For the final weekend of November, I packed myself off to Kansai. Having left Friday evening after work and booking my return ticket for the evening of Sunday, I pretty much had two full days to spend (which is never enough, but always fun!)
Saturday morning, I headed out to Minoh Park, which is famous for its waterfall, gentle walk and pretty colors in autumn. It was about a 30ish minute train ride out of Osaka, and although I did have to make a transfer or two, it was pretty straightforward to find. Once you get out there, there are all kinds of people handing out maps of the area (as it's a rather popular spot to get away from the city). Actually though, the map wasn't really necessary in this case...you just have to follow the crowds of people, and you'll find your way fairly easily. Most of the walk follows this nice little river, so if you keep the river in sight, you're on the right track!
The first part of the walk takes you past numerous cafes and shops, as well as an insectarium, before you eventually get to the 'ultimate destination' of the Biwa Waterfall. At the waterfall there were TONS of people and of course everyone wanted to get as close as possible to take pictures, but the good thing about Japan is that everyone is so polite, that once they have taken their pictures, they don't linger in the way, but will move, so the next person is able to get their pictures in.
Apparently this area also has a lot of monkeys as there were signs all over about what to not do with the monkeys. But I didn't see any. Maybe there were too many people around and they were shy. I don't know.
Also on another interesting note about this area -- one of it's famous foods is もみじの天ぷら...which is tempura maple leaves. So basically what they do is they collect the leaves, salt them and then cook them up in a batter. On my way back to the station, I figured I should try it, after all, it's probably a one time thing for me! So, I got myself a little bag and it turns out that all you really taste is the batter. It's really crunchy and kind of sweet and had some sesame seeds in it as well. Not too bad!
What I was just talking about!
After visting Minoh Park, I decided to head out to the Arashiyama district of Kyoto, to see what kind of scenery they had there at this time of year. (even though I already had a fairly good idea that it would be hopping) After multiple train transfers, I eventually got there, and as expected there were tons of people out there. I took a walk along the river and enjoyed some of the beautiful colors and scenery.
After wandering around Arashiyama for a while, I headed back to Osaka, because I was going to go to a live that evening. Yes, the same artist that I often go to see (ヨシダヒロキ). What can I say? It's an addiction. There could be far worse things though. This evening, was as usual, absolutely fun and full of great music. Actually, this time, he wanted the theme to be like a house party, so some of his fans brought 'household items'. During the live he wanted to walk around with his guitar and sing, but because it was packed and because of the way they had set up the chairs and couches this time, it was kind of difficult so he could only move in the front and they thought it was too close, and he almost smacked some of them in the head with his guitar as he turned around, so he figured it was a bad idea and stopped. Also at the beginning of the live (after the first song) he snapped one of the strings on his guitar and one of the guest musicians fixed it up for him while he did some talking. This time it was interesting too because he had a musician who played the saxophone join him and マルシェ, which added even more texture, and it was also fun because they did some, what do you call it? jamming? as well. He also proved once more what a kind person he can be as he walked out his guests as they left, and in my case, walked me all the way to the station (which wasn't actually that far..maybe a 5 minute walk), but I guess he was worried about me because I was on my own, and he made me promise to send him an email when I got back to my hotel, so he knew I made it safely.
The next day, after checking out of my hotel, I went to Nara for the morning and wandered around Nara park for a while.
After that I went to Osaka Castle (so now I've been in all 4 seasons). In that area they were having some kind of Santa run so there were all kinds of people around wearing various santa suits.
Finally, that evening, I took a walk down some of the streets in Yodoyabashi, as that evening they had started their Christmas light festival.
Also at Grand Front, they have set up this iceless skating rink.
For many more pictures,
click here. That's it for now. Keep tuned for more soon!!
