Prologue: The reason I am posting this letter is because of its informative Tourism content than personal. Good for the interest of travelers.
Hi (BB)
Did you receive a postcard from Japan? I sent it early 2nd week of April. We touched down on the 8th, the birthday of Alex. It was definitely a fast life on that part of the globe.
When I knew Australia for a good 22 years now, I thought Australia is truly a progressive land. When you visit Japan you'll realize that in terms of advancement, we are no way near. But then again our population is only a little over 10% in comparison to that of Japan. Having spent a vacation there made me appreciate their culture the better most especially in the ancient part of Japan.
We spent our first 6 days in Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe. It really was quite confusing if you take note of all streets and walkways but their mode of transport mostly via train made me appreciate the complexity of their commuting system.
Now I realize everything that Richie talked about, the preciseness of their train system i.e. when a train is expected at 8.03, on the dot, not early nor late. Just that-on the dot.
If there ever is something I am too envious about this Asian country, it has
to be their infrastructure. Big and high rise buildings are everywhere even
though Kyoto and OSAKA are ordinary places in Japan, but their collection
of tall buildings are all over, everywhere.
I believe Spring is the best season to visit Japan. It is a Cherry Blossom season. These trees are practically in every huge parks of the ancient part of Japan. This part of Japan has the so called Philosopher's Wal. On one side is a river and then a footpath where locals and tourists alike walk and on the other side is lined with Cherry Blossoms. And just envision the water in the river turning whitish/pinkish as the tiny petals of the Cherry Blossoms directly fall into either the footpath or better still on the smooth flowing water of the nearby river. It certainly is so clean here.
We also visited Osaka Castle. What a magnificent old structure! It was huge atop a mountain. But can you imagine just across this old building, the many tall buildings, old and new, as if the mountain is so so near the bustling city where all the actions are? So many parks to see but there were so many people, 99% locals visiting their parks sometimes with a leashed dog tugged along. They always dressed up their dogs there, name the breed and almost always they have it there and mostly all dressed to kill.
Even the monkeys there are very bright but of course the trained ones. As we got
down this castle, we saw a person with a monkey equipped with all his paraphernalia waiting for a crowd and once the crowd gathered momentum, he commanded this monkey and the monkey in turn did the execution. To say, this monkey is bright (clever). He's got what it takes. Imagine, he is only a monkey but in terms of adoptation, he is readily changeable.
I must admit, this holiday is our best by far. And we are extraordinarily thankful that Richie almost mastered all great parts of this country. Supposedly, the language would be a big obstacle but because Richie was with us, our tour was easy as ABC. Unbelievable!!!
Enough of Japan. How are you keeping these days? Get in touch. I want to hear from you. Till here.
Do take care. Best regards from us all.
signed: L
"Light tomorrow with today". — Elizabeth Barrett Browning
