The day I could almost see Fujisan

Hello everyone,

and sorry that it took such a long time to write again. I have been busy, not only with work which gets more and more demanding, but also with traveling, meeting friends and other fun things.
You could really say I am making the best of my stay.

So what's new. For all who don't know it yet, I will be in Japan until next year September (with a possibility to extend for another couple of month). I am really happy about that fact. But I am also happy that in about 5 weeks I finally get to go back to Germany for christmas holidays. As nice as it is being in Japan (and it is very very very nice) I miss my family and friends.

Until then there is still a lot to do at work (with my responsibilities rising). And there is also some traveling I still want to do this year. Fall is coming and with it the beautiful colored leaves. I got my first taste of the real fall this Saturday when we went to Fujigoko (Fuji five lakes region) near Mount Fuji. The coloring of the leaves has already started but it is not yet at its peek. As the name might have told you already, there are 5 lakes located closely together (some of them actually connected underground). Around the lakes are beautiful spots to see the famous Fujisan with the fall foliage. We weren't so lucky with the weather so we actually got to see Mount Fuji only once for about 3 minutes. Since this is not the first time I don't get to see the world famous mountain this year I am starting to get a little bit pissed of at it.
I sill managed to take a couple of beautiful pictures of the landscape:

The lakes were formed by lave and so there are also some caves close by. Some of which you can explore for just a little bit of money. We went to the Ice and Wind Caves which were used to store Ice and food in earlier times so it wouldn't go bad in summer. The caves always have a temperature around 0 degrees Celsius which makes them a perfect candidate for the job. Needless to say it was really cold down there and we didn't stay very long.

We also had the local famous Udon noodle soup which was delicious but came in a gigantic pot not a bowl. 3 normal people would have been sated with this one portion. Obviously I didn't manage to eat it, but even Taka who usually can eat twice as much as me wasn't able to finish it.

At night we went to a light-up event. It was actually the first day since the trees hadn't really yet turned color and so there weren't that many people. We got lucky and could watch an amazing fireworks display from across the lake. It is actually no fireworks season anymore in Japan (which is in summer). Even though it was really cold, the atmosphere was very nice. To get warm again we sat at the bonfire for a while.

I found this perfect leave and took it back home. It is now dried up in one of my books and it is still very beautiful! I just love fall in Japan!!!

Next trip will be probably to Takaosan. A mountain I have been to in May (you can re-read my experience in an earlier blog post). The leaves are also turning colors there and it is said to be really beautiful in fall. Other destinations are Kyoto and Nagoya. So there is still a lot to experience this year. I will write again soon!

Atami

Hello to you all,

If you have read my last blog post you know that I just came back from a trip to Kyushu about two and a half weeks ago. And because that is a long enough time to be sitting around in Tokyo, where there is really not much to do, we decided we would use the long weekend and go traveling again. This time to Atami and the Izu Peninsula.

Atami is a small city directly at the ocean and it is famous for its seafood and onsen (hot springs). Due to a lot of traffic from Tokyo we arrived in Atami around 3 p.m. and first went to the Atami Castle, which is built on top of a mountain with a spectacular view of the city Atami. We also visited the most famous Shrine in Atami with an incredibly old tree and cute Koi pond. At night we went to the beach, of course it is not summer anymore and unfortunately it was softly raining on and off all evening, it was still very beautiful.
Our hotel was amazing. The food was incredibly delicious. Not only dinner but also the Japanese traditional breakfast. Our room was traditional Japanese but everything was very new and comfortable. Right next to our room was the bath area with a big onsen. When we decided to take a bath around 8 p.m. there was no one there and it was very relaxing to just soak in the hot water.
Really nice was also the outdoor onsen at the rooftop. It was gender mixed, so you either had to wear a swimsuit or t-shirt and shorts which you could borrow from the hotel. Just relaxing in the hot water with a little bit of rain coming from above was pure bliss.

The next day we started early. After breakfast we left to go to a famous tourist spot called the Kawazu Nanadaru (Seven Waterfalls). It was a little bit over one kilometer to walk from the first one to the last one. Unfortunately there were a lot of stairs so it was really tiring. Our next stop was the Jogasaki Coast where we also walked along the coast to get to a suspension bridge. The cliffs and the dark green and blue water were really impressive and the wind was incredibly strong. It was an amazing experience.

Our last stop before getting all the way back to Tokyo was Atami again. Where we had dinner. Raw fish on rice. And it was just delicious!

Like I mentioned before it's a long weekend, but even if Monday is no work we have to start again eventually. That leaves me with a lot of housework to do today so the shortened week can start tomorrow.
I am sure I will have something new and exciting to tell you again soon! Until then...

Kyushu

Hello everyone,

sorry to keep you waiting for so long. Now I really have a lot to tell you.
Firstly about my work: I finally started on my first project. Of course I can't really give many details but it is a small team (4 people including me) and they are all very nice and help me out whenever I need it. I have been entrusted with the creation of manuals in english and it is actually something I am good at so it is fun.

After working for one week I finally had my first holidays! 9 days all in all. Of these 9 days I still have 3 days left and I plan on enjoying them. Unfortunately the weather turned rainy yesterday so I stay inside.

And now to what I did the first couple of days of my holidays: I went to Kyushu with my boyfriend for 4 days. And it was a really nice trip. We flew to Fukuoka on Sunday morning and from there took our rented car around the island. From Fukuoka we first went to the city of Dazaifu which was the administrative center of Kyushu for over 500 years (build in the 7th century). We went to Tenmangu Shrine and the small Komyozenji Tempel both very beautiful. Especially the old big trees at Tenmangu. Close to the Temple is a pedestrian area with nice shops and we ate a lot of different food there. There is actually more to see in the small city, but because we also wanted to have a look around in Fukuoka we went back relatively early.

Back in Fukuoka we checked into our hotel and after a short nap went to Fukuoka tower at the coast of the city. The view of the city was spectacular! Looking around made us hungry so we went to the Yatai (Food Stalls) in the center of the city. At these Food Stalls you can enjoy all the food Fukuoka is famous for. We chose Hakata Ramen and I have to say it was the best Ramen I have ever had! We had to wait in line for quite some time, because at each stall the seats are limited, but it was really worth it. And it was really part of the charm. With this our first day ended, we were tired and just wanted to sleep.

The next day we started late. After lunch we headed for Amakusa in Kumamoto prefecture. A couple of island with really nice atmosphere and scenery. We wanted to reach Jusanbutsu Park by sunset (which shouldn't have been a problem) but unfortunately the going was not only slow but incredibly slow and the time went by. It got darker and darker and we were about 5 km from our goal when we decided to just stop at the street and watch the sunset there. And it was magical. The sky was cloudless and in front of us was the big orange ball of light. In front the sea and some rocks sticking out of it. The pictures we took look nice but don't to the atmosphere any justice.
After the sun went town it was still bright enough so we went on to Jusanbutsu Park and looked around there for a bit before taking the long way to Kumamoto city.
We arrived there after 11 p.m. and were very hungry. The food Kumamoto is most famous for is Basashi (raw horse meat). So of course thats what we wanted to eat. Unfortunately all restaurants were full so instead we went to a steak bar which was introduced in our guide book. And it was delicious.

Day three we started early, since we hadn't yet seen anything of Kumamoto. So we went to the most iconic place of Komamoto, the castle. I have been to other castles in Japan (Osaka and Nagoya) and they are all similar but still very nice to visit. Afterwards we had lunch (Shabushabu) and had the chance to eat the famous raw horse meat, which by the way is really delicious. Then we made our way to Mount Aso an active volcano on the way to our next and last destination Beppu. Aso had just had a small eruption one week earlier and was still blowing fumes and smoke into the air, which is why we couldn't get very close. It was still very exciting to be so close to an active volcano. The nature around Aso was also very beautiful, everything was green with grass and trees and mountains. Really nice to look at.

Our way to Beppu was then a very short one without any delays and so we arrived before 6 p.m. We went and had lunch and afterwards went into the onsen (hot spring) of our ryokan (Japanese style hotel). Beppu is a very famous hot spring resort within Japan.

On our last day we went to the Jigoku, the hot springs that are very beautiful to look at. The water that emerges from the ground is up to 100 degrees hot and the fumes stink like rotten eggs but it is still magical. The different pools have different colors, from red to gray to blue or white.

 The hot ground is apparently very good for breeding crocodiles, so thats what they are doing. 

For lunch we had cold noodles and then we went back to Fukuoka to fly back home to Tokyo, both of us not really wanting to return, and just continue traveling for a couple more days.

When we get the chance we will definitely go traveling somewhere again, next time maybe outside of Japan. If only we didn't have work we would only be traveling!