Climbing up Mt. Takao / Fall 2014

Before leaving Japan I wanted to see for a last time Mt. Fuji. I heard that you could see Fuji from the top of Mt. Takao. Since Mt. Takao is not too far from Tokyo. I decided to climb it up.

On a beautiful day we took from Shinjuku the Commuter Rapid Chuo Line direction Takao station. From there we had to change trains and go one other station. (It takes about 30mins)

The climb takes less than 3 hours. If you are not a climber there are also ropeways to shorten the trip. But on the day we went, many people were standing in line waiting to go on the ropeway.

From Mt. Takao you get a really nice view over Tokyo and surroundings. It's really impressive to see how big Tokyo actually is. You don't need to go up till the top to see this view though. Already halfway you will be able to see it clearly. On the way up, there are several food shops and tempels to visit.

If you arrive on top you should be able to see Mt. Fuji as well. I went right for it just to found out that it was cloudy where Fuji was and I could only see the shadow of it...

...with a bit of fantasy I created my own version of Mt. Fuji. :P

All in one I have to say that climbing up Mt. Takao is great, if you want to get a really nice view over the city and surroundings. The colour of the trees were pretty amazing as well. Japan's nature is surely impressive.

 

Mt. Takao is a perfect chance to escape the busy life in Tokyo and breathe some fresh air.

Adventure Time limited Shop in Shibuya

Just the other day my friend told me about the opening of an "Adventure time" shop in Shibuya. My best friend is a huge fan of adventure time so I got quite interested in it. It is only a limited shop though. Only up until the 11/24/2014.

When I was walking around Shibuya I came across the mascottes doing commercial and taking pictures on the street.
Beside the shop there are also various other events going on during that period.

The shop is in Shibuya inside the Marui Jam building at the 1F. 

Directions: From the Big crossing keep Starbucks on your left side and walk on the other side. It's right after McDonalds.

Don't worry if the store closes: Adventure time articles are available in several toystores around Tokyo. There is one in Harajuku.

Fall Time in Nikko, Tochigi - Lake Chuzenji-Ko, 10/26/2014

Fall is definitely my favorite season in Japan!! The weather is nice, it's mostly sunny and enough warm to just wear sweaters outside.
Even more exciting is Japan's nature during Fall. It looks so magical. This is why we decided to go outside of Tokyo and visit Nikko.

Instead of going by train, my friend rented a car for a day which was less expensive, if you are going in a group of more than 3 people. I only paid 4000 Yen for transportation. By train it would be more expensive.

We didn't go exactly to Nikko city but to a mountain close to the city. On that mountain there were two different lakes. A small one and a bigger one. That place is also famous for the waterfalls around the lakes.

We went up the mountain by car and hiked around the lakes.

 

On the way to the second lake we walked by a waterfall, it's the Ryuzu-no-taki.

Unfortunately the weather started to change towards the late afternoon. It was still really beautiful.

After the second lake there was a much bigger waterfall. It's called Kegon-no-Taki.

Kawagoe Aki Matsuri / Fall Festival 10/19/2014

Kawagoe is a city in the north of Tokyo in Saitama. From Shinjuku it takes about 50 minutes by train (Saikyo-sen) to get there. They call this city little Kyoto because it is built in a traditional way.

I finally found the time to go visit it. As I arrived at the station, it was full with people. I thought it might be because it's the last station of the train and because it's Sunday.
For my surprise the day I went there they were having a fall festival. The festival was held during the entire weekend.

There was a parade with traditional music and the people were wearing traditional clothes.

They had lots of foodstands and souvenir stands spread all over the city.

Since there were soo many people I didn't get to take a lot of pictures from the buildings.
Eighter way it's true that there were many old buildings and what I personally liked was to take a look at the traditional shops. There were many tea shops and also traditional japanese clothing stores. I had a lot of fun just checking them out.

traditional japanese tea pots

Summer in Hokkaido 2014

View from Muerenuma park

Hokkaido was always a destination for me. I heard way too many good things about Hokkaido.

I imagined Hokkaido to be really similar to Switzerland, a lot of cows and mountains.

Since I am leaving Japan soon I decided that this is going to be my last trip, since who knows when I coming back here. (Hopefully soon)

Susukino by night

I decided to go to Sapporo and from there on to other destinations.

I never realized how big Hokkaido actually is. It probably is even bigger then Switzerland. I didn't went further than Asahikawa.

My journal

I arrived to Sapporo towards the early evening. My hostel was easy to find, since it was located in Susukino which is basically in the center of everything. Click here if you want to know more about my accomodations in Hokkaido.

That night I just walked around Susukino.

A ferris wheel on top of a building (no big deal) - Susukino

Day 1- Otaru

My roommate invited me to go to Otaru with her. Otaru is 30 minutes north from Sapporo away and right at the sea. A really beautiful city! It offers a lot of souvenirs as music boxes or glass products. The food is awesome as well. Lots of sushi, crabs and melon.

It was a lot of fun and reminded me of Disneyland with all those melodies of the music boxes.

Izakaya party - glass sculptures (good souvenirs from Otaru)

Music boxes - Otaru (also good souvenirs)

The streets in Otaru

I also went to a cliff a bit further away from Otaru. From there I had a great view over the seaside!

View from a cliff in Otaru near the Aquarium

Day 2 - Odori Park/Asahikawa

In the morning I went for a walk at the Odori park. Mostly everything is situated there. For lunch I ate the famous Soup Curry. In the afternoon I took the train to go to Asahikawa. By train it takes almost 3 hours. Asahikawa is situated in the countryside. Totally different to all the cities that I have visited in Japan. The station was huge but with few people. In general there was not much life there. There is only one hostel there and it probably is the coolest hostel ever!! The owners are super friendly and the place looks awesome! I started to talk with some people in the hostel and ended up going to eat jingiskan with them. They also told me that Asahikawa is usually a stop for tourists that go hiking.

Odori park in Sapporo

On the way to Asahikawa

The streets in Asahikawa

Day 3 - Kurodake

I was supposed to climb up mount Asahidake but ended up in the wrong valley and climbed up mount Kurodake instead. In the middle of climbing it started to get all foggy and I feared that I wouldn't be able to actually see anything. As I arrived on top of the mountain I was lucky and the fog was moving around all the time. So I still got a pretty nice view over the mountains. From Kurodake there was a path that leads directly to Asahidake but judging from the weather and time I decided to go back the hostel. It was a wise decision then when I arrived at the valley it started to pour down.

The valley of Kurodake

On my way up to Kurodake

On top of Kurodake

Day 4 - Asahikawa Zoo

Since it was the day of my birthday I decided to spend it in the famous Asahikawa zoo. First it seemed like a rainy day, but luckily it stopped after a while. I really liked the infrastructure of the zoo. In the evening I went with the owner of the hostel to his own bar where we celebrated my birthday. It was lots of fun. In the middle of the night we also went to eat the bestest sushi that I've ever tried. :)

Penguin in Asahikawa Zoo

Lions in Asahikawa Zoo

Turtle in Asahikawa Zoo

Day 5 - Biei

Without checking the weather I went to a village called Biei. It's a small village in the countryside. Famous for it's beautiful nature. Right next to the station there was a bike renting place where they offered a touring map as well. Right when I started biking it also started to rain. It took me 1 hour to get back to the station. I was completely soaked in water from head to toe... Even my rainboots weren't as water resistant as they were suppose to be :( this brought me to Asahikawa to buy new shoes and clothes. After that I went back to Sapporo.

Nature of Biei

A house in Biei

Day 6 - Muerenuma Park in Sapporo

One of my new friend recommended me to visit a park called Muerenuma park. That park was outside of Sapporo and had two valleys with a pretty good view on Sapporo and surroundings.

Muerenuma Park

The view from the highest spot in Muerenuma Park

Muerenuma Park

A house around the Muerenuma Park

Day 7 - Sapporo/Moiwa Mountain

Today I had to wait for a friend to arrive to Sapporo. He was suppose to arrive towards the late afternoon, so I went to buy some souvenirs and since it was finally a clear day I sat down at the Odori park.

When my friend came we went to the Moiwa mountain. The mountains offers a great view over Sapporo. We went right for the sunset and night view. Perfect time! It was pretty cold up there though.

Odori Park

View on Sapporo

Sapporo from the Moiwa Mountain

Sunset from the Moiwa Mountain

Day 8 - Otaru

My last day I spent it again in Otaru. I did some last souvenir shopping before heading to the airport and back to Tokyo.

The canal from Otaru

Streets in Otaru

Unfortunately I didn't get to see any cows in Hokkaido. They told me they are more in the south. Eighter way Hokkaido is definitely worth visiting. The train system is not the greatest but good enough. 

View from the train from Otaru to Sapporo

I had so much fun in Hokkaido. The people there are so friendly and open and the nature is just so beautiful. I definitely need to go there again because there is just so much that I haven't see yet.
Hokkaido is definitely worth visiting.