Skip to main content

Japan Day 9: Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, Arashiyama Monkey Park, Conveyor Belt Sushi, Kinkaku-ji


Arashiyama is so beautiful. So lush, with lots of water. Our first stop was the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove which didn't have as many people as we thought. The bamboo forest was so pretty -so tall, and enveloping. Afterwards, we went to see the monkeys, and was definitely not prepared for another hike in the heat. I wondered to myself how differently-abled people would be able to access the Arashiyama Monkey Park.





Moose was very happy to see monkeys. We fed the apples, and watched their feeding time. We watched the older monkeys steal from the baby monkeys, and watched the baby monkeys ride on the backs of the mama monkeys, and watched the king monkey sit on his tree branch throne and chase away the other monkeys.


Then we tried conveyor belt sushi at Kura Sushi. It's dangerous, haha!!! Each plate is 100 yen, and I wasn't familiar with a few things, so every other one was a delicious surprise. A couple of Japanese gentlemen taught us how to make matcha tea, and a couple other people helped with getting our ticket number, and making sure we responded when our ticket number was called. Soy ice cream is delicious. Lunch made me feel a bit better, so we decided to trek on to see Kinkaku-ji. Again, we were met by a barrage of students on their field trips. Kinkaku-ji is beautiful. The way it reflected in the water is a sight.


I thought I was feeling better, but the heat exhaustion and jetlag finally got to me. I am incredibly prone to migraines, and my head made me feel like throwing up, so we went home, and I needed another ice bath, care, medication, and sleep.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Japan Day 6: Nara Deer Park, Kasuga Taisha Shrine, Todai-ji, Dotonbori, Namba Yasaka, Osaka Castle, Shinsekai

We travelled to Nara, early morning, and walked across the giant forest park to Kasuga Taisha shrine (and was not prepared to climb up stairs again), and met (and were screamed at) by many deer along the way. We fed them cookies, and prompty ran away when we didn't have any more to give them because they definitely do eat any dangling straps or clothing. When they ask for cookies though, they're very polite, and they bow at you! We passed by what seemed to be the central area, as there were a ridiculous amount of tourists running around harrassing deer, and being harrassed by deer. Good on you, deer. It's good that the deer can defend themselves. We saw different kids of deer. Cute, spotted, female ones. Teenage bucks play fighting. The younger ones don't seem as used to humans quite yet, and Moose got head-butted by what seemed to be the Boss Deer. We then went to Todai-ji to visit the Great Buddha. He's massive! There's a colu...

Japan Day 1: Asakusa Temple, Kanda Myojin Shrine, Akihabara, Harajuku, Shibuya

We begin our adventure to Japan. We flew Singapore Airlines, and I really hyped them up to Moose because I knew they had amazing food and service. We had Japanese meals on the flight! Curry and soba noodles! We landed in Narita Airport at around 7, activated our JR Passes and took the JR line to the nearest station to our hostel, Bakurochou Station. The train floors are so clean. We stayed at  Planetyze Hostel . Very cool AirBnb. They have events going on on the main floor. One night was movie night and they were showing Howl's Moving Castle (in English!) We woke up at 5:30am as we were very excited to see Japan. Out first stop was Senso-ji and Asakusa Shrine. We purified, and prayed. We got our omikuji. I got The Best Fortune while Moose got Bad Luck Fortune and I tied it up on the rack for him. It was really nice seeing the area without people, and seeing the locals start their day. It was very quiet. I found myself whispering when I spoke. We experience...

Japan Day 7: Mt. Kurama, Kurama Onsen, Ramen Factory Kyoto to Make Ramen

We began the day with breakfast, and a lovely travel to Mount Kurama where one of the trains we rode had seats facing the window. Had we gone to Japan a little later, I'm sure the foliage would've made for a beautiful train show. When we got to Kurama Station, we knew the truth: it was freakin' hot, and humid. Getting to the mountain was easy peasy, but getting up the mountain made me want to die. Eventually we got to the main temple, patted ourselves on the back, and decided we needed to reward ourselves by going to Kurama Onsen, so we took the cable car down and saw the devastation of what I'm assuming was from the recent typhoon. We walked to Kurama Onsen, and thought how strange it was that it seemd like the town was still asleep at 11:00am. At Kurama Onsen, a gentleman helped us press the appropriate buttons for a ticket, towel, and hand towel (that we could take home). The onsen was gendered, so we gave ourselves 45 minutes to simmer ...