Back to Canberra

The trip back from Japan (10 days ago) went smoothly - from catching the Shinkansen from Kyoto back to Tokyo ..........

....... then our overnight stay (and another bowl of noodles) at an airport hotel at Haneda (Tokyo) ......

.... and the thrill of seeing this view of Mt Fuji from our hotel window ........

This is the best view we've ever got of Mt Fuji in all the times we've been to Japan!

We had a long wait in transit at HK Airport before our overnight flight back to Sydney - lucky it's so spacious, so light and airy and such a modern airport!

Back in Canberra we took a few days to recover our energy levels - just in time to celebrate Joshy's birthday last weekend with a happy meal together at the atmospheric Meat & Wine Co, just up the road from us in the city.

Everyone was in fine form and we had a lot of news to catch up on while enjoying the great food and wines on offer .......

That's a burning spice roll that Abi is "smoking".

Although it was Joshy's birthday, Rob ended up getting the special treatment from wait staff on the night - which was ok because it was his birthday too this month!

Today was the last Friday of the month and the last Friday of the school holidays here - a perfect excuse to take the girls out to lunch before the grind of School/uni/work starts again.

We picked Japanese again - our fave Canteen (Ramen Daddy) at Dairy Road.

.. and afterwards at the nearby Under Bakery so the girls could try their signature cardamon buns for dessert. Both the girls have had hair cuts during the week. Ella's hair looks remarkably different; Abi's looks like it did before only better. We think Ella's new style really suits her new uni student persona!

Abi's still rockin' her regular cheeky high school persona.....

PS: As we were making our way back from Japan Abi and Sammy were competing in a Canberra Pony Club Jumping Event (85cm). Sammy successfully pulled off his best jumping round ever and they both won a second place in the event (narrowly missing out on the winning time). We think that colour red really suits Sammy's dun coat (but blue might even suit him better??). In any case this pair make a great jumping team!

Kyoto with Ella - day four

We headed out to the western outskirts of Kyoto today. Arashiyama is popular with visitors because of its riverside setting, its beautiful temples and shrines, it's extensive gardens and most of all for its famous bamboo grove. The bamboo grove was our first stop at Arashiyama this morning.

On our previous visits the paths through the bamboo forest have been crowded with people - but today was not too crowded at all!

My bamboo grove shot of the day ...............

We also visited the gardens of the Tenryu-ji (Zen Buddhism) Temple which is one of the oldest temple gardens in Japan and a designated UNESCO site.

Climbing higher into the mountains we found the Jojakko-ji Temple, which I remembered from a previous visit for its steep, understated gardens and its mesmorising bell ringer.

To get to Arashiyama's Katsura River we had to make our way down Nagatsuji-dori (street), avoiding all the tour groups, rickshaw drivers and crowded shops and cafes along the way. 

This is our last full day of enjoying being tourists in Japan so we're making sure we sample all our favourite Japanese treats one last time. Matcha icecreams were eaten along Nagatsuji-dori and Ella took the opportunity to sample one of these pickled cucumbers on a stick. She pronounced it a delicious snack.

The Katsura River ........

Arashiyama's famous and picturesque Togetsu-kyo Bridge .........

We are going to miss seeing Japan's decorative drain covers when we leave ........

And the incredibly efficient use of small spaces ..........

We decided to have a feast of all our favourite Japanese snack foods for our late lunch & dinner tonight. Ella is an inspired 7-11 shopper ..........

And we finally got our timing right for a dumpling meal from our old fave 551 Horai from Kyoto Station.

.. and dessert snacks in abundance ......

We're heading back to Tokyo tomorrow and staying overnight at a Haneda airport hotel ready for an early morning flight back to Australia on Monday morning. We have loved our time with Ella in Japan and felt so lucky to have her upbeat company, quirky perspective on things, long conversations, keen observations and complete confidence handling navigation and vending machines!! It's just been wonderful.....

Kyoto with Ella - day three

We woke to a sunny clear sky day here in Kyoto today, with the promise of a 14oC max day. We started the day slowly with breakfast in our little apartment and a good coffee afterwards at a coffee shop in the Aeon Mall next door. 

Ella has a friend who is also visiting Japan with his family and we were all amazed to meet them as they were walking to their their hotel after having just arrived (by Shinkansen) from Osaka, an amazing coincidence considering this is a city of 1.4 million people and Kyoto Station must be one of the busiest areas in this city.

For us it was a perfect day to see Kinkakuji, the so called Golden Pavillion, a World Heritage listed Zen temple in northern Kyoto. The top two floors of this temple are completely covered in gold leaf - and it was all really sparkling in the sunshine this morning.

The temple started life as a retirement villa for a powerful Shogun - becoming a Zen temple, according to the Shogun's will, after his death in 1408. It has burned down numerous times throughout its history, most recently in 1950 when a fanatical monk set it alight. The present structure was rebuilt in 1955. Apparently it took 20kg of gold leaf to complete the gilded finish at that time. 

Kinkakuji was built to echo the extravagant culture of the aristocracy in the Shogun's times. We all remarked on how the Trump era is echoing all these grandiose dreams too - just not with the same level of taste.

We walked around the temple gardens which are still in their centuries old layout. People throw coins at these small groups of statues for good luck!

We loved the detailing on this Edo era teahouse in the temple grounds.

I also love this pic of Ella striding out in one of the many lines of the massive Kyoto Railway Station. She has incredible aptitude for noting detail and a great sense of direction. So she has become our natural travel leader working out the sometimes very complex and confusing (but very efficient) Japanese public transport system. 

The big historic sites in Kyoto are very spread out so we have been very dependent on the train and bus system to get around. Ella is owning this particular space!

As well as all its other attractions Kyoto Station has a floor of street style ramen restaurants on its 10th floor. We tried one today for our late lunch. It was delicious of course. We are all really enjoying the food on offer here and the long conversations we can share over our regular coffee and food stops.

We did some more exploring around the older streets and arcades of Kyoto downtown in the late afternoon. I avoided buying a kimono and Ella avoided looking for more vintage treasures even though there were definite opportunities there.