last thursday

Last Thursday, Satoshi took a family from Germany to the monkey park in Nagano.

Remember we went to check it out last November?!

Well, I happened to check their live camera and saw "someone" and took a screenshot ...you might be able to spot him too...

At least there were lots of monkeys for the family to see

He was worried it might be super muddy or the trail would be covered with snow, but he said it wasn't too bad.

Glad that his tour went well.

sunday

Sunday, we thought hanging out by the Minoo Falls would be a nice way to keep cool...

We walked in 3.8 kilometers (2.3 miles) to the falls...

We thought ahead and bought some sandwiches to eat once we reached the falls.

There were tons of people...

Before reaching the falls though, we came across this funky beetle. First time for me to see a blingy reddish one (usually they are blingy bluish-green).

I shot a short video of the falls here, if you are interested, please take a look.

Then this guy came out to look for unattended bento...Of course, Satoshi went up close to it to take its photo...

Apparently he has not learned his lesson when it comes to monkeys....sigh.

The monkey crossed over to where others were eating, it was a good thing no one got hurt, but I was shocked that no one warned those people, they were more intent on filming the whole thing on their phones...

Since the falls did not relieve any heat or humidity, we decided to hang out at Yamamoto Coffee which is located at the middle of the park.

Satoshi ordered a melon cream soda while I ordered a coffee float.

In the afternoon, there was a freak rainstorm that lasted an hour or so, with lightning and thunder.

Lots of excitement, yeah?! How was your Sunday?

ki ki

Yesterday, Satoshi had the day off so we went to see "Moneyball", a great look at the financials of baseball.

Afterwards we had lunch and then bought something for snack.

I got this cream bread that looked like a monkey. This was from the same bakery I bought the rabbit and lion from.

The cream filling was banana flavored and the bread was chocolate...delish.

Did you know that in Japanese the monkey says "ki ki (key key)"?

What do monkeys say in your country?

It is Friday here, we're expecting some rain, hope you have a great weekend!

If you feed them...

minoo2008 (51)
Originally uploaded by katnhwi

Starting next April, the city of Minoo will impose a fine of 10,000 yen (about US$100) for feeding the monkeys in Minoo Park.

Apparently with these feedings, their body rhythms have changed and have increased the amount of births. You might think that an increase in births is not a bad thing, but apparently it is, because the increase seems to have tripled the amount of monkeys within a couple of years.

The increase in monkeys has also increased the amount of attacks on people eating in the park and damages to crops nearby.

There are many other areas in Japan with wild monkeys and similar problems, but Minoo is the first city to place a fine on feeding them.

So, if you feed them (especially in Minoo), be prepared to pay.

p.s. The harvest moon was more spectacular on Sunday night...

minoo

Saturday was sunny but was expected to turn cloudy in the afternoon. We had some errands to run, then we headed to Minoo Park. Year after year, the maples in Minoo are getting less and less red. Kind of disappointing, but this year, we found an "anaba" (hole in the wall or secret place).

We couldn't believe that we did not know about this temple (Shotengu Saikoji), I guess it is because we've only gone the same route every year. The leaves were orange-red, it looked like the trees were on fire! What was even more beautiful were the fallen leaves on the ground, like a red carpet. There was a group sketching, we found an empty bench and had our lunch here.
Lunch was from Tonkatsu Yutaka. In Japanese, yutaka can mean rich, plentiful or abundant. Some males are often named Yutaka in hopes that they will be rich or have an abundant, plentiful life. I had heard that this shop's katsu sandwich was something to be tried, so on our way to the falls, we picked up one jo (first class) 1365 yen (about US$13.65), and one toku-jo (finest) 2100 yen (about US$21). The jo, was thick, meaty but tender and juicy. The toku-jo, was a bit thinner but still tender and juicy. We agreed that we couldn't tell the difference between the two types of pork used and the cheaper one would have sufficed.

Walking the 2.8 kilometers to the falls was slow, there were tons of people oohing and aahing at reddish leaves and the Minoo monkeys. These guys come down every fall to check out what people are having for lunch. Luckily, they aren't too aggressive. Though memories of "other monkeys" brought a cold sweat to my brow and many blurry pictures.

When we reached the falls, there were tons of people sitting in front of it, eating their lunch, chatting, trying to get their photo taken with the falls....the people sitting in front of the falls looked like they were watching a movie or show.
After taking our look at the falls, we made our way back out. It began to drizzle, so we popped into Per Caffe Bianco for some dessert and coffee.

The cafe was quite full and we were able to grab the last table. Service here by Japanese standards is quite slow, but the Japanese just don't know how to relax if you ask me. One guy ordered a coffee and an iced coffee and was wondering out loud why it was taking so long. This cafe brews each cup after it is ordered. I would rather have a cup that was brewed after I ordered it than something instant or sitting in a pot all day.

Satoshi chose the seasonal tart. His tart came with sweet potato sauteed in butter with a dollop of vanilla gelato. I chose the cheesecake. It was dense, rich...delicious. Plus, there was a little surprise at the end, a whole strawberry. Of course, I couldn't eat here without ordering a cappuccino.

The cappuccino art was of "Tonari no Totoro" (I think), a Japanese animation character.

Despite the overcast skies and tons of people, we were lucky to be able to enjoy the last weekend of autumn colors.

Tonkatsu Yutaka
6-1-32 Minoo
Minoo, Osaka
Phone: 072.725.6208
Closed Thursdays
Lunch 11:00-14:00
Dinner M-W, F 18:00-22:00
Sa, Su 17:30-22:00

Per Caffe Bianco
1-8-1 Minoo
Minoo, Osaka
Phone: 072.725.7111
Closed Mondays
Open 9:00-21:00 (UPDATE: hours have changed to 11:00-21:00)

arashiyama

Satoshi had the day off, so we went to Arashiyama.

Most areas were decorated for Tanabata on the 7th. (See the large bamboo poles with decorations hanging from them?)

It's ayu (river smelt) season too, we saw this old man fishing with a really long pole.


Last year, we came about the same time to see the hasu no hana (lotus flowers). This year, they seem to be a little late.

There were some blooming, but I think in a week or two they will be in full bloom.

There were some tombo (dragonfly).


From Tenryuji, we walked to Sagano-yu. I think I heard about this cafe from Tamakikat. This building used to be a sento (bath), but was renovated into a cafe.

The interior was kept with the sento theme--with the tiles and mirrors to make you feel like you are inside the bath.

I had the curry 1200 yen (about US$12), this came with a salad.

Satoshi had the parma ham with tomato hot sandwich--950 yen (about US$9.50). The portions are a bit too small for guys.

Drinks were separate. My ice coffee was 600 yen (about US$6), look at the size of the ice, it was huge! We both agreed that this place was expensive but worth it for the atmosphere.


After lunch, we walked to the JR torokko station, inside the station is an exhibition of older SL (steam locomotives).

It was weird seeing a piano, a gorgeous chandelier and the SL together in the same room.

As we made our way back to the Hankyu station, we noticed a sign advertising a great view.

We decided to check it out. The Arashiyama Monkey Park is located at the top of Mount Iwata.

The admission is 520 yen (about US$5.20) per person and it is worth it.

For the most part of the "hike" it is a steep climb up the hill. You can hear the monkeys rustling in the trees.

Before you go in there are several rules.

1. Don't stare the monkey in the eye
2. Don't touch the monkey
3. Don't feed the monkey outside of the feeding area
4. Don't take a picture on the way

I didn't read the 4th rule and Satoshi disregarded all of the above.

As we got to the top, there were two monkeys along the path, doing "their thing".

Satoshi decided to stare at the monkey (the one with the arrow), and pointed at it.

The monkey got pissed, screamed and chased him. Of course, Satoshi screamed and...ran...

Me, I stopped dead in my tracks and too frozen to move. So there I was with the groomed monkey to the right of me, and the angry monkey to the left of me, between Satoshi and me.

Satoshi kept calling me, come on Kat, come on Kat...but I was too scared. I could hear the monkey hissing at me.

Finally, the monkey gave up and walked away. I stared at the ground, but still it was scary.

I asked Satoshi, "didn't you see that you weren't supposed to stare at them". He said, "yeah, but I didn't think they would do anything."

I said, "but you shouldn't have ran." He said, "I didn't think it would follow me."

As if I weren't already perspiring enough from the humidity.... talk about panic.

So at the top, there was a beautiful view of Kyoto. There was also a resting area.

You could buy food to give the monkeys, but you could only feed them with you inside the resting area and the monkeys outside.

After all that stress, we climbed down the mountain and decided to have some soft serve or soft cream as it is called here. This one was tofu (white) and kuromame kinako (black bean with soy bean powder), the wafer sticking out is called yatsuhashi, it is a famous sweet in Kyoto and is made with cinnamon. The soft serve was not sweet and hit the spot.

Despite the humidity and unnecessary stress, we still had a nice day and made it home just before the rain.

Sagano-yu
4-3 Imahori-cho, Saga-Tenryuji
Ukyo-ku, Kyoto
Phone: 075.882.8985

Arashiyama Monkey Park
8 Genrokuyama-cho, Arashiyama
Nishikyo-ku, Kyoto
Phone: 075.872.0950
Open: 9:00-17:30 (closes earlier during autumn 16:30)
Closed only during severe weather conditions

Have a great weekend! and Happy 4th of July to you in the States!