Edo, Edo I Love You

Never thought that I'll have the chance to go to Japan....heard about it, read about it, saw on tv....to actually be in this big country ?!...... WOW! For 5 Days?!.... DOUBLE WOW!!
Well thanks to my company, I've this chance to be there with 25 of my bosses and colleagues and with $500 spending money to boot! Yippee ye!
So on the 11th day of November 2005, took the midnite SQ flight....so exciting! Tried to sleep cos' there's a long day ahead the minute we landed. Who said holidays are for de-stressing?! The trip is so stressful!!
So early and bright at 6.45am we landed and was immediately whisked into the coach and sent to Mt Fuji.
Words can't described the beautiful and majestic Mt Fuji. The feeling of seeing her was pretty surreal.

Can't resist taking multiple shots of Mt Fuji.....i can't get enough of her!
After taking lunch and more photo taking, we proceeded to Hakone National Park for a cruise on Lake Ashinoko, also known as Lake Ashi. It has a grand view of Mt Fuji in the background.
Delays by traffic jams were a downer as we had to spend hours on the coach getting from point A to point B. We were supposed to go to Owakudani Boiling Valley to see the hot springs and hot rivers but because it was way too dark by the time we reached there ( and it was only about 5pm!) we could only walk around the souvenir shop and try the pre-packed 'black eggs' which were cooked in the hot spring water. We could smell the strong sulphuric fumes all around. After that, we were checked into the New StarYamanaka, a quaint hotel with indoor and outdoor nude hotsprings. Had a fantastic dinner of Japanese steamboat and a few of us decided to pay more and order the shashimi. It was the freshest raw seafood that i've ever tasted. Each of us came out 3300 yen ( S$50) and it was worth every yen.
The room was a typical tetami room - small and compact but very cosy.
The next morning woke up fresh and raring to go. Next stop - Tokyo!
We were really excited to be in the most expensive city in the world and wondering if our money's gonna last. Surprising food and shopping were not as costly as we'd anticipated.
Along the way we passed by Yokohama World Cup Stadium that hosted the final match of the 2002 World Cup. We also had a glimpse of the Imperial Palace along the way to the Asakusa Kannon Buddhist Temple. This is a must-see as it is world famous. It has a hugh red paper lantern at it's entrance and it's packed with throngs of people - tourists and locals. There is a narrow street leading to/from the temple, called Nakamise Avenue that has many stalls/shops selling souvenirs and foodstuffs. Really pleasant and interesting shopping area. Whichever shop that has a long queue, we'll join the crush and buy whatever's on offer.
So then we proceed to lunch at a cosy restaurant and more shopping after that. We had a brief stopover at Ueno flea market. This place is like a wholsale market - lots of seafood and fruits and dried goods.
Next we made a short stop at Harajuku, about 2 hours, which was barely enough time to hang around to take pictures with the many weirdos and exhibitionists there and to do a spot of shopping at Daiso, which is like a $1.99 shop with everything going at 100 yen.
We had to run all the back to the coach as I was happily shopping and forgot about the time! Drats, how time flies when u're having fun.
Im gonna sign off now and get a drink and continue another day.......