Thursday 5th May

Today was a big day. We had our booking for the Butler Cafe known as Swallowtail which was so exciting and I had no clue what to expect. From the mountains of Butler Cafe's in Tokyo, I chose this one as it had really good reviews for the food and experience. Some other places had poor food ratings and their experience wasn't to par. Also I had read some articles that were quite troubling in the way owners and management would treat their staff and with poor pay scales. 

That being said, Swallowtail is the opposite of that which is why I chose to book with them. But more on that experience later. 

We started out on our day with the usual breakfast at the hotel, then we decided to go to Akihabara for some cool anime and manga stuff. Before I booked for Swallowtail, I was unaware that shops usually open around 10-11am, well most of them. So I wish that we had more time to spend here but soon we had to be on our way to Ikebukuro so we could leisurely walk to the Butler Cafe. 

Whilst looking in Anime stores, I had a couple main things I was looking for. 1: Was a big Himouto! Umaru-Chan life size plush/pillow/anything Umaru-Chan. and 2: Anything FairyTail.

Unfortunately with my limited time in Akihabara, I didn't get to fully look around for those 2 things. But one thing I was looking forward to was Lunch at the Swallowtail and afterwards the Pokemon Mega Centre and more Anime in Ikebukuro. They even have their own Otome Map for girls that are looking for character goods and other manga/otaku related goods which was awesome. 

But first....Swallowtail.

Now, I wish I could but unfortunately you're not allowed to take ANY photos inside of the butler cafe which I can understand. They want to preserve the full experience for those visiting and for the privacy of other diners. When we got to the place there is a fancy sign which was the first photo of the post. Which then to the left lead down some stairs which the walls are all lined with vines and leaves. 

At the bottom of the staircase, a butler was waiting with the guestlist and in full butler attire, coat tails and all. We were then offered some chairs to sit as we wait for the door to open and invite us in. The decor from just this front waiting room was on point. Chandelier, nice wallpaper, fancy chairs etc. 

I was a bit nervous to say the least, as with the language barrier it might be a little difficult.

Then, the door opened and a couple of ladies left. Behind them was a kind, gentlemanly older butler of whom invited us in. Another butler was waiting and they both introduced themselves and took our coats and shopping bags to place into lockers and carried our handbags to our table.

At this point I'd like to mention if you do go to Swallowtails. Be prepared that only a couple butlers speak some english, Also you're not allowed to use your phone in the cafe/restaurant to again stop temptation to take photos. 

Back to the story. They carried our handbags and placed them into a basket next to our table and each butler pulled out a seat for each of us and seated us down. The first impression of the room was that it was very impressive. Again, chandeliers, draped sheer curtains which divided the 1 guest tables, nice wallpaper, exquisite table/chairs and all of the butlers in coattails. There were probably around 15 butlers working milling around making sure all the guests are cared for. Picture 15 Sebastians from Black Butler all with awesome anime hair. 

Once we were seated, a butler came over with English menus and explained to us how Swallowtail works and what the menus entailed. My mum chose the Victoria Afternoon Tea Set which included a choice of scone with 2 preserves/spreads; 3 finger sandwiches; a pot of tea and a choice of either the Arcana Dessert or Garden Oath, which were the premium desserts. I will go into detail later what each of the desserts were.

I, however, was a bit more hungry so I went with one of their lunch options. I had a struggle between a pasta set or something else and seeing as the pasta set didn't have a choice of the premium desserts, only the normal choices like a pastry etc, I went with Cordelia set. This included slow cooked beef cheek stew, french bread roll, side salad, pot of tea and again choice of Arcana or Garden Oath.

Whilst we were waiting for our food we took in the atmosphere. It was definitely a fancy place, it felt like we needed Victorian period dresses to fit the decor. It didn't take me long to realize everyone in the room that were diners, were ladies. And I could definitely see why. What woman, if they're into this kind of thing, wouldn't want to be served by handsome Japanese men and treated like they were royalty. Which is exactly how we felt. A little uncomfortable though as we weren't used to being so spoilt. On the table before us, there was a little bell sitting in the middle. Observing from other tables, if the guests wanted more tea poured into their cup or anything at all, even if it's needing out your bag from the basket at the foot of the table, you rang the bell.

Soon our tea arrived followed shortly by our food. And it looked and smelled delicious. My beef stew was heavenly and rich, full of flavour. And Mum's came in the tiered high tea rack. Mum felt a bit strange when she proceeded to take the top plate off but the Butler refused and politely told her that it's ok, I will do that. 

Again, I really wish we could take photos as the presentation was amazing and so well done. It was also fun to see so many Butler's in Coat tails walking around and making sure they didn't miss a bell ring and ensuring everyone was looked after. Ringing a bell to call on someone to pour tea was a strange experience as you feel a bit bad/like you're useless as someone comes to pour your tea. One thing that I did forget to mention is that they all bow when they reach your table and when they leave which to me would get tiring real quick. But all the Butlers seemed happy and enjoyed working there which was nice. 

After our mains, it was dessert time. I ended up getting the Arcana and Mum got Garden Oath. And I was not expecting what appeared at all. It was so refined and well plated it seemed like we were on an episode of masterchef. Mum's dessert consisted of: Melon mousse with seasonal melon, a caramel pastry with flower fragrant cream, granita jelly with Catherine Rose of Orange along with a meringue, also there were cute fruits decorating the plate. 

Now with mine, it was a Rose Panna Cotta, honey jelly and aloe; a lychee mousse and sorbet and something that I would say was pretty similar to a creme brulee. And again I had fruits decorating my plate. The whole dessert was so lovely, light and refreshing I still think about it and how I doubt I would ever have a dessert like that again. 

Soon our time would be up and the bill came around. In total it came to around 7200yen which was totally worth it for 2 full meals, the experience and atmosphere. 

If anyone is looking at going to a Butler Cafe, I definitely recommend Swallowtail because it was just unreal. You can check out there website and book a table here.

After leaving the cafe/alternate universe, we went to the near by Sunshine City (I think it was called) which is a shopping centre, and I made a bee-line for the Pokemon Mega Centre. I got a few things, of which are again, going to be in the Japan Haul post. And seeing as I didn't find my Umaru yet. I decided I might have the best shot at the Flagship Animate store in Ikebukuro, which is 9 floors. 

A short walk later, and dodging people in cosplay, which was awesome to see. Just hundreds of people dressed up in their favourite anime/manga character outfit/costume was so nice. We reached the glory that is Animate. I had a good look around to no avail. Which was a bit sad. But I was still determined. Upon reaching the ground floor there was a little desk and I decided to ask the girl if she could help me. Firstly, I asked in Japanese if she spoke any English, she didn't really speak much but tried her best. I wrote down Himouto! Umaru-Chan and showed her the photo of the plush. She was so kind to me and went and searched the product code number, the name of the plush and wrote it all down for me in Japanese so I could show people what I was looking for. Which was so nice! And remember that Otome map I told you about a bit earlier? She gave one to me and highlighted all the stores she thought I should try. I don't know about you but I would not have ever got that much help from a staff member in a store in Australia. They would have just been like "Nope, we don't have it" And sent me on my way like a lost lamb. 

Anyway, after she gave me all the info I thanked her profusely and set out. I decided to try the few stores across the street from Animate. First shop was a bust, they didn't really have much stuff from shows I watch, so I moved onto the next. Nope, it wasn't in that one either. So I decided to give up...I was walking towards Mum when I saw another store and decided to give it another shot. So downstairs I went...I looked everywhere...Then, like a beacon of hope, a ray of sunshine, there it was! Right next to the cash registers....

CLICK HERE FOR DAY 1

CLICK HERE FOR DAY 2 PART 1 
CLICK HERE FOR DAY 2 PART 2 

CLICK HERE FOR DAY 3

CLICK HERE FOR DAY 4

Wednesday 4th May

Today was Harajuku day! It was the day I've been waiting for. Some might say, for my entire life...but lets not be that dramatic. One thing I had to get used to in Japan was that, places don't open until late. Most shops don't open until 11am, however they close pretty late at night so you can keep shopping until 9pm if that's what your heart desires. Because when we set out from our Hotel which was so close to Harajuku, like literally down the street, we had some time to kill so we thought we would take a venture into Zara. Well mostly Mum wanted to go into Zara. She got some cool shoes and I got to take a selfie of my Outfit. Because today was pretty much the only day I decided to dress cute. However I soon realized my mistake as it was windy and a wind receptive dress wasn't the best choice. 

Anyway, first on our list, well my list at least, was KIDDYLAND! This magical place full of character good from Studio Ghibli, Sailor Moon, Star Wars, Snoopy, Rilakuma, GUDETAMA...And much more, was a highlight for me as I went crazy, you will see in my Japan Haul blog post..(link will be here when I write it). 

I held back a little so on my final day I could grab some things that I wasn't 100% positive I wanted. I don't really want to share many photos on here because it is such a great place to just go and experience yourself, all 6 or so floors of it. I had to restrain from getting a lot of Studio Ghibli stuff as well as it is quite expensive if you're looking at plushies. 

Again today was a lot of looking in shops so a majority of the time it was sifting through places we wanted to go into or purchase things in etc. However, a historical place we visited which was a great experience was Meiji Shrine. With it's luscious walk and park it was a beautiful time in Spring to go with all its greenie goodness. Very Tranquil.

We finally reached the start of the shrine after walking through a few of the massive gates and got to the hand washing basin. Which consisted of several ladles and a basin in the middle full of water. You don't have to do this before going in, but it was a great experience to do as the locals would and used the Purification Fountain. You're supposed to take the ladle in your right hand, scoop some water and rinse the left hand. Then hold the ladle in your left, scoop water and rinse the right. Then you're supposed to scoop some water into your hand and rinse your mouth, spitting the water in the trough around the fountain, then wash the ladle handle by scooping water and tipping the ladle back until water cascades down the handle. 

I skipped the rinsing of the mouth part, as most tourists do but it's up to you to do it. Just don't take the water into your mouth directly from the ladle...that's a no no.

After that, we entered into the grounds of the temple and it was amazing. Architecture, the vibe and a wedding procession happening. It was so fascinating to see a traditional Japanese wedding. Very formal and different. Such a lucky sight. 

One thing I also did was purchased a little plaque which was 500Y to write my wish onto and add it to the hundreds of others that hang on a sort of wooden wish rack. Unfortunately I don't know the correct term for it. But you can see from photos.

The Japanese religion of Shinto-Buddhism is a very interesting one, if I were religious, this would be one I'd consider with it's peace, tranquility and mindfulness.

After we had made the rounds and looked at all we could, we took our walk back to the city of Tokyo, you definitely don't feel like you're still in the City when you go to Meiji Shrine. But soon we were dodging people left and right in Takeshita Street. And it was crazy busy...of course I end up booking a trip during Japan's biggest holiday week. 

Getting from one side of the lane way to the other was a challenge, given there was a constant stream of people you had to try and shove past. But it was such a great experience. Seeing all the unique stores that Australia could only every dream of having was awesome. Gothic Lolita style clothing, foods and sweets that smelt amazing and just the general vibe of the place. 

I loved every bit of it that after some lunch, a trip to H&M which ended up being a bit of a headache because 1. I bought a cardigan which was 500Y, the sale tag had been ripped off so the usual tag was on, so they charged me full price. 2. I had to get back into line to get my refund which was long. 3. When I got back to the hotel after we had gone shopping I tried on the other item I bought, and the seam had completely come undone on one side so a big hole was on the side. So I had to go back the H&M again and stand in line to get it replaced. All the staff though were super nice and very apologetic, even though it wasn't their fault. 

Ok off the H&M rant train, before we ended up back at the hotel, we decided to give a Japanese Crepe a try. We have had them in Cairns as there is a Japanese Crepe place here with a select delicious choices. But nothing as extensive as Japan. Also seeing as we were in Harajuku, there are a bunch of people that recommend Marion's Crepes. 

I choose one that could closely resemble the one I usually get at home to compare, so I got the strawberry crepe with strawberry ice cream and for some reason they throw a small slice of cheesecake in. I'm not one to deny myself cheesecake so I gave it a go.

Now, I do wish I tried another crepe place to compare but unfortunately not this time. My first impression upon biting into it was that, the crepe itself isn't as tasty and soft as the one back home. Which I was disappointed with, plus the filling wasn't the best. I definitely would prefer the one from Cairns more. The Marion's Crepe really didn't live up to the hype as it has so many elements that didn't really compliment of enhance the taste/texture or flavour. So in July when I go back I will definitely try a different Crepe place (There are so many on Takeshita Street) and see if Marion's Crepes were just low par and over hyped. 

At around 3-4pm, we were back at the hotel just relaxing and resting a bit. And I decided to go back out to Harajuku and explore some places I couldn't before with Mum. Also I had to go back to H&M to get that darn dress T-shirt thing replaced. So again, I bid Mum farewell as I set out to have a lot around. The crowd had died down a bit which was nice so the only down side is that I became more of a target for sales guys that try to get you into their stores. One guy, not a Japanese Man, but I'd say he was African American to take a stab in the dark, was a persistent dude with asking me out and trying to talk to me. He definitely wasn't as charming or polite as the other dude from the night before so I pretty much ignored him. I speake da no englese.

At this point I was feeling so hungry so I went back to the hotel to fetch mum and try our hand at Ramen. More specifically Ichiran in Shibuya. After some convincing that we need to go out for dinner, we left the hotel around 6:30pm and was in line at Ichiran. When we went there was a bit of a wait. I'd say we waited for about 30mins or more to get into the door. But from there ordering food from the machine was easy. I had never done it before so I was pretty anxious to see how it all worked. The cool thing with this place is that lone diners don't feel so left out/awkward about eating alone if they are those types of people. Once we were at the front of the queue, we filled out forms on how we'd like our ramen, like how spicy, how flavourful, how much green onion etc. 

When it was our turn to get seats, we were lead down a corridor of seated diners to our little cubby. If you'd like to talk to your company you can move the dividers but in essence you could dine along comfortably without worrying. Once we were ready, you press the order button on your table and have your order form and paid food ticket ready. The chefs have a little section where they grab your order and place food in front of you. Which was cool.

 Finally food arrived and I think this is the only other food photo I took, because I'm hopeless. lol.

 It was the BEST RAMEN I'VE EVER HAD!

So delicious, I can't even explain. Plus I am so hungry just thinking about it. 

I can't wait to go back and go to other Ramen places. I'd say I'd be all Ramen'd out but I doubt it. 

Anyway, so after Dinner we made out way back to the hotel where we got some much needed rest and recouperation. Our feet were so sore from walking everywhere. Tomorrow is a big day too as it's the Butler Cafe time! 

Until the next post. xx T

CLICK HERE FOR DAY 1

CLICK HERE FOR DAY 2 PART 1 
CLICK HERE FOR DAY 2 PART 2 

CLICK HERE FOR DAY 3

Tuesday 3rd May 16

After that massive day going on a Day tour of Mt Fuji, Mum and I were thankful for a bit of a sleep in before heading down to that delicious breakfast buffet. It was beyond amazing, again and the orange juice invigorated my senses.

Today was our first full day in Shibuya and we didn't know where to start. The cool thing with our hotel is that they provide robes to walk around the hotel in, so it was pretty cool to essentially go to breakfast in our pjs without everyone staring. After getting dressed and orientated to where to go, we decided to start with Shibuya 109. This is a multi story women's fashion complex, and all the clothes, accessories were gorgeous! Japanese fashion is very different to that of Australia, or anywhere else really. Flowy materials that hang on the body beautifully is the trend at the moment. Unfortunately anyone that isn't tiny and petite would have a problem shopping at japanese owned and run boutiques due to the small sizing. As someone who isn't a size 4 and is almost 5 foot 10, getting something that suited me would be a challenge. So today wasn't really a buying day but to look a beautiful clothes. I did however buy some awesome socks that were so kawaii! They all had bows and something unique about them that makes wearing footwear just that more interesting. I shall be uploading a haul video and blog post about all the things I bought so it will be linked here when I write it.

One thing that was my eye opening shop was the Sanrio store. At the very top floor of the building, a shop of wonders that had Little Twins, Hello Kitty and GUDETAMA! I was so tempted to go Gudetama crazy but I thought I'd just be a little self controlled and buy 2 washi tapes with different Gudetama prints and some portable Gudetama chopsticks that came in a little case. 

I did have my eye on a small Gudetama cross body bag as I was carrying my leather backpack from ASOS and at that point, from carrying it all yesterday with my big DSLR camera, I decided to leave the camera at home to lessen my burden. But, the back and shoulder pain continued. I decided to file away buying that crossbody bag for later in case I saw something that would be better. 

After Shibuya 109, it was time to hit Forever 21. Personally I didn't want to buy anything from places I could fly to in Australia to buy them. My Mum decided to buy a cool denim jumpsuit and after that we were on our way to another place of wonder. Loft. 

This majestic 6 floored wonder has stolen my heart. It has everything you would ever want. I started on the basement floor which was stationary, for the first time in this store I showed some restraint and just made note of stuff that I should definitely buy before leaving Tokyo. But some of the things I did pick up on this floor were some cute Gudetama stickers (can you tell I'm obsessed?) and a couple of clay molds for my shop. I then headed up to the make up, skin care and hair care floor and again managed to restrain myself (this restraint doesn't stay for the whole trip) and Mum was over looking at some cool Japanese products for brows and the like. I was on the hunt for an eyebrow product and settled on a tinted brow gel from Canmake which I LOVE! 

And I think that's all I got for now from this wonder. The cool thing is that if you're a foreign tourist, make sure you bring your passport and you get 5% off the total cost. Always look out for signage like that because it's well worth it. Make sure too you check if there is a minimum spend. 

Even though it might not have seen like much right now, but all of this exploring has taken hours! I wish it were more exciting but it's just been me starting at packaging and figuring out products are best and what the japanese writing means. 

We were on the way to Parco when we decided to get a bite to eat at J.S Burgers Cafe. One thing we needed to get used to in Japan is that because there are so many people, you have to line up for most places. Even when you see a free table at a casual cafe, most times you can't just run up and call dibs. You have to go in and put your name down. Thankfully because it was mid afternoon, not many people were lunching and we got a table outside. The staff at the J.S Burgers Cafe were so nice and could tell I knew basically no Japanese. They were easy to talk to and I ordered a cheese burger and chilli cheese burger with ease.

One thing I forgot about Japan is that their smoking laws are different to Australia. Here is Australia, you're not allowed to smoke at a venue that serves food, inside or outside as well as anywhere from 4-5m out front of a public building. Or in some general public areas in various cities. Japan is different. They have smoking areas inside restaurants and cafes so people can smoke and eat but outside, it's pretty much fair game unless there is signage. This is relevant as it so happens the man seated next to us pulled out the longest cigarette I've ever seen and began to smoke. The only thing that made us not try and change our seats is that it was so windy in the opposite direction. So mother nature had our backs to blow all that smoke in the other direction and I didn't even smell anything related to cigarette smoke. Finally our food arrived and I was so hungry I didn't get a photo of it. But it was delicious and I loved every bite. The produce was so fresh and crisp it made me forget there was a dude smoking about a metre away.

Whilst I was eating I had a huge realisation that I had seen this burger place before. And I had! It was the place that Dan and Phil had their burgers when they visited Japan about a year ago. Great, I was subconsciously taking myself to places youtubers had gone. If you want to watch their vid CLICK HERE.

Anyway, afterwards we went to various shops like UNIQLO where mum bought some flowy pants that look like a maxi skirt...CUTE! At the top of the Parco was where my dreams were realised. As I had my first encounter with Sailor Moon merchandise and I was so happy! I grabbed a Sailor Jupiter Star Make Up Power pen along with placing some Yen into a Himouto! Umaru-chan capsule machine. The first time wasn't so successful as I got a pin of all 4 of the girls but I wanted the Himouto version of Umaru. And the second time was the charm. I couldn't wait to pin them to my Fairy Tail backpack back at home.

And she was so shopped out and tired that I thought I'd take her back to the hotel where she can chill and I might pop out again. We got back to the hotel and Mum informed me she was too tired to go out to dinner and would probably get some free Ramen later that night. At this point it was about 4-4:30pm and our feet were dead so I rested a bit at the hotel before setting out again.

This time I was alone. The very first time since being here and I had Otaku on the brain, I wanted Manga, and Anime character goods! I googled Mandarake and Animate, and they were so close so I set off! a helpful tip to those travelling that I found out is that, once your phone has loaded the map, you don't need the internet to check your location and progress. I managed to find the obscure building and made my way to Animate! 

It. was. amazing. It had manga, left right and centre as well as a lot of character goods from various different animes. I was a bit disapointed to find out that they mostly had merch from anime that had just come out in the last year. But I was so glad to get a little Himouto! Umaru-Chan mystery packet. It was a little key chain that was a mystery as to which character it has from the show, until you open it. It ended up being Ebina-chan and I wasn't disappointed. She was adorable. From there I took the elevator down to the basement as thankfully Mandarake and Animate are in the same building. Before I got in the elevator, there are many different capsule machines from different themes such as sailor moon to other animes that I have no clue what they were. I couldn't resist and got a couple sailor moon capsules. One was a badge mirror compact and the other was a Sailor Mercury wand magnet. Mandarake was an interesting store. Nothing like I had imagined but I soon found out that not all of them were like this, the one in Shibuya was so cool. In this Basement shop, half of it literally felt like a basement. It was full of Anime movies and dvds and rows and rows of figures and merchandise. Some of them new releases and others were older collectible releases. I didn't end up buying anything but it was an awesome store to experience. After here, I had another goal in mind...Gudetama. That's right, I wanted that bag. I had only brought one carry bag with me and that was my backpack. And although it was good, because I kept having to swing it off to one shoulder to grab my wallet or put something in the back, my left shoulder joint felt like I had dislocated it. 

After walking for a bit I found my way back to Shibuya 109 back up to the Sanrio shop and purchased that coveted bag. At this point the time was about 7:30pm and I was so hungry. I had stopped in front of an arcade with claw machines to figure out what to eat when a man came running up and started to hit on me. Believe me I was flattered but I am a taken lady. Which I mentioned in passing about my Boyfriend back home. Thankfully he was a polite young man and begged me good night and enjoyable time in Tokyo. 

Now back to food. Even though we were in Japan, we hadn't experienced eating out in a proper Tokyo restaurant, which I didn't want to do alone. So I ended up getting an Indian curry take away to go back and eat at the hotel. Nothing was more strange to me than seeing and hearing an Indian man speaking Japanese. It was a different experience and one I enjoyed to see people in different lights. The man was helpful with assisting me with using their vending machine to order and I received my food quickly and was on my way. Thankfully I didn't have any other men running up to me and asking me out as I only had food on the mind a being polite probably wouldn't have been my first instinct, (You can ask my boyfriend and he would tell you not to mess with me when I'm hungry).

Speaking of which, when I got back to the room, I facebook video called him and talked about my day while I ate my Butter Chicken, Naan bread and rice. To be honest, it isn't as good as the amazing Indian food back home, but I would has it has been altered to suit the Japanese palate.

Mum did end up getting her Ramen later that night and we also discovered near the vending machine in the hotel, they have different pillows of various hardness and style. We grabbed a couple and made it back to the room for Beddy byes. 

Soooooo, where did we leave off. Oh Yeah, the Shrine. Now like, I said in the last part, because we did go during Golden Week, and tourist season, it was pretty busy at the 5th Station. I'm pretty sure I am in the background and have accidentally ruined and walked in front of hundreds of family photos. Again, My bad. So it's a shame that I could take some truly pristine, people free photos that truly capture the architecture and spirit of the structures and nature itself. But here are few photos I managed to take that I don't think look horrible. 

Our time at the 5th station was pretty limited so we took in what we could at the temple and rushed back to hopefully get our little free bell souvenir. I forgot to take a photo of it but it was pretty much a bell attached to a mobile accessory strap, and it's said the bell ringing wards off evil spirits.....CUTE!

Now in the building in the photo above, the one with the red roof, this is the main, not completely overpriced souvenir and various foods store. From corn on a cob, to buttered potato spud, and soft cream ice cream and hot buns, it looked all delicious but I had to remember we had lunch provided on this day tour. Now I didn't mention this earlier...because I forgot to -_-. But just before you reach the ascending road to Mt Fuji, there is a theme park close by (Fujikyu), with the most insane roller coasters and rides I've ever seen and probably not want to go on. It's a shame I didn't get a photo but thank goodness for google because I managed to find it. IT. WAS. THIS.

Plus not to mention the roller coaster tracks look like this....

The point of this is that thankfully it wasn't apart of the tour but in some respect it was as we were having our bento lunch there, at the resort hotel restaurant. 

Voila

I say maybe because it sure looked like we had. We were essentially in a cloud. Which was awesome and I had much preferred to the view. Because how often do you get to stand on a Mt surrounded by fog from a dreamland? not often.

And it was incredible! I took the opportunity to take some cool shots and attempt to find the shrine that was supposedly up here. With that everyone set out onto the path with little visibility. Mum stayed behind because the path was really rocky and hard on the ankles. 

Cue pics, now..

BAM!

and BLAM!

Yup, we walked all the way around, only to not reach the shrine, but to end up back where we started T_T

Once I got back the terminal I looked back over to the pathways and the bastard of clouds decided to give the big middle finger at as all as the shrine ended up being up the stairs to the left to go further up the mountain. I was dead. 

Seriously! Anyway. I didn't end up trying to go up to the shrine as I didn't want to get stuck with a bunch of tourists on the way down again. Thankfully we made it back to cable carriage and only a few people wanted to go back at this time. It was a comfortable ride with this carriage having some seats.

Finally making it back down, we were able to have a bit of a look around the village and look in the gift shop. I got a little Kiki's Delivery Service hand towel, with little Gigi on it and it's so adorable. And very useful as most japanese public toilets don't have hand towels or hand dryers so it's very helpful to dry your hands.

After getting lost in the cuteness of Studio Ghibli merchandise and trying to talk myself out of buying a huge totoro, it was time to meet back at the bus for the drive back to Tokyo. Everyone was so tired and exhausted. But the drive went smoothly and in good timing too. We were dropped off at Shinjuku Station, and from here we had to make our way back to the hotel. But seeing as it was our first time to Shinjuku we weren't sure if we should stick around and grab dinner or to go back to Shibuya and eat there. Mum didn't like the headache of figuring out what to eat so we ended up just getting KFC and hopping back on the train to Shibuya. 

Sprawling out on the bed with KFC definitely wasn't the vision I had for a trip in Japan, but it would do. It was only our first official day in Japan and it was a great start.

Afterwards I just called home to see what's doing and watched some japanese Tv of which I understood nothing. Shower, green tea and bed time from there.

Day 3 is upon us!

xx T

CLICK HERE FOR DAY 1

CLICK HERE FOR DAY 2 PART 1                                    

CLICK HERE FOR DAY 3

My brilliant idea of booking a Mt Fuji day tour the very 1st day of officially being in Japan was a bit of a mistake. Only in the respect that we were so tired and to top on that we had to make our way to Hamamatsucho Station to meet up for the tour. We woke up early, got ready and then went down to breakfast. The Dormy Inn Premium Shibuya Jingumae, included breakfast everyday we stayed there which was amazing. It was a buffet of western/japanese foods, which was delicious, some things weren't to the taste of westerners for breakfast, like cold soft tofu, but they had a good mix that made for a unique breakfast experience. I personally liked having a fried egg, some sort of meat side like bacon bits tossed in vegetables or the boiled chicken stew that they had some days. With some rice (naturally, I mean come on, it's Asia), fruit salad, a small waffle or something like that with coffee or fresh orange juice that the hotel made, SERVING IT INSIDE THE ORANGE ITSELF. Cue picture....now

Anyway, you're probably like, food, drinks, yeah, yeah blah blah get to the actual travel part. I'm just glad with the service of the Dormy Inn, being greeted so friendly with amazing service it was definitely a comfortable atmosphere. Back to the day, once we finished breakfast, we got our stuff ready and we walked to Shibuya Station. From the hotel it took about 10-12mins by walking, we got to the ticket machines and purchased a SUICA card. With that in tow and me having google mapped where we needed to go, but thanks to the trusty pocket wifi I rented via Rental Wifi  we had connectability anywhere at any time. We would probably still be lost in Japan without it. From Shibuya Station it took around 30mins to reach Hamamatsucho Station where the bus station for tours also left. So we followed the signs to the bus terminal and went to the friendly staff at SUNRISE TOURS. 

We signed in and got our tour stickers and waited for the tour to leave at 9am. Whilst we were waiting to board the tour bus I oogled at the countless number of vending machines, all with different kinds of drinks. Trying the vending machine was definitely apart of my agenda, but unfortunately I didn't go too crazy and bought water. 

Finally it was time to board and it was a very comfortable coach....with....WIFI! Which was helpful when I just needed to send my bf a quick message but for the most part (apart from when I fell asleep for a few mins) I looked out on the scenery and appreciated the different landscape, architecture, culture and way of life. Seeing the mountains, Japanese cemeteries and rice fields it was incredible. I took in everything, the difference in houses and landscape was eye opening.

The coach ride was very smooth, it took around 2 hours into the ride until some of us caught a glimpse of Mt Fuji in front of us. It was amazingly glorious! At first we didn't see it as it base and outline was covered by the haze but when we looked up a bit our eyes met the snow capped top. And it was better than all the photos I've seen. 

Sometimes you forget how big Mountains are. In case anyone didn't know, Mt Fuji is a Volcano, an active one at that. It hasn't erupted in about 300 years and hopefully doesn't erupt again for a very long time. After seeing that first glimpse, it took another hour until we got to the 5th Station on Mt Fuji. It definitely wasn't what I expected, I didn't google or have seen any photos of the station on the mountain. It was like a mini town, a few shops, a cafe, shrine, pony rides, it even has a post office. Also there were a lot of people. It being Golden Week there were also a lot of Japanese locals having a day out with the family, so we had so dodge a lot of selfie sticks and accidentally walking in front a lot of family photos..Oops. 

Because we now had some free time to wander around we took some obligatory photos in front of Mt Fuji.