Stuart comes to visit

So between the kids leaving and Stuart arriving there wasnt too much happening which was good because I still needed to plan some final details of his holiday - although I still had time to check out the Asean Festival, Sakai City Olympics before Stuart arrived on the morning of 16 October, just in time for the Sakai Festival where we enjoyed tea ceremony in Daisen Park and Nanshuji Temple, Pre-Parade Party, Namban Market in Xavier Park and of course the Grand Parade

18 October - Koya-san

Took the train south for about an hour and then a cable car up to Koya-san on a day trip to explore this beautiful mountain-top Buddhist area. We spent the morning in the Eastern part, appreciating the leaves turning to autumn colours in Oku-no-in (the massive graveyeard surrounding Kukai's masouleum) and Stuart managed to pick up the Miroku-ishi - a large smooth boulder that you have to lift up on to a shelf (the weight is said to change according to your amount of sin - I didnt do quite so well....) and the afternoon in the western Garan precinct with the Great Pagoda and Main Hall as well as the massive gate into the city, finishing up with the rock garden and tea at Kongobu-ji

19 October - Osaka Castle

In the day between our day trip to Koya-san and heading up to Kyoto we took a day out to explore a bit of Osaka. Made our way in and wound up the 8 floors of museum to the top look out before heading to Namba for dinner at Shakeys, and introducing Stuart to the charms of Ame-mura, Shinsaibashi, Don Qihote and the Dotonburi

 
20 - 23 October - Four days in Kyoto

In the four days we managed to cover quite a lot - check out my facebook album http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027933&id=220000480&l=c0bfb1c658 for all the photos  of Kyoto Imperial Palace, Ginkakuji, Path to Philosophy, Nanzenji, Kinkakuji, Ryoanji, Tenryuji, Iwatayama Monkey Park, Toji, Nishiki Market, Festival of the Ages, Shimogamo-jinja, Kurama Fire Festival and Onsen, Nishi Honganji, Higashi Honganji, Daitokuji, Kiyomizu-dera, Ninen and Sannen-zaka, Sanae's wedding at Kodaiji, Yasaka-jinja, Heian-jingu, Fushimi-inari-taisha

Here are some photos of a few of the highlights:

Rock garden at Ginkakuji and Stuart becoming an instant celebrity with the schoolkids at Kinkakuji

Tenryu-ji and the Monkey Park in Arashiyama

Exploring Gion at night

Getting up close with Jidai Matsuri and enjoying peaceful Shimogamo-jinja|

Crowded trains and the excitement of Kurama's fire festival before relaxing in Onsen

Kiyomizu-dera and Fushimi-Inari-taisha

Sanae's wedding at Kodai-ji











24 October - Shikoku Udon Tour


Went for a drive with my workmate and her husband to Shikoku to try some fresh udon. First stop was Rumiko-Obaasan's (Rumi-baasan) for the most delicious Y250 bowl of raamen I have ever had. Another drive and we had booked into an udon making class to learn how to make it fresh ourselves which was a lot of fun, before heading off to Kobe for the night.










 
25 October - Kobe

After Indian curry with Colleen, cake and crashing at Rory and Bridgets in Gakuentoshi on Sunday we had the day to explore Kobe. Unfortunately the weather wasnt really on our side so we decided it wasnt worth going up the cable car but enjoyed walking around exploring the streets, Chinatown, Meriken Park and Harbourland - even if Stuart did think Kobe was a bit lame, I enjoyed the day and it felt a lot like Wellington to me, a nice place to live with hills and harbour close together but not a lot of tourist attractions

26 - 28 October - Sakai


I had to be back at work on the 27th to judge a speech contest so we decided to enjoy a couple of slower paced days just chilling around Sakai. Cooked up the udon we had made in Sundays class, went to the Sakai City Museum, did some shopping, and had a few of my workmates over for a takoyaki party.

29 October - Nara

Luckily my JET placement is in Sakai which is just a little south of Osaka, with a pretty good public transport system its fairly easy to get around and quite central to be able to do day trips so headed out to Nara - Japan's first permanent capital.  Checked out the big three - Kofuku-ji, Todai-ji and Kasuga-taisha as well as a few new places I hadnt had time to take the kids early this month as we walked up in the hills to Nigatsu and Sangatsu-do, and tried to collect as many stamps as we could.  Stuart fit through the hole in Daibutsu-den (A supporting post in the Daibutsuden has a hole apparently the same size as one of the Daibutsu's nostrils. Legend has it that those who pass through it will be blessed with enlightenment in their next life) and there were lots of school groups out for the day, and Stuart invested in some deer biscuits to feed the locals.

And before we knew it, Stuarts two-week trip to Japan had come to an end, but I had enjoyed having my first ever visitor in Japan and exploring the sights of the Kansai region together, picked up enough information in English for my brothers to be able to explore on their own when they arrive in 6 weeks..