Breakfast time

On July 6th, 6 people (Laura, Yafa, Lya, Maryssa, Erik and Kyejin) and 2 guests (Maryssa’s friend and Yafa’s friend) headed to Kawaguchiko in Yamanashi near Mt.Fuji.

Although it’s known as one of the best places for the view of Mt.Fuji in Japan, we couldn’t see Mt.Fuji because of the rain but the city near lake Kawaguchi was already so beautiful itself and we had an amazing time together.

Keep reading the post and check out pictures from our fun trip below!

1. How was the activity? Score from level 1 (bad) to level 5 (good). Why?

Our home from June 6 to 7

Laura: (5) I was great! Really fun and even if it was raining we walked around and were very active ☺ The time in the cabin was amazing too. We all worked together and had a great time.

Lya: 6/5; It was really fun, I had a blast with everyone ☺

Kitchen

Maryssa: ４; Everything was really fun and everyone there made every activity better! The rain was unfortunate, but we made the best out of the situation and could still do a lot!

Barbecuing Outside

Erik: 5! Glamping was really fun! It was my first time doing it here in Japan. We even had a sauna in the cabin!

Yafa: 2/3; It was raining all the time.

In the Supermarket

Kyejin: 5! We had to walk 45 minutes from our cabin to get groceries (and of course, another 45-minutes walking on the way back to our place). That was a great exercise xD We enjoyed walking around the city. BBQ was so good, UNO game was so fun, and all the people were amazing… It was just a perfect activity!

2. How was the scenery/sightseeing there? Score from1 (bad) to level 5 (good). Why?

Lake Kawaguchi

Laura: (5) It was a beautiful place! The fog in the forest and lake made it look mysterious.

Arakura Fuji Sengen Jinja (新倉富士浅間神社)

Lya: 2; Sorry, we couldn’t see Mt Fuji because of the rain. We saw some good temples and nature tho. I’m sure it’s beautiful when there is sun/sakura/momiji.

Chureito Pagoda (忠霊塔)

Maryssa: 4; Everything was green and beautiful. The lake was stunning and the forest around it was so pretty! I wish we could’ve seen Mt. Fuji, but everything else was still gorgeous.

The View from Our Cabin

Erik: 4! The house we rented was exactly in front of a beautiful lake, so we had a really nice view. With the rain and the fog, the ambiance was really chill, for cooking and sleeping. Afterward, we went hiking to Chureito pagoda, it’s a short hike and about 200 steps, but you get the view from the whole city which makes it totally worth it, even in the rain!

Yafa: 2/5; I didn’t have time to enjoy the scenery.

The Misty City

Kyejin: 4! Although I couldn’t see Mt.Fuji, the misty city was beautiful. I liked the smell of the misty mountain too : D The lake near our place was very nice.

3. What was the most memorable moment of this trip?

Playing UNO

Laura: There were many! I will choose a couple, 1) The restaurant we went at the beginning of the trip (recommended by Stan), the place was very cozy and we had a good time talking and planning. 2) We all sitting at the breakfast table.

Making S’more

Lya: Cooking and playing together! Good job everyone ♡

We Made S’more!

Maryssa: There were so many great, hilarious moments. I loved teaching everyone how to make s’mores and seeing each person’s reaction for the first time! But I think even this moment ties with the epic game of UNO we all played.

Lya Catching a Bug

Erik: If I have to say, I think playing Uno til late in the night, and doing BBQ! (I used to bbq every week back home, so it brought back many memories T_T) After that hiking in the rain was super fun as well!! Also, everyone screaming at the presence of bugs lol

Yafa: The BBQ was amazing and the team made great effort for having a great and memorable moment.

Hairdressers and a Customer

Kyejin: Walking to the supermarket in the rain, having a wonderful barbeque and pasta (prepared by Eri and Lya) with wonderful people, learning how to make s’more from Maryssa, playing UNO until 3 am, having a huge and amazing breakfast prepared by Lya, changing hairstyle for Lya, Maryssa and Laura on the train, hiking to the pagoda, sleeping really well on the bus on the way back home… ^_^

4. How was food? What was your favorite?

Barbecuing in an Argentinian Way(?)

Laura: (5) Incredible. Everything was really good thanks to Erik and Lya. My favorite was the pasta that Lya made ☺ and of course, the s’mores that Maryssa taught us how to make.

Happy Dinner Time

Lya: Food was awesome. I loved the meat (≧▽≦) many thanks to our BBQ expert (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

Cooking Pasta

Maryssa: The food was so delicious!! The pasta and bbq at the cabin were really really tasty and it was basically all you could eat! The local udon was also great and fun to try.

Team BBQ

Erik: Food was awesome!! Laura brought goat milk caramel, which was absolutely delicious. I tried S’mores for the first time in my life (thanks, Maryssa!), it was a memorable experience ☺ Breakfast was amazing (Lya!) And… BBQ… well…^^

Best Breakfast

Yafa: The food was really good. We had a huge nice breakfast. The steak was my favorite.

Kyejin: 100 out of 5 : D Lya’s pasta and breakfast, Erik’s BBQ, Maryssa’s s’more and Laura’s caramel were all fantastic!

5. Will you recommend this place to others? Score from 1 (No way) to level 5 (Absolutely). Why?

Hiking Seriously

Laura: (5) It is a beautiful place to explore, and glamping was perfect (you have it all, the right amount of nature and civilization).

Lya: 5/5; recommend with no rain and friends. 3/5 with rain and alone. The sights are still enjoyable but traveling together made it way better.

Hydrangea Near Lake Kawaguchi

Maryssa: 5 Absolutely! It was so beautiful and charming. The scenery was wonderful and despite being a tourist attraction, it felt like a quiet, small town.

Walking in the Rain

Erik: 5! Yes, why not? Going to fuji is a nice getaway from the city any given day! It’s only 2 hours away, and you get amazing views, pure air, and the possibility of BBQ things.

Yafa: 3/5; I recommend it moderately. It’s better to go during spring and when not raining. Also, I thought that the expenses compared to the place are a little high.

Kyejin: 5! Yes! I’m sure it’ll be even better if we can see Mt.Fuji : D It’s not far from Tokyo but it was a completely different place.

6. Any comment?

Fun Shopping Time

Laura: Thank you, everyone! Especially Kyejin, for all the time and energy she put in organizing and making sure everyone made it to the place and had a great time.

Lya: So fun~ 12/10, would do again with sun ☀

Maryssa: Everyone who joined the trip made it as fun as it was. Thanks to everyone for making this trip so fun a memorable! My friend who joined felt welcome and comfortable thanks to everyone. I’m excited for more adventures together!

Erik: Let’s do it again someday!!! ☺

Results of UNO

Kyejin: It was amazing teamwork. Thank you, everyone!

Thank you for finding a great place and being our human navigator, Laura.
Thank you for shopping a day before our camping day and bringing all the heavy ingredients, Maryssa. And please say thank you to Yukiko for all Japanese language help!
Although it was a late time, thank you for making efforts to join the activity with a good friend, Yafa!
Thank you for amazing cooking (pasta, BBQ, and breakfast), and hunting all bugs to save our lives, Lya.
Thank you for photographing, barbequing meat perfectly and guiding us to the pagoda and the lake near the station, Erik!

But please remember I was the first legendary winner of the great ILL UNO history ever… : P keke
- Note: Laura was the most frequent winner by the record, Erik was the most frequent winner as he remembers(!?), and Lya was the last winner of the great ILL UNO history so far.

On the Bus

~ Laura, Yafa, Lya, Maryssa, Erik, Kyejin

P.S. Our next activity is hiking at Mt.Kentoku (2,031m) on August 18th so join us if you’re interested in this challenge!

P.P.S. Making fire wasn’t easy… Everyone was so moved at the moment when Maryssa and Lya succeded!!

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 30th, 2019 at 2:07 pm and is filed under Life at Innovative. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.