Even though we believe we’re still pretty young, full of youth and vigor…chehhhwahh…. I think we know our physical limitations. Today, we know we’re going to have a long day, and we know there’s going to be a lot of walking involved, so, Mat decided that we should get a day pass for unlimited ride on the subway trains and buses to travel around for today.
So off we go, caught the subway to our first destination.
First stop, Heian Jingu Shrine. We know we’re near the temple because we were greeted with this massive red orangey gate thing.
I was playing around with my camera’s colour accent option
Near the Heian Jingu Shrine is the Kyoto National Museum, which we didn’t go in.
I won’t write much this time. So just enjoy the pictures.
Main gate of Heian Jingu Shrine
Alcohol barrels
Wishing papers
Let’s pause here for a while. I saw some wishing plates that I could read. Notice the one on top, should be Indonesian.
“Minta anak cewek yang sehat dan sempurna. Sehat selalu, banyak rezeki, usaha lancar”.
Wishing plates
Heian Jingu Shrine grounds
Some monks doing their daily rituals
Outside looked so plain and hot. When we entered, it was a totally different scene. So green and lush.
An old tram in the gardens
Love this picture
Mat wearing a “humongus hat”
Saw this butterfly on one of the ladles in front of the dragon
After Heian Jingu Shrine, we waited for the bus to go to our next destination.
Mat waiting at the bus stop
Saw a bunch of school kids from the bus
In the bus
Have to do a bit of walking to the next destination from the bus stop. Saw some school kids along the way.
And finally, reached our next destination. Ginkakuji Temple.
Hedge at Ginkakuji - About 50 meter long hedges made of stones, bamboos and camellias lining both sides of the approach from the main entrance to the courtyard.
Ginkakuji Temple, is a Zen temple. It’s a World Cultural Heritage Site.
Tourists made this pond a wishing well
Notice the shape of the windows. Shape of a bell.
The roof, made of bark
Put together using bamboo nails
On the way out of Ginkakuji Temple, saw some school kids in interesting uniforms.
Stopped for some green tea and vanilla icecream
While walking along the Philosopher’s Path, saw a family of furry friends fishing.
Mat stopped to get some Haagen-Dazs ice cream.
This is the Philosopher’s Path. I was just lucky that a lady in red was walking in front of me, so I could get this awesome picture!
Mat stopping for awhile to get his bearings right
Mat enjoying the surrounding, and his ice cream, and trying to be philosophical about this walk.
Love this photo too… cause of the red rickshaw!
I think this is someone’s house
An interesting flower, when it’s too hot, the petals sort of roll up into a shape of a butterfly cocoon
Next one, Nanzenji Temple.
Note to self: DON”T EAT TOO MUCH ICE CREAM!
Result of eating too much ice cream…. I was rushing for No1 this time. Grr~!
We didn’t enter this temple. You see… there are just too many temples and shrine that we don’t even bother going in anymore, especially those which we need to pay to enter.
So we just walked around the temple grounds. Mat saw this beetle.
Decos on the roof
Saw another butterfly flying around the drain
Same bunch of kids again, they must be on a Temple excursion
Time for lunch! After eating nearly the same food everyday, bento, soba, ramen, udon, sushi, etc…. This time, we’re going for something different.
We always make it a point to visit a McDonald that is in the country that we visit.
There is always something different in every country’s McDonalds.
In Japan, we tried their McTerriyaki and Fillet-O-Ebi, in other words, Prawn Burger…. yummy!
On the left is terriyaki burger, and on the right is Ebi burger. The Ebi burger is really good!
After lunch, next stop is ANOTHER temple.
On the way there, saw this monk… I’m assuming he’s a monk. He was standing soooo still. After visiting this next temple, it started to rain, we have to walk back the same street, and he was still there. He didn’t even budge.
This temple is called Kiyomizu-dera Temple. This is the most famous temple in Kyoto. So ya, we went in this one.
The grid like “ceiling” are actually doors. The doors open upwards.
Saw a lot of people lining up for something
A Closer look
While we were there, there was some ritual of some sort going on, dragon and all…
This was what the people were lining up for. The Otowa Waterfall. Its waters are divided into three separate streams, and visitors use cups attached to long poles to drink from them. Each stream of water is said to have a different benefit, namely to cause longevity, success at school and a fortunate love life. However, drinking from all three streams is considered greedy.
One more shot of the main entrance to Kiyomizu-dera Temple when we walked out.
Beautiful hand fans
Ok… last shrine of the day. Yasaka-Jinjya Shrine, the shrine that we skipped yesterday, to see ONE geisha.
Worshipers use the long rope and ring a bell above
On the way back to Kyoto station, of course, we saw another temple/shrine.
A five-storey pagoda
We took a really long rest here at the Kyoto Station before moving on. Bottom picture is a reflection of the Kyoto Tower on the Kyoto Station glass walls. I shall show you more pictures of the Kyoto Tower and Kyoto Station in later posts. So for now, it’s just a sneak preview.
After resting at Kyoto Station, Mat wanted to visit Kyodai, Kyoto University, Japan’s 2nd best university, ranked top 30 in the world. Don’t play play!
Mat showing you where the engineering faculty is
Another shot in Kyodai
Ok… after this, our legs cannot tahan already, even though we tried our best to use public transport to the max. Time to go home.
OMG the fans are so prettyyy!!! did u buy?? how much?
the gardens are prettier leh ….