Day 7 – 10 October 2024, Thursday

When I opened my eyes this morning at 6:10am, the sky was already bright and it was a chilly 9 degrees C outside. However, I woke up to the most amazing view and I quickly scrambled out of bed in excitement. After many days of cloudy weather, the heavens finally opened to reveal Mount Fuji in all its splendour!

The scene in front of me was something I had been anticipating for so long. The pale blue sky was filled with puffy white clouds, with the rising sun casting a soft, yellowish glow across Lake Kawaguchi. And rising above the morning mist, standing majestically in the distance was the elusive Fuji-san. As it was early autumn, the peak of Mount Fuji was still snow-less. Nevertheless, it was still a breathtaking sight and I felt so elated that Mount Fuji had finally revealed itself to us.

Mum and dad had also woken up and I pulled open the curtains of our bedroom wider to show them the view. The main reason I booked Kawaguchiko Urban Resort Villa is because of this spectacular view of Mount Fuji from our bedroom and balcony. Our Tsubaki villa was on the second floor, overlooking a garden below. Together with Lake Kawaguchi and Mount Fuji in the distance, it was simply picture perfect. I quickly washed up and got changed, and went with dad for a morning stroll to take photos.

Kawaguchiko Urban Resort Villa (click here) is located beside Oishi Park and there is a flower corridor right in front of our villa. The path starts as a wooden boardwalk before turning into a cement and gravel path leading to the edge of Lake Kawaguchi. The path is flanked by the prettiest and cutest Kochia plants, which have a unique round shape and fluffy texture. As the seasons change, the Kochia bushes turn from a vibrant green in summer to greenish-red to a bright scarlet in October.

When we visited, the plants were in the middle of the transition so we had a mix of green and red Kochia, creating a delightful sight. With Mount Fuji in the background, it was a great spot for photography. Dad and I tried to find the best angles and we ended up taking lots of photos here. I imagine it would be even more gorgeous if all the Kochia bushes were bright scarlet in colour, with clear skies and a snow-capped Mount Fuji as backdrop.

After snapping to our hearts’ content, we went back to our villa at 7:00am. The rest of the party had also risen and we admired the view from our balcony while having breakfast. At 7:50am, all of us went down to the flower corridor to take more photos.

The sun was up now and it was much brighter, but the clouds were also rolling in rapidly. Soon enough, Mount Fuji was completely obscured by thick clouds. Luckily, we were there just in time to take photos before Mount Fuji disappeared again. Even though we only saw Mount Fuji for less than two hours, we were thankful and blessed that our patience was finally rewarded after so many days of no-show.

There is an R-Line bus that we can take from our villa to Kawaguchiko Station. However, the first R-Line bus only arrives at Kawaguchiko Natural Living Center (near our villa) at 9:27am and it will reach Kawaguchiko Station at 9:54am, which is too late since our next bus to Mishima departs at 9:20am. Hence, yesterday afternoon, I asked the villa staff to help us book two taxis to take us to Kawaguchiko Station.

At 8:25am, it was time to say goodbye to our lovely villa. I really enjoyed our stay here and I was sad to leave. The taxis were already waiting for us when we checked out of the villa. We loaded our luggage into the boots of the two large taxis and we were off. The journey to Kawaguchiko Station took only 11 minutes and the metered fare for each taxi was 3,500 yen (S$31.50).

Our onward journey to Osaka comprises of two legs. For the first leg, I booked the Fujikyu Kawaguchiko-Mishima Liner bus from Kawaguchiko Station to Mishima. This Limited Express bus service takes 1 hour 40 minutes and the regular fare is 2,500 yen. However, I booked our tickets through the official highway bus reservation site SEKITORI (click here) and the Web discount price is 2,300 yen (S$21.17) per adult. Booking is highly recommended as the bus is usually full so it’s best to reserve your seats in advance.

For the second leg, I booked the Shinkansen bullet train from Mishima to Shin-Osaka using the smartEX app (click here). You’ll need to sign up as a member to book your Shinkansen tickets on the app but membership is free. The app is very user-friendly and everything is in English. You can check train schedules and book your tickets up to one month before the departure date.

The earlier you book, the more discounts you can potentially enjoy. The discount fare structure is quite complicated as there are different degrees of discounts for the different train types. You can read more about it by clicking here. In essence, when you see a “Hayatoku” option on the smartEX app, it means it is a discounted fare. The number that you see beside Hayatoku, e.g. “Hayatoku-3”, indicates it is a discounted ticket when you make a reservation at least 3 days before your date of travel.

However, not every train will offer Hayatoku fares, and booking one month in advance doesn’t automatically mean you will enjoy “Hayatoku-28 Wide” fares. For our Hikari 509 Shinkansen train, I booked our tickets as soon as reservations opened (one month in advance) but only the Hayatoku-7 fare was available. The regular fare from Mishima to Shin-Osaka is 12,100 yen but it became 11,630 yen (S$106.96) with the Hayatoku-7 discount, so it resulted in small savings of 470 yen (S$4.23) per ticket.

But back to the first leg, our Fujikyu Kawaguchiko-Mishima Liner bus arrived at Kawaguchiko Station bus stop number 6 at 9:10am. It was a coach bus with a large luggage compartment at the belly so we didn’t have to worry about luggage storage. We also had reserved seats so we didn’t have to rush to get on. It was the most stress-free bus ride we had taken so far.

We departed Kawaguchiko Station on schedule at 9:20am. There was also a toilet and free Wi-Fi on the bus so it was a very comfortable ride. En route, we stopped at Fuji-Q Highland and Fujisan Yamanakako. At the latter stop, two guys came up. They didn’t have prior reservations so they paid on board. They were lucky because there were only two empty seats left.

We arrived at Mishima Station at 10:33am, 17 minutes ahead of schedule, which was unusual. I guess traffic was light on this Thursday morning. Anyway, I’m not complaining because it gave us more time to chill before catching our Shinkansen train at 11:46am.

We went to the nearby convenience store to buy some snacks and drinks for the train ride. We also bought bento boxes from a small shop at the train station. Known as ekiben – a combination of the Japanese words eki (train station) and bento (lunchboxes) – the humble bento boxes are a quintessential part of the experience of riding the Shinkansen.

There was quite a large variety of ekiben available, with the prices ranging from 680 yen for the vegetarian one to 1,450 yen for the sushi one. I bought the beef sukiyaki lunch box (1,230 yen/S$11.07) while mum bought the chicken lunch box (880 yen/S$7.92). Armed with food and drinks, we were ready to board the Shinkansen to Shin-Osaka.

There is one important thing to share with you about travelling on the Shinkansen, regarding the luggage situation. Prior to arriving in Japan, I checked the dimensions of the luggage of our travel party and they all conformed to the regular size, i.e. they were not oversized. Click here to refer to the JR website for more details about oversized baggage.

To determine whether your luggage is oversized, add the length (A), width (B) and height (C) together. If the total dimensions (A+B+C) are under 160cm, the luggage is not oversized, and no reservation is required. If the total dimensions are between 161cm and 250cm, it is considered oversized and a reservation is required for either (i) a seat with an oversized baggage area, or (ii) a seat with an oversized baggage compartment. For (i), the oversized baggage area is simply the space behind the back row of seats (i.e. the last row). For (ii), the oversized baggage compartment is a dedicated upper and lower rack located next to the toilet at the back of the car.

As you can imagine, the number of seats with an oversized baggage area or compartment are limited, so you are highly encouraged to reserve them early if you are travelling with oversized luggage. These seats do NOT cost more than the regular tickets. However, as a form of courtesy, you should only reserve these seats if you are genuinely travelling with oversized luggage. Save it for the people who really need it.

The three paragraphs above are what I researched months before we went on the trip. When the actual day came, I had already forgotten about the luggage situation. As usual, we entered the station half an hour early to find our platform because we were worried about storage space for our luggage. We got in position early and were the first to board when our Hikari 509 train arrived at 11:44am.

I completely forgot that the space behind the back row of seats was reserved so we quickly placed our luggage there since it was empty. The space wasn’t very big and I struggled to fit all our luggage there, and we were holding up the passengers waiting to board the train. The train staff was also asking us to hurry up because the train was leaving in two minutes. As I struggled to stack our suitcases properly, a passenger informed me that he had already reserved those seats with an oversized baggage area. I was so embarrassed I quickly moved our suitcases to make way for his luggage. It was an honest mistake!

There are two classes of seats on the Shinkansen. Green Car is a first-class seat with more comfort and facilities, and it is more expensive. We booked the Ordinary Car, which has five seats in a row with an aisle in between, so it is a 3-2 seating configuration. Nothing can be left in the aisles so we could only store our luggage on the overhead racks and at our seats, in front of our feet.

The legroom is actually very generous so you can fit your luggage in the space between your feet and the back of the seat of the person sitting in front of you, but that means you won’t be able to stretch your legs. Hence, if your luggage is not too heavy, it is best to keep it on the overhead shelf so you can have a more comfortable ride.

After settling the luggage, I could finally sit and rest, and enjoy the ride. The Shinkansen was smooth and very fast, even though we couldn’t feel how fast it was from sitting on the train. As we sped towards Osaka, I tucked into my beef sukiyaki ekiben, which was tasty but it would have been better if it was warm. Along the way, our Shinkansen also stopped at Nagoya, Kyoto and a few other small cities before reaching Shin-Osaka at 1:57pm.

Shin-Osaka is a massive train station and it was very crowded. Prior to this trip, I had only been to Osaka once, in 2010. It was a package tour so we travelled by coach bus everywhere and didn’t get to use the Subway on our own. After alighting from the Shinkansen, everything felt unfamiliar and I was a little overwhelmed initially. It even felt disorientating using the escalators because people keep to the right here in Osaka, unlike in Tokyo where they keep to the left. We followed the signs to the Subway Midōsuji Line and eventually made it there 10 minutes later.

To travel on the Osaka Metro, you need an IC (Integrated Circuit) card. There are 10 major IC cards and they are all compatible with each other. For Tokyo, the most commonly used IC cards are Suica and PASMO. For Osaka, the most popular IC card is ICOCA. For our earlier stay in Tokyo, we didn’t use IC cards because we bought the Tokyo Subway 48-hour ticket. For our two days in Osaka, I didn’t intend to buy any 1-day or 2-day Metro pass because I didn’t plan much activities outside of our hotel’s immediate area, so I thought we could mostly walk or use IC cards for the sporadic trips on the Metro.

AA’s family visited Japan about two months before we did so we asked them to help us buy the IC cards in advance. They bought three Welcome Suica IC cards and topped up 1,000 yen of value for each card. But the Welcome Suica cards didn’t work when we tried using them at the Shin-Osaka Metro station. We checked with a station staff and he informed us that our Welcome Suica cards had already expired.

Actually, I already had a suspicion that they wouldn’t work, because I read online that the Welcome Suica card is only valid for 28 days, including the date of purchase. The validity period begins as soon as you purchase the card, not upon first use of the card. Sadly, my suspicions were confirmed. They should have bought the regular Suica card instead of the Welcome Suica card, but I think there was a semiconductor shortage earlier this year so sales of Suica cards was suspended for a period.

There are a few differences between the regular Suica card and the Welcome Suica card. First, regarding deposits. The regular Suica card costs 1,000 yen, including a 500-yen deposit, which can be refunded when you return the card. However, when you return the card, a 220-yen handling fee will be deducted from the remaining balance on your card. On the other hand, the Welcome Suica also costs 1,000 yen but it does not require a deposit. However, no refunds can be made, regardless of the validity period status or balance loaded on the card.

Second, regarding the validity period. The regular Suica card will become invalid if it is not used for 10 years. In contrast, the Welcome Suica card is valid only for 28 days. Hence, the Welcome Suica is designed for tourists who are in Japan for a short time, as it saves them the hassle of returning the card to get the 500-yen refund.

As our three Welcome Suica cards were now rendered useless (bye bye 3,000 yen), we had to find other methods. For FL, AL, AA and myself, we are iPhone users so we could use a digital version of the Suica card. Prior to arriving in Japan, we had already added the digital Suica card to our Apple Pay Wallets. The process is actually very simple.

On your Apple Pay Wallet, click the “+” sign and select add “Travel Card”. You will see a list of available travel cards from Canada, China, France, Hong Kong, Japan and the United States. For Japan, there are currently three cards available – ICOCA, PASMO and Suica. You can then add money to your travel card by paying with your credit card on Apple Pay. It is very convenient.

For mum and dad, they use Android phones so the digital travel cards are not available. Hence, I went to the pink ticket machine to buy the Osaka 1-day pass called “Enjoy Eco Card” for them. The Enjoy Eco Card costs 820 yen (S$7.38) and it allows for unlimited rides on all Osaka Metro lines and Osaka City Bus for one day. I thought it was like the Tokyo pass where the validity period is for 24 hours upon first use, but I later realised that the Enjoy Eco Pass is limited only to the day of use, i.e. by the date, not per 24-hour period. Thus, it would have been cheaper to buy a single trip ticket instead of the 1-day pass because the fare from Shin-Osaka to Namba station costs only 290 yen (S$2.56). Oh well, it was a day of costly mistakes.

After much hoo-ha, we finally made it through the fare gates and we were on our way. At 2:21pm, we boarded the train and alighted at Namba station 16 minutes later. We then navigated ourselves out of the maze at Namba station and walked for about 10 minutes before we reached our accommodation, Hiyori Hotel. The weather at Osaka could not have been more different from Hakone or Kawaguchiko. It was 25 degrees C and very sunny. After experiencing cold weather for the past few days, it suddenly felt very hot in Osaka and we were perspiring by the time we reached Hiyori Hotel at 2:48pm.

For our two-night stay in Osaka, I booked 2 x Family Triple Rooms. When I made the booking months ago, I already knew that the rooms would be small. But when we entered the room, I was a little taken aback by how tiny it was, especially after coming from Kawaguchiko where we had a huge villa. Actually, the room would have been acceptable for two persons, but after the extra mattress was laid on the floor for the third person, there was simply no space left for luggage.

Actually, I did consider booking 3 x Twin Rooms instead of 2 x Family Triple Rooms. It would have cost around the same and it would definitely have been more comfortable. However, sleeping arrangements would be a little inconvenient so we decided to squeeze just into two rooms. In hindsight, I should have booked another hotel, but options were limited for hotels with Triple Rooms. Too bad.

After settling down, we headed out at 3:30pm to explore Osaka. I chose Hiyori Hotel because it is located in the Namba district, relatively near Dotonbori and the main shopping areas. Right across the hotel were two shopping malls, Namba Parks and Namba City. We did a quick browse of the shops at Namba City but there wasn’t anything particularly captivating so we continued walking north towards Dotonbori.

One obvious thing I noticed was that a lot more people cycled in Osaka than in Tokyo. There were many cyclists criss-crossing traffic junctions and cycling on the pavements. I also saw a lot more bike parking spaces by the side of the streets. Thus, you have to be more careful walking around Osaka to avoid collisions with cyclists.

The area around Namba Station is where the big department stores like Takashimaya and 0101 (Marui) can be found. However, the best shopping in Osaka is not at the department stores, but at the shopping arcades. What is nice about shopping in Namba is that the shops are all concentrated along a central covered pedestrian street that stretches for hundreds of metres. This makes it convenient and comfortable to shop as you can just walk down the street in one straight line and not worry about getting lost. The two main shopping streets are Ebisu Bashi-Suji and Shinsaibashi-Suji, with the Dotonbori canal running in between.

I spent some time at the huge Book Off Plus store at Namba Ebisu Bashi, which had tons of used CDs on the second floor and vintage clothes and bags on the third floor. Book Off is amazing because all the products in the store are neatly categorised and it doesn’t feel like a junkyard even though everything is secondhand. However, I was sorely disappointed when the staff couldn’t locate the discs of a Jackson 5 box set that I wanted to buy (the discs are removed from the packaging and retrieved from a central library upon purchase). I thought I had unearthed a really rare gem but I couldn’t buy it in the end. Sad.

As the sun set, that was when Osaka really came alive. All the neon signs and street lamps started to light up, bringing a renewed sense of energy and excitement to the already buzzing city. My senses were further heightened when we reached Dotonbori, the epicentre of all the action in Osaka. Here, everything is bigger, bolder, brighter and louder. The area around the Dotonbori canal is where you’ll find the large, moving crabs as well as the famous Glico Running Man billboard. Nothing screams “Osaka” as much as Dotonbori.

After crossing Ebisubashi Bridge, we continued walking along Shinsaibashi-Suji. We were happy to find a GU store here because I really liked the sling bag and jacket that I bought from the GU Tokyo store earlier. I had been using them for the past few days and they were great, so I bought another casual jacket and some plain T-shirts here. The prices at GU are reasonable and tax-free shopping makes it even sweeter.

We had dinner at a restaurant called Zundouya, which had relatively good reviews on Google Maps. They were more famous for their ramen but I saw that they had garlic fried rice so I ordered that. I love Japanese garlic fried rice. We also ordered some gyoza to share. So good.

After dinner, we walked to the end of Shinsaibashi-Suji before turning back. We reached our hotel around 9:30pm and called it a night. It had been a long day of travelling and we were all tired after all the walking. After being thrust into a big city with sensory overload, I needed to decompress and recover. Almost coming to the end of the trip now…