Hi~ho!~

I need to keep my travel entries coming, because in less than 2 months I will be travelling through Japan again as it's spring vacation!!! I should start planning soon! That also means that by then I should have finished posting all my winter vacation photos, right?!
Also, I'm working on something else right now which I will hopefully finish in a few days so that I can show it to you guys.
Anyways, here we go!~

Kawaguchiko - Day 3 (December 31st 2010):

I wanted to leave quite early for Tokyo on the 31st! I also wanted to meet calpis37 and shelketuesti there! After that I had to leave for Saitama. Quite a busy schedule.



When I woke up and opened the window of my hotel room I saw THIS!!!
So far not different from the day before when it got extremely clouded afterwards.



Nevertheless I decided to go to the pagoda again that I visited the day before!! If there was the least chance that it would not be as cloudy as yesterday, I wanted to use that chance!
Plus, as I got up extremely early again (5:30am-ish) I had enough time anyways :)
The photo above was taken in front of Kawaguchiko Station.



There was also a really cute tourist bus in front of the station :3



The tourist information map in front of the station still had snow from yesterday night all over it.



On the platform there are so many cute Mt. Fuji pictures that tell you where which car will stop and if it's reserved or non-reserved. Here we see the picture for car no.3 (non-reserved seats) XD



Sunrise while waiting for my train.



I got off the same station as the day before (Shimo-Yoshida) in order to go to the Chureito Pagoda again :D
Compared to the photo I took the day before at the same spot this looked really promising! The sun was also out and strong - nevertheless it was much colder than the day before!
It's genreally interesting to compare the photos of the 2 days with completely different weather! The whole atmosphere can change that much within a day!!!



Yesterday still without snow (but also without sun). It looks much warmer on this photo than it actually was ;)
I didn't take any photos on my way up this time as it was already my second time and all I wanted was to go straight up to the pagoda anyways .... which I did!



Isn't that absolutely breathtaking and awesome??????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so happy I could have cried!!! FINALLY Mt. Fuji was nice to me!!! After so many failures in the past I FINALLY got some MORE THAN decent photos!!!
I think I didn't take my finger from the shutter at all!!! I had to use this chance, right??? ;o;
By the way, it's really extremely difficult to get a photo where both, Mt. Fuji and the pagoda, look somewhat straight!!! I also saw some professional photos and they had the same problem, but I think I managed it quite well at least in THIS photo (don't ask how many photos I took anyways .. XD)



I hope you don't mind that I spam you with basically the same scenery photos, but I think this awesome scenery shots deserve it! :D





Of course those empty winter trees look ugly, but imagine how beautiful this would be in spring!! (*_*)v At least some of those trees ARE cherry blossom trees!!!



I finally left the pagoda and walked around a bit. Awesome view from up there!! Again, it's really difficult to get photos with everything straight (esp. Mt. Fuji) - you'll see that later again a few times!



I grabbed my other lense to get some nice close-up shots from the top of Mt. Fuji.



Somehow it looks like it would be fun to ski there XD .... ahem!~
When I was up there just a few months ago, there was almost no snow at all! It was soooooooooooo freaking cold up there in August, so I don't wanna imagine how cold it FEELS up there in winter!!! I've read something like -10°C or so which isn't really much, but I guess it feels much much colder with strong winds and all (x__X)



Took this with my digital cam. Not as sharp, but still nice.



There were even some loose monkeys running around and enjoying the warm sunlight!! (o___O'') ...



I took this photo in order to show you that there's not only Mt. Fuji and then there's nothing at all. There are quite a lot of other smaller mountains in this area! :)



The grass up there was frozen! (O_O') ...



Back at Kawaguchiko Station. The weather got better and better and I decided that I won't waste this chance! I called my friend in Saitama and told her that I would come much later.
As I already used my cellphone to take too many photos earlier on, my battery was almost empty and so I couldn't contact the other girls in Tokyo at all (x___X'') Well, it's not like we had any concrete plans yet, but at least I wanted to tell them, that they should plan whatever without me as I wouldn't be able to join them :/



Uwoah! Already 9am!! And not as cold as it actually felt!!



I walked to the lake to take the first boat tour of the day (I think that was 9:30am). Not so many people there yet.
Everybody kept sitting INSIDE where it was warm! Only me and a couple that actually came from the same prefecture as me stood outside the whole time in order to take some awesome photos!!!
I mean what is the purpose of such a boat tour anyways? How can you sit inside behind dirty glass??!!!??



I have to admit that it was extreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemely cold, though! Imagine the cold wind anyways ;o; ....
However, it's not the first time I was freezing like hell for good photos ;) I don't regret it at all :D



Lake Kawaguchiko and Mt. Fuji ... and nothing else in the way!!! So beautiful (*_*)v





Still on the boat. In the background you see the bridge that connects one side of the lake with the other! Otherwise you would always have to surround the whole lake in order to get where you want to!! (x__X)



Next I went to the Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center which is the last bus stop on the loop bus line around the lake.
You can see a map of the lake here. There you can also see Kawaguchiko Station. The pagoda I went to is in Shimo-Yoshida, so really close!
If you want to take a boat tour like me, that's close to the ropeway station!

Anyways the Natural Living Center was closed. Although I knew that I wanted to go there because I heard that from there you have one of the best views of Mt. Fuji and it was true!!
And although it was closed there were SO many people! :D (closed just means that we couldn't go inside the actual building, but we all came for the nature outside anyways XD)



This apparently must look really awesome in spring, summer and autumn with different plants and colors, but even in winter it was quite nice!







I love the colors in this photo: blue meets green :D







Around noon the sun is directly above the mountain top and it is quite difficult to take photos then because of the direct sunlight.
A Chinese young man with complete photo equipment suddenly started talking to me and lend me his sunfilter thingie. At first I thanked him in Japanese, because of course I thought he is Japanese and that they talk English to me is normal, but when he said in English "Sorry, I don't understand, I figured!" XD
That thing was quite handy. I guess I have to stock up photo/camera equipment as well :/ ..... but where to start?? And ...still no tripod!



This photo turned out not too bad, although there are a few tiny things that I don't like, but ... I'm still learning right? XD



Flower road ... yah, only that there were no freaking flowers in winter!! ;o; ...



It must be really colorful there in any other season!





Small one: I want to grow up and be as big or even bigger than Mt. Fuji!! :D
Mt. Fuji: Ho, ho, ho! Impossible! XD
WTF?!



Isn't that beautiful??? Even without any colorful flowers??! (*-*)





Well, as you can see I spent quite some time there. It was quiet, relaxing and beautiful! And that although there were quite a lot of people! However, the area is spacious, so most of the time you were almost alone anyways :)





Usually I get annoyed when people walk into my photos but I thought this might turn out quite nice and it did ... if only it would be straight! ;o; ... (well, it kind of is and kind of is not!)



On the right is the actual building of the Natural Living Center which was closed.



I left with the next loop bus that came only to get out a few stations afterwards. Of course I could have walked and usually I do, but I was extremely short on time that day!
My next stop was the museum of Dayan the cat! It's really nice to take photos of the outer building + Mt. Fuji!
I'd recommend to go inside only if you have time and are interested at all! Entrance fee is generally 500yen, but there are discount tickets that you can get at the tourist information center and in most hotels. I think with discount it was 450yen!
There's also a not so expensive restaurant right next to it if you want to eat lunch there :)





As I really like cats, even drawn cats, I decided to go inside. It was cute and interesting, but I'm not sure if it was worth 450yen!
You can't take any photos inside!



*lol* You can enter the shop without having to pay any entrance fee! They sell only products of that cat character of course! :)



Looks comfy ;)



While waiting for the next bus and also thinking about what to do with the little bit of time that was still left until I had to leave Kawaguchiko, I walked around a bit and took some more photos of the lake and Mt. Fuji.





One of the most beautiful gullies I've seen so far (*_*)v



In this photo you can see again that the sun was really directly above the mountain top, so it must have been around noon.





Another close-up because I really liked how the sun changed the colors!





So many things to discover!!!

On the opposite side of the road was this:



If only I knew a day before!! That would have been something to do when the weather sucks!!!
A monkey show. Not sure what kind of show and it was quite expensive, too, but still!





My bus finally came and I went back to the ropeway (which is quite close to the station). I didn't have much time left until my bus for Shinjuku left (that's right I went back via highway bus: more convenient and cheaper!!).
Unfortunately as the weather was so good there were quite a lot of people standing in line already ;o;



I made it up there somehow, though :)



I only stayed up there for like 10min. I also took a break, sat down, enjoyed the sun and the great view and had a snack as I was really hungry by that time (x___X)





And the rabbit mascot was still thinking about something, I guess?! XD





And the opposite side with lake Kawaguchiko.



This board explains the different phenomenons that can rarely be observed. #1 must be especially awesome: Sakasafuji (逆さ富士山) Mt. Fuji is reflecting in lake Kawaguchiko creating a perfect mirror picture of the real mountain!
This happens really rarely. I heard from the boat man I took a tour with that it only usually happens early in the morning on days with no wind at all :(



"Do not enter!" Oh, it's okay! I'm not a racoon(?), so I can enter, right? XD



The sign says "kawarake nage" which means literally "throw pottery". Basically people throw light clay disks in order to get rid of bad karma.
I didn't do it, though! I wish I did XD Well, next time! ;P It's not like you can only do it there :)



This time I finally got the ropeway car with the rabbit mascot! :3



Back down, saying goodbye to the cute mascots!



I went back to my hotel, got my luggage and went to Kawaguchi Station's bus ticket office in order to find out when the next bus would leave for Shinjuku.
Normally you should reserve highway bus tickets in advance and usually I always do, but as that day was different from what I planned anyways, I didn't reserve.
The next bus was already on its way and so I couldn't reserve tickets for it anymore. I was told to stand there in line and then just pay the bus driver directly. It was a bit risky as I didn't know if there were any free seats left, but there were!!! I even got nobody next to me, so I could relax for the 2h trip (I also fell asleep XD) .....
I then went to the bus center in Shinjuku to get the reserved bus ticket for Takayama the next day. And then it was slowly getting dark and I was on my way to Saitama.
When I finally arrived there, I recharged my cellphone. The girls from Tokyo had been trying to call me a few times and finally they got through. I really wanted to meet them, but it was too late then ;o;
Hopefully next time!!! Nee??! ;o;

Anyways, the next 2 days I stayed in Saitama with my friend's family, her newborn daughter and had a lot of fun just like 2 years ago :3
I had a great omisoka (New Year's Eve) and shougatsu (New Years)!



Toshikoshi Soba on New Year's Eve :3



Osechi on New Years Day and mochi soup! Yummie as always (*_*)v



Yesterday was setsubun! One of my favorite special days in Japan, but it's not a national holiday! It was the first time I didn't "celebrate" it, though, as I was all alone in my apartment the whole time

Alright, that's all for today.
Thanks for reading