Japan Trip: Fuji
We all woke up nice and early and left at 7:30. We get to Kyoto station and find out that the bullet train leaves in like 10 minutes, which is fine, except for we won't be sitting together and one of us would have to sit in a smoking seat. We weren't too comfortable with it but some of us didn't really mind it. But instead, we went with waiting for the next train, which was in 2 hours. So, we woke up early to wait for 2 hours. we could have been sleeping. oh well. got a lot of reading done. Once we did get to the station closest to Fuji, we had to wait for a bus to go around the mountain. That ride was VERY painful. The seats were small and our bags were big and heavy. It was very difficult holding my bag in my lap and it hurt because my bag and little support legs on the bottom and was hurting my legs. And even if there are open seats, the Japanese would not move to another empty seat. it's so weird. I was very thankful that the lady beside me eventually got off the bus and I didn't have to endure the pain longer. It was a long bus ride too... we did not enjoy that. but it was the only way to get there from Kyoto.
By the time we got to our hotel, it was about 4 in the afternoon. Lots of things were closing or closed so we didn't really get to experience Fuji all that much. To be honest, this was exactly what I had expected. At best, we'd get there 2 hours earlier and got to see a few of the sights but we wouldn't see much. I had told Yuxi this before we even left for Japan and he said he was okay with that. Once we got there, he was not very okay with it and we all decided to spend the next day in Fuji as well.
Our hotel was conveniently across the street from the bus station but the sign wasn't visible from all directions so we spent quite a bit of time looking for it even though it was right in front of us. oh well. We walked towards the lake and saw the sunset. Then looked for food, and found no restaurants open. So we bought food at the 7-Eleven and went back to the hotel for TV and tea.
The hotel had washing machines so JP and I finally got to do the laundry. There was a little bit of drama regarding this. there was a fight about who gets to use the dryer first. there were 2 washers but 1 dryer. weird. It took forever for the clothes to dry but they eventually did, overnight.
We laid out the beds ourselves this time and some people decided to get 2 "mattresses", making their bed REALLY puffy. We took turns jumping into the puff. it was fun. hehehe. We messed up Yuxi's bed many times. He wasn't too happy but he had fun too.
The next morning, we packed our stuff and left them with the hotel staff. We headed for the caves. Visited a Wind cave and an ice cave. The ice cave had icicles and ice blocks. It was really slippery there and I almost fell. One couple did fall and you could tell it hurt a lot. I was happy I stayed on my feet.
After visiting the caves, we got some lunch and planned to head into Tokyo. We didn't want to take that horrible bus again. Instead, we found another train that would take us to another station that would take us to tokyo. Off we went towards Tokyo. Our hostel room was a little smaller and more cramped than the other Tokyo one but we made it work. We headed to Shibuya for some shopping and food. oh, more drama.
Once again, we wanted to try out a restaurant that was recommended by Josh's guide book. One of these times, we're bound to find it. We walked for about an hour to get to the vicinity and then got lost. The map in the book wasn't very good and we were hungry. Yuxi wants to take the map and lead us there (as he naturally does) but he doesn't because he complained that he's always the one taking the lead. But when we try to lead, he tries to take it over. This time, he complained for getting lost and told us to find out where it was. Josh decided to give up because we wanted the complaining to stop but Yuxi complained that we didn't come all this way to give up. But no one was willing to ask someone for directions. Yuxi wanted to find the place but didn't want to ask anyone even though we were lost because he was in his mood where he wants to be in charge but doesn't want to do anything. (It's hard to explain but I'm sure JP and Josh got it.) I got sick of it and took the map and asked a random person. We followed the map and it took us the wrong way. I went into a store and the workers helped us go in the right direction. We eventually saw signs for it but we didn't know where the sign was pointing. Eventually, we found it. the map was wrong. oh well. We finally got there and we were thankful.
The place was pretty cool. We got to sit under the stairs. I know, it doesn't sound fun but it really was. It was a vegetarian place so we had vegetarian food. It didn't have much taste (or at least mine didn't) so I didn't like it much. Oh well. It was worth trying. Throughout the entire dinner, Yuxi wasn't willing to do anything. he was closest to the "door" but he didn't want to go out and ask for the waitress. He didn't want to go out and ask for the bill. He didn't want to do anything. That was rather frustrating. I got the meals all sorted out and we all went home. better luck the next day.
Edit: Keep in mind that we were all getting each other's nerves by this point. So it was bound to happen that we complain about each other. Even though I understand what Yuxi was saying, it was still very frustrating.
By the time we got to our hotel, it was about 4 in the afternoon. Lots of things were closing or closed so we didn't really get to experience Fuji all that much. To be honest, this was exactly what I had expected. At best, we'd get there 2 hours earlier and got to see a few of the sights but we wouldn't see much. I had told Yuxi this before we even left for Japan and he said he was okay with that. Once we got there, he was not very okay with it and we all decided to spend the next day in Fuji as well.
Our hotel was conveniently across the street from the bus station but the sign wasn't visible from all directions so we spent quite a bit of time looking for it even though it was right in front of us. oh well. We walked towards the lake and saw the sunset. Then looked for food, and found no restaurants open. So we bought food at the 7-Eleven and went back to the hotel for TV and tea.
The hotel had washing machines so JP and I finally got to do the laundry. There was a little bit of drama regarding this. there was a fight about who gets to use the dryer first. there were 2 washers but 1 dryer. weird. It took forever for the clothes to dry but they eventually did, overnight.
We laid out the beds ourselves this time and some people decided to get 2 "mattresses", making their bed REALLY puffy. We took turns jumping into the puff. it was fun. hehehe. We messed up Yuxi's bed many times. He wasn't too happy but he had fun too.
The next morning, we packed our stuff and left them with the hotel staff. We headed for the caves. Visited a Wind cave and an ice cave. The ice cave had icicles and ice blocks. It was really slippery there and I almost fell. One couple did fall and you could tell it hurt a lot. I was happy I stayed on my feet.
After visiting the caves, we got some lunch and planned to head into Tokyo. We didn't want to take that horrible bus again. Instead, we found another train that would take us to another station that would take us to tokyo. Off we went towards Tokyo. Our hostel room was a little smaller and more cramped than the other Tokyo one but we made it work. We headed to Shibuya for some shopping and food. oh, more drama.
Once again, we wanted to try out a restaurant that was recommended by Josh's guide book. One of these times, we're bound to find it. We walked for about an hour to get to the vicinity and then got lost. The map in the book wasn't very good and we were hungry. Yuxi wants to take the map and lead us there (as he naturally does) but he doesn't because he complained that he's always the one taking the lead. But when we try to lead, he tries to take it over. This time, he complained for getting lost and told us to find out where it was. Josh decided to give up because we wanted the complaining to stop but Yuxi complained that we didn't come all this way to give up. But no one was willing to ask someone for directions. Yuxi wanted to find the place but didn't want to ask anyone even though we were lost because he was in his mood where he wants to be in charge but doesn't want to do anything. (It's hard to explain but I'm sure JP and Josh got it.) I got sick of it and took the map and asked a random person. We followed the map and it took us the wrong way. I went into a store and the workers helped us go in the right direction. We eventually saw signs for it but we didn't know where the sign was pointing. Eventually, we found it. the map was wrong. oh well. We finally got there and we were thankful.
The place was pretty cool. We got to sit under the stairs. I know, it doesn't sound fun but it really was. It was a vegetarian place so we had vegetarian food. It didn't have much taste (or at least mine didn't) so I didn't like it much. Oh well. It was worth trying. Throughout the entire dinner, Yuxi wasn't willing to do anything. he was closest to the "door" but he didn't want to go out and ask for the waitress. He didn't want to go out and ask for the bill. He didn't want to do anything. That was rather frustrating. I got the meals all sorted out and we all went home. better luck the next day.
Edit: Keep in mind that we were all getting each other's nerves by this point. So it was bound to happen that we complain about each other. Even though I understand what Yuxi was saying, it was still very frustrating.