Japan

My youngest son, Cam decided to spread his wings and teach English in Japan for 12 months. My husband and I went with him in March to see him get settled. He was very glad to have us there as there was surprisingly little English spoken in Kobe.

We had to get him registered as a resident and find the shops, buy supplies, open a bank account, find out about getting the internet connected, learn to navigate the train system etc. There were lots of little things to do that were much more difficult when there was no English. Even the instructions for the TV we bought were all in Japanese of course.

Here is a photo of Cam all ready for his first day of work. He was pretty nervous and didn't want his photo taken.

Cam

Anyway, we did it and managed to get some sight-seeing done as well.

The first thing we did was see Osaka Castle, Osaka is the closest main city to Kobe where Cam is living.

Osaka Castle

Here is a close up photo of one of the gold decorations that you can see on the roof.

Osaka Castle Roof decoration

Everywhere we looked in Japan we could see these bonsai like pine trees.

Japanese Pine Tree

We went to Kyoto a couple of times. We spent a day at the Fushimi Inari Shrine. It is a huge walk up through the red gates. I wish that I had taken note of how long it took but I was too exhausted. Lots of the young girls wear their kimonos to the heritage sites and I asked one if I could take her photo. She looked so gorgeous.

Japanese Kimono

Here is a photo of some of the shrines at the top to prove that we actually made it.

View of the top

On the way down I took a different route and went through an old village and saw some Koi fish.

Koi Fish

Even though it was early in March we did see a few early blossom trees.

Blossom trees

It must look absolutely beautiful when they are all out.

On another day in Kyoto we went to see the famous Golden Pavilion.

Golden Pavilion

It was a dull day when we were there and we had a bit of rain but it was still beautiful.

Golden Pavilion Lake view

We went everywhere by train and their system is so efficient. I couldn't resist taking a photo of this man in traditional dress.

Japanese man at station

There were special places to stand and line up and the train doors opened at exactly the right spot. You don't have to run around to find a door like we do in Australia. In fact, I never saw anyone rushing the whole time we were there. If you miss a train you don't have to worry because there will be another in 2 minutes. I suppose the population is so much greater over there.

There were lots of attractions in Kobe. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza and right next door was the Kobe Herb Gardens which went right up the mountain. I took so many photos of the beautiful gardens but here is one of me next to the Mother and Child statue. It was starting to sink in that I was going to leave my baby behind.

Me with Mother and Child statue

Kobe is unique in that it is right between the mountains and a harbour.

Kobe Harborland

We enjoyed Harborland because there was a huge western style shopping centre that seemed like it was built for tourists. There was even a International food section with English writing, so we knew what we were buying.

Kobe had a large zoo that was like zoos used to be when I was young, sort of glass cages so you got a really good view of the animals.

Flamingos 

Lions

Panda

On our last day we went to the Kobe Aquarium, it's not as famous as the Osaka Aquarium but it was really good with a huge variety of fish.

Kobe Aquarium

Lionfish

There were decorated manhole covers everywhere.

That is a very brief look at our wonderful time in Japan. I took a lot of photos and absolutely loved our time there.

My son seems happy living in his miniscule apartment and has already had a visit from his girlfriend and a friend from school here in Australia.

I loved Japan, the people are very polite and we felt very safe and didn't worry about leaving Cam over there. I would love to go back again, we didn't get a chance to visit Tokyo and I'd love to do one of those textile tours.

Bye for now,
Linda