Travel Highlights – Shizuoka (Fujikawa Craft Park, Suntory-no-oka-winery & Shosenkyo Gorge)
Our visits today mainly focused in the Suntory area, about 70 minutes drive from Shizuoka city.
The first place of our visit was the Fujikawa Craft Park. This 53ha park has a number of recreational facilities and is open to the public who enjoys the natural environment and using the various facilities for picnicking during the weekends and holidays. It has a Fuji garden, calligraphy garden, barbecue area, rest house, playground, old farmhouse, flower garden, canoe pool and picnic area. What a great place to dine and wine! We should have a barbeque of Kobe beef in this place!
The Fuji and Calligraphy gardens we visited had a beautiful landscape with a combination of plants, rocks, sand and water creating a very pleasant environment for visitors to admire the beauty of these gardens. The air was fresh and clean! We spent a short while at the rest house, which was perched on a high ground of the park. From the top, we had a good view of the park and the surrounding environment.
After the garden visit, we visited the Fujikawa craft center, which is a semi structural building housed with seven showrooms and handicraft making workshops. The showrooms displayed a wide range of handicraft items for sales to the public. The items on sale were crystal wares, paper and art products, pottery, wooden crafts etc. The workshops conduct handicraft classes to any young individual or group who like to master their skills in any form of handicrafts taught at the center.
Our visits today mainly focused in the Suntory area, about 70 minutes drive from Shizuoka city.
The first place of our visit was the Fujikawa Craft Park. This 53ha park has a number of recreational facilities and is open to the public who enjoys the natural environment and using the various facilities for picnicking during the weekends and holidays. It has a Fuji garden, calligraphy garden, barbecue area, rest house, playground, old farmhouse, flower garden, canoe pool and picnic area. What a great place to dine and wine! We should have a barbeque of Kobe beef in this place!
The Fuji and Calligraphy gardens we visited had a beautiful landscape with a combination of plants, rocks, sand and water creating a very pleasant environment for visitors to admire the beauty of these gardens. The air was fresh and clean! We spent a short while at the rest house, which was perched on a high ground of the park. From the top, we had a good view of the park and the surrounding environment.
After the garden visit, we visited the Fujikawa craft center, which is a semi structural building housed with seven showrooms and handicraft making workshops. The showrooms displayed a wide range of handicraft items for sales to the public. The items on sale were crystal wares, paper and art products, pottery, wooden crafts etc. The workshops conduct handicraft classes to any young individual or group who like to master their skills in any form of handicrafts taught at the center.
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At around 10.15, we arrived at the Suntory-no-oka-winery. This winery was founded in 1890 but their first production of wines was in 1893. As Mochan had earlier made an online booking for our visit and on arrival at their car park, an officer from the winery escorted us to the winery theatre. At around 10.30, a documentary film was shown to the visitors. This 15-minute show gave a brief commentary on how the winery was started in Suntory, the growing & harvesting of grapes, wine production process and winning wine labels etc. After the show, we were given a conducted tour of the wine production plant and also paid a visit to their wine cellar. At the wine retail showroom, a wine tasting session was held and our group tasted three of the red and white wine labels, which were on sale on that day. We spent some time taking pictures at the frontage of the vineyard, which oversees a valley. The place was very scenic with rows of grapevine trees, pine trees and fully blossom flowers (in bright red, yellow & orangey color) in the foreground.
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Our last visit of the day was the Mitake Shosenkyo Gorge in Chichibu Tama Kai National Park. We arrived at the Park around 15.00 and took a slow walk to admire the natural environment surrounding the Gorge and Park areas. With lush greeneries, tall green trees dotting on both sides of the foot path, coupled with the sound of splashing running mizu(water) cascading from the upstream of the Gorge hitting on layers of rocks along the way, all these made this place very picturesque and we felt very refreshing as we ascended towards the higher ground. Along the way, we saw rocks in the shape of cannon, heads of turtle and bear etc. Feeling tired, visitors could stop at some resting places with stone made table and chairs for you to sit and stretch your legs. We stopped at a a large signboard overseeing the Kakenpo Peak and decided not to walk any further. We made our way back to the front entrance after spending 1.30 hour in the Park.
The Park has a souvenir shop, which just celebrated its 20-year anniversary and we took a group picture using the background of the Park for remembrance. I bought a small piece of sticky rice snack for Y100 (RM3.20), nicely wrapped and come with some peanut coating and the taste was really yummy !
After the Gorge visit and via another entrance within the Park, we visited the Sengataki Fall. We enjoyed the sight of the Sengataki Fall and took a group picture before leaving.
The Park has a souvenir shop, which just celebrated its 20-year anniversary and we took a group picture using the background of the Park for remembrance. I bought a small piece of sticky rice snack for Y100 (RM3.20), nicely wrapped and come with some peanut coating and the taste was really yummy !
After the Gorge visit and via another entrance within the Park, we visited the Sengataki Fall. We enjoyed the sight of the Sengataki Fall and took a group picture before leaving.
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As it was getting late in the evening, Mochan stopped at two adjacent franchised food restaurants along the way and each of us bought a take away meal and ate in the bus. I paid Y580 (RM18) for a set meal of steamed rice topped with soy and slices of pork.
Clear your clutter from your house, car, desk and let new and flowing energy into your life. It was very refreshing each time I visited a Japanese garden, waterfall, onsen (hot springs), park, gorge and places with lush greeneries. In some of these places, the fresh clean air you breathe gives you the qi to re-energize your body.
Clear your clutter from your house, car, desk and let new and flowing energy into your life. It was very refreshing each time I visited a Japanese garden, waterfall, onsen (hot springs), park, gorge and places with lush greeneries. In some of these places, the fresh clean air you breathe gives you the qi to re-energize your body.
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