Our Family's First Snow Experience

Last year, Jan and I visited Mt. Tate (Tateyama) and made a little promise that we’d come back with the kids next time.

And this year, we fulfilled that promise. 😊

Since it’s almost impossible for us to book a winter trip because the season falls while the kids still have classes and the winter season can get really expensive, we decided to experience winter in summer instead. 

So last May while it was scorching hot in the Philippines, we went all the way to the Japanese Alps to let our kids experience snow for the first time.

It was a really long and exhausting journey. We left home at 11pm on the 20th. Arrived in Manila at 3am on the 21st. Our flight to Japan took off at 6:40am. Arrived in Nagoya at 12:50pm (Japan time). Boarded a bus at 5pm and arrived at Toyama at 9pm.

And if you're wondering why we took a red-eye flight when we have kids in tow, it's because there's only one flight to Nagoya per day, and it departs at 6:40am. That meant we had to be at NAIA by 3am to allow enough time for check-in and immigration. And, as expected, the immigration lines were long. So arriving early was definitely the right call.

Then we checked in to our hotel and took a train to Tateyama the next day.

At Tateyama Station

Our journey continued with a cable car ride to Bijodaira, followed by a scenic one-hour bus trip to our next destination, Murodo. And all the while hoping for sunny skies since the forecast had predicted nothing but rain.

When we got there, we thought it would be a letdown. The place is covered in thick fog with almost zero visibility. But we still got to enjoy the snow. Although our pictures looked like we're just in a studio with snow as a backdrop. Haha.

But thankfully, the sun showed up later on and revealed how breathtaking and magnificent the place truly is.

I'll always remember how fascinated they were with snow. It didn't matter that we'd travelled for hours or that we almost didn't get the view we'd hoped for. Seeing how excited they were made everything worth it.

First day pa lang ito, I could say sulit na ang trip namin. :)