Fourth time back to Japan

This is also the fourth couple trip Theo and I have taken since the kids arrived. First was to Ho Chi Minh City in 2006, Bangalore in 2013, Seoul in 2014 and now back to Tokyo in 2016.

Coming back to Japan almost feels like a third home to me after Malaysia. I love the graciousness of the people, the samurai history, the food, the beautiful landscapes, the four seasons, the toy shopping and the otaku sub-culture. I sometimes wish I could have been born Japanese. Although this time round, the timing was not so ideal considering how the Yen strengthened so much against the Sing Dollar in light of Brexit.

It is also my first summer experience. Last three rounds we were here in autumn and twice in winter. I missed the spring season this year to see the cherry blossoms but that just simply means that I will be back again somehow.

Taking advantage of the summer, we decided to do something different beyond shopping for toys and sightseeing or playing with snow. We decided that we were going to climb Mt Fuji. I have always been a mountain person loving various forms of hiking and trekking but something I couldn’t quite indulge in with the kids.

I would have wanted to gun for something closer to home such as Mt Kinabalu but with the recent earthquake tragedy, I felt like we needed to put some time between us first. And so since we thought of returning to Japan again, I simply pushed the agenda to scale new heights literally.

Mt Fuji is special to the locals. It is symbolic of the country, its highest point and also serves as a spiritual pilgrimage that brings happiness to those who climb it. And it has also only recently been accorded World Heritage status. For the tourists, Mt Fuji is ever elusive and camera shy. I have yet to get a good Photoshop worthy picture of the mountain despite all my efforts and now I’m contemplating stepping on its soil.

Mt Fuji trekking season opens only in summer, between the months of July and September. And yet in that short span of 3 months, it sees an annual flood of more than 400,000 climbers. That averages to more than 4,000 climbers a day!

There are four routes up Mt Fuji and we decided to go with the most popular Yoshida trail, which begins at the fifth station at an elevation of 2,304m. From there is a 5-6 hours, or more depending  on your physique, climb to the 8th station where we will rest for the night in a mountain hut. We continue the next morning at 2am, to hit the summit at 3,776m before sunrise at 4.30am.

This is like probably the most adventurous thing I have ever done in my life! And none too soon as well as work has been literally sucking the life out of me. I need a new challenge to find meaning in the work I am doing. Perhaps it is His way of saying ‘time is up, start looking’. God, I hope that this trip will open my eyes to see things I have missed and to draw closer to you again.

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Touch down Tokyo and we found our way around with little problems. I still recall how lost my brother and I were on our first trip, wasting hours navigating the Yamanote line. Now I feel almost as confident as a local. We dropped off our suitcase at Shinjuku station (thank God we found a locker almost immediately which allowed us to store it for up to 3days at ¥600 per day).

We bought our tickets to Kawaguchiko and then the usual bento sets for dinner. Dinner was filling considering that the portions on Japan Airlines was quite meagre. Other than the food though, I thought the airline was almost comparable to SQ. Someone needs to buck up already especially an AV system upgrade, and to think we used to be in the forefront in this.

We met quite a few groups of fellow travellers on the train to Kawaguchiko, mainly from Europe/US it seems. So far only Singaporean sighted but maybe we will see more tomorrow at the 5th station. Not sure if I am being sensitive or what but I actually feel that the air is thinner here and am having a little hard time breathing. Oh man, I really hope I can survive this.

Tokyo in summer is as warm as Singapore. It is much cooler up in Kawaguchiko at night, like a cold air-conditioned room. Hope Mt Fuji weather is bearable.

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