光と森 Starlight Illuminations

 Last week we went to Shinrinkoen. For those that do not know, Shinrinkoen is rather big park and a popular spot for events. While you can theoretically walk there from Shinrinkoen station in 45 minutes, it's easier to take the bus which stops at one of the many entrances. While there is a small fee to get in, I do also understand that it contributes towards the upkeep of the park. To give you an idea of how big the park is, there is a shuttle bus that can take you around inside the park. While you do you have to pay to take the bus, it isn't a must, as you can just as easily take a leisurely stroll and admire the views, or even stop by a kiosk along the way. 

While we went there to get a last glimpse of the autumn leaves before the official start of the winter season (which started yesterday), there is also a special illumination event in the park, which is still going on this month. We originally planned to find somewhere to just play a bit of badminton, but we ended up spending our time seeing the illuminations. 

While most of the kiosks closed at 4:00 pm, there were some pop-up stalls and other kiosks where the illuminations were that were open. We ended up having some snacks and something and coffee before we slowly made our way back while admiring more of the illuminations.

Before we left we watched the light show that was by the one of the entrances. It was about of the story of Captain Bubble. From what I could understand, he was fighting a witch by means of... smokey bubbles. And, true to his word, on top of all the lights, bubbles filled with smoke belched out form his castle. I am guessing there was some kind of machine set up inside the castle, given the volume of bubbles that were coming out of the castle at any one time. In any case, it was an amusing light show.

We took the bus back to Shinrinkoen station, where we took the Tobu Tojo line home.

Autumn leaves / 紅葉

So a week after going to Njio to see the Art Aquarium, I went to see the autumn leaves (紅葉）at Toufukuji and Kiyomizudera. During autumn, you can pretty much go anywhere to see the autumn leaves, but it's nice to see temples too, so not why not do both?
I went early in the morning, as I was told that the weekend I was going was actually a long weekend, and so people from all over Japan (and some foreigners too) were swarming to Kyoto that weekend. Despite getting to Toufukuji by around 9:30, it was already getting pretty busy. However, it was totally worth it to see the autumn leaves. For some people, it's not a big deal, but for me, I've never seen this in person before. In Australia, you don't have autumn leaves that turn a nice orange-red colour - they usually just turn brown before falling off the tree. Furthermore, Australia doesn't have temples with significant cultural or historical significance behind them (and I thought us Australians were supposed to be conservative). Anyway, despite the crowds, I was able to get plenty of good views and photos of the autumn leaves and the temples. As Toufukuji was a bit of walk from the station, I was trying various snacks and drinks - After leaving Toufukiji, I had some mitarashi dango, which I had not eaten in a little while (freshly made ones at least), and an interesting ginger drink. Normally I've had ginger drinks warm, so it was an interesting experience to have it cold for a change. Further along the way, I decided to buy some taiyaki from a small vendor.

Later, I made my way to Kiyomizudera, but before going to the temple, I had a look around the shops for souvenirs for the family, and even trying out a lot of samples (分かった、本当にけちけち（笑））. Again, also had some more mitarashi dango, but also went to one stall that I usually go to whenever I'm going to Kiyomizudera to try the Japanese sake flavoured ice cream (日本酒味）, and I also tried okonomiyaki steamed bun for the first time. It was nice, but I still prefer the real thing （笑）.
As expected, by the time I arrived at the temple, it was pretty busy with people trying to get spots wherever possible to get a good view of the autumn leaves. I was able to get a few good spots as well, but I also wanted to get some views of the city too. I was also planning to go to the fountain area and take a drink from there, but compared to the last time that I did it, the line was much longer, and I decided to give it a miss this time.

It was quite a fun and interesting experience, as I never witness this sort of thing in Australia. But now that it's winter here, all the autumn leaves have fallen off the trees. I'm not sure what to expect of winter, as I've not experienced these kind of temperatures before in Australia (オーストラリアだからこそ）. I've already gone though a bit of a fever this past week, but I'll save that story for another post.