Finally Fuji!

Thursday we enjoyed taking the train to the Hakone region to see fickle Fuji. The day dawned clear and blue and chilly, so we knew it was the perfect day to try to see Fuji-san. We bought Hakone "Free Passes" for everyone and hopped on the first train car. In this picture, you can see Sandra photographing a little boy who was VERY excited to be in the front of the train. He was having a big time watching the train operator. It really is more exciting to be in the front, and Sandra and I were looking over the operator's shoulder for a long time, trying to figure out exactly how he was making the train start and stop. Apparently it takes 2 hands. Left hand for accelerating, and right hand for breaking. The trains that are NOT shinkansen (bullet) go around 65 miles per hour when they are really moving in the open straight stretches of track.

There was great excitement in our first car when Fuji finally came into view. Just about 2 hours after we started, we stopped. Robin bought bento boxes for lunch and we all hopped on a bus. Bentos are little disposable lunch boxes that are made of carefully crafted wood, and are filled with little samples of Japanese yummies. The bus took us up curvy, hairpin turns, up, up the side of a mountain, on narrow little roads. I was sitting directly in the middle of the very back of the bus, trying to eat my Japanese lunch while feeling like I was on a ride at Disney. It's pretty disorienting to be doing that while on the left side of the road. It was pretty scary- but in a good way.

Our day also included a cruise on a lake, a ride up the side of a mountain in a gondola, a ride back down part way in a cable car, and finally a train ride back home to Tokyo. Some of the things we saw yesterday included gorgeous views of Mount Fuji and the surrounding peaks, sulfurous, steaming pits, ancient giant cedar trees, pirate ships (har), Lake Ashi and happy families everywhere. The day was capped perfectly by a late dinner in a teeny tiny Indian restaurant right here near home. It felt exceedingly good to have the opportunity to walk to and from dinner. Our day was mostly spent in passive sightseeing ecstacy.

Some quirky Japanese highlights from the day:

At the top of the goldola ride, while viewing the steaming pits, (called "Hell Valley") we here treated to the lovely melody of Elton John's Can You Feel the Love Tonight, played by some tinkly little instrument. A weird juxtaposition. We got a snippet of it on video clip.

While waiting for our pirate ship to arrive to take us up the lake, we stopped for a treat. The girls had a sundae of sorts that included green tea icecream on top of sweetened red beans, with mochi on the side. Mochi is the pounded rice cake that is quite chewey and has little taste. Sandra and Claire popped the little mochi balls into their mouths at the same instant and immediately burst into giggles.

I realized that I have some basic understanding of Japanese because I could understand most of what the little adorable 2 year old was saying to his parents on the train. "Papa, Papa! Nan ji?"

"Papa, Papa, what time is it?" AND "Koko a doko?" "Where are we?"

So...I am at a Japanese level of a 2 year old!

Found a box of cookies that had the name "Crunky" on the front.

Now: enjoy the pics from Thursday!