Mt Takao + Dinner

6 Nov - Waseda Athletics Festival = school holiday yay! Not quite sure what the festival was about, but Isabel and I decided (last night, on the spur of the moment) to go to Takaosan (Mt Takao) and check out the fall colours instead! Asked Yoshi along and off we went! ... Except, there wasn't quite any magnificent fall colours as expected, but just the few solitary trees that have turned red. Oh well.

We expected an easy-peasy walk, only to be greeted by a crowd of elderlies dressed comfortably in full hiking attire and heading for the cable car lift. Whilst we - dressed in our casual clothes and footwear - huffed and puffed our way up the steep paved pathway all the 3.8km way up to the summit.


(Yoshi and Isabel on the climb!; The picture can't seem to capture how steep the path was...)


(There were information boards like this marking the path all the way. 14 boards in total - disseminating trivia and titbits about the flora and fauna of Takaosan.)

(A view of Tokyo from one of the lower checkpoints. On a good day, apparently Mt Fuji and most of Tokyo and even Kanagawa prefecture is visible.)

(At the observatory point @ halfway. Clarity today was pretty good - the board says 85%!)

(From the observatory deck - a range of lush green mountains and valleys visible in the vicinity of Takaosan. Apparently there are hiking trails through to these other mountains.)

(One of the small shops along the way. Tried dango for the first time here - nice! This was a little different from the usual - so says Yoshi- because this one had miso glazing. So yummy though. Also had a pork bun - so remniscent of da bao in Singapore - and a black bean pancake in the shape of Tengu.)

(One of the many manyy statues of Tengu on Takaosan. Tengu is a sort of bad goblin/demon that has evolved through folklore to become a mountain spirit. The name comes from its similar Chinese counterpart 天狗 and one distinctive feature is its long nose.)

(Almost at the summit...!)

(2-3 hours later... yay! Except, there were just 2 (small) trees that were standing proudly red in their fall colours. =/ Yikes.)

(Nonetheless, a pretty fall picture =) Tada!)
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After such extenuating efforts expended on Takaosan, we journeyed back to Tokyo (~45mins train ride) and headed into a random izakaya - Amatarou - in Shinjuku for dinner! Had:

(Deep fried soft bones - either chicken or pork can't quite remember but so yummy!)

(Beef tongue slices, served on heated black pebbles. Yummy too.)

(Left: Tako (octopus) sashimi with wasabi on grated radish. Soooo good.
Right: Deep fried tofu - one set of triplets with shoyu and the other with butter.)

There was another dish of beef slices with onions and poached egg over hotplate. Great accompaniment to our bowl of rice.


(Finally, dessert! Shared a hot bowl of something-choco-banana. Basically sliced bananas, with chocolate syrup, caramel, whipped cream and some sponge-like pieces and a scoop of ice cream - served in a big, hot stone bowl and even the little bowls they gave us were warmed!)

Yum in my tummy and a nice day out at the only natural forested area/moutain in Tokyo. What can I say =)