Dream of Red Mansions- Welcome back

Stopping to get off and on the same plane in China, my mother-in-law buys fruit from a vendor in the airport, washes it in water in the bathroom and now it's fit for my kids to eat. No thank you. Mind you if we were at the house, this would not be clean enough, so why is it clean enough now? They were happy as clams to be back in China. I was immediately disheartened by the dirt and garbage and rudeness than I was when I first arrived in Beijing.
The next morning we went to check my mom into the hotel across the street. Nope. They don't accept foreigners. What! We want your money, but not you. We walked down the street, past at least 5 other hotels that don't accept foreigners. My father-in-law said it was for security or cleanliness. What they are afraid of us and that we aren't clean? My husband explained it that it's like our liquor licenses, they only allow so many. Still stupid, but I can at least understand that more. But the truth is they charge more money at the hotels that accept foreigners at. Everything has a membership card to get a discount, my in-laws have it, so at least we got that. But the hotel is too far away to walk. We have to take a taxi or bus several stops away!
Luckily there was no school on Thurs & Fri(If I had known this, I would've insisted on staying in Japan longer! So to off set this, they were having school on Sunday! My in-laws wanted me to send them. No! Plus my husband was going to be there, he needs to see the kids!) Since I was staying with my mom at the hotel, I didn't have to get up too early to get back to take the kids to school. We only did a few nights, hopefully my husband can find different accommodations for her when we gets there.
Since this took a lot longer than planned to get her into a room, we changed plans and took a taxi to The Grand View Garden. The Grand View Garden was built to be part of the ground from the Chinese Classic "Dream of Red Mansions". It's compared to a Chinese Romeo and Juliet sort of story written in the 18th century during the Qing Dynasty. I've never read the story yet, but after seeing the grounds, wouldn't mind finding it in English.
A lot of buildings, covered stairways and pavilions on the water to walk around in. Too early for the garden part of it. After I paid the 40rmb entrance fee they stamp the ticket and give it to you. Well she handed me a ticket that said 40 and 20. So she had to give me 20rmb back. Oops her mistake, she gave us a student/senior ticket that they normally require proof. Cheapest place I've seen to get your picture taken in traditional clothes for 20rmd, you get 1 picture laminated. But they let you take your own pictures, so you don't need to buy more. They used to have good food places for dumplings and meat on a stick on the grounds, not anymore.
All day I'm just mad at the whole we don't accept foreigner thing and then when we want to leave to go home, we can't get a taxi. Several refused to look at us, others just shook their head no, a few didn't want to drive that far. Finally we got someone! Called the in-laws to pick the kids up from school, since we couldn't make it back on time. Aghhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Sayonara Nippon

        My last dinner in Japan was from my favorite restaurant:  Capricciosa!  We had a repeat meal of peppery tuna and squid salad, big deep fried rice croquet, pizza(for the kids), and my spicy garlic speghetti! Yum, there was not a drop of sauce left in the bowl!  

The following morning the last child puked in their bed, luckily more contained.  So I don't know if too much garlic, something from that restaurant or unlucky timing on a virus?

We did get to see everything on our list.  There is no way to have seen more than one thing if you stay out of the way, have children, old people or injured people in tow.  I didn't get to do proper window shopping.  Next time.  Missed out on getting some cute Japanese print shoelaces, some beautiful cloths(truth is I couldn't decide which ones I liked, so I didn't get any).  I did stock up on cute change purses. Didn't really see the wallets I remember made of the pretty matching material.  

The boys did get some mementos here and there, a Michigan boat keychain, a train keychain, material swords(thought this to be a better idea than the wood swords they have at home) and foxes from Fushimiinari.

So I was way under budget since they were young enough not to have an entrance fee for most places nor needed a bus or train ticket.  Only on-line could I find on 1 out of 3 train lines to specify children under 6 don't need tickets. It's not posted on any ticket kiosk for train or bus.  Amy thankfully asked both and found out neither required ticket for non-school age kids(under 6).  I thought prices came down a lot at least at Shakey's pizza buffet.  My friends also said it is cheaper now than it was 15-13 years ago.  But there is a tax now and it will be going up.

My mom's impression of Japan:  beautiful, CLEAN, expensive(hard to wrap your head around 1000 yen is really $10 in a week), too much walking!  My in-laws impression of Japan:  expensive, too much walking, silly that they keep bowing, believed the water and environment made them sick.  My impression this time:  still clean, so much more English on signs and spoken, didn't see the cute face covers(too keep out the dust/pollution) of China, just sterile white ones(to keep others from getting your sickness).  I still think they are a kind people.  And it's refreshing to get help for free from an information booth.  Like the map showing how to get to our airport bus outside of a hotel and where we could "check" our bags while waiting since all the big lockers at the train station are taken early.  I passed this map on to the French couple we saw trying to verify where the airport bus would be when it was there time to leave.  

Elevators at train and subway stops aren't always in a really obvious place, but at least they have them.  We made sure to use them every chance so as not to waste precious energy of our travel group.  People are more curtious and not pushing their way to be first or get ahead of a line.

I'm glad I got to see some of my friends:  Amy, Reiko, Corey and Matsumoto-san, as well as visit Fushimiinari and Otsu again!  My kids have now experienced Mr. Donut and Capricciosa's that I still talk about 15 years later.  Michigan boat songs(John & Sheri) still dance in my head as does "Biwako shuko no uta" (I'm still kicking my-self 13 years later that I didn't get a music box of this while in Nagahama.)

 I had to pass on trying any fun flavored gum since I can't tell if it has aspartame in it(most likely does since in America all the gum company idiots try and poison us by adding aspartame to gum that already has sugar in it!)  Tried to drink a C-1000 Vitamin lemon jelly drink each day along with my favorite chocolate candy Galbo!  Now they make lots of different flavors like  macha and strawberry in mini size, I prefer the original.  It's like a chocolate cookie crumb mixed with chocolate in a small log dipped in more chocolate.  

Sayonara Nippon! 

Arashiyama/Saruyama

What kid doesn't love monkeys or not want to feed them?  None.  This is my 5th trek over the years to Saruyama aka Monkey Mountain in Arashiyama.  There is a lot to do and see in Arashiyama.  But all I've ever done there is shop and go to Monkey Mountain.  

I notice the train station is new, it used to be just a tiny stop, now it's bigger.  Once I came here, there was an orchid house/exhibit right outside the station.  This time we tracked down a shop that made traditional roof tiles as well as made them small for magnets, hangy things(think ornament) and incense burner.    

Good thing my Mom didn't want to see the monkeys or climb up the mountain because the road is a lot rougher than I remember it.  Erosion.  As it was I had to carry Aidan a good portion of it.  We stopped every time there was a monkey quiz in English.  Monkey Mountain(this is the foreigner name for it), is higher then the Kyoto Tower!

The rules are:  don't yell, don't stare at the monkey, don't show you have any food.  Back in the day, they made you leave your bags at the bottom, so the monkeys wouldn't attack you for any food you were carrying.  It's much popular now, many  more people, so I guess they stopped that.  They just advise to put any smaller bags you may be carrying into your purse or backpack so the monkeys don't take it from you.

Upon reaching the top we immediately went into the cage, got some drinks for us and food for the monkeys.  They liked the food in the order of apple, sweet potato then peanuts.  The littlest monkeys are the cutest, as the bigger monkeys make a pig of themself.  Kind of grossed out there was no soap in the bathroom to wash our hands after feeding the monkeys.  Good thing I had hand sanitizer with me.  

   The climb down goes around the backside to a playground.  Kids were playing here, but I'm not sure if it's really supposed to be for people or monkeys?

The boys enjoyed ice cream sitting on the sidewalk.   I had a yummy blueberry yogurt.  I really wanted to try the chocolate macha twist, but they didn't have it yet, probably after the sakura season.  I already had a sakura and macha twist.  It was okay.

When we got back to Kyoto station this older guy sidled up to us to ask where we are from in America because he had gone there many times.  He was a jolly old fellow that when he found out we just went to Monkey Mountain, said he didn't have any hair because the monkey scraped it off.   Ha, ha!

This being our last day we had to go up to the look out stop at Kyoto station.  The stairs were lit up different spring/sakura scenes.  To get to the top you take at least 5 escalators.  I wish I had more time here, is what I was thinking looking out over the city lights past the Kyoto Tower.  All the kids wanted to do was to go up and down the enormous lighted stairs.