Because my parents had to see the trains I take to get everywhere. Truth be told, they're alot like buses. Some of them have plenty of seats, some have the hand holds on bars, others have fold out chairs. Different with each train. This one took me about twenty minutes to get from Hirakata to Kyoto
Kyoto is just a gorgeous city and these two shots are dedicated to it's awesome landscape. As of right now, I could live in Kyoto happily. It's very rustic, but also modern in its own way.
Random old timey street lamp. Like I said, rustic but modern.
These pictures were from the first real shrine we found, and include shots of the shrine, paper lanterns, and the purification area. You dump water on your hands using those dippers as a form of metaphorical purification before entering somewhere sacred. Very neat. The water is very cold, no matter the font.
Just a quaint little store across the way, nothing more. Doubt if I even went in this one.
Had to get a picture of these thunder demons on a poster. It was an advertisement for the Kennin-ji temple, I believe. Sorry if I misspelled that.
More Trains!
The above photos are all shots of the Kennin-ji temple and its scenery and architecture. My group and I headed there first and I got some shots of the pagoda, coy fish in their pond, one of the places to hang up tags with wishes written on them, and several other neat spots that make it very mystic.
This deserves an explanation and is one of the only pictures I'm really in. Yes, I'm wearing my black coat and yes it was over 90 degress on that day. Deal with it. This is the world's smallest Ukiyo-e museum and the man to the far left, right next to the sign, is the owner. He makes prints of old works, like Hokusai's views of Mt Fuji, as well as originals and showed us the process, which involves using pieces of wood and dyes that are pressed to strips of paper, each piece adding one color to the paper. it was amazing. We bought some prints and he gave us some free presents. The curator was a funny old man and we really loved him. He even agreed to pose with us.
The pagoda in the distance belongs to Kyo Mizu temple, one of the hotspots of Kyoto. I accidentally captured one of my friends in this shot. Can you guess who she is? Or did I even tell you about this one? Ooooo, the mystery...
This is a playful tanuki statue. They're kind of like guardian spirits and are usually either creepy or cute. Almost all of them are sitting on their own swollen testicles though. Weird.
Another shot of the huge pagoda.
These shots are from some beautiful Geisha in training, in full regalia. We were lucky to spot them.
More Pagoda shots...seriously, I love the architecture at work here.
A rickshaw! I really wanted to ride it, but had to settle for a picture. Rickshaws are expensive.
One of many, MANY shops that line the streets surrounding Kyo Mizu.
Some more quaint scenery shots. None of them has any real purpose but to be pretty and unique, which they do nicely. I had to climb a lot of stairs to get them at times.
I found a Ghibli store! It had so much cool stuff! I wanted to buy more but I don't even have my stipend yet so...had to put that idea on hold. FYI, that giant stuffed Totoro costs $1,000 dollars and is bigger than most ten year olds.
Finally we arrived at Kyo Mizu and I took as many shots of the architecture and scenery as I could. It's a beautiful place.
Relics of a bygone time.
The final building in the distance, surrounded by forest, just like in the old legends.
A shrine full of many many Jizo statues. See all their red bibs and hats?! That means people have been taking good care of them, in hopes they will look after the spirits of wayward children.
In the back are statues of flaming deities and powerful figures of myth. No, I don't know any of their names. Sorry.
Look at those crazy stilts! That's how the whole temple is held up on the side of a mountain.
Dunno what's in there, but let's hope it STAYS in there.
Really just beautiful scenery. I'd have enjoyed it more if my ipod hadn't died about right here and if it were about 20 degrees cooler.
Shinto shrine! These were actually much harder to find than I thought.
Yes, I climbed up all those steps...four times. Ugh...
At the bottom of the steps was this little tea house. I called it heaven, for its air conditioning and cheap Cokes.
This is back at Kennin-ji temple. We were allowed inside to see where the monks lived in olden times. Most of these shots show scenery or these great painted backdrops.
An old timey palanquin. It was one heck of a ride in its day.
This and the next few shots are a bit dark, so forgive me. They are from the innermost vaults of Kennin-ji temple and show off some truly amazing art. This is a ceiling, painted in intricate detail with twin dragons coming together.
Rich Buddhist relics.
Wonder how much that chandelier cost?
The next few photos are actually of me in Osaka, heading to a birthday party. I felt like including them here instead of making another post right after this. This was just a figure enshrined next to some graffiti. It really is quite amazing, seeing the beautiful, expensive piece next to a tagged wall.
Sweets paradise, the only all you can eat cake buffet in all of Osaka. Pray for me people, because this night, I probably gained a good thirty pounds.
And here's why. No, that's not the desert plate. That's the appetizer. Cheesecakes of every variety, green tea cakes, rice cakes, there was barely any real food there at all...and god help me I had too much. But if you didn't eat all you took, there was an extra charge so myself and the others who joined me girded our loins and swallowed as much sugary madness as we could. Needless to say, I was sick later that night.
The legends were true! Chocolate fountains...they DO exist! Meh, I didn't want any chocolate that night. Still, it was really cool to see it.
One of the birthday girls who I went to celebrate with. She's the one in the cake hat. Yes, even in Japan they make you wear silly hats on your birthday.
That should about bring you all up to speed. I hope my photos were amusing and I regret not getting more shots of the shops in Kyoto, because they have EVERYTHING a Japanophile could want...for a price, of course.
I head back to Kyoto this sunday. Maybe I'll take some more pictures for you all then.
Well, I'll sign off for now. Stay tuned for more wacky hijinks as I try to get my act together during the next week...which comes with two three day weekends in a row. Let's face it people. I am officially on vacation.
Seriously, school is going well, the classes are pretty fun, though certain circumstances have kept me from enjoying them fully, and I'm adjusting a bit better. Still get sick in the mornings most days and the food is taking its toll, but we survive in odd ways. Today, I ate at a Mcdonalds...I hate Mcdonalds, but it made me feel like I was back home, with the greasy patty and fries, so it was worth it.
Till later everyone.
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