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Today we went on the Shizuoka Strawberry Picking Tour organized by Club Tourism, which we heard to be well-received among tourists. Looking at the itinerary, we can see its popularity due to its good mix of activities: there is the enjoyment of picking strawberries and having them please your stomach, the satisfaction of shopping at the Gotemba Premium Outlets which present ample buying opportunities, and the relaxation derived from having views of nature - a spring river and a certain Mount Fuji.
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Excited at the prospects of savoring sweet, juicy, fresh, self-picked strawberries, we met up with Club Tourism at the Shinjuku Washington Hotel at 7:50. We were greeted by a friendly English-speaking tour conductor. Everyone was punctual and the bus set-off as scheduled. The tour conductor had a Chinese interpreter beside her to cater to some members of the group who didn't speak English. We were pleasantly surprised by the simultaneous interpretation.
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As the Gotemba Premium Outlets opens at 10, there was a bonus stop-over at a wasabi farm close by. It was interesting to look at the plant and its root, and find out about where the wasabi on our dinner tables come from. The shop at the farm had on sale various wasabi products, such as wasabi crackers, mochi, and ice-cream. We had some delicious miso soup too.
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Here we are at the Premium Outlets, one of the largest in Japan, where internationally famous brands can be found under one roof. The ladies in the group seemed particularly excited to begin their hunt. Can't blame them though, we were pretty keen on exploring the shops ourselves. With over two hundred shops selling a huge variety of goods, even the men might find themselves having to quicken their pace in order to cover everything. I am heading straight to Bose to find a good pair of speakers.
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On a day with good weather, Mount Fuji can be viewed from here, which is reputed to be one of the ten best places to view Japan's most famous mountain from.
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The highlight of the day: strawberry picking! We were led to one of the greenhouses where the strawberry plants are grown. At the entrance, we were handed a tray with sweetened milk to dip our strawberries into. The appealing red of the fruit was irresistible. Within seconds we had our hands on the strawberries, or should I say, we had our lips on them - and they were great to our delight!
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Up next: Izu Mura no Eki. It was a large shop selling local produce and souvenirs. They had many products which were suitable as snacks or to take home as gifts, such as cookies, cakes, seaweed, crackers, candy and fruit. A nicely decorated shop called Tamagoya also caught the eye of many. It is famous for the delicious egg products that it makes. Many of the guests bought egg pudding; I had an egg-flavored ice-cream instead.
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After a 20 minute ride on the bus, we arrived at the Kakida Spring River. The water that appears at the spring is actually water flowing from Mount Fuji. Extremely clear water was seen bubbling out from the surface of the river bed, which was an amazing natural phenomenon. We strolled around in the area which had a park and a small shrine. It was a nice cool-down to the day and it gave our stomachs the opportunity to digest all that had been taken in.
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Taking a 15 minute pit-stop along the way, we arrived back at Shinjuku at 18:00. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day-trip for us.
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