マグロ大好き!

Finally it's the end of week 1! That friday rolled along pretty quickly. There was no after school activity that day. So I went home quite early. There was not much to do since my host mother had to go back to her hometown, 大阪 (Osaka) for some family gathering. So, my host father decided to take me out to eat sushi and walked around the town a bit.

We went to a sushi restaurant in Numazu, the place I visited just that Thursday. (My apologies! I didn't take any pictures because I was too busy eating sushi!) It was delicious! That was the first time I tried マグロ (Fatty tuna) That fish really DOES melt in your mouth. I've never tasted anything as wonderful as that!

So, Friday was a pretty chillaxed day! Let me talk about what I did the first weekend then!

My host family had as me where I would like to visit. Of course being so close to Mt. Fuji, the first thing I said was Mt. Fuji. So that's where I went the first weekend.

The first stop was the 富士箱根伊豆国立公園 (Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park). This national park is located in three prefectures: 神奈川県 (Kanagawa Prefecture), 静岡県 (Shizuoka Prefecture), and 山梨県 (Yamanashi Prefecture). Some of the sights in this park are Mt. Fuji, Fuji Five Lakes, and Hakone.

First stop at the National Park was 芦ノ湖 (Lake Ashi).

It was so nice!

My host father took this picture =]

After that was onto the other parts of the park. We went to this gate thing. I don't really remember the name of it, but this gate used to be like a town gate. You have to have a sort of pass to go in and out of the town. My host father said that it was especially hard for women to pass through back in the days.

That's the gate in the National Park. It was a musem inside, but we didn't go in because there were other things to see!

Stupid bike ruined a good shot! This was near the entrace of the gate.

This is one of the oldest trails in the National park. I loved the trees lined on both side of the road.

After that was onto the Great Boiling Valley - 大涌谷 (Owakudani). It is full of active sulphur vents. The big attraction is the 黒玉子 (Kuro tamago). It means black eggs. The way they are cooked is they are put into the active sulphur vents and boiled till they are done. It smells sulphuric due to the soak in the vents, but it is deliciou! My host mother said that kuro tamago is known to increase longevity. Eating one will increase your life by 7 years, but eating more 3 eggs will be bad.

Passed by these gates when we were heading to owakudani.

So cool!

My host father and I at owakudani.

Great Boiling Valley!

One of the active Sulphur vents. Smelly.

Let's get some Kuro tamago!

Mmmmm...black eggs...it was awesome!

Big plaque at owakudani.

Unfortunately, the foot of Mt. Fuji was the closest I could see of Mt. Fuji. There were just way too many clouds blocking it. My host father and I tried to wait till the couds drifted and even tried driving around to another location to see if we can see it better. No luck =[ Hopefully he'll bring me back there before I leave.

The Japanese government planned to plant trees around the Mt. Fuji area. I think it was called like the 100 year green plan or something. It will be done around 2090. Long. way. to. go.

That Sunday, I mostly chillaxed at home. Studying and updating my blog and such. So that has been the 1st week in Nihon. Almost 3 weeks have passed and 1 more week to go. I can't believe how fast this month passed by. 1 more week and I'll be back in NY. I better enjoy this last week and a half in Japan!

Be patient! Tokyo trip will be coming soon!!

Maggie out~