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tokyo tohoku trip - day 7.

my friend and i were going to kawaguchiko for a day trip, so we went to the jr expressway bus terminal JR高速バスのりば near to tokyo station to get on our bus which we bought the tickets ahead of time. before boarding the bus, we got katsu sandwich from the nearby convenient store too. those sandwich are very enjoyable, fluffy bread and the katsu is very flavorful with the sauce.

the bus ride is about two hours and we got to see mount fuji as we were arriving, as the weather is so nice. we decided to start our day with a visit to the fuji herb garden ハーブ庭園 旅日記, it’s one bus stop and about 10 minutes walk away, and the walk was enjoyable because of the nice view and cool weather.

the herb garden does not require fees to visit, and there’s an outdoor and indoor section with a souvenir store. there’s an observation deck which requires additional fee though, which we did not go. the indoor garden has lots of plants and flowers which are very beautiful, took lots of photos there. the outdoor garden has really nice arrangement of flowers and plants with water feature which is awesome for photos too. it was a relaxing walk and there’s name labels for each plant which is nice.

the souvenir store is quite big and they do have a lot of products made from plants and herbs. the beauty products are quite nice and gentle, there’s also sweets and snacks as wall. we got to try some fruit tea and fruit juice and the staff are so friendly. we wanted to sign up for the candle making workshop but the space was not available, so we couldn’t do it, we were thinking to come back in the evening though.

for lunch, we, of course, had to try the famous houtou noodles from the area. we went to koshu houtou kosaku 甲州ほうとう 小作 based on the staff recommendation from fuji herb garden. the restaurant is super spacious and we got a seat after a few minutes wait. i ordered the seafood option and my friend ordered the pork option. the taste of the soup does change based on the meat choice, and both of them are enjoyable. the noodles are chewy and quite thick, it’s not something i like very much. i do love all the vegetables that that put in the soup though, it was so good as all of them is fresh. the portion of the noodles is so big, i couldn’t actually finish it.

after a satisfying lunch, we took the local bus to kawaguchiko natural lving center  ブルーベリーの里 河口湖自然生活館 which is inside oishi park 大石公園. during the bus ride, we got to see the lake which is very pretty since the sky was quite clear. when we arrived at the center, there were quite a lot of tourist actually, the mount fuji view was simply amazing for such great weather. there’s also a souvenir store and they also sells snacks, i bought some stuff here for friends and also we sat down at the area to enjoy grape ice cream and coffee and just stare at the magnificent view.

as the day passed, the sky did get cloudy as the sun starts to set, we decided to head back to the herb garden since the bus ride do take quite some time. we arrived quite late so we missed the chance for the workshop, but we did pick up more souvenirs before walking back to the bus station. on the way back, we managed to visit a bakery - fujisan shokupan, to buy the fuji shaped milk bread.

the bus ride back is actually less comfortable because the double decker bus is less spacious. we got off at shinjuku bus terminal. we visit the muji store which has a relatively new section that sells products that reused old materials, so each piece is unique as the materials are not the same. it is a very interesting concept and their design is quite simple.

for dinner, my friend recommended a tonkatsu place nearby, suzuya 新宿すずや, which is on the 5th floor of the building. the tonkatsu is served on a hot plate with sauce and cabbage, which you may refill. we added kimchi and egg as add-ons which is so good. the meal also comes with the standard miso soup and pickles with white rice. the tonkatsu is very flavorful with the sauce, meat has quite some chew and i love the stir fry cabbage a lot. another satisfying meal to end the day. after that we just head home for rest since it definitely has been a long day since we woke up very early in the morning.