Japan - Tokyo Day 3

Day 3, we checked out of our hotel and headed towards Hakone, where we stopped by the Peace Park for a quiet reprieve.

Isn't that giant bonsai tree cute?

We stayed about half an hour, enjoying the quiet tranquility of the place... although after that, we were more interested in the vending machines, that sold pretty much any drink you would be interested in drinking, be it coffee (which actually came out hot in a can!) tea, grape juice etc.. or if you want ice cream.. they have that too!

After the Peace Park, we went to the Owakudani Valley, which is pretty much a crater that exudes sulfur.  At the top of the crater, they have hot boiling sulfur water, where they boiled eggs, which is said to give you 7 extra years to live.  Boy was it a trek up that hill..

If you're wondering why the egg is black, that's just what the sulfur does to it.. the inside is still white, like a normal hard boiled egg.  People here eat it sprinkled with plenty of salt.. although I enjoyed mine plain.  It's not cheap though.. 100 Yen for 1 egg and it comes in packs of 5.. we could get it at the souvenir shops at the base of the crater.. but it's not the same as getting it at the top of the crater, right next to where the eggs are boiled.. come on.. it's "fresher"!

Lunch was at a local restaurant and after that.. we headed to the GOTEMBA FACTORY OUTLET!  

Woo hooo.... now this is what I've been waiting for.. unfortunately, we were only given 2 hours to shop.. so off I went.. telling my parents I would meet them back in the bus in 2 hours.. 

Look at what I got straight away at Burberry.. I bought PrincessBling that short pleated skirt, and a new Burberry Blue pink bag for myself.. it now acts as my work bag.. and I absolutely adore it.. can you believe that the skirt costs more than my bag?  I also ended up with a pleated skirt for myself from Tommy Hillfinger, 2 book clutches and a card holder from Kate Spade.  And that was the end of my shopping spree.

We were meant to meet at the bus at 4.30pm, and as I arrived at the bus on 4.30pm on that dot, one of the tour group members, "fondly" nicknamed Datin ran out of the bus saying she didn't see Prada.. and just HAD to go there to buy a bag.. we ended up waiting an extra half an hour for her.  Inconsiderate?  Not the first time she made us wait.

After that, we transferred to our hotel in Lake Kawaguchi, where we had an awesome view of Mt Fuji.  The hotel we stayed in boasted a hot spring bath and they serve traditional Japanese food.

I for one.. am glad to miss the hot spring bath, as you have to be totally NAKED to go in.. but decided to give it a go after mumsy's insistence (hey.. you got to try it at least once!).. you're given like this TINY towel to maintain modesty (well yeah.. if the towel wasn't opaque!) but good thing there weren't any body in the bath when we went.. so I wasn't as shy.. just ran for it into the hot spring and submerged myself into the hot water, with a wonderful of Mt Fuji in the distance.

Dinner was served traditional Japanese style, where we had to sit on the floor.. not pleasant as I tend to lose feeling in my legs by sitting cross legged for too long!

Love that they had shabu shabu with fresh seafood available.  And oh.. the glorious Japanese Rice!  hahaha.. droolz.. 
We all adorned the traditional Japanese Yakuta, which was provided in our bedrooms.. and oh, get this, we were sleeping on the floor...

Ahh.. I feel totally Japanesey now.. and what's better than waking up to the fresh mountain breeze to this view?

Yep, that's straight from my bedroom window.  I was so tired that I actually fell asleep at 8.30pm that night.. and boy was it a good night's sleep.. even if it's on the floor..