I don’t have any social life for past three weeks.
The weather is getting better in Tokyo, reaching over 20C.
Sakura starts blooming.
I decided to plan a short trip with Choco for refreshment.
Well, Mom followed us.
I thought it would be nice to take Choco for a walk in fresh air in woods.
I still need to avoid contacting people so I decided staying at cottage, Pension Gin No Michi, Hokuto-City, Yamanashi.
The Pension serves dinner and breakfast at cottage so we can avoid people and be with Choco.
Choco doesn’t like to be left alone.
It’s 160 km away from Tokyo and it should take 2.5 hours to reach there.
However, traffic was so heavy….. to go out Tokyo, it took more than 2 hours.
I took a break at highway Hatsukari service area.
I bought Shingen-Mochi and Premium Shingen-mochi Ice Cream and Matcha (Green Tea) Shingen-mochi Ice Cream.
Shingen-Mochi is Kofu (Yamanashi) local confectionery combination of glutinous rice flour mochi, soybean powder and brown sugar syrup.
There are many more products developed by this original Shingen-mochi.
After taking a break, I continued my journey and it took me 4.5 hrs to reach the pension.
We finally reached the Pension.
There are flooring living room connected to a small tatami room (tatami mat room).
Living room is equipped with kitchen.
Then wash room
Bath room
And toilet.
As mentioned, I wanted to take Choco for a walk in woods; however, it was too cold.
In Tokyo, it’s over 20C, so I only brought leather jacket.
It’s only 4C here…
I decided to stay in.
Choco had so many to experience and learn.
I enjoyed home cooked dinner at the room.
The next morning, it was a nice sunny day.
Hopefully, Choco enjoyed fresh air.
I enjoyed home cooked breakfast.
They also baked these breads.
It was a brief stay but very refreshing.
We headed back home.
On the way back, I stopped by at service area for one last glance of Minami (South) Alps and shopping.
The local flower farmer is selling flower bouquet for JPY 1,200 (USD 12) – very reasonable!
Currently, Japanese government encourages people to buy flower because flower business is affected by corona virus.
March supposed to be high demand period for flower for graduation ceremony; however, now almost all schools cancel the graduation ceremony.
I love flowers so I bought one.
I also looked for souvenirs.
There are many Shingen-mochi products.
I bought Shingen-mochi Pudding, Monaka (Wafer and Shingen-mochi (glutinous rice powdered mochi)) and Kit Kat.
I love the original and these are all nice, especially pudding.
It took only 2.5 hours to reach home, meaning there are so many cars on the road yesterday.
I think many of us got board. ahaha
It was very relaxing trip for me.
sonokotchi 