300. sky of poppies, chichibu

Sunday was spent going to the poppy fields in Chichibu. After probably too much talking, Yuri and I finally were on our way to the Poppy fields at 3 in the afternoon. It wasn't too far away by car from her place, only a 20-minute drive. I really enjoyed the drive up the mountains because of all the lush greens, small houses, and rice fields. There were already some poppies in sight even before we began going up the mountain.

It was quite crowded and we had some trouble finding a parking space since it was Sunday. Lucky for us, Yuri's car is a small compact one so we didn't have to drive too far away from the fields. She somehow managed to squeeze into a small space somewhere, at the side of the road. We walked down to get to the poppies, the entrance fee was only 200yen.

There wasn't much there except for maybe 3 food stalls, selling dango, fish and yakisoba. The line to use the loo was even longer than the line for food, haha. There were some traditional performances happening, so Yuri and I decided to watch it for a bit before looking at the poppies.

We were greeted with a sea of red as we slowly walked towards the fields. It was the last day of the poppy viewing so it wasn't as many poppies compared to the peak of it, but I was still pretty impressed. It was my first time seeing so many flowers and thank god I am not allergic to poppies. 

It was warm that day and though the sun was really strong and bright, it would get cloudy every now and then, resulting in some not-so-nice-looking photos. The poppies against the blue sky were more ideal for Instagram worthy photos if you ask me.

The poppies actually look nicer in videos swaying in the wind. The view from the fields was really pretty, other than seeing the flowers, the mountains in the distance also added this tranquility that I will never get in the city. 

We didn't spend too long there since I still was planning to leave Chichibu at about 6 that evening. We got back to the car and went to get dinner before heading to the train station. 

The view of the sky and mountains there was just so calming.

I left Chichibu at about 6:30pm and got home, yes, three hours later, at 9:30pm. I had a lot of fun visiting Yuri, it was a first for a lot of things. I'm glad I got to experience the countryside because I don't think I ever will if she wasn't living in Chichibu. 

Having lived in Singapore most of my life, I never got to experience so much nature because Singapore is just a small city where everything is man-made. I have no intention of moving back at all. Maybe that's why I appreciate this kind of trips so much more. I felt a lot better since coming back, I guess I would like to escape every now and then from city life. 

Other than our long, girl talks about almost everything and anything you can think of, I enjoyed hiking with Yuri the most even though we are clearly unfit and don't have the proper attire. We even laughed at how pathetic we are, haha. The next time I visit her, I hope to go to the lake or river. I've always loved lakes and rivers, so I can't wait for that!

Actually, going to the countryside did make me see how different this lifestyle actually is. I don't think I will ever move to the countryside because I am so used to city life, I'm such a city girl. I need to go shopping, go to nice cafes, art exhibitions, and concerts to be happy. Though, I do think that when I get old and stop caring about these unnecessary things, moving to the countryside would be lovely and a fine way to spend the last remaining years on earth.