5th Japan Trip 2007 - #16

28th Dec 07 ~ After a good breakfast we set off to Shinjuku bus terminal to make our way to 1 of Mt Fuji's Lake, Kawaguchi-Ko. When we about to reach, the sky was cleared and Mt Fuji could be seen very very clearly. But too bad when we reached the terminal, the top part of Mt Fuji had been covered with clouds. But still could be seen.
The hotel bus will picked us up at 3pm, so since theres some time and we do not have luggage with us, we took a slow walk to the Lake side. Since its the low season, so there wasn't crowd. And we met some Singaporeans on the way.
Ard the lake, theres a Gem Museum, Bear Museum, Cottages and what attracts us the most is the blueberry and lavender shop. They sold lots of blueberry products like cakes, tea, biscuits etc. We bought a lot of gifts here and I got ourselves a blueberry jam with honey.
Theres lavender soft cream & we tried. The lavender taste was quite strong but not till the extend that it taste like fragrance oil.
See, at the background of the pix, is the Mt Fuji. Slowly its been covered by clouds.
We got lunch on the way back to the terminal. The restaurants are on level 2 so that you could have the lake view. We ordered the local specialty, "Houtou" noodles(900 Yen). The noodle texture was quite similar to our "Ban men" but thicker and lots of veggies,eg pumpkin, mushroom, carrot, green veggies, "tao pok" etc.
The bus picked us up at 3pm. I thought it was near to the terminal but Im wrong! Its at another side of the lake and its facing Mt Fuji(which was covered totally by clouds. see the white clouds at the bg of my sis photo? Tts actually Mt Fuji's location.).The hotel staff(which was very cute looking... :P) was there waiting for our arrival, brought us to check in & to our hotel room. Showed us the view from our room(which faces the lake!), explained to us whr places were etc. But since he introduced to us in Jap, I got to translate.
After he left, we started to explore our room. Its a traditional Washitsu. Theres also a Tokonoma with the new yr deco. Theres tea for us to make and snack for us to eat. Theres a low table and chair for us to sit on, and 2 chairs at the window side to relax and enjoy the scenery.
Since theres tea n local special snack, my sis made tea for all of us to sit down and enjoy together.
Theres Yukata for us to wear too. Hahaha!! Being mountain turtle, of coz we started to wear and play with it la. XM being a fierce head of the house, me being a samuri(I know I dont look like 1), my sis a happy little child and my parents trying to act like old Jap.
Ok ok.. enough of playing, time to go enjoy the Onsen bath. Its male and female separate bath. You can choose the indoor or the outdoor bath. The outdoor bath was wonderful! Coz the air was cold, and the water was hot. The hot and cold mixture was super duper wonderful!!! But be mindful, dont soak for too long, else, u be giddy.
We chose 7pm for our 10 course dinner. BTW, our hotel stay was, 12000Yen pax/night with dinner(Kaiseki) & breakfast included. Ive taken Kaiseki in Singapore b4 n it cost SGD$400++. Hence, 12000yen? Its not expensive.
Shiho san had informed the hotel earlier that XM needs veg fd and they had indeed prepared for her with very very fresh ingredients and veggies they could find. XM was very happy!!!
And for us? We had the typical Kaiseki. My parents and even my sis weren't used to it coz alot of raw/cold food, but I loved it!!!! Every single item had been prepared and made carefully, its as if you could feel how sincere the chef was.
Theres nothing we could complained about. We really enjoyed the meal. The service staffs were very friendly. They asked us at interval if the food was good etc. My dad n mum said, service so good that we felt shy.

At first we thought the dessert must be ice cream. But well, we were a 1/4 correct. They gave us 4 variety. Apple, orange, chocolate cream cake and yuzu ice cream.
They r so thoughtful isnt it? I really loved the dinner!!!
After dinner, we went around the hotel. They were getting ready for the new year. Theres a nice Kadomatsu( traditional decoration for the new year) at the door. And of coz, a wooden chair engraved with the hotel name, Sunide resort. They have small cottages up the hill too. Theres lots of books and photos of Mt Fuji at the lobby area too.
Another reason they needed to know your dinner time was to made your bed(Futons) while u were out, u dont have to do it urself. The tables were pushed aside and Futons were made. Cool right! Opening part of the window with the heater on(of coz), we all went into a good night zzZZZzz...