Golden Week
I went spent the (roughly) week-long spring holiday called "Golden Week" with my parents-in-law in Osaka, and seeing as I've been back in Tokyo for a week I thought I should get around to posting about it.
My time was equally divided between playing with my niece Marya, eating enormous meals (including three buffet lunches, and if that doesn't sound exciting then you've never had a good Japanese buffet), and convalescing from yet another cold. Or whatever this thing is. Hours before I was to ride the night bus to Osaka I came down with the exact same sore throat and fatigue as I got last month (and New Years, and now), and knowing I was likely in for a bit of unpleasantness I considered canceling the whole thing and staying in Tokyo. But I figured I'd be better off being miserable around family than being miserable alone, so off I went.
I laid low for a few days, canceling my plans for a day trip to Kyoto and even going to a clinic for some meds. My first visit to a doctor in Osaka, and if that one experience is enough to go on it seems the waiting-time-to-consultation-length ratio is even worse there than in Tokyo. About a two hour wait (including the wait for meds and payment), and 90 seconds with the doctor. True, longer waits are typical during holidays, but I've never been brushed off so quickly by a doctor before.
Luckily the meds worked, which is a good thing because Marya is tireless. She had to go a park every day, and not just a dinky local park but great big special far away ones, full of playgrounds and vast spaces to run around in. She has very specific ideas about what each adult accompanying her should do, such as as who has to race her, who pushes her bike when she's not using it, and who carries the bags. Luckily she's still into the game called "you guys sit still and watch me while I do stuff", so we did get some rest occasionally.
Marya and her mom headed back to Tokyo before we did, and we were sad to see them go. Marya, on the other hand, couldn't wait to say good-bye, so excited she was about riding the "kinkanten" (shinkansen, or bullet train). To help cheer us up, Hideaki drove his parents and I to Kyoto. It wasn't the full day of sightseeing I had originally planned, but I was glad I got to go after all. After a very nice lunch (buffet #2) at the Miyako Hotel we headed to Toji Temple, home of Kyoto's iconic five-story pagoda.
It is 55 metres tall, making it not only the tallest pagoda in Japan but the tallest wooden building in Japan. But not the oldest: although the pagoda was originally built in 826, it has burned down several times over the centuries, and the current structure is a mere 364 years old.
There were some special exhibits that day, with access allowed to a few areas that are normally closed to the public. So (for a steep fee), we got to enter the normally off-limits pagoda and see the statues and paintings inside. Other buildings (the temple actually consists of several buildings) housed treasures associated with Kobo Daishi, founder of esoteric Buddhism and builder of the pagoda.
The gardens were nice too, and full of spring flowers in bloom. But most impressive was this egret, who made a splashy landing in one of the ponds and chugged down a few fish.
And finally, no trip to Osaka is complete without takoyaki (octopus dumplings) or okonomiyaki (savory pancake), so we made sure to have both for lunch. We followed with some yakisoba (fried noodles), but even with that and a big mug of beer this was probably the smallest meal we had all week. Now that we're back home we're trying to eat a bit less to try to balance things out. Not a huge problem though, at least in the takoyaki and okonomiyaki department: they just don't make it right here.


















































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