July 18th // Mt. Fuji (Environment), Travel to Tokyo, Miraikan (Technology)

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"

Waking Up

The alarm was blaring when I woke up, and I had to struggle to get Sirvaad out of bed. Apparently he had stayed up until approximately midnight watching Anime. Nolan asked if we should consume some breakfast. I woke up Malachi and Rohan.

"Where is Sirvaad?" asked Rohan.

Nolan pointed to the motionless ball of sheets on one of the lower bunks.

"Oh," he responded. 

The four of us walked downstairs to the cafetaria and showed the man our breakfast pass. We found a table, then went to the buffet. Our breakfast preferences are posted below:

Nolan: White Rice, Ginger Fried Pork, Miso Soup, Wasabi, Bacon (Japan)
Rohan: While Rice, Tofu Miso Soup, Chicken Curry, Japanese Mustard, Egg and Soy (Japan)
Tristen: Steamed Rice, Miso Soup, Grilled Fish, Rolled Egg, Bacon, Wasabi (Japan)
Malachi: White Rice, Miso Soup, Rolled Scrambled Egg, Bacon, Sausage (Japan)

Natto

Mt. Fuji from Highlands Station 5

Right after we sat down, Sirvaad showed up. He ordered Natto (Soybeans fermented in bacteria, served with a side of wasabi toast, onion, mustard, soy sauce, raw egg, and Japanese pickles.) YUCK!  Breakfast finished around 7:00 am. Together we ventured back to our room to clean up and retrieve our luggage. We checked out of the hotel it around 7:30 am. Eagerly, we decided to walk to Osaka Station for our trip to Mount Fuji.

Mount Fuji / Environment

While walking to the station, Sirvaad doubled over and threw up on the street (probably from his breakfast)! We arrived at the station around 7:45 am, purchased our tickets and sat down on the bench. At exactly 8:19 am, the bullet train arrived on Platform 1. We hopped onto the train and found our seats. After settling in, I put my earbuds in and went to sleep. When I woke up, we were only half way to Mt. Fuji. I asked if anyone was thirsty and if they wanted to get a drink in the beverage car. I stood up and Malachi came with me. Thoughtfully, we brought back water, ginger ale, and root beer for the others. By now it was 9:50 am and I could see Highlands Stateion 5 coming into view.  Enthusiastically we all leaped off of the train to catch our first glance of Mount Fuji. It was a tad bit cloudy but we were all determined to start our journey up to the top of the mountain. 

Pole Indicating the Peak of Mt. Fuji

Mount Fuji / Environment

Around 10:15 am, we hopped into cars that would take us up to the top of the mountain.  Nolan set an alarm because our return train was at 2:45 pm, therefore we wanted to be at Station 5 around 2:35 pm. When we arrived at Kengamine, the highest point on Mt. Fuji, we stood at 3,775 meters or 12,385.17 feet high. The loop around the Volcanic Crater is 1.5 hrs long, but we knew it would take longer. As we walked around a bit, we saw many, and I mean many, of signs with information regarding Mt. Fuji. Did you know that inside the Crater there is a lake called Lake Aso? Did you know that the Mt.Fuji is actually three volcanoes, not just one? In fact, Mount Fuji is the tallest mountain in Japan and makes up the Three Holy Mountains (Mt. Fuji, Mt. Tate, and Mt. Haku). Rohan decided to grab a pamphlet and shared more interesting facts about the history of the mountain. He explained that Mount Fuji is over 100,000 years old and was first hiked in the year 663 by Eno no Odzunu.  At this point, I heard a scream.  We were about 15 minutes into the walk when Nolan tripped and slid down the side of the mountain. Luckily, he grabbed onto a barrier and managed to climb back up onto the trail.  I would have missed him! 

Taking Off From the Mountain

Usual Sight on Mt. Fuji

While hiking,  we saw many animals that were native to the mountain and surrounding areas including, the Japanese Sorrow, Fox, and Squirrel.  When we got to the area near the train that would take us downward, we noticed some people participating in parasailing lessons. We all decided to participate, except Sirvaad who he was afraid of heights.  That was unfortunate though because he missed out on some really cool sights! The lessons took around an hour so we immediately went onto the train and left the station around 2:40 pm. We decided to buy lunch on the train. To our surprise, they served some American favorites! Our preferences are posted below:

• Rohan: Baked Chilaquiles, Pepsi, Guacamole
• Malachi: Hebrew National All-Beef Hot Dog, Mug Root Beer, Lays Chips
• Nolan: Thyme Roasted Chicken Breast, Sweet Tea, Mashed Potatoes
• Sirvaad: Black Bean & Corn Veggie Burger, Orange Juice, Kettle Chips
• Tristen: Natural Angus Cheddar Cheese Burger, Fanta Orange, Lays Chips

Eventually, we arrived back at the station.  Our plan was to take a cab to the Mirikan museum for the remainder of the day. The cab ride took approximately eighteen minutes. The museum closed around 5:00 pm and it was already 3:00 pm.

Mirikan / Technology

The Pollution Globe

We entered through the main entrance and paid our fee. The price for each of us was 300 yens, which is equivalent to $2.66. We picked up a map and started our journey. As we were walking to the first exhibit, we read up on the musuem and learned many interesting facts, including:

• The museum took five yearrs to build.
• Mirikan was opened in 2001.
• It houses over 2.5 million lights.

We first went to the giant globe that shows which nations have the most pollution. The globe uses over 100 LED lights to light up even the smallest nations. In total, there are over 3000 lights on the Pollution Globe. The top three polluting nations are China, the US, and India. Afterwards, we journeyed onward to the Robot Exhibit. When you are at the exhibit, you can get a robot-led tour for around 18,000 yens ($159 USD).

ASIMO the Robot

EXPERIENCE Theater

We all pitched in and payed for ASIMO the Robot to lead us through the evolution of robots section of the museum. We learned an array of amazing facts about robots including where the term robot originates from.  For example, robot comes from a Czech word meaning drudgery. Other interesting facts are as follows:

• The first robot was made by George Devol. 
• There are over 500,000 robots alone in Japan. 
• The smallest robot is less than one thousandth of a millimetre. That is really small!    

           
Eventually we moved onto the Dinosaur section. We started out by watching a video on the extinction of dinosaurs. As we went to observe the skeleton of a T-Rex (largest dinosaur know to man), Nolan tripped and fell, spilling his Cola on the skeleton. Boy, you can not take the boy anywhere!

Mirikan is known as the most modern museum in the world. After viewing the dinosaur skeletons, we went to see the "EXPERIENCE Theater". This theater shows a different 4-D movie every hour. The theater screen is over 50 feet wide, and the theater seats 100. The video playing pertained to space and what astronauts feel when they enter space. The show began at 4:30 pm and we just made it in! I loved the show, along with the others, except for Sirvaad who fell asleep.  It was 5:15 pm when we finally exited the building and hailed a cab.

When we arrived at the hostel we were staying at for the evening, we all were exhausted. We went out to eat American food since we all were a tab bit tired of Japanese. We got back to the hostel around 8:00 pm, watched "The Avengers", and fell asleep around 10:00npm. It was a very long and extremely entertaining day. 

Written By Tristen