5am wake up call.
Get your stuff together.
Grab your water.
Change your shirt three times until you find the right one.
Bring an extra pair of shoes…just in case.
Go back inside for you sunglasses..
Wait….you forgot your camera battery that you left in the wall charger.
Okay, lets’ go! Everyone’s excited for the trip until you realize you still have another hour in the car before stopping for breakfast.
So we passed the hour in Disney style, singing songs and making jokes through two prefectures out to Yamanashi-ken and th home of the majestic Mt. Fuji. Otoosan was the designated driver assisted by the lady on the GPS navigation system. Okaasan rode shotgun, taking charge of the music selection and occasionally passing back a communal thermos of iced green tea.
Our plan was to take the car halfway up, take pictures, and scope it out for when we climb it next year. Turns out you have to take a bus up due to the volume of people going up and down but that would mean we’d miss our soba lesson…not cool. So we wasted time getting to the soba shop by visiting volcanic lakes along the way! Each one was beautiful, varying in size and depth. However, they all hosted a line of fishermen on the shore and out in boats, young and old, everyone trying to catch some lake trout for dinner. It turns out I have a knack for catching fish that I didn’t know about. I took off my shoes and waded out up mid-calf…not that far. The fish came flocking around me and I stood really still so I wouldn’t scare them away. I shouldn’t have been worried about that because soon enough they started nibbling my feet! Pink nail polish is in these days.
Somehow I found a rock and did a Little Mermaid impression, you know,the whole “Part of Your World” scene…very entertaining.
Yamanashi-ken is lustrous green, hosting hordes of evergreen and deciduous trees on the steep mountain sides. The azure sky was blotchy with patches of white and gray pillar clouds, but it only made the contrast between blue and green more clear. Fuji rose in the distance, capped not with snow but a lone cloud that refused to leave the summit.
The soba lesson took place in a traditional Japanese-style building with a thatched roof. From mixing the two kinds of flour in a bowl with hot water to kneeding and rolling it a hundred times into a square shape, we all took turns shaping the culinary masterpiece. Cutting the noddles with an uber sharp knife was one of the exciting parts, though the consistency of the thickness varied between the five of us. It took only a minute to cook and rinse before we were all kneeding at a low table partaking in a meal of soba we made ourselves. It was a very authentic expeience and I felt quite Japanese, if such a thing can happen. At the very least I felt like a tourist…oh wait…
Before leaving we opened the trunk of the car and lugged three large plastic containers up to the outdoor sinks. The water from the spickets is natural mineral water from the nearby mountains. It's unfiltered and full of natural...things. I didn't ask questions but it tastes good!
We made it to Fujisan and rode the lesisurely tour bus to station 5, about 45 minutes up. We willed the clouds to part, but they only collected more fiercely as the day progressed, typical of the weather pattern for the mountain at this time of year. Arriving at the log buildings we saw plenty of potential climbers sending postcards, buying walking sticks and last-minute necessities. As for us non-climbers, we settled for some melon bread shaped like Mt. Fuji and freshly made—sooooo good!
Having a bit of spare time we leisurely walked down part of the hiking trail along the side of the enormous sleeping volcano, last erupted in 1707 and ejecting tons of ash, volcanic bombs, and pyroclasic flows. We admired the colors of the reddened pumice, especially the contrast between the red holed rocks and the green trees and bushes flourishing in nutrient-rich volcanic soil. Completely surrounded by clouds the mountain was refreshingly cool. Mr. Sun managed to peak through a few fluffy clouds and give them a shiny silver lining. Setting down our purses the four girls stepped to the edge of the trail and looked out in the cloudy vacancy before us. Breathing fresh mountain air I led an improptu Tai Chi warm-up exercise, much to the amusement of hikers passing by and staring at the awkward gaijin. I also led a few yoga poses I knew like "The Eagle," "Sun Salutation," and "Warrior." Yep, we looked pretty funny. I'm glad otoosan got a good video of it.
On the bus ride down the mountain we all passed out in the back seats, reclined and drooling on each other's shoulders. At least it gave otoosan a chance to rest so he could drive us home for the next 2 hours. As we pulled into town we stopped by a ramen shop. My bowl consisted of ramen noodles in a miso broth, complemented by onions, green onions, marinated pork, half and egg, and unidentified vegetables. Women and children enjoy a complementary soda popsicle which actually tasted more like bubble gum. This happens to be a popular candy and soda flavor in Japan. As soon as we reached the house I sought refuge in the cool kitchen with my computer and uploaded over 300 photos from the day, afterwards writing two blogs and filtering through the photos. I went to bed at 3, but was promptly woken up a half-hour later by an earthquake. I think it's calling me back to Funehiki.
But seriously, making your own soba and climbing Mt. Fuji....I think I won the game.
Get your stuff together.
Grab your water.
Change your shirt three times until you find the right one.
Bring an extra pair of shoes…just in case.
Go back inside for you sunglasses..
Wait….you forgot your camera battery that you left in the wall charger.
Okay, lets’ go! Everyone’s excited for the trip until you realize you still have another hour in the car before stopping for breakfast.
So we passed the hour in Disney style, singing songs and making jokes through two prefectures out to Yamanashi-ken and th home of the majestic Mt. Fuji. Otoosan was the designated driver assisted by the lady on the GPS navigation system. Okaasan rode shotgun, taking charge of the music selection and occasionally passing back a communal thermos of iced green tea.
Our plan was to take the car halfway up, take pictures, and scope it out for when we climb it next year. Turns out you have to take a bus up due to the volume of people going up and down but that would mean we’d miss our soba lesson…not cool. So we wasted time getting to the soba shop by visiting volcanic lakes along the way! Each one was beautiful, varying in size and depth. However, they all hosted a line of fishermen on the shore and out in boats, young and old, everyone trying to catch some lake trout for dinner. It turns out I have a knack for catching fish that I didn’t know about. I took off my shoes and waded out up mid-calf…not that far. The fish came flocking around me and I stood really still so I wouldn’t scare them away. I shouldn’t have been worried about that because soon enough they started nibbling my feet! Pink nail polish is in these days.
Somehow I found a rock and did a Little Mermaid impression, you know,the whole “Part of Your World” scene…very entertaining.
Yamanashi-ken is lustrous green, hosting hordes of evergreen and deciduous trees on the steep mountain sides. The azure sky was blotchy with patches of white and gray pillar clouds, but it only made the contrast between blue and green more clear. Fuji rose in the distance, capped not with snow but a lone cloud that refused to leave the summit.
The soba lesson took place in a traditional Japanese-style building with a thatched roof. From mixing the two kinds of flour in a bowl with hot water to kneeding and rolling it a hundred times into a square shape, we all took turns shaping the culinary masterpiece. Cutting the noddles with an uber sharp knife was one of the exciting parts, though the consistency of the thickness varied between the five of us. It took only a minute to cook and rinse before we were all kneeding at a low table partaking in a meal of soba we made ourselves. It was a very authentic expeience and I felt quite Japanese, if such a thing can happen. At the very least I felt like a tourist…oh wait…
Before leaving we opened the trunk of the car and lugged three large plastic containers up to the outdoor sinks. The water from the spickets is natural mineral water from the nearby mountains. It's unfiltered and full of natural...things. I didn't ask questions but it tastes good!
We made it to Fujisan and rode the lesisurely tour bus to station 5, about 45 minutes up. We willed the clouds to part, but they only collected more fiercely as the day progressed, typical of the weather pattern for the mountain at this time of year. Arriving at the log buildings we saw plenty of potential climbers sending postcards, buying walking sticks and last-minute necessities. As for us non-climbers, we settled for some melon bread shaped like Mt. Fuji and freshly made—sooooo good!
Having a bit of spare time we leisurely walked down part of the hiking trail along the side of the enormous sleeping volcano, last erupted in 1707 and ejecting tons of ash, volcanic bombs, and pyroclasic flows. We admired the colors of the reddened pumice, especially the contrast between the red holed rocks and the green trees and bushes flourishing in nutrient-rich volcanic soil. Completely surrounded by clouds the mountain was refreshingly cool. Mr. Sun managed to peak through a few fluffy clouds and give them a shiny silver lining. Setting down our purses the four girls stepped to the edge of the trail and looked out in the cloudy vacancy before us. Breathing fresh mountain air I led an improptu Tai Chi warm-up exercise, much to the amusement of hikers passing by and staring at the awkward gaijin. I also led a few yoga poses I knew like "The Eagle," "Sun Salutation," and "Warrior." Yep, we looked pretty funny. I'm glad otoosan got a good video of it.
On the bus ride down the mountain we all passed out in the back seats, reclined and drooling on each other's shoulders. At least it gave otoosan a chance to rest so he could drive us home for the next 2 hours. As we pulled into town we stopped by a ramen shop. My bowl consisted of ramen noodles in a miso broth, complemented by onions, green onions, marinated pork, half and egg, and unidentified vegetables. Women and children enjoy a complementary soda popsicle which actually tasted more like bubble gum. This happens to be a popular candy and soda flavor in Japan. As soon as we reached the house I sought refuge in the cool kitchen with my computer and uploaded over 300 photos from the day, afterwards writing two blogs and filtering through the photos. I went to bed at 3, but was promptly woken up a half-hour later by an earthquake. I think it's calling me back to Funehiki.
But seriously, making your own soba and climbing Mt. Fuji....I think I won the game.
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