Good Morning, Kris
This is called houtou, it's a local specialty here, similar to udon but different
I've always been a city person, I've always liked big cities, the bigger the city, the more I liked it
I guess that's the reason why I live in Tokyo now
But after spending a few months in Tokyo straight, I just love the tranquility and eeriness of the countryside
not to mention that it's ridiculously beautiful
The truest American
This was a pretty good night and a pretty good stay in this very old hostel
I think you can find this place on AirBnB if you're interested
Thank you!!!
There's a doge in that car
We have arrived in a village called Oshino Hakkai and Mt.Fuji's over there
It feels a bit like Soul Society from Bleach
Grape, chocolate, vanilla
Going through this old town, it's famous for ponds
Yeah this area has 8 ponds
This are is a UNESCOWorld Heritage Site
Pretty gorgeous
You can see the yellow Japanese carp called coy in Japanese
These are the usual decorative fish you see in ponds like these
And I gotta say, I really admire how the Japanese people approach their tourism industry
Every region, every town, has like this special thing that it's known for
Special meal, special dish, special ingredients, special vegetables, fruit, ponds,
They're really giving it a lot of thought here
And in most cases, it doesn't seem fake, it is kind of fake, it's manufactured in many cases but it doesn't seem like it
It's enjoyable
And all the local products you can get, they're usually just good quality products
With that in mind, near the ponds, we find a local market with all the local products
Everything is more or less unique to this region or even this particular place
For example, there's a mascot of Mt Fuji
Look, there's even Fuji-themed KitKats
Someone lost their phone
There's a phone?
Yeah
There's an iPhone there
What do you have there?
Horse oil, it's supposed to be good for skin
What are you doing Kris?
I'm watching cool videos
We're gonna do fishing
What do you got there, captain?
Fish pole, fish bag, and bait which is cheese
I got it!
Nice catch, Kris
How are you doing?
Good
I dunno how I feel about this
When I was a kid, I was doing fishing, like proper fishing in a lake
but this, this is just, it's unfair
You got it, you got him!
Too good Kris. You're too good!
You've been in there for like 30 seconds
Cheers!!
Excellent!
Fishing doge!
mmmmmm awesome freshwater fish for a change
We're going to an ice cave, but we're not sure if there's ice in it
You look like an American cop
Sir, please stop
Do you know why I pulled you over?
Kris's favorite place
Nonononono, bad
And they used to cut ice here and this horse man would take it to Tokyo
It's so cold in here
We're on an adventure!
This is where they used to keep ice
Well, so this is the ice we've heard about
That was pretty cool
And yet another store with Fuji-themed merchandise
All sorts of stuff, specialty chocolates
This type of product in Japanese is called omiyage, and it's related to a custom that when you go for a trip
you're basically obliged to bring some gifts to your coworkers or the people you live with
so it's a huge market in Japan and this is why there's so much stuff here
Look at that Fuji-themed Cheburashka/Topple/Czeburaszka
Off to dinner
What are you having there?
Hormone
It's like intestines
Yeah something like that
That's one local specialty and the second one is houtou
once again today
And this specialty houtou restaurant looks like a super villain headquarters from an old James Bond movie
That's Kris there napping
I know you guys can't really see anything, but that's what happens when it gets dark
Bye bye!
Thank you!
I had a three hour nap
Some of you might think that we were doing touristy things today
and this blog was supposed to be about how real life looks in Japan, and not how a tourist's life looks
but the truth is everybody in Japan does stuff like this
this is how a Japanese day trip looks and works, it's a very popular way of spending time, especially when there's a holiday
and tomorrow's a holiday so it makes the whole weekend more enjoyable for locals
this whole trip wasn't even our idea, we got invited by Japanese friends and they planned everything for us
and yeah, Japan, you have the biggest, coolest, most awesome city in the world and then you realize that Japan is so much more that just Tokyo
Let us know if you wanna see something else!
See ya!