Yesterday, after school I headed home for a quick dinner and to go pick up a car charger at Yamada Denki. It’s always super confusing to find anything, but I finally managed. Then I was off, driving about two hours, to Yamanashi Prefecture to visit L in Kiyosato, Hokuto City. It was a dark, windy, back road for most of the way. A fun drive since the streets were pretty empty and no one drives the speed limit here. It’s always 10-30 kph over since 40-50 kph (25-30 mph) is your usual speed limit. I felt like I was racing along at 50 mph on roads that’d normally be 55 mph in the US. I made one stop at 7-Eleven to use the restroom and get an onigiri. So much cleaner and nicer than those of the usual McD stops or rest areas. She lives nestled in the mountains at an elevation of 1100 m (3600 ft). It was so much colder! Only about 43 out instead of my usual 50.

In the morning I could see all the bare trees and pines, and Mt. Fuji! We first went to Heidi’s Village, a Switzerland village based on the Japanese anime series, and stopped at a conbini for breakfast along the way. I will never get sick of seeing mountains. The rolling hills just take my breath away. The village was cute, with goats, rabbits, guinea pigs, and gardens. They had all these light decorations up for a night light show. You could even get married there. The movie Heroine Shikkaku was partially filmed there! Afterward, we stopped by the farmer’s market. I really need to go to mine!

We got lunch at this cute place, Sunnyside Cafe, a log building. There’s so many wooden type building and European style houses. It reminded me of the European Alps. Lunch was delish! We got a set with dessert and tea, yum! It was my first time eating saba (mackerel) with chopsticks and trying to fish out all the bones. So tough! Then we went up to Keep Farm in Kiyosato. We stopped along a bridge to take some stunning photos of Mt. Fuji, but boy was it getting cold and windy! I really should have brought my winter jacket, though at least I had my gloves. The Keep was beautiful. Rolling pastures with an amazing view of Fuji-san. They had a hot spring foot bath on the deck by the Christmas tree so that you could warm up. I need to start carrying a small towel with me. We went inside the shop and got Jersey cow ice cream. Delicious! I ended up buying a little artsy postcard to hang on my walls. They are still too empty.