The Tan Tans' Life Begins

Alright... the Tan Tans' minshuku has officially received its first guests with the visit of their dear cuz., Michele and her husband Kelvin. They are here for a 3-night stay and were brought around the little inaka town of Owase as well as to one of the World's Heritage Sites - Kumano Kodo. Well, as most of the photos were taken with their cameras, I did not have much to load.. hahahaha One of the best restaurants in Owase, Moriba with their delicious deep fried giant prawns and the not so nice pork salad (wrong choice of dish that I had - sad). Well this is also the restaurant that my cuzzies had their most memorable dish of miso katsu! The Al Fresco BBQ under the sky without the stars... so sad.... well, there were lots of stars a few days after they left.. so blame it on luck.. hee hee

It's autumn and the Tan Tans are in search for more autumn colours when they received an invite from Mr Tan Tan's nihongo sensei. This time, it will be autumn colours viewing in the mountains and out from the touristy areas. Nice autumn colours reflection. This is it! The autumn colours are so called because it is really colourful. And this is one truth that the Tan Tans verified. It is not only in shades of red but also yellow, pink, orange and other colours as well. Oh, we have a very very cold Mrs Tan Tan due to the chill in the mountains. We also visited one of the more popular waterfall in Owase. Do visit http://www.owase-kb.jp/kankou/sizen.html#top for more information We definitely enjoyed ourselves with the tea and snacks that my sensei prepared for the trip. It was a great experience !

Just a short note for all of you out there.... the strawberries season is here!!! wahahahhaaaaaaa.... bye. ..

Other than the autumn colours that took our breaths away, the Tan Tans also visited some of the places that they had no time for during their last trip in March last year. They are 1. Arashiyama - famed for its view and scenery. Must go to the bridge - Togetsukyo (wooden bridge). 2. Tenryujin temple - Near Arayshiyama (why not, since we are there) and it is ranked 1st amongst the 5 Zen great temple in Kyoto 3. Nijo castle - Former Kyoto residence of the shogun. It was quite interesting as it preserved alot of the old paintings on the walls, halls etc. and the floor is built in the past to give a "squeaking" sound whenever anyone walked on it. (In case there are intruders.. tell me about smart ancients) 4. Nishiki Market - Well, we had been there the last time, but gladly went back again to look for our favourite black bean ryori. 5. Gion area - for the dango that Mrs Tan Tan missed. 6. Tenmangu Nijo Castle - Nice place with interesting preserved paintings and nice garden and

The photos above speak for themselves.. Autumn in Kyoto is colourful and beautiful. Covered with colours of yellow, orange, pink,red and sadly, still alot of green, the Tan Tans visited Arashiyama in Kyoto followed by Tenryuji shrine and Nijojo Castle. These are the places that the Tan Tans did not visit on their last trip to Kyoto... basically due to the lack of time (what do you expect? there are one hundred and one shrines or temples in Kyoto and everyone of them are so different and nice.) Autumn colours are really great and it makes feel sad that Singapore, due to our close proximity to the equator, cannot really enjoy this brightly coloured season of yellow, orange, pink and red. We do enjoy the best in the sense that we do not have any natural disaster and weather is generally fine but then, we are missing out the other wonderful dances of natural. Autumn colours, Spring flowers, white Winter. So, the Tan Tans are going to make full use of this year in Japan to really experienc