A good organization/company would surely have very clear job specifications for each position that exists. Likewise, it is important to outline the tasks each individual has to undertake when travelling as a group in a non-guided tour. My family does not enjoy travelling with commercial tour groups for various reasons:
a) such tours are usually more costly
b) we rarely get to go to places which we want
c) we always end up rushing from one place to another
But I think most of all, our family loves the liberty of deciding where to go and when. If we were to wake up one morning and decide not to move our lazy butts anywhere at all, we can always choose to stay in the hotel (though it rarely happens because being the typical calculative Chinese we are, one of us would eventually remind the others how much we have already paid for the trip and how far we had to travel).
As with many other trips we have taken, my brother is the unofficial tour guide. He gathers information from his fellow travel-loving friends and starts planning the itinerary before we leave from home. This time round, because I was also away from work, I managed to lend a helping hand to this task. He booked the hotel, purchased the train tickets, printed out maps and guidebooks, and even made us watch travel clips on YouTube. My tasks, on the other hand, were to learn as many Japanese words/phrases I could and to be the unofficial banker. No, I was not the rich one but I was probably faster at recognizing the denominations. My KPI (Key Performance Index) items were:
a) to use up all the small change so that whatever large notes that remained would be accepted by the money-changer later on
b) to communicate with the locals (be it to ask for directions or to place orders for food).
What about my parents? After working so hard to raise both us up, I think they jolly well deserve to sit back and wait while my brother and I look for elevators, toilets, restaurants, trains, and the easiest routes for them to get from one point to another. =)
Anyhow, it was with such cooperation that we were able to get back to Kyoto on Day 5.
On one of my brother's armchair-travel adventures, he stumbled across a place called Hozukyo. With the JR train pass we had purchased earlier, we decided to make a stop at the Hozukyo station. Personally, I would call it the Platform 9 3/4 of Japan. It was literally in the middle of nowhere. The station was outdoor and there was practically nothing except railway tracks, but the view from just outside the station was spectacular, similar to the scenes which welcomed us in New Zealand many years back.
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| The isolated and deserted Hozukyo station |
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| The surrounding was very quiet and amazingly serene |
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| Who would've guessed such beautiful turquoise water awaits us at Hozukyo? |
Our next stop proved to be one of my favourite spots in Japan: Arashiyama. Saga Arashiyama, as it is known, is on the other side of Hozukyo station. Head over to this place should you need to get some inspiration. The short walk from the train station to the bamboo grove allows tourists to have a peek into the typical Japanese homes. The houses were very neat and their gardens were very well-maintained.
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| If you think life is complicated, look at this tree. I think the branches are much more complicated than my life. |
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| The houses are neatly built. |
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| Even the back lanes are extremely neat. |
If you have ever been to the bamboo groves in Arashiyama, I am pretty sure that you would want to return and experience the beauty of the surroundings at different times of the year. Unfortunately, the pictures were not able to capture the true beauty, so you will probably wonder what is so grand about the place. All I can say is this, "You've just gotta be there to experience it on your own." When the wind blows, the tall bamboo groves hit against each other and transform into a natural wind chime.
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| It will be really nice to see how these groves look like in other seasons. |
Since Friday, 31st January 2015 was the first day of Chinese New Year, we decided to have our belated reunion lunch by splurging at a slightly more expensive restaurant. Coincidentally, we walked into a Chinese restaurant. As much as we enjoyed trying all sorts of Japanese food, I guess we must have started to miss Chinese cooking, after all.
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| Delicious meals from Kyoto Station |
Before heading back to Osaka, we decided to take another detour to the most iconic spot in Inari. You may have seen lots of photos of this place. We were initially quite reluctant to go because we were rather tired after setting out so early. After all, we had seen enough temples and shrines, haven't we? Yet, it would have been such a waste if we had travelled this far and not made a trip there. Who knows if we would ever come by this way again?
So once more, we took the JR Nara line to Inari and got off right in front of Fushimi Inari. Though we had to walk a little further in before we could catch a glimpse of the thousands of red pillars, it was worth the short hike. We decided not to go too far because our exhausted parents were waiting for us at the entrance. It was a good thing we did not venture farther, too, for it apparently takes 2-3 hours to reach the summit of the mount and back.
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| The train station was right in front of the Fushimi Inari Shrine. |
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| The entrance to the shrine |
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| I am guessing that this is one of the guardians of the shrine. There is another similar sculpture on the other side. |
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| Somehow, the scene looks more realistic and photogenic with kimono-clad girls. |
Sure, there were a few other places in Kyoto which we had wanted to go but time did not permit. For instance, I wanted to make another trip to the tiny souvenir shops along the way to Kiyomuzu Dera, and my brother wanted to have a taste of Gion Street. After reading Memoirs of a Geisha, I would also want to see if today's geisha really looked like this ...
That night, we finally got to taste takoyaki (grilled octopus balls) from one of the roadside stalls. Every tour guide recommended this dish, so we bought some for ourselves. In case you are wondering how it looks like, here goes:
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| Takoyaki (grilled octopus balls) |
That was the end of Day 5. It was also our very last night in Osaka, Japan. Unknowingly, we had gradually become very attached to and familiar with our surroundings and would miss this place terribly when we take the flight home the next day.
