anyway today we took the early shinkansen to Kyoto (京都). Rotten weather for today. Coz it was raining... and this rain happens to last throughout the entire day!
Dark skies and Kyoto Tower
before we can take the shinkansen, we had to leave our huge backpacks in the hotel where we stayed in Shin-imamiya. Thankfully, the hotel staff are really nice, they allowed us to leave our bulky backpacks there for 1 day, since we're coming back tomorrow. So in our hands we each carry a small bag that contain the necessary items (washing stuffs, and extra set of clean clothes). its about 30min of shinkansen ride to Kyoto. To be frank since the last time i was there (2 years ago), i'm fascinated with Kyoto. Perhaps Kyoto is a city that is really very rich in history (with lots of UNESCO heritage sites), its really beautiful in autumn with the red, orange, yellow leaves.
anyway a little about Kyoto, its a city that situated in the Honshu island. It has a population that is close to 1.5 million people. its the former imperial capital of Japan.
Once we reached kyoto, the 1st place we visited was the Tourist Information center. which was situated at a strategic area in the train station but in front of the bus station. When we were there, as usual, we picked up the tourist maps and also bought the day bus ticket. Wah.... the day pass ticket in Kyoto is so so much cheaper than that in Shirahama. it cost us 500円!!! and we can take as many bus rides as we want in kyoto city area. but if we want to go to places like Fushimi inari (伏見稲荷) (more will be said about this in the next entry) and Arashiyama where pple head there to see the bamboo grooves, then u've got to take the JR trains. the day bus pass can't get there. Anyway this day bus pass is really useful for us... coz that day we took quite a no. of bus. and 1 thing amazing about Kyoto is regardless of the number of bus-stop, each bus ride cost 220円! yeah... tat's really really cheap compared to other cities!
anyway once we purchased the bus pass, we tried to take the bus that will bring us to the Dai-tokuji (大徳寺) bus-stop. That's where i've made the booking for our stay in Kyoto tonight. We'll be staying in Bon Guesthouse. the bus ride to that place was about 30min. and the bus was really packed with lots of people. think we took the bus at the wrong time coz it was the pick hour where people are rushing to work and students are rushing to school. Urgh. anyway when we got off our stop, it was quite a bit of walk to the guesthouse and along the way, we passed the Dai-tokuji temple (大徳寺). there were a lot of cars and people wearing suits and black kimono heading into the temple. seems as if a funeral is being held there. anyway we had to ask someone along the way and it was super wet weather.
Finally we reached the guesthouse. u can really walk pass the guesthouse without guessing its existence there. I mean the guesthouse plate was a little small and u had to turn into a small alley in order to see the guesthouse. Though it was a little tough to get there... the guesthouse proof to be pretty comfortable. (i mean after such a long and wet walk... of course its nice to be in somewhere dry and warm... hahahaha) anyway we checked into the rooms. and the rooms were really traditional japanese rooms with tatami mats. we've got the largest room in the guesthouse. and the other 3 rooms were occupied with ang mohs larger sizes than us 3 asian girls. =P
the owner was ok, he told us were to head to eastern side of Kyoto city area and stay there for today... as it will be raining the entire day. its also a good plan coz we wanted to visit the Ginkaku ji (銀閣寺), Gion (祇園), Kiyomizudera (清水寺) and the nishiki market (錦市場).
With that, we decided to head to Ginkakuji (銀閣寺) 1st. it will be the 1st time for all of us to visit this. initially we did consider visiting kinkakuji. but its on the other side of Kyoto. When we reached there, we walked pass a shop selling yaki soba (焼きそば) and it cost 300円. after checking our watches, its close to lunch time and the aunties telling us that its 'おいしい' we decided to sit down and eat.
Soba auntie cooking our Yaki Soba
Lunch Lunch!!!!
it was nice... after tat we continue on and bought the red bean pancakes before reaching the Philosopher's path (哲学の道). pity it was raining... otherwise it would have been a nice walk.
I'm holding the red bean pancake
anyway we snaped some pictures before purchasing our tickets to enter the Ginkakuji premises. it cost us 500 円 to get in. hiaz... juz pay lah.
Ginkakuji is "Temple of the Silver Pavilion," is a Zen temple. Like Kinkaku-ji, Ginkaku-ji was originally built to serve as a place of rest and solitude for the Shogun. However, when u look close to it... there is no silver foil on the walls of the temple. hahaha....
Ginkakuji (銀閣寺)
In fact the government after much discussion, decided not to refinish the lacquer to the original state. The lacquer finish was the source of the original silver appearance of the temple, with the reflection of silver water of the pond on the lacquer finish. So contrary to Kinkaku- ji is the Ginkaku- ji not silver shining, but still a beautiful temple to visit. but i must say that if its not for the dreadful rain... the garden surrounding the temple will look really nice. its a pity that the leaves of the trees have not changed its colour yet.
Ginkakuji from the top
sand patterns in the Zen garden
leaves are still very green
In front of Kiyomizudera
but hahaha... today i must say that the temple is a welcoming sight... but if u were to look at the path where we came from... its an interesting sight.
A sea of umbrellas
after paying our entrance fee, we walked into the temple. this time round, my sister and i had more time to walk around the temple. and we almost went to every part of the temple.
1 of the temples in Kiyomizu
A Buddha statue in Kiyomizu
Gloomy skies
Taken from the bottom
like the last time, i also drank the spring water. Drinking the water of the three streams is said to confer wisdom, health, and longevity!!!
Kids queueing up to take a sip of the water
Zen monk @ the entrance asking for alms
streets of Kyoto. all the kids have left
after Kiyomizu, Hilda was a little tired... so we were contemplating taking a bus to Gion or to Pontocho. Coz its a nice walk on the streets of Pontocho and Gion coz we want to catch a glimsp of Geishas (芸者) or Maikos (まいこ) if possible. but in the end we did not head to Gion. Coz by 5pm the skies were already dark and its tough to spot any Geishas or Maikos. hmmm... so we juz walked around the really town center looking for dinner. finally we found a place that was reasonable enough for us to get our dinner.
we had set meals. and set meals in japan consist of a bowl of noodles and a bowl of rice!
Dinner set
yeah... and we wiped out everything that we ordered. u can say that we were really hungry after walking so much. after dinner we decided to give Pontocho a miss and instead juz walked around the city district. we went to Takashimaya where Hilda bought a Burberry Blue label wallet. And we were amazed that Takashimaya here closes so early. it closes at 8pm!!! yeah... unbelievable.
Kyoto Tower @ night
after the shopping spree in Takashimaya, we decided to take the bus back to our guesthose to call it a day. i was so tired tat i doze off on the bus, whilst my sister and Hilda were talking. and its amazing that even though both of them were awake, they miss the bus-stop that we were susposed to get off. and it was at that moment i woke up, saw the familiar sight outside the bus and said that 'Shit, we juz missed our bus-stop!' we got down and the next bus-stop and trekked back to the guesthouse. and it was really cold tat night, coz we can see vapour of our breath. even though it was cold, we still bathe that night!!!
tomorrow we head to Fushimi inari and walked around Osaka & Shinsaibashi.
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