Monday, 24 September 2018

HIMEJI: Kassui-ken 活水軒



We are 3/4 thru this trip of our lifetime. We say it's a trip of a lifetime, but actually.. hahahaha bluff one, because, we are currently planning another 2 more trips of a lifetime - one in China ( which is coming up in 6 weeks time! We will be spending 3 weeks touring chengdu, xian, beijing, yangcheng lake and shanghai ) and another in Jan to Japan again. 

Some people look at both Nick and I and think that we are really enjoying life. 
YOU THINK SO?
HAVE YOU SEEN HOW I SLOG AT WORK? HAVE YOU SEEN HOW SOMETIMES I'M REDUCED TO BEING THE MOST PATHETIC PUPPY?!
*Throwback memory to when I was utterly destroyed by the head of orthopaedics because I took the initiative to order an xray... I actually was really proud of myself for taking the initiative, until she realised and asked me why the f did I order an xray without consulting her because I should have ordered a WEIGHTBEARING xray instead of a normal xray... And I became the most pathetic puppy in the whole clinic profusely apologising. So the other boss tried to help me out by saying the xray I ordered was fine as well, but big boss was SUPER displeased still... and I was this close to kneeling and begging of forgiveness really, lol.  * 

Anyway, we only have one life hey. I think sometimes we are under the misconception that we should slog it out now that we are young, and enjoy later when we are old. I remember my mom always telling me " 先苦后甜" which means you need to suffer first before you enjoy the fruits of your labour. 
But sometimes when I see patients in their 20s, 30s and 40s coming into hospital and being diagnosed with a life limiting disease, I get so scared...
That.. could be me. 

Or maybe lets do away with the passivity. My parents are in their 60s. They slogged most of their lives, and perhaps now it's time for them to enjoy and travel. BUT, apart from that we now have a Singapore Champion dog which my parents really do not trust anybody else to look after, so that actually renders them unable to travel..... my mom also has very bad knees that limit her walking. So.. she can't really travel either..
Thats really sad isn't it? Like you worked hard when you were younger, saving up to travel next time when you're older. But.. you can't. 

Anyway, just my 2 cents worth.. on travelling when we are young and healthy and shelving all the career aspirations for the moment haha. 

We decided to stop by Himeji. What's good to do in Himeji? 
I don't know. To be honest, I would never have known about Himeji if my favourite Japanese chef in Adelaide ( I also call him the japanese father I never had because he is always feeding Nick and myself the BEST! ) 

But a quick google search tells me that Himeji castle is very famous and worth a go, so there you go (:

My plan for the day is to visit koko-en gardens, have lunch at a restaurant with a view before visiting Himeji castle.

Kokoen garden is a newly constructed Japanese style garden just beside Himeji, it is about 3.5 hectares and has 9 different gardens. 
To be honest, I'm not a scenic person and really I could have given kokoen a miss, but I heard there's  pretty good restaurant inside this garden.. so...

Kassui-ken restaurant.







Very pretty restaurant overlooking a nice lake outside.

Actually, I take my words back lah huh, the garden is really nice. It was a very therapeutic walk both emotionally and physically. How can your body ever not be calm when you're looking at lush greenery? It's so healthy too, I mean green leaves make oxygen right? I was surrounded by so much oxygen, this garden would be giving those gimicky oxygen bars ( please do a google search if you do not know what I'm referring to) a run for their money.





Trying out some model looks but sigh, there's a reason why I'm a doctor and not a model haha

Finally done with kokoen gardens and onto Himeji castle!
I am actually very proud to say that this Japanese father I never had family used to own this castle a long long long long time ago.





It's a really impressive castle! And a perfect after lunch workout. The number of stairs I had to climb...
What's good about this castle, of maybe it's the same for every castle please pardon by ignorance, Ive actually never been into a castle because I'm more of a food person haha so I go into restaurants instead...Anyway, what's good about this castle is that they allow you to physically enter the castle and climb all the way up to the top and spy with your little eye, tourists who are taking pictures of the castle in every possible angle :p

Kassui-ken 活水軒 ( please click on link to view restaurant opening hours) 
no reservations needed for less than 3 people. 

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