Berubes In Japan: I have the secret to the Japanese people's success

Please read on as I reveal the secret to the Japanese people's success at the end of this blog entry.

I'm a strong believer in that the best adventures are the sometimes the ones we don't even plan. Today was a perfect example of that as we ended up doing much more than we originally planned and none of it was on our list of things to do.

Originally we were supposed to head out to Osaka around 9 or 10 this morning and spend the day touring there. However, since we didn't get enough time yesterday to do everything that we wanted to do in Kyoto we decided to hold off on Osaka and if we made it we made, if not, no big deal.

We started off with a quick breakfast at the hotel, nothing special really, and headed off to the train station. Now, I'd like to tell you that yesterday's "wrong train" snafu was the only time that happened but I'd be lying. Ok, well technically we were going the right way, but we went way past our stop. Again, the problem is that they have two trains... one called the Local and the other the Rapid train going to the same end destination. The Local makes all the stops while the Rapid only makes certain stops. Turns out we got on the Rapid. Anyway, no big deal... get off at the next stop, cross over to the other side and wait for the Local train to come. As we were waiting at this unknown location, a young Chinese girl came and asked me for directions. Ya, me. Reason I know she was Chinese is because when I asked her where she was going (I figured I'd just punch it in to Google Maps and help her out) she said she wasn't sure as she only knew the word in Chinese. Told her "Sorry, we're kinda lost too. Kinda like the blind leading the blind." Wasn't sure she'd get the reference but she laughed.

Anyway, at the top of this entry I mentioned that the best adventures are the ones we don't plan. Well, had we gotten on the correct train to begin with we would've missed some amazing scenery from the train. Photos I only captured on my SLR but will eventually post here. Some things just happen for a reason. We finally got to our destination station where we proceeded to walk through this little suburb to the Kyoto Studio Themepark. Highlighted by Ninja's and movie sets and props from old and more current Japanese movies and TV shows. We were lucky enough to get there just in time for a behind the scenes presentation.

The previous night at the hotel I saw a brochure for the Bamboo Forest and thought it would be cool to check out so we headed right there for what would be a quick in and out. When we arrived in Arashyama, we saw signs for "Path of Bamboo" pointing one way, but Google was telling me that the "Bamboo Grove" was a completely different way. I wanted to go where the signs were telling us to go but Jes insisted on listening to Google (by the way, I was right, but I'm thankful I listened to Jes).

Following Google's path we crossed the Together Bridge and took a detour when I saw a sign for the "Monkey Park"... squirrel!.... Jes muffled some obscenities under his breath and when questioned explained he'd never met anyone veer off course so often in his life. I explained that I didn't know if we'd ever get to do this again so I wanted us to fit as much in as possible. Besides, who doesn't like Monkeys. So I paid the 550 yen admission price for each of us after which the clerk mentioned it was JUST a 20 minute walk tot he monkey park.... up hill.... 160 metres, or 524 feet up hill. Thanks for telling us that AFTER we paid. And this is in 80 degree heat.

We began our arduous trek up Mt. Fuji.... well, may as well been Mt. Fuji.... erupting. This was not an easy climb but as people were coming back down the mountain they all confirmed that the journey to the end would be worth it. Well "worth it" doesn't even come close to describing what was waiting for us. Aside from the second best view of our trip (the first being Mt. Fuji outside our room), we were met by dozens of free roaming monkeys. Picture the goats at the Canatara Park animal farm, but with monkeys. It was pretty amazing. One young monkey even came and grabbed at my camera lens as I was shooting him. Unfortunately, my camera wouldn't snap as it wasn't able to focus but Jes got a great shot of him grabbing the lens. Again, accidental adventure that just made our day.

So by this time it's 3 pm, we still haven't seen the Bamboo Forest yet and have yet to make it to Osaka. We stop for some udon for lunch, take a quick stroll through the Bamboo forest, which was impressive in its own right, and made our way to the a bus stop that Google told us we'd be able to catch a bus to our next train station.

Google is great for many things but it's not so great at telling you which side of the street to catch the bus on..... by the way, I'd like to thank the nice old lady who let me use the bathroom in her cafe before catching the bus... those udon noodles didn't not sit well in that heat.... anyway, I digress. As we're waiting for the bus I realize that we may not be on the right side of the street. There's an older 70 something year old man and a group of kids waiting for the bus as well... I figure my best shot with english is to ask the young kids... as much as they wanted to help, it was the older man who interrupted and in his best english was able to tell me we were on the wrong side. Again, Japanese people are the nicest people on the planet. Finally on the bus, we meet Dane from Australia who guesses we're Americans and apologizes for calling us Americans when I tell him we're from Canada. Dane is on full scholarship in university for Electrical Engineering and has been in Japan for 4 and a half months on a work placement. He's actually been trying to get his second placement in Canada but has had no luck so far. We actually learned quite a bit from Dane as he convinced us that we shouldn't get off at the stop Google was telling us to get off at and simply ride all the way to Kyoto station. We learned for instance that Raw Horse Meat is delicious. Go figure.

Yes, we finally did make it to Osaka. We toured the Dotonbori Street region which was pretty impressive. We waited in line for a sushi restaurant that we figured had to be good since.... well, we had to stand in line for it. While right next door was a restaurant that served the famed Fugu or Poisonous Puffer Fish... I couldn't convince Jes, and the sushi restaurant we waited in line for was actually less than mediocre. I guess when the combined age of all three sushi chefs behind the counter is what the age of a true sushi master should be, we really shouldn't be surprised. After a couple hours in Osaka it was time for us to make the 30 minute train ride back to Kyoto Station and catch some well deserved sleep before grabbing the Shinkansen in the morning for a bittersweet last day in Japan.

Today was a great day. Captured some amazing photos, videos, and memories. Whenever I think we've had the best day yet... we have another. Tomorrow night we spoil ourselves and the last blog entry in Japan will be coming to you from Cerulean Tower in Shibuya.

Hope you all enjoyed this edition of Berubes In Japan as we come to the conclusion of this amazing once in a lifetime experience. Enjoy the photos...