This past Monday was a public holiday. And it was a beautiful sunny day. So on the spur of the moment, we decided to hit the roads and drive to Gotemba Premium Outlets. Right next to Mt. Fuji. The goal was not so much to shop, but to take a drive out to the "countryside", let Kai run about and just browse the shops a bit.
We have been there a few times and although it claims to be a factory outlet, it has not been that much cheaper in my past visits. The outlet prices at Coach/Gucci/Ferragamo are actually higher or the same as the regular shop prices in Singapore. So I was not expecting to buy much at all. Maybe at best just a pair of sneakers as I just discovered last week that there was a good reason why I was not feeling any bounce in my more than 3-year old pair - the rubber sole has worn out and there was actually a hole!
The drive out was nice. But it was a pretty weird driving experience. We have been on highways many times, including this highway that brought us to the outlet. Usually pretty smooth. However on this day, there were just so many crazy drivers that I was ansty. There were quite a few cars that whizzed down the right-lane. Tomo thinks they were going at more than 200km/hour. They did not slow down when cars got in their way, which caused those cars to quickly and dangerously swerve into the next lane. And the big trucks too. Trundling along very quickly on the express lane and often changing lanes. It all felt very unsettling. But the scenery was beautiful. So nice to get out of Tokyo.
Like most places in Japan, there was a long Q for the car park. Pre-kids, that would have gotten me annoyed. But now with kids in the car, I actually don't mind car park Qs that much as it means that we have some extra quiet time, as the kids are usually sleeping at the back. About the only time they sleep actually.
Unexpectedly, I bought quite a few things. I got a pair of Timberland sneakers for US$35. They usually retail at US$160. The colour I liked, they had the very last pair in my size. Very pleased with this as if I had seen this pair of shoes at a regular price at a regular Timberland shop, I would have been lusting after it! Was not looking to buy any casual winter overcoat but Land's End had a very nice coat going for US$45, and it usually sells for US$200. Again, the very last one in my size. Really happy with the coat because I got it so cheap, I don't care if Kai/Taiga get it all dirty. (And that's the reason why I don't bother walking in to Gucci/Ferragamo anymore, although I could not resist a quick peek at MaxMara). Went home feeling very pleased with the purchases and the money I saved! ;-)
And incidentally, the shoes were 25cm and my coat, an XL! I actually thought the coat might me a bit small and asked the lady if they had a bigger size for me to check it out. That's when I was told that's an XL and they don't get any bigger!! For those of you who know me, you know I am not that huge! But can't complain, my non-petite size gets me good deals at sales here in Japan (in the foreign-brand shops). At size 25, I can hardly buy shoes at the regular Japanese shops. They pretty much stop at size 22. As for those nice strappy, elegant Japanese shoes, I think they all stop at size 18. LOL! They only have granny shoes, if at all, for my size 25. As for clothes, I am again limited to the foreign brands. For the Japanese brands, the shoulder part is always too tight, the sleeves too short and the pants - they won't go past my calves! Again, I am not huge, I am about 162.5 cm and 60kg. But I guess that's huge in Japan where the women eat little and for my height, weigh about 50kg.
The shops closed at 7pm which was way too soon. At about 6pm, as the sun was setting, I got this lovely shot of Mt. Fuji.
After leaving the outlets, we went to the nearby Royal Host for dinner. Of all the family restaurants, I like this the best. We were just about to turn into the expressway to go back home after dinner when Tomo commented that the road we were on was the national road (Route XXX) that goes right by our house. Feeling adventurous, wanting to check out the local scene and to feed my curiousity about the places that this national road passes (this curiousity has been there for abt 5 years already as we normally travel only the same stretch around Tokyo but know that it goes all the way out to other parts of Japan), we decided to go home via the local roads instead of the highway. The first 15 mins was th most difficult part. First it was mountain roads and we were afraid that Kai would throw up, as he has shown motion sickness in the past. Thank god he fell asleep so no worries on that. Then after the mountain roads, we hit this stretch where it was 1 lane for each direction. The roads were curvy and narrow, there were no road separators between the different directions and the trucks travelling the other direction were going so FAST! One mistake in judgment on their part and our car would be thrown off the road. That was really scary and I vowed then never to take this road again. But, as it turned out, that stretch lasted only a couple of minutes and after that, the roads got back to normal. It was interesting to see that this part of Japan had its share of Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDs etc, but also other interesting local restaurants. There was a little road works going on so we detoured into a local residential estate and they had some nice houses there. Not as rural as I thought it would all be! It took us 1 hour more than the highway to get back home but we learnt 1/2way through that there was a long jam on the highway, so who knows, we could well have been faster on the local roads. Not to mention that we saved US$21 for the highway toll!
It was a pleasant day and I am sure we would be going back again someday.
