Fourth & Final Day in Fujikawaguchiko

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Most of my trips to Mount Fuji I will be staying only for a night but for this round, not just 1 night but we ended up with 3 nights at Fujikawaguchiko. Is it too many nights? Oh well, since we're travelling with an elderly and infant, 3 nights can consider to be just nice and perfect for us. 

After 3 nights stays in Fujikawaguchiko, it's time for us to bid goodbye. The check-out time of the accommodation we booked was 10am and frankly speaking, it's pretty normal here. This applies to some accommodation in Taiwan too. I don't know why some people are complaining about the check-out time in most of the hotels back in Malaysia when the check-out time is much more later, which is around 12pm. 

My husband said that it's still pretty early to head back to Tokyo, hence we decided to drive around Oishi Park and surrounding area for one final round. And also because we intend to try the soft serve ice-cream at Oishi Park cafe which we didn't manage to try out yesterday. 

#2: There are more than 10 different flavours of the soft serve ice-cream. Each for 500 yen

#3: We had the lavender & blue rose and kyoto grape flavour

Incredibly soft and instantly melts in the mouth

#4: View from the second floor of Oishi Park Cafe 

#5: We even dropby at Uniqlo Fujiyoshida but because it's during winter season, I didn't find anything I like as most of the clothes were significantly think and not suitable for hot weather 

Before driving back to Tokyo, we decided to dropby at Miyaki, a family-run noodle shop that specialise in making udon. It was full house by the time we arrived but immediately we got our table without have to wait any longer. And you don't have to worry if you don't speak or understand Japanese as they have English menu. The handcrafted udon is slightly chewy and the taste of the soup stock is so rich and flavourful. Even the prices are pretty reasonable too, with bowls ranging from 500 to 600 yen. 

#6: Miyaki Udon at Fujiyoshida. We ordered the signature tempura udon

#7: A family-run noodle shop. Small and packed but definitely worth to try their handcrafted udon 

After satisfied our hungry tummy, it's time for a long-drive back to Tokyo which takes nearly 2 hours. With that, my next upcoming post will talk and share more about Tokyo.

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Third Day in Fujikawaguchiko

 << Previous Post: Second Day in Fujikawaguchiko << 

It's our lucky day on our third day in Fujikawaguchiko when we woke up to a sunny and beautiful day. Without wasting any time, immediately we got ourselves ready to head out to Arakurayama Sengen Park for the iconic Chureito Pagoda. Believe it or not, I've been to Tokyo couple of times but this is my first time visiting the pagoda. 

#1: It's a good good day on our third day in Fujikawaguchiko.

  

#2: To reach the observation deck, one has to climb up the 398 steps

And for our case, it's even more challenging when we have to carry our baby which weighted nearly 11kg up the almost 400 steps 

#3: Chureito Pagoda, a five-storey red pagoda sits proudly in mesmerising Arakurayama Sengen Park 

#4: Arakurayama Sengen Park, one of the best spots for viewing Mount Fuji 

By the way, did you guys spot something unusual? If you look closely, you will notice that there is no snow on the peak of Mount Fuji. Yes, for the first time in recorded history breaking the longest period in 130 years, Mount Fuji remained snowless eventhough our trip was in November. Normally, the peak of Mount Fuji are dusted in snow by early of October, but the summit had remained bare. Initially, we thought we're pretty lucky to catch a full glimpse of Mount Fuji on a clear fine day but then, after seeing the iconic mountain was completely snowless, it's seems like something is missing and incomplete. Is this a sign that I need to return again for another trip in future just to witness Mount Fuji with snow on the peak? 

Talking about parking are, if you are driving just like us, there are plenty of parking at the foothills of Arakurayama Sengen Park and it's free of charge (FOC). Make sure to plan your trip wisely as the parking space is pretty limited. When we arrived around 7am plus, there were plenty of parking but when we left nearly reaching 9am, we noticed there's not many parking space left. 

From Arakurayama Sengen Park, we drove to Oishi Park which is known for another scenic spot to enjoy spectacular view of Mount Fuji and Lake Kawaguchiko at once. Not just that, you can even get to experience variety of colourful flowers bloom on the promenade along the lake side throughout different season. In our case where we're traveled in early of November, Kochia, a fiery red coloured summer cypress spread beautifully all over Oishi Park and this creates a picturesque landscape that captivates all who visit.   

#5: Oishi Park, another scenic spot to enjoy spectacular view of Mount Fuji and Lake Kawaguchiko at once

#6: Create another core memories together 

Not far away from Oishi Park, there is a Lake Bake Cafe that sell French-style loaves and pastries. Oh well, I happened to know this place from Instagram where from the post, it mentioned that one can get a awesome view of Mount Fuji and lake from the cafe but unfortunately during our visit, the cafe didn't allow anyone for dine-in. Only take-away is allowed and because we didn't want to waste our effort after joining the long queue, we decided to grab few freshly baked buns and enjoyed them by the lakeside. Luckily, the breads were pretty oishii and slightly regret for grabbing few only. Should grab more of those breads but then, we're kinda lazy to go back and joining the long queue over again.  

#7: Lake Bake Cafe, a French-styled bakery selling freshly baked loaves and pastries 

#8: The breads were pretty good. If you have the chance to visit this cafe, try to grab more

Lake Bake Cafe

Opening Hours: Friday to Tuesday (10am to 4pm). Closed on every Wednesday and Thursday

It's time for lunch time and my husband found this food truck selling ramen. Besides serving the typical Tonkutso, a pork-based brooth, they even have lobster and shrimp based brooth. By the way, do take note that they only accept cash and not any cards.  

#9: Food truck of Ramen Kaneyuki in Minamitsuru District 

#10: I ordered the Garlic Tonkotsu Ramen whereas my husband ordered the Lobster based broth 

To sum up our third day in Fujikawaguchiko, we kicked off with climbing up nearly 400 steps at Arakurayama Sengen Park for the Chureito Pagoda. Right after that, we spent nearly half of our day strolling along Oishi Park. And before heading back to our stay, we stopby at shopping centre in Fujiyoshida for another window shopping. A trip that pretty laid-back and relaxed one, without rushing too much. 

#11: Q-star, a shopping centre in Fujiyoshida

#12: And that's pretty sum up our third day in Fujikawaguchiko 

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Second Day in Fujikawaguchiko

 << Previous Post: Rent Nissan Car From Tokyo Haneda & Stay in Fujikawaguchiko <<

To our disappointment, we woke up with a continuous heavy downpour on our second day in Fujikawaguchiko. Majority of our pre-planned activities are mostly outdoor and with this kind of adverse weather, I have to admit that it did dampen my spirit.   

#1: A continuous heavy downpour from the morning till night 

THE BIG & WELCIA FUJIYOSHIDA

As we have nowhere to go, we decided to go the supermarket and pharmacy not far away from our accommodation to kill some time. The Big Fujiyoshida, a supermarket opens as early as 7am and for Welcia, it's a 24-hours drug store. We love The Big Fujiyoshida so much that we return day and night for their bento, sushi and ready-to-go food. 

#2: The Big Fujiyoshida, a supermarket that is not far away from our accommodation. 

THE PARK

From Fujiyoshida where we stayed, we drove to the Lake Yamanaka for cafe hopping and we decided to settle down at The Park. There is a parking area right next to the cafe but it's pretty limited. And by the time we arrived at the cafe, the queue was significantly long (like we expected). But because we have nothing to do (as it's still raining cats and dogs), we decided to leave our name and waited inside the car until it's our turn. Waited for more than half hour, finally we had our table. For your information, each guest is required to order at least 1 meal. 

 

#3: The Park Cafe at Lake Yamanaka 

#4: Shrimp and tomato spaghetti 

#5: Their signature - soft and fluffy pancakes 

#6: You can catch a glimpse of Mount Fuji if the weather is perfect

GOTEMBA PREMIUM OUTLET
My husband and I been to Gotemba Premium Outlet before, but not for my mom. Here, there are more than 200 stores offering luxury, sports and international brands. Because this place is a large indoor shopping mall, so we thought that we can avoid the rain. Unfortunately, there are certain area of the outlet are not fully covered and we found it's inconvenient to get from one block to another block, especially when we're travelling with a baby. 

#7: Gotemba Premium Outlet 

#8: Some items are exclusively in Gotemba Premium Outlet only 

To sum up our second day in Fujikawaguchiko, all we did was visiting supermarkets, drug store, having dessert and coffees at the cafe and not forgetting, shopping till we drop at Daiso. Daiso in Japan is getting more affordable as the rate we exchanged prior to our trip was ¥100 = RM2.85. 

#9: Shopping till we drop at Daiso 

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Rent Nissan Car From Tokyo Haneda & Our Stay in Fujikawaguchiko

<< Previous Post: Overnight Layover at Guangzhou Before Flying To Tokyo With China Southern Airlines <<

Since we arrived Tokyo Haneda Airport around noon time, my husband suggested that we should instantly straight make a trip out from the city as we'll be coming back to Tokyo again on our last day of our trip. To date, I have been to few cities and towns nearby Tokyo like Yokohama, Kamakura, Nikko, Hakone (twice) and Fujikawaguchiko (twice). Actually there are more cities and town but because we brought our baby as well as my mom along and we prefer to travel in slow pace, we decided to return to Fujikawaguchiko once again. 

We rented our car from Nissan Rent A Car where the counter can be found on the left-side after coming out from the international arrival hall of Terminal 3. From there, we're being asked to proceed to 1st floor to wait for the complimentary shuttle bus where they will bring us to the office in order to collect our car. By the way, if you are wondering which website we are using to rent the car - we booked from Tabirai Car Rental.   

#1: Let's start the engine! The street of Tokyo 

#2: We rented Nissan Serena from Tabirai Car Rental - Ideally for 3 adults + 1 baby car seat and perfectly fit in all of our 3 huge luggage bags

Nissan Rent A Car

Model: Serena

Total Price: RM2,158 for 3 days 

OUR STAY IN FUJIKAWAGUCHIKO 

We booked this accommodation known as Akafujitei Guest House 赤富士亭 for 3 nights. Conveniently located in the Fujiyoshida part of Fujikawaguchiko, this accommodation is packed with in-house facilities such as washing machine, over, microwave, fridge and rice cooker. The property is well-located with a short drive to supermarkets, shops and restaurants.  

#3: Akafujitei Guest House 赤富士亭 in the Fujiyoshida part of Fujikawaguchiko

#4: Electronic appliances such as washing machine, fridge, microwave, oven, rice cooker, television and hair dryer are available.

#5: Relatively large bathroom with strong hot shower pressure 

#6: Equipped with countless towels, toiletries and hair dryer 

#7: The reason why I chosen this place is because I want to experience tatami 

#8: The downside is that it's located on the second floor with no lift. 

So, it might inconvenient if you have plenty of luggages 

Akafujitei Guest House, Fujikawaguchiko  赤富士亭

Date Stayed: 1 - 4 November 2024 (3 nights)
Total Room Rate: RM720 per night for Family Room (Booked via Agoda)

The drive from Tokyo Haneda Airport to our accommodation was about 3 hours 30 minutes with a short and quick break at Michi-no-Eki (R&R area). Right after we did our check-in and left our luggages, it's time to fill up our growling stomach. There are several restaurants within the short drive from where we stayed and we ended up at a Tonkatsu restaurant. Fyi, tonkatsu is my all-time favourite Japanese cuisine and I will always have it whenever I visit Japan. 

#9: Our first night dinner at Katsuan Fujiyoshidaten

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