Hello from the land of the rising sun again!
this is me in Hong Kong before the final leg of the journey.
Jeff and I have decided we are too old with too many anxiety issues to fly the roundabout way in the future… Perhaps shell out the dollars and go direct.
we got to Osaka pretty early in the morning, but because we were slightly dead and our hotel wouldnt be ready for check-in for hours, I found a cabin hotel thingy. Basically we booked a spot each for 6 hours… we could get a shower and sleep and attempt at acting human before tackling the trains to get to our hotel.
each pod had what was essentially a roller door and a bed inside. Separate wings for male and female. Nice big bath and shower area.
it was bliss to lie down and sleep. We had been on the go for over 24 hours since we woke at 4am to leave Tassie.
With the help of my friend, I’d found a Japanese business hotel quite close to the airport… Only three stops down the train line. They were so nice. Our room was quite big. No tourists!
And a shrine just over the road!
I went and raided the convenience shop for drinks and sandwiches etc and later went back to the airport to meet Rachel so she didn’t have to navigate to the hotel alone. Was great to see her again. She was much more sensible and travelled to Sydney a couple of days before flying a direct flight!
We had two nights in Osaka so we didn’t have to rush off straight away. The next day we all felt up for a trip into town… And spent hours in the underground shopping area browsing and eating…. And memorably, all buying glasses (even Rachel who doesn’t need them haha… But some reading ones) they are insanely inexpensive compared to home. So… Why not get a back up pair? It was just fun interacting with the staff and sorting it all out. I guess at some stage we will do a selfie with our new specs.
Saturday and it was time to get on to the cute Hello Kitty motif train to speed into Kyoto, where we plan to spend two weeks invading the wonderful Sakurai Family.
I’ve known Mari and Koichi for about 34 years now. They are a super fun family. Their daughter Moe is now married to a lovely man, Ryota and they have an adorable little boy, Ito.
Moe and Ryota making up a version of takoyaki… so good! We love it that meals here are interactive events. As well as tasty and entertaining!!
Grandpa Koichi and Ito clowning around
Mari in charge of the yaki soba…
we all had a go at making the takoyaki
the weather has been hot and humid… Much more so than I expected being October! But today was cooler, but sunny and windy. Much like Tassie now!! So we set off to see a small event. Koichi makes traditional shoes for Maiko (Geisha) and his friend was doing a photoshoot.
but… On the bus, Jeff sat next to a fellow who struck up a conversation and told him about another event happening today… A display done only twice a year, which was archery done by horseback!! So we changed plans on the fly and took the opportunity to see this amazing event.
The horse and riders race by three targets and shoot at full gallop!! Then return to attempt two more difficult targets on the way back.
This horse was in his box waiting for tourists to buy and feed him a snack haha… He was really impatient knowing the snack was there but people were slow as they set up for a photo while doing so.
the shrine area itself was so pretty
not a lot of foreign tourists … Probably not something that would have been widely known about.
i love the way Japanese can take a smallish area and design it so it seems so big.
we can just start seeing some leaves who have realised it’s autumn. But mostly things are still very green.
There was a parade of people which I got photos of with my real camera… But we did get some quick snaps from behind the fence where we were by accident as the horses and riders joined in.
the traditional outfits are wicked cool
The event itself was very exciting… Lots of crowd excitement when the target was hit and sighs of disappointment for the riders when there were misses.
so glad we heard about this and went!
to finish the day we went up to Kurama and up in a cable car to see the shrine of Tengu. It was part of the hike I did last year. The cable car made it easy!!
Back home we had another excellent dinner… Nabe…
Now we are caught up!! Better get some sleep… Big market day tomorrow!!
xxx
