Hakone

Mount Fuji..here we come..

11 December 2010

Today, we're going to start our Mt Fuji tour with the same tour operator. We reached Hamamatsucho at 8.20am and around 9am..the tour started.

After almost 2 hours bus journey, we reached Hakone and got our first beautiful glimpse of the famous Mount Fuji. It was really beautiful...so so so beautiful..Subhanallah. We took the opportunity to take a picture during our bathroom stop.

Then, the tourist guide brought us to the 1st station of Mount Fuji. We were amazed by its beauty. It was really astounding and amazing. Apparently, the road was really slippery and we're only managed to stop up till this station. Alhamdulillah, Mount Fuji was so crystal clear for us to see. Before we reached Japan, i always pray for us to have a clear view of this beautiful mountain.

During our stop at this station, I was so happy to see the snow. I prayed for the snow to be there so that my parents and my brothers would have the opportunity to see the beauty of snow for the first time in their life.

Later, we had another lunch stop somewhere in Hakone. Again, i took the opportunity to capture another beautiful view of Mount Fuji.

Next, the tourist guide brought us to Mount Komagatake to experience a nice cable car ride. Mt Komagatake is a mountain in the Hakone region which features a ropeway, scenic views of Hakone and surrounds. The summit of Mt Komagatake also features part of the Hakone Jinja Shrine.

After that, Lake Ashi was our next stop. Lake Ashi is a crater lake that lies along the southwest wall of the caldera of Mount Hakone, a complex volcano. It was really peaceful over there.

To wrap up the tour, we went back to Tokyo city by Shinkansen (Bullet Train). It was really fast and in just 30 minutes we reached Tokyo.

For our dinner, another birthday treat from my father in law for an advance birthday 'makan-makan' for my husband. Hubby decided for us to have the birthday 'makan-makan' in advance because he was afraid that there would be not enough time for us to celebrate it tomorrow because we would be very busy for our preparation back to Malaysia.

Tokyo

Moshi Moshi Japan..

..that was the advertisement that had allured me to see whether will it be a worth-buy winter vacation or not. In the end, we booked everything from AirAsia..the flight, the hotel, the airport transfer and the activity tours..that was in October.

Then, came December..

Honestly, i was a bit worried because i've never experienced using any of AirAsia activity tours and airport transfer before. So, everyday..i just pray and pray. Another thing..my Marsya Hayra..how will she adapt with this winter condition, how will she behave during our almost 7 hours flight. And then, i wasn't really well myself...having this bad cough for almost a week before our departure to Japan and i'll be in my 6 months pregnancy during that time.

9 December 2010..Our departure date to Japan.

Am i excited? Of course..but the percentage of excitement was 30% and another 70% went to the worry feeling...especially due to my illness. This AirAsiaX flight was its inaugural flight to Japan..so in another way..we're excited to experience this historic journey. Surprisingly...everything went well..Alhamdulillah.

I mentioned before that this was AirAsiaX inaugural flight to Japan. So, when we reached at Haneda Airport..the press was everywhere. It was massive and i've been interviewed twice by the Japanese media.

After we got all our bags, we're headed to the arrival gate and there he was..our driver. The airport transfer that we booked via AirAsia was really comfortable and the driver was really friendly.

Next, we reached our hotel at Nihonbashi. Another worried feeling came inside me. Will it be a smooth process at the hotel, will there be our names on the list because..again, we booked this hotel through AirAsia online booking. Alhamdulillah..everything was so smooth and the hotel room was small but nice and comfy.

10 December 2010

Happy Birthday to me..ahaks..yesss..it was my birthday and this year..i'm celebrating it in tokyo..:).

Early in the morning, i received such a sweet birthday present from my parents..thanks to abah & mak.

At 11.45am, we're started our journey to Hamamatsucho to claim our Tokyo city tour. Again, this was another online booking via AirAsia..so, another worries. But, it was so easy to find the tour operator at Hamamatsucho Bus Terminal and later, we started our tour around 1.40pm.

The first stop...Tokyo Tower, a communications and observation tower located in Shiba Park.

Next stop, the Imperial Palace which is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan.

Then, we stopped at Asakusa which most famous for the Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple dedicated to the bodhisattva Kannon. We did buy some souvenirs over here.

Our last stop of the day was Ginza but we decided to proceed back to Hamamatsucho so that we could have some birthday 'makan-makan'. Once we reached Nihonbashi, we went to Siddieq Restaurant, a pakistani restaurant. All of us ordered a Chicken Biryani for our dinner except for my little brother who ordered a kebab. Thanks to abah for the birthday treat.

12 December 2010

Happy Birthday Hubby..

Today..it was our Disneyland day..and i was really sick. The cough that i had..it was getting worse but it didn't stop me from having fun. Early in the morning, we went back to Asakusa for a last-minute-shopping moment. We reached the Disneyland around 2pm and we had our lunch break over there. We started our Disney exploration around 3pm. A bit late..yes...but our intention was just to spend some relaxing moment inside here.

..and i was so happy to take this picture..with Cinderella's castle as the background..

..and, inside the castle..they have this beautiful crystal portrait..

..and i met Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Snow White. Btw, I was so surprise to see those beautiful mat salleh and not a Japanese people like what i've been told before this. What a relief.

..later, we took some pictures together..

..n lastly..got our last glimpse of the beautiful castle in two amazing colors..

..and at 9.15pm, we reached the airport and we waited patiently for our flight back to Malaysia

..That's all for now everybody..

..till my next vacation..:)