transported to a different world

Ju-Lyn, , , ,
Happy Place, Happy Space

Bambusetum is home to many species of bamboo, and part of the loop I often take when I run through the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

I am transported to Japan as I run this particular morning as we continue to plan towards our family trip to Kyoto. I am thinking of the haunting Arashimaya Bamboo Grove and how early we would have to get there to avoid the crowds. What do you think about 6:30am run through Arashimaya?

What is your favourite memory of Kyoto? Any recommendations to include in our 1-week visit?

Our own little Bamboo Grove in the Singapore Botanic Gardens

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Reading your Joyful Posts brings me to my happy place. I hope having them in one place makes it easier for you to find when you need a bit of happy therapy, too.

If you would like to join in, tag your post with #happyplacehappyspace & ping back to this post and I will include you next week.

🎋 🎋 🎋

This post is my contribution to

Published by Ju-Lyn

A Mostly-Vegetarian living, running & eating her way through Singapore.

39 Comments

  1. Pingback: Barrier – Travel with Intent
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  3. Ju-Lyn, I look forward to reading about your trip to Kyoto and wow, Arashiyama Bamboo Forest looks amazing! I knew that bamboo could grow tall but this forest looks stunning – I think I would amble through slowly awe-struck! Have fun planning your trip and thank you for sharing your bit of bamboo in Singapore! btw. We have a one-year-old bamboo in our garden which after a rough start is flourishing – does this count?! Not quite a grove or forest!

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  4. Lookong forward to photos of your trip. I have not been to Arashimaya in Kyoto, and I am determined to visit it one day. My favorite memory of Kyoto is renting a bicycle and just getting lost cycling to and exploring the temples.

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    1. Another lost comment, Medj – thank you for your patience.
      My favourite bits of Kyoto were found on our exploratory runs – we avoided most of the touristy spots on account of crowds. Many of the temples were closed so early in the morning, though, so we had to satisfy ourselves with just walking around the outside courtyards.

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    1. I run through this little part of our gardens often because I like the sound of the wind blowing through the bamboo – and it is mostly very quiet.

      P/S Again, apologies for this tardy response (lost comment, etc, etc)

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  6. I wonder how much time I would spend in this amazingly wonderful bamboo garden, if I ever visit this.
    I’m sure you’ll find some great spots in Kyoto, rightful for being happy place, happy space 🙂
    Thank you so much for sharing this with my challenge, Ju-Lyn.

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    1. Hey Hammad – so sorry this response is so late … one of many comments that seem to have gotten lost and only found today as I am tidying up.

      This part of the garden isn’t very large, but I like to run through it because it is serene and not very crowded.

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  7. I’m glad you asked, JuLyn heheh. Do check out that small pasta restaurant just after your Arashiyama walk/run. It’s called Akamanma Café Restaurant. I hope it’s still there. But maybe it would be nice for lunch though (not breakfast after the run hahah). I’ll attach the link to my Kyoto/Nara blog here. Hope you’ll find some inspirations from it. I didn’t mention in my blog, but do spend some time to walk and pause along the Katsura river, on both sides of the bridge. We did that after lunch and it was nice just hanging around there. If you cross the bridge there is a walking trail but we didn’t get to do anymore, my kids wanted to see the deer in Nara already. https://wetravelhappy.com/2018/11/22/that-day-in-japan-with-bamboos-and-bambis/

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    1. Another lost comment – sigh. sorry.

      It was too early for restaurants – we got to Arashimaya by 7am and nothing much was open (and we didn’t expect anything to be). We did explore both side of the river thouhg, and we ran the walking trail – that was very nice (in fact, I am preparing a post with photos from that trail for this weekend!)

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  8. Pingback: Whatsoever is Lovely Challenge-2023 Week 39 | XingfuMama

  10. Bamboo is so fun, Ju-Lyn! We have some hanging into our yard from the neighbor’s house. I would love it even more if a panda bear was in it! So excited for your trip to Kyoto! And thank you for linking to my shenanigans post. 🙂

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  11. My favorite memory from Kyoto was eating at two very different places: one was a “Viking” that was decorated with the spools and punch cards from the jacquard silk weaving looms and the other was a truly Japanese restaurant where we took our shoes off and sat on tatami mats. This was 18 years ago and I honestly have no idea where within the city we were for either, both time we were a little lost and hungry.
    We also enjoyed Nara, which is a short train ride from Kyoto. We spent the night in Nara so we could get out before the crowds of day trippers and stay after they left. Dumb luck had us there for the Nara Tokae Lantern Festival. It was fun both at night when everything was lit up and walking around during the day seeing the detailed framework of the lanterns.
    I hope you have a wonderful trip to that magical place.

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    1. It sounds like there were many & varied eating choices for you! We have decided we won’t seek out restaurants from a list of must-eats, and just see what strikes our fancy when we are wandering around (except for perhaps a meal at a temple which we have been advised to make a reservation). Perhaps we will enjoy the kind of contrasts you did!

      Nara sounds wonderful & indeed, very magical. I am not sure my parents are up to a side trip so far out though.

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  12. Thanks for including me in the roundup 🙂 I loved Arashimaya but you’re right about the crowds in the famous Bamboo Grove. I fekt the temple garden there was the loveliest of all the ones we visited in Kyoto and there were far fewer people than in the grove. Not empty of course, but not nearly so busy. And I got some good photos of the clumps of bamboo in that garden!

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      1. Yes, that’s the one 🙂 The temple was closed when we were there, for restoration, but the garden alone was worth the visit, one of my favourites from our brief Kyoto stay!

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      1. We also lived in Pok Fu Lam for a year .. 1990 -91. Then Sai Kung until 2004, small world. We lived in Victoria Gardens on 13 floor opposite cemetery. When we moved out my parents who had visited told me they saw a ghost, but they never told each other until the day I moved out. Spooky 👻

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