Trip to Kyoto
I just came back from a vacation to Japan with my wife and 10-month old. We went to Kyoto via Osaka and spent 6 days in Kyoto. It was a lovely experience, although just after we left there were floods in Kyoto due to a double(!) Typhoon hitting Japan. Everything seems to be okay now though.
Anyway, what I wanted to say: the most special thing about Japan are it's people. They are kind and considerate to a fault and a culture they have managed to preserve for quite literally millennia.
Also, they absolutely love babies. Our little one was a minor celebrity everywhere we went in Kyoto. It didn't help that my daughter loves to say "hi" to everyone. On the flipside, it made me sad that Japanese are going through a birth-rate crisis, which just means less babies. This is now a worldwide phenomena: I hope we can reverse this trend someday though I don't have high hopes.
Which brings to be a truly surreal moment I felt as a father when we were visiting TeamLabs in Kyoto. As the enormous amount of balloons were dancing around the room I realized that my only job in life to take care of my baby. If I manage to do that, I would've done alright. Then I got back to thinking about where to go for Ramen.
Life is so precious.