Family Vacation @ Tokyo - Day 4, Mt Fuji World Heritage Commemorative 1-Day Tour

It's a special day - my hub's birthday! And we celebrated the day with great scenery in Hakone. Well, my hubs wanted to visit Mt Fuji and his wish was granted on his birthday.

We booked the day trip to Hakone and Mt Fuji at JTB in ION Orchard. Had to assemble at Keio Plaza Hotel by 8.20am so we woke up at 7.15am to get ready. The kids were so tired that they refused to get up. I had to change them while they were snoozing away. Placed the elder one in the stroller while I carried the boy and we made our way to Keio Plaza Hotel. So glad that my hubs and I have checked the route earlier so the 10mins walk to Keio was a breeze with the cooling weather

The tour departed at 8.30am and it was a 2 hours ride before we reach Mt Fuji 5th Station. My 2 kids  slept all the way till we reached our destination. That was how exhausted they were.

This World Heritage site is 2,300m above sea level and you can find torri gates, shrines and souvenir shops surrounding the place, known as the border between the heaven and the earth. The tour guide gave each of us a voucher to redeem a lucky bell so we visited the souvenir shop and exchanged for the bell. Gotten some magnets as souvenirs too.

Thanks to the good weather, we had a clear view of Mt Fuji from 5th station.

The sleepyhead that just woke up

Standing at 2,300m above sea level

Next, we visited Oshino Hakkai which is a protected natural monument. There are 8 fresh water springs in that area but we were not able to cover all 8 springs. Only visited 2 springs. We took photos, purified our lungs with the fresh air and checked out the souvenir shop.

One of the fresh water springs. The water is very clear indeed.

Happy kids!

Hands-free! I'm glad that I decided to bring this stroller as it is more sturdy and can support both of them. We have another stroller but it's more lightweight and would not be able to support their combined weights. Look at the sleepyhead.

Daddy-daughter bonding moment: Janelle kept urging her daddy that she want to take photos too. I love this shot.

Another smaller fresh water spring. Look how clear the water is.

Great weather, soaking in nature, plenty of fresh air = happy girl

And a happy boy

We had Japanese lunch (included in the tour package) at one of restaurants in Lake Kawaguchi, one of the famous Fuji five lakes. The lunch was so-so though.

Lake view from the restaurant

Lunch time. Janelle was sleepy, hungry and whiny

The happy family. Jayven was posing for the photo by placing his fingers on his cheeks.

After satisfying our hunger, we proceeded to Shiraito Falls to view the picturesque 20m tall, 200m wide waterfall fed by snowmelt flowing down from Mt Fuji.

The waterfall. We spotted a rainbow (look at the extreme right). Great weather, lovely scenery, unlimited supply of fresh air & a rainbow! Simply beautiful!

A close-up of the rainbow.

Another smaller waterfall

I have been wanting to visit the shrines in Japan and it was included in the tour. We visited Fujisan Hongu Sengen Taisha, the head shrine of all Sengen and Asama shrines throughout Japan. This unique shrine defies Mt Fuji itself, and its okumiya, or ïnner shrine, is located at the very peak of the mountain.The main shrine is a registered important cultural property.

Jayven and my parents were asleep when we reached the destination hence my hubs and I went along with Janelle.

The happy girl. Full of smiles.

Simply love her smile. I know she enjoyed herself and it makes me happy too.

Happy daddy and daughter

Entrance of the shrine

I saw the instructions on the proper way to pray. But I have forgotten the sequence. Think it goes: Clap your hands 3 times, pray and clap your hands 3 times again. Pardon me. I'm a mum with short term memory.

Often seen this in shows where people can make their wishes and hang it there. But I could not find the boards for penning my wish.

Soaking in happiness

With our dearest princess

We didn't really know what is the purpose of the water in the well. To drink it, wash our hands? Anyway, it's photo taking time again.

She was eyeing the ice cream near the entrance of the shrine. And we promised her the ice-cream after the shrine tour. See the happy girl enjoying her sweet treats.

The shrine was the last stop and we had to head back to Tokyo, which was a 2 hours ride. We reached Tokyo at 7.20pm and we alighted at Odakyu in Shinjuku. Went in search for food and we chanced upon a Ramen shop in the basement. We had to order through the vending machine placed outside the shop. Everything is in Japanese hence we could not understand at all. Just look at the pictures provided and placed our orders accordingly. Then we passed the order tickets to the staff who will show us to our seats. It was pretty fun with the vending machine. We were too eager to try the machine and forgotten to take photos.

The shop is small hence we have to park our stroller outside and my parents and us have to spilt into 2 tables. We did not have to wait long for the ramen and it tasted soooooo good. Even the cha siew was very tender and I loved the soft-boiled eggs. A pity we forgotten to take photos again as the kids were already starving.

Eating like a Japanese. Either she was starving or the ramen was simply oishii. I figured it could be due to both. She finished every bit of it in her bowl.

After dinner, it was time to explore Odakyu and we started from the basement where there are lots of food (again!). I planned to get a cake for my hubs to celebrate his birthday back in the hotel room. Gotten a "I simply cannot resist" strawberry cake from Giotto. The kids were getting very cranky then so we walked back to the hotel.

Full of strawberries. The cake was yummy. I was fighting with my girl over the strawberries haha. I loved the cake so much that we bought another slice on the last night in Tokyo. And my girl finished it when I was out on an errand.