Because we are Canadians no matter where we are, we spent the morning paying close attention to both the Maple Leafs and the Blue Jays! Or at least Joe did. There was also laundry, and books, and playing and working.
We had a simple lunch at home and headed out. Joe had a temple destination in mind, and we set off for the bus. First though, our neighbour’s little tree looked so pretty, I had to stop and take a photo:
Every time we take the bus, Joe looks at me quizzically and asks “why is it going this route today”, not realizing it’s the same bus every time, the same route, the same stops, just different people and we are in different seats. I try to point out the Boston Hamburg restaurant, the YMCA from our first Saturday here, the first temple we visited, all to no avail. He is still surprised, every time.
We got off at the second to last stop on the route, right across from this tiny temple. There was a bride and groom taking wedding photos there today, so my pics are few and hurried.
We even found a row of Torii gates! These gates symbolize the transition from the human world into a sacred space. Some places, like a special place we’re visiting in November, has only one, and others have thousands in a row, creating quite the photogenic effect.
Right behind the temple was the beginning of the beautiful Tennoji Park, where we have only really explored a tiny corner. We still have an entire zoo to visit there! We went up on a hilltop, where all the writing was in Japanese and a group of men in business-looking attire were taking pictures of the placards and giggling as if at the bar, so we walked back down. We later found out it’s a burial hill, so it makes me even more curious as to what they were laughing at.
At the bottom of the hill, in addition to mosquitos and other lovely flying creatures, we found a serene lake with turtles, fish and ducks, all racing towards anyone leaning over the railing. We even saw a man tossing bread from a (hidden from us) higher level view point, all we saw was bread falling and ducks scrambling.
Once the park had been thoroughly explored, we ducked into our favourite Abeno Q mall, only steps away. By now, we were hungry for a snack, and it looked like it was about to rain. We chose the 3rd floor entrance and ended up right next to the food court. Brilliant! It was a complete zoo today though, but I have a few good table hunters in my crew, so we soon found a table where the occupants were just about to leave, and we could settle in.
I sent Joe and the girls to go get me something to eat, as I was hungry, and I said I wanted a cold drink. They returned with ice cream corn flake sundays for the girls, an iced latte for Joe and a mango soda float for me. It might not have been food, but it was delicious, and kind of did the trick.
We didn’t really have anything to shop for, but a mall is a mall, and there’s always cute stuff to admire. There are also claw machines and gachapon areas to explore, and both girls love running around evaluating what’s worth spending their treasured coins on.
We soon tired of the mall, and decided to head home. We got home just before 4pm, discovered that our laundry was nowhere near dry, and we tested out the “dry air” function on our washing machine. The clothes were still damp, so we hung them back up. I think it’s supposed to cut down on drying time, and it only took us two months to explore all the washing machine functions, but we’ll get the hang of this!
That’s one thing I wish this AirBnb host did differently, instructions or manuals on the hot water, the washing machine and the stove would be great. The day we arrived, I took a photo of the big gas operated thing over the sink, and was told “don’t touch”. So I didn’t. After two weeks, we figured out that’s how we get hot water to do dishes with…
BUT! I’ve forgotten to mention – I bought a new hand soap not too long ago, because I’ve been hunting for this one! I’m going to carry it when empty around the world and refill it with Norwex soap when we get home.
The little tree is beautiful! I was wondering if they have electric power bikes there?
Yes, they sure do! Most are push bikes, but every once in a while, an electric one whizzes by!