[Japan]: November 2012 - Autumn colors and family
Hi everybody! 
Hope you're all fine?
It surely has gotten cold recently - even here in Kansai.
I'm sorry that I haven't been around much, but as I told you in one of my previous entries it's the busiest time for me right now - until the middle of January.
It's mainly all good things, but I'm still insanely busy because of them!
My family came to Japan for (only) one week.
It was the second time for my brother (as some of you might remember).
I was busy creating a good travel plan for them. My brother mainly wanted to see Kyoto and Osaka as he didn't see anything of Kansai last time he came.
I could only spend 4 full days with them because of work. I even took one day off to have 4 consecutive days, but I also did day trips on my working days where I had to leave them in the early afternoon. Extremely busy and exhausting I tell you!
I was the first one to get up in the morning to make them breakfast, then guided them around, then had lunch with them, then rushed to work, worked for 8h, came back home to make sure they had everything they needed, made a list with train and bus times for the next day for the time I wouldn't be around so that they knew how they could come back to my apartment .... and was thus the last to go to bed. PHEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Although it was super exhausting I was very happy that they came, of course.
I wish they could have stayed longer, although I'm not sure my body would have lasted any longer ^____^;; ....
It was also interesting to see what they noticed about Japan ... things that I have gotten used to and totally ignore nowadays, but now that they had mentioned them, I do recall having the same thoughts back then!
For example, they said they would have washed my dishes, but they didn't know how to plug the kitchen sink. *g*
In Germany you plug the sink just like your bathtub and that's where you wash your dishes. That's exactly the same issue I had when I first came to Japan.
They also said that Japanese people always seem to be in a hurry and that Japan is extremely loud!
They wanted to know what all the announcements in the train or bus or in the convenient store mean. *g*
All the stations, all the traffic lights .. everything is making some noise! XD ....
Gawd, it was nice to see Japan through their eyes, because I truly forgot how it was when everything was still new to me! (^_____^')
Here are a few photos of last week's trip with my family:
Kiyomizudera in Kyoto.
We weren't very lucky with the weather. You know how "lucky" I alone always am ... and you know that together with my brother we almost couldn't climb Mt. Fuji because of a typhoon. No wonder that it gets even worse when all of us get together, huh?
Despite the weather there was an insanely amount of people in Kyoto!
I've been in Kyoto many times. During cherry blossom season, during the famous Gion Festival ... all very popular times ... and yes, there were MANY MANY people, but THIS TIME it was BEYOND my imagination!!! It was completely fucked up!! (x___X') ....
It was a 3-day weekend and the peak of the autumn leaves. It was the last chance for everybody to enjoy the autumn leaves and Kyoto is the most popular and famous spot in Kansai ... even for Japanese it seems. *sigh*
There were a few situations that were even dangerous because there were too many people! In all my time in Japan (and you know that I've been to many places in ALL seasons) I have NEVER experienced such a thing!
NEVER AGAIN!!!! :( .....
While I was sort of ok with the crowds, my family wasn't! ^-^; .....
It was much more exhausting that way, too!
Yet, I fought my way through the crowds to get some nice shots!
Here's another shot of Kiyomizudera.
We also went to Fushimi Inari (how many times have I been there now? XD ...) and Tofukuji, Nijo Castle etc.
As the weather wasn't good I won't post any photos of that time and instead go with the ones where the weather was nicer! ^__^;
Beautiful autumn colors at Nanzenji, Kyoto. Shortly before sunset the sun FINALLY came out that day!
My family really enjoyed okonomiyaki! ^______^
I mean .. how can you NOT love it, right?!
We also went to Arashiyama on the only day with good weather!
It was so extremely beautiful. I'd say even more beautiful than in spring!
It's such an awesome place! If you've never been there I highly recommend visiting!
It was dangerous to pass Togetsukyo (the famous bridge) as there were so many people and cars ..... once across the bridge you could observe people taking boat tours, though! ^^
Can I live there please??? ^-^; ....
The autumn colors were also much more beautiful with proper sunlight and blue sky in the background!
I decided to guide my family to the monkey park and surprisingly there weren't many people up there!
I wonder why! It's so beautiful up there! You get a great view over Arashiyama. You can see all the way to Kyoto Station ... and you get to see cute monkeys who run around freely there (so be careful! XD ....)
As it was pleasant up there and quiet with only the monkeys making noise, we spent quite some time up there to relax.
Crowds of people at Tenryuji and other spots. It was crazy, but the leaves were beautiful! ^_^;
(Note: I waited for a long time to get that shot. Imagine there to be no free spot at all. Everything full of people the whole freaking time! ...)
Chaos at Kyoto Station!
That was not rush hour, it was early afternoon!
You had to stand in line for a long time to get tickets (I have ICOCA, but my family needed tickets), there were no coin lockers anywhere after 9am and the baggage room was completely full, too (luckily I had foreseen that ...) and I saw many people who had to carry around their huge luggage all day long. CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The second half of their vacation was a bit more quiet. First of all, the long weekend was over and second, I led them to places with fewer tourists in general.
On Monday it was raining cats and dogs so we went to Osaka Aquarium - and didn't do anything else. Instead we went to my apartment early on and had a nice dinner there and talked for hours.
I showed them my beloved Himeji Castle and they really liked it! ^____^
I also said hello (as always) to the many poor stray cats in the castle park! :/ ....
Another day I showed them Okayama, so we went to the famous Korakuen (one of the 3 most beautiful gardens in Japan).
That's how the garden looks in spring.
Such a beautiful garden with a lot of koi!
And I also showed them Okayama Castle, of course! ^__^; ....
All in all I hope they enjoyed Japan and the autumn leaves!
My printer stopped working and I was about to buy a new one, but my brother managed to fix it.
I miss having people around me who can do things I can't and can help me out when needed! ;____; .....
(......................................)
There's still some cleaning up, laundry and stuff to do now that they're gone, but I decided to take a break this weekend!
Before they came I was in a rush to finish booking all the flights for Okinawa ... and the hotels .... and I barely finished. It was 2am by that time and I had to get up at 4:30am to catch an early train to Kyoto and meet my family.
In 3 weeks I'm already off to Okinawa and right after that is a wedding of a former co-worker.
On top of that I also need to renew my ARC (alien registration card) - or rather get the new residence card ... and renew my visa ASAP!!!!!!!
I really hope I can relax in February for a bit. This year has been crazy!!!!
And how are you all doing?
Kisses~
Hope you're all fine?
It surely has gotten cold recently - even here in Kansai.
I'm sorry that I haven't been around much, but as I told you in one of my previous entries it's the busiest time for me right now - until the middle of January.
It's mainly all good things, but I'm still insanely busy because of them!
My family came to Japan for (only) one week.
It was the second time for my brother (as some of you might remember).
I was busy creating a good travel plan for them. My brother mainly wanted to see Kyoto and Osaka as he didn't see anything of Kansai last time he came.
I could only spend 4 full days with them because of work. I even took one day off to have 4 consecutive days, but I also did day trips on my working days where I had to leave them in the early afternoon. Extremely busy and exhausting I tell you!
I was the first one to get up in the morning to make them breakfast, then guided them around, then had lunch with them, then rushed to work, worked for 8h, came back home to make sure they had everything they needed, made a list with train and bus times for the next day for the time I wouldn't be around so that they knew how they could come back to my apartment .... and was thus the last to go to bed. PHEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Although it was super exhausting I was very happy that they came, of course.
I wish they could have stayed longer, although I'm not sure my body would have lasted any longer ^____^;; ....
It was also interesting to see what they noticed about Japan ... things that I have gotten used to and totally ignore nowadays, but now that they had mentioned them, I do recall having the same thoughts back then!
For example, they said they would have washed my dishes, but they didn't know how to plug the kitchen sink. *g*
In Germany you plug the sink just like your bathtub and that's where you wash your dishes. That's exactly the same issue I had when I first came to Japan.
They also said that Japanese people always seem to be in a hurry and that Japan is extremely loud!
They wanted to know what all the announcements in the train or bus or in the convenient store mean. *g*
All the stations, all the traffic lights .. everything is making some noise! XD ....
Gawd, it was nice to see Japan through their eyes, because I truly forgot how it was when everything was still new to me! (^_____^')
Here are a few photos of last week's trip with my family:
Kiyomizudera in Kyoto.
We weren't very lucky with the weather. You know how "lucky" I alone always am ... and you know that together with my brother we almost couldn't climb Mt. Fuji because of a typhoon. No wonder that it gets even worse when all of us get together, huh?
Despite the weather there was an insanely amount of people in Kyoto!
I've been in Kyoto many times. During cherry blossom season, during the famous Gion Festival ... all very popular times ... and yes, there were MANY MANY people, but THIS TIME it was BEYOND my imagination!!! It was completely fucked up!! (x___X') ....
It was a 3-day weekend and the peak of the autumn leaves. It was the last chance for everybody to enjoy the autumn leaves and Kyoto is the most popular and famous spot in Kansai ... even for Japanese it seems. *sigh*
There were a few situations that were even dangerous because there were too many people! In all my time in Japan (and you know that I've been to many places in ALL seasons) I have NEVER experienced such a thing!
NEVER AGAIN!!!! :( .....
While I was sort of ok with the crowds, my family wasn't! ^-^; .....
It was much more exhausting that way, too!
Yet, I fought my way through the crowds to get some nice shots!
Here's another shot of Kiyomizudera.
We also went to Fushimi Inari (how many times have I been there now? XD ...) and Tofukuji, Nijo Castle etc.
As the weather wasn't good I won't post any photos of that time and instead go with the ones where the weather was nicer! ^__^;
Beautiful autumn colors at Nanzenji, Kyoto. Shortly before sunset the sun FINALLY came out that day!
My family really enjoyed okonomiyaki! ^______^
I mean .. how can you NOT love it, right?!
We also went to Arashiyama on the only day with good weather!
It was so extremely beautiful. I'd say even more beautiful than in spring!
It's such an awesome place! If you've never been there I highly recommend visiting!
It was dangerous to pass Togetsukyo (the famous bridge) as there were so many people and cars ..... once across the bridge you could observe people taking boat tours, though! ^^
Can I live there please??? ^-^; ....
The autumn colors were also much more beautiful with proper sunlight and blue sky in the background!
I decided to guide my family to the monkey park and surprisingly there weren't many people up there!
I wonder why! It's so beautiful up there! You get a great view over Arashiyama. You can see all the way to Kyoto Station ... and you get to see cute monkeys who run around freely there (so be careful! XD ....)
As it was pleasant up there and quiet with only the monkeys making noise, we spent quite some time up there to relax.
Crowds of people at Tenryuji and other spots. It was crazy, but the leaves were beautiful! ^_^;
(Note: I waited for a long time to get that shot. Imagine there to be no free spot at all. Everything full of people the whole freaking time! ...)
Chaos at Kyoto Station!
That was not rush hour, it was early afternoon!
You had to stand in line for a long time to get tickets (I have ICOCA, but my family needed tickets), there were no coin lockers anywhere after 9am and the baggage room was completely full, too (luckily I had foreseen that ...) and I saw many people who had to carry around their huge luggage all day long. CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The second half of their vacation was a bit more quiet. First of all, the long weekend was over and second, I led them to places with fewer tourists in general.
On Monday it was raining cats and dogs so we went to Osaka Aquarium - and didn't do anything else. Instead we went to my apartment early on and had a nice dinner there and talked for hours.
I showed them my beloved Himeji Castle and they really liked it! ^____^
I also said hello (as always) to the many poor stray cats in the castle park! :/ ....
Another day I showed them Okayama, so we went to the famous Korakuen (one of the 3 most beautiful gardens in Japan).
That's how the garden looks in spring.
Such a beautiful garden with a lot of koi!
And I also showed them Okayama Castle, of course! ^__^; ....
All in all I hope they enjoyed Japan and the autumn leaves!
My printer stopped working and I was about to buy a new one, but my brother managed to fix it.
I miss having people around me who can do things I can't and can help me out when needed! ;____; .....
(......................................)
There's still some cleaning up, laundry and stuff to do now that they're gone, but I decided to take a break this weekend!
Before they came I was in a rush to finish booking all the flights for Okinawa ... and the hotels .... and I barely finished. It was 2am by that time and I had to get up at 4:30am to catch an early train to Kyoto and meet my family.
In 3 weeks I'm already off to Okinawa and right after that is a wedding of a former co-worker.
On top of that I also need to renew my ARC (alien registration card) - or rather get the new residence card ... and renew my visa ASAP!!!!!!!
I really hope I can relax in February for a bit. This year has been crazy!!!!
And how are you all doing?
Kisses~