside the station.

It's a banner created to encourage people for climbing Mt Fuji in this Summer. Japan never fail to amaze me, it does really intrigued young people with those cute illustration!

Whew finally the bus is here! Let's hop on~

Our first destination: Kachi Kachi Ropeway!

 It's easily spotted with that Rabbit and Raccoon Mascot.

Why must those 2 animals? So actually there is a story behind this place.

This ropeway ascends to observation area near the summit of Mount Tenjo, the setting of Dazai Osamu's folk story "Kachi Kachi Yama", for which the ropeway is named. There used to be an old couple live here peacefully but the tanuki (Japanese raccoon) always stole the grandpa's crop. One day, the raccoon was caught and tied up by the grandpa, but then he was released by grandma because he promised to be good and clean up the house. After that, the raccoon killed the grandma after being released.

Rabbit, who was grandpa's friend, heard upon this incident decided to take revenge for grandpa. He invited the raccoon to go collect firewood together, which later the raccoon's back being burnt by the rabbit. After that, the raccoon was invited to go fishing in the lake. The rabbit deceived the raccoon and gave him a boat created from mud which make him drown into the water and die. 

A moment before the raccoon's boat drowned in the lake

So we went upstairs and bought our ropeway ticket. You could choose between one-way ticket (410 ¥) or round trip (740 ¥). Mostly tourist will choose the latter, but since we are strong anti-mainstream we decided to buy one-way ticket and will WALK down the slope mountain path back to the main road. Why? Well, there is a good thing of course. You guys will find out why ^^

Well, even the ticket attendant asked us again about 2-3 times if we were really just buying 1-way ticket and explained to us that if we walked down, it will be about 40 minutes on foot. Yes, sir, yes, We knew perfectly what we chose, and we were very sure to WALK :))

While we were in the cable car, we met another tourist too from Indonesia which was a young man. He also shared his frustration with us about not being able to see the body of Fujisan since it's raining and cloudy everywhere. Well, me too. Quite funny that this was a trip to Mt Fuji without being able to see the Mt Fuji itself *sob* .... but sadly that man was in a very tight schedule. He only would stay around until 12 PM because on 3 PM he needed to board on shinkansen to Kyoto. Well, while us....we would still stay around as late as possible.

Pardon our selfie parade :P

So, we still need to climb up a few steps of terrain...

Entering the super misty world!

We tried really hard already to reduce the exposure T_T but it's a heap of clouds in front of us

Okay, so we're here now!

Kachi Kachi Yama Observation Deck which is 1075 m above the sea level.

The Rabbit who punishes the Raccoon :3

Nope, there's not fire. It's just ..... very THICK MIST 

The man we met inside the cable car offered to take photos of us :)

Natsukashii and Bell of Happiness, pardon the raindrops on the lens T_T

The Bell of Happiness with very cloudy mist as the background....

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Actually, it's supposed to be like this T_T

th.japantravel.com

Well, as you can see, to achieve high visibility like that is only possible in Winter or Spring. Summer is possible too but must be in very early morning like 4 or 5 AM where clouds haven't gathered around yet. It is said your wish will come true if you ring the bell while watching Mt. Fuji. Many lovers come here to take commemorative photos, buy omikuji, and hang on their wishes (｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

A mini shrine, but I don't know what purpose it's built for ....

Well, at least the rabbit and raccoon looks like good friends in the omikuji :p

I left my heart here :3

I believe I'm seeing Mt Fuji in my imaginary field while ringing this bell ~

Sunglasses ON because suddenly it's too bright

After quiet satisfied taking photos with the bell. We took a rest for a while.

There is a souvenir and snack shop with seating area :)

Fujisan Rice Cake and Ocha for 400 ¥

Happy tummy and shopping is done too. Let's take another group photo!

Well, the raining is now stop. But the clouds are still thick.

Now finally we come to one of the challenging part.... walking down the hills!

The lake view and the structure around it are very pretty ( ⁀ ᗢ ⁀ )

 The direction board which leads to walking route to the foot of Mt Tenjo....

Yep, we're actually in Mt Tenjo area (Kachi Kachi Yama) to get the view of Mt Fuji.
Here is the reason why we choose to walk down instead of cable car ...

Pay attention to the red circle!

Yep, you read it right. We wanted to try if the information on this brochure is true or not.

Let's see the thousand hundred hydrangeas ~

Let's enter the forest!

The Pathway

Our walk were indeed very long. The road as you could see from the picture above, is unpaved, quite rocky on some parts, and sometimes slippery. So make sure that you wore your most comfortable shoes for trekking if you want to try it. But overall, we enjoyed it very much!!! No bugs, no harmful animals and plants, the weather is cool ... about 16°C, unlike tropical country's forest ... Japan's humidity is very low .... more likely to dry, so we really didn't sweat at all although we walked down for about 50 minutes until the foothill! IMPRESSIVE ....I'm totally a mountain person in these conditions ~

Finally we arrived at the first checkpoint, which is about halfway to down: Nakabaidara

Monument of Osamu Dazai, writer of Kachi Kachi Yama story

Nakabadaira is another observation area where you could get another different view of Mt Fuji and Lake Kawaguchiko. There is a gazebo and a lot of benches too. Hikers could take a rest here while enjoying the scenery :)

It will be so much more beautiful if the clouds gone so the Mt Fuji will be visible!

Sweet old couple :)

Not long after we arrived, we saw an old couple walking behind us in the same walking pace like us. They sat on the bench over there and starting to have a picnic. Well young people should be ashamed if they said they were lazy to walk down the route. See from that old couple and take a lesson! 

Aah~ Anyway, I wish I had my future partner to have picnic together in here (≧‿≦)

Well, this posture in the photo below is unintended. But somehow with this arrangement in sequence, it makes me like a desperate single lady who stalked that grandpa and grandma from far away .... (+＿+ )

Stalker Mode ON :P

Not-so-mysterious stalker pose

Okay, another interesting visitor beside us and that sweet grandpa and grandma ... There are 2 middle-aged women who bring along their poodle! Once again I'm impressed with Japanese leg's stamina, walking down that path is not really easy, but they also bring their dog.

OMO, that fluffy head and fluffy tail

SO CUTE !!!! Even dogs in here are also KAWAII

The brochure's information also started to be true.

We could see quite a lot of hydrangeas starting from here!

The color is BLUE ~ my favourite :3

Simple, but very PRETTY ^^

We also took final group photo before leaving this spot at the gazebo. Using self-timer and tripod, well there are about 20 ++ photos with quite the same pose so I chose these 2 only :P

Already don't know what to pose anymore, LOL

Moving from this spot, we keep walking down for about 20 minutes. The first walk before Nakabadaira was about 30 minutes. We are very enjoying this hiking route as we are starting to enter the Thousands of Hydrangea Pathway (✿◠‿◠) 

To some people, it might be boring that it's dominantly owned by one color. But I'm happy inside that most of the hydrangeas here are dominantly filled by blue color. Hahha, indeed I'm a blue maniac.

Well, it's still early July. It will be best seen when middle July where all of the Hydrangeas in full bloom and show its color. As you could see, there is still quite a lot of Hydrangeas that still hasn't matured yet (that green one) .....well but I take it as another color variation^^ ... At least our walk wasn't a vain effort that we managed to see those blooming Hydrangea. I checked off Hydrangea Pathway from this trip bucket list!

Blue and Violet, which one do you prefer?

Light Violet Hydrangea ~

A little bit of fuchsia and immature blossoms :)

The end of the route as well as the place where Hydrangeas blossoms appeared the most!

Finally we reached Gokoku Shrine as the end of this route. It's also where the Hydrangea blossoms is as high as your head and we could see that there is still a lot but there is no footing for people. So, this is as maximum I could get to take the picture. Whew, my feet already started to scream. Luckily, this shrine could be used as a resting place! We do take a rest and another new object means photography time :)

Spring water flows from the dragon's mouth

The Shrine Gate

My happy face after succesfully landing a kick!

Happy nature kiddos :)

Pardon the over-exposure :S

Trying to enjoy the nature scenery .....

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The truth is I just wanna take a nap here ... if I could T_T

Hello, 911? One tourist was found lying here in exhaustion.

After feeling quite refreshed, we look around and find a big bundle of Hydrangea blossoms here :)

" Flowers are the music of the ground. From earth's lips spoken without sound" 

- Edwin Curran-

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Okay, hydrangea sniffing pose all done. 

Back to reality now, so we checked the map for our current position.

Another dog is coming!

So basically we are right on track, and we head back to Kawaguchiko Station which is another 15 minutes walk from here. The pathway is a paved road and I find it really pretty because tall trees surrounded us. We are also quite happy that the weather has turned bright and the rain has stopped completely.

Kinda give an adventure vibe, don't you agree?

Not only hydangea, but there is a lot of other flowers here in Summer Season at Kawaguchiko!

I'm feeling so happy to walk and see those pretty flowers~

The local house here are also cute and attractive in its own way (´◡`)♡

 Simple, minimalist, and everything is mini-size compared to my hometown

Their garage and fences are just like that ~ no robber here I guess :P

Wish I could stay here!

So finally we reached Kawaguchiko Station, but we decided to have lunch first before riding the sightseeing bus again to other destination. Because going to and visit restaurant will be quite time-wasting, we decided to buy lunch at Seven Eleven. Sevel in Japan offers a very wide selection of food and I love everything I've tried so far! ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

Tomato Rice Gratin with Brocolli, Shrimp, and Mozarella Cheese all over it ~ (393 ¥)

Happy tummy, happy wallet. Now we're ready to hop in the bus to our destination: Oishi Park. To go there, we must stop at the last stop of red line bus: Kawaguchiko-shizen-seikatsukan. Beside Oishi Park, there is also Blueberry Farm and Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center at this area :)

It's about 2.30 PM and here we are in our last destination at Lake Kawaguchiko!

A statue of Soft Ice Cream Cone welcomed us

ლ(´ڡ`ლ)

Before entering the park, there are a lot of food stalls selling kakigori, ice cream cone, and other local delicacies ~ This statue is located in front of the stalls. Huff, I will buy the ice cream later!

Photo hunting is first priority ~ 

Oh my god, now I'm entering the land of dreams.

The scenery is just superb and doesn't lose to Hokkaido!

Pretty Path >_<

I'm sooooooo happy and ecstatic to the point of psychotic. My effort in making this itinerary is not vain at all. The timing is just right! Kawaguchiko Herb Festival is now being held and 75% of the Lavender is in full bloom ლ(●ʘ‿ʘ● ლ) 

 

Lavender's green, dilly, dilly, Lavender's blue

If you love me, dilly, dilly, I will love you

*Singing out loud inside my heart ... (^0^)*

Spot the bee?

I took massive photos collection with the lavender field~

Decided to post these ones from other 50++ pictures in total, big thanks to my personal photographers a.k.a my BFF (^ w ^)ﾉ♡

After satisfied taking photos of each other, it's souvenir shopping time!

I went inside the Natural Living Center. Besides selling snacks, they also sell lavender and other flower-based products such as decorative plant, bookmark, perfume, soap, oil, candle, and many more. Of course, when we are talking about Japan, everything is kawaii ~

Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center

 I bought Camembert Cheese Tart and Mt Fuji Rare Cheese Cake from this shop^^

I will write a review about the snacks I bought from Japan later ~

Fresh plant as souvenir, anyone wants to buy it?

Well, we also bought Lavender Bath Powder to be used later in our apartment's bath tub. After done shopping, I'm strolling outside once more, this time to the very end of the park which directly side-by-side with the Kawaguchiko Lake.

Like in typical manga I've read ... those 2 boys were throwing stones to the lake and competed which one threw the furthest. LOL, I had fun watching them and taking photos of it.

I'm wondering what kind of water creature lives here ?

Now strolling once more inside the park....

A Monument consisted of all kind of rocks that could be found around Lake Kawaguchiko

Then we've realized that we haven't taken photos yet with the giant flower wall ....

Mint Match Coordinate with Angel^^

We first met in the first year of senior high school and has been bestie ever since. Still can't believe that 6 years has passed, cheers to our 6-years friendship which keeps counting ... ( ￣ ³￣)づ ♡

Out of all the full body photos taken in here, I love this one the most. Actually we really didn't plan to wear matching outfit, but turns out our mint outfit even came in the same shade.What do you guys think? 

My Outfit Details :

Top: Nike Polo Shirt & Crocodile Mint Short Sleeve Jacket

Bottoms: Zara

Shoes: Airwalk Platform 

Hat: Stroberi

The day starts getting late, it's about 4 PM now .... but then ..... I notice something ....

OH MY GOD, what's that black top ....

I'm stunned. It's Fujisan, for the goodness of sake!!! 

Finally ..........., it shows himself to us

People around us are shouting "KOU .... KOU !! " and calling their friends who are inside the store to come out. It is said that people who are able to see Mt Fuji in summer will have tremendous luck since the visibility is very poor because of thick clouds and mist in summer season. Well, I have proven it since the morning I'm arrived at 9 AM, welcomed with rain and mist. Although the rain has stopped since 1 PM, but the clouds surrounded Fujisan aren't dispersed yet.

Do you still remember the Indonesian man that we have met in Kachi Kachi Yama? Well, when I see this scenery I couldn't help thinking about him. It's quite a pity he didn't able to see Fujisan because he needs to rush to Kyoto. One more life lesson learned thanks to this trip, be patient .... for you will never know the good thing that will come of it (◡‿◡✿) 

Thanks God, those expensive transportation fee, my effort in planning the itinerary to this place, betting luck on weather forecast ....are now paid!

The psychotic me ... captured by Hellen :P

I couldn't help but grinning like a crazy person now. Well, anyway since we will board on the bus at 5 PM to go back to Kawaguchiko, there is still time to wait for the clouds dispersed further so we could get a better view.

Remember what I've said in the beginning of Oishi Park sightseeing?

It's ICE CREAM TIME!

There is an ice cream shop inside Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center with seating area too.

Hmm, bishounen spotted here :3

Ice cream-ing with a view

Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center offers blueberry as their main local delicacy. There is a blueberry farm too where you could enjoy picking and eating blueberries as much as you want for 40 minutes. Whew, I will definitely try it next time when I get the chance. Sigh, when in Japan ... I wish that one day consists of 108 hours or more..... so I will get the time to try everything.

There are 3 flavors: vanilla, blueberry, and vanilla-blueberry mix. All of us chose the third one and it costs us only 350 ¥ per serving. The taste? OMG, this is THE BEST ICE CREAM CONE I have ever eaten in my whole life. It's very SOFT, CREAMY, but still got the TEXTURE .... not just become water in your mouth. I could feel the sweet blueberry taste but it's not the taste of artificial sweetener of the ice cream here in Jakarta. For the price of 350 ¥ (~IDR 36.000) this is really worth it, compared to those elite ice cream cafe and dessert houses in PIK which has made me disappointed lately with their poor quality of ice.

Aah, the clouds are more and more getting lost. The view is getting beautiful every time passed. What's better than enjoying that view with the best ice cream in hand? (´ε｀ )♡ 

We would love to wait here until the clouds completely lost but sadly time is our enemy. We need to go back to Kawaguchiko Station or else, we won't be able to go home. At first, I still want to try buying the tickets back to Shibuya Mark City Terminal ... wondering what it looks like since we didn't manage to board from there. But our timing has missed and the nearest schedule is to Shinjuku, so well let be it. 

Final selfie with Fujisan^^

Okay, going back to our first starting point: Kawaguchiko Station. Bought the bus ticket for 6.10 PM and there is still 30 minutes to shop around. I bought 2 boxes of  Fuji KitKat Strawberry Cheese Cake. Another free and interesting thing to get in this station is the checkpoint stamp! Don't forget to bring an empty paper and stamp it as a sign that you've been here. You could stamp as many as you want and it's free~

Stamp Collecting^^

Bye bye Fujisan. You have given us so many wonderful memories :')

We slept inside the bus with happy face thinking all the things that has happened today. While sleeping, we also planned what to eat inside our sleep dimension. Since we are heading back to Shinjuku, we decided to try the beef bowl from Tokyo Chikara Meshi! A lot of blogger said that Chikara Meshi is more delicious and slightly cheaper than Yoshinoya. Is it true? Hmm.... can't wait to arrive back~

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After 2 hours later, finally we arrived at Shinjuku Bus Terminal. 

I must say, this district is very lively and busy at night ...

Shinjuku at Night

Okay, so finally we arrived at the destination place thanks to GPS.

It's not far away from JR Shinjuku Station West Exit.

Just like any other food chain restaurant in Japan, this restaurant's concept is self-service using order machine. Here are the steps of how to use the machine:

1. Click English button for English display translation
2. Click the menu button and see the available choice
3. Once you have decided what to order, insert your money first then you could select the menu that you desire. Don't worry, it doesn't need to be in exact amount. The machine will adjust the fare and give you the exchange money.
4. Collect the ticket and give it to the waiter
5. Sit calmly and wait for your food to arrive ~

We quite make a foolish mistake. At first, we didn't know that we have to insert the money first. Well, there is always a lesson for first-timer right? :)

And finally the food has arrived!

Beef Bowl Garnished with Onion Set and Additional Egg Yolk. Total: 570¥

This is the egg before I hatched it. I find it interesting that the egg has barcode and expiration date :D

Free flow Lemon Infused Water

Japanese Pepper, Chilli Powder, Soysauce, Tomato Sauce

 Okay, let's mix the egg to the rice!

That shiny egg yolk, ahh ....~

Itadakimasu!

As expected, the beef is so tender, juicy, and the seasonings are just right! The egg yolk itself also increases the food's delicious indicator .... the portion is large and satisfying my tummy. Miso soup tasted okay, just like any other miso soup would ~ Aah, the drink is free flow too. Definitely worth the price!

It's about 9 PM now. We decided to take a stroll around while heading back to train station. My friend was given task from relatives to search some products in Uniqlo, so there we go :)

There isn't any interesting thing for me here. The price is just about 100k cheaper than Uniqlo Indonesia but the product's variety is so-so. But here is interesting item that I've found!

Wow, a jacket in SALE!

  

At first, my friend want to buy this one..... but.....

LOL!

I don't know what to say, hahha. Let's just say be proud as Indonesian?

For those people who really love to shop in Uniqlo Japan and like to brag about it to the point of annoying in my ear, well .... this picture proves it's not really any different. Anyway, actually I found a much better retail clothing shop than Uniqlo here in Japan, will explain about it later as it's supposed to be the next 2 days' itinerary. Ah, anyway, because of that label, and also the discount is only applied to Docomo Sim Card User .... my friend didn't buy it in the end :P

We went back home and arrived at apartment about 11 PM. Our feet are starting to get cramped. I took the last turn to take a bath, hence I went to bed at 2 AM ..... whew, this day is so tiring yet also wonderful. But today's itinerary (not tomorrow .... since another day has come by the time I slept) will be quite slow-paced. Stay tuned and see where I'm going today!

 Here are the useful links I've been using on my adventure today:

Fuji Highway Bus

To check bus schedule to Fuji and make reservation

Hyperdia

To check train schedule and route

Kawaguchiko Sightseeing Bus

To see bus schedule and decide what to look around in Kawaguchiko

-Ciao-

( ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ