Takaosan

It's not like we had not been warned - articles found online had already stated that Takaosan is a big hit with Tokyo no hitobito during the last two weekends in November. Nevertheless since this is insya Allah our last autumn in Japan, we try to make the most of it by trying to enjoy koyo (autumn leaves) in somewhere new to us. Or at least, to me (since hubby had already explored Takaosan once in April on his own, not long after I gave birth to Humaidi)

It was really crowded - took about 40 minutes to queue up for the cable car to ascend the mountain. Especially so since it was Momiji Matsuri - we were told that it took one hour to go there from Hachioji, which normally takes only 15-20 minutes. We met up with some friends for this outing- Basharan and Zau at Shinjuku and Hadyan in Takaosanguchi eki. Hubby knew that I had missed hiking a lot, and Zau too likes hiking, so the girls climbed up the mountain by foot while the guys took care of the kids and took the cable car. Hubby and I switched places afterwards, as he and Hadyan descended the mountain on foot, leaving Basharan, Zau and I to take care of the kids on our way down by cable car.

There were 6 trails going up Takaosan; Zau and I chose trail no. 1, the easiest trail. It had been long since I last hiked, thus I decided not to risk taking up a more challenging trail. However the easiest trail might as well be labeled the dullest trail. I've seen hubby's photos when he climbed the mountain in April, with some spectacular view - waterfall, dusky planks, rusty Shinto shrines - but he didn't know which trail it was. He said he just joined some people he saw going up the trail, so there.



However, what trail no. 1 lacks in terms of closeness with "alam ciptaan Allah", it sort of made up with opportunities for watching/observing people.

Zau and I sang praises for healthy and strong obaasan and ojiisan in their platinum years climbing with not much problem. I guess it is almost impossible to view a group of platinum-haired atok or nenek in Malaysia to climb up a mountain out of choice rather than necessity.

Then, there were a lot of children accompanying their parents climbing, yet another rare sight in Malaysia. Zau thought it is maybe due to lots of pantang that we seldom get to see young children taking up mountain climbing or jungle trekking. Hmm, maybe. But I thought maybe more parents should try taking their school age children hiking in 'controlled' forests like the one in FRIM, Kepong, just to introduce the wonders of alam ciptaan Allah. Too many kids had been spoiled by PS, Wii, the internet, etc that I think it might do some good for them to be re-introduced to 'basic' stuff such as enjoying jungle trekking.

Anyway, we saw a 3-year old girl (I asked her age when they passed by) complaining about her hurting feet halfway up, and her dad persistently encouraged her, "come on, you have eaten a lot this morning, surely you can do this, right?", seconded by her slightly older brother with words such as "okay, I'll walk with you, step by step. There, good job, good job". The mother though simply said "gambarou" and with that left the rest of the family behind. I was stunned.

Then, there was a pair of young Indian couple pushing their baby's stroller all the way up too. The mother asked the father to stop from time to time for a quick rest or a sip of water.

We even passed by a procession of Shinto followers coming downhill from two different shrines, all walking in rather rigid fashion, in almost straight formation. Very disciplined indeed.

And there were plenty of teenage/early twenties girls donning outfits more suitable for an outing in Harajuku or Shibuya than jungle trekking - leather boots, high-heels, mini skirt, fluffy woolly jacket and all - leisurely strolling all the way up. Yup, trail no.1 is THAT unadventurous.



I prayed Zohor not far from the cable car eki at the mountain. I would have loved to continue climbing until the summit, but since Basharan and Zau had promised to meet up with their friend that evening, Zau and I cancelled our plan. We promised hubby and Hadyan to meet at Takaosanguchi eki around 4.00 o'clock, so Basharan, Zau and I killed some time before we took the descending cable car. Huzaifah enjoyed playing with the coin operated kiddie rides even when I did not insert any coin. Basharan reported that earlier on Huzaifah had already joined some Nihonjin kids whose parents paid for the ride. I was appalled - but Basharan said that Huzaifah simply refused to leave one of the 'buses', so the Nihonjin parents just let him be a free rider. Besides, it's not like their own kid really cared about having freeloader - they just want to have fun on the musical, wheelie-wheelie ride and if someone else joined them, then so be it.

We prayed Asar in one "three-benched park" near Takaosanguchi eki. I usually pray in quieter places, and even when I prayed in a park before, I normally do it with hubby. This time around, we took turn praying alone, so it was the first time I witnessed perplexed look on Nihonjin who passed by us performing solat. Some even stopped for a while to observe the movement in solat. I asked Zau if the same thing happened when I was praying, and Zau confirmed it - perhaps, due to the relatively small numbers of Muslim in Japan, many of the Nihonjin passer by might have witnessed a Muslim performing solat "live" for the first time in their life.

Well, all in all, it was a good trip, alhamdulillah - although Basharan and Zau had to leave me alone with the kids since they were already late and there was no sight of hubby or Hadyan. In fact, in the end, hubby and I left even before meeting Hadyan, since it was already 5.00 p.m. and we were supposed to be back at Asakusa Mosque for a nikah by 7.00 p.m. (the nikah was postponed though, so we ended up having dinner outside, yatta!) I wish we could have seen more koyo - but was pretty satisfied with what was available. I guess we went there a bit early - or is it because autumn arrives later in Tokyo than elsewhere?

Next koyo/momiji watching trip is due in a fortnight, insya Allah. Nikko, here we come!