Blogs from Gion, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan, Asia - page 6

Gieshas, hello kitty, soft serve green tea ice cream Where can you find all these wonderful things KYOTO!! So even after my crazy bicycle journey yesterday there was still so much of Kyoto to see! It is such a contrast to Tokyo really beautiful with old style buildings being more common than not and more temples and shrines than you can shake a stick at, pretty much one of every corner! Having somewhat figured out the areas surrounding my hostel I concluded the next journey took would be via city buses!! First on my agenda was the world renowned Golden Pavillion, buses in this town are so easy so within 40 minutes I was there. And is was an absolutely stunning sight. A temple made of gold surrounded by Japanese gardens and ponds! Just breath taking ... read more

Destination: Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture (Distance from Tokyo: 470km, approximately 294 miles) Map →　http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/regional/kyoto/index.html Date: November, 2009 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tokyo is the capital of Japan,,, yes it’s true. But it started only 142 years ago, even though the history of this country counts over 2000 years. Do you know where the nation’s capital was before Tokyo? It was Kyoto. Thick text books of Japanese history (I had to use for in my school days, yuck) say Kyoto was established as the capital by an old Japanese government in 794 (before Kyoto was Nara from the ancient time) and the function had lasted for more than millennium. That’s why there are tons of historic places existing in Kyoto. In 1869, a new modernized government of post-samurai era mad... read more

3rd day back in Kyoto and we were despretly waiting for the safe return of our Aussie passport from the british emassy and late this afternoon we got the news we were waiting for.... (Passport is ready for collection) Still wont know untill tomorrow if we have been approved or not, but hey at least we can leave Japan!!!! Meet up With Josh K, Leeann and Rob had great luch and a nice chat before we left to go back to Tokyo (Man i suck at bloging) ... read more

For those of you who don't know, I made the very difficult decision to quit the teaching job I love and accept a position as a career counselor, a contracting job with the Army. The U.S. economy is having a worldwide affect, and Korea's economy took a sharp downturn about 5 months ago. The Korean dollar is worth about 30% less than when I arrived. Therefore, I needed to earn U.S. dollars. Sounds easy enough but visa laws are pretty strict. I've been jumping through hoops for a week, and one of the thing I needed to do was leave the country. Dan and I went to Tokyo last May and I vowed I would see more of Japan. So here I am. March 15 I arrived at Kansai International Airport after a 90 minute flight. ... read more

Kyoto is a very cool city! Since I was on a group tour in Japan, most activities were with the entire group, but Kyoto was a time for ourselves. Our group leader Axel gave us a rundown on the city, the sights and the bus system. When we got into Kyoto, I went out to eat with a couple of the girls for a nice sushi meal and it was one of my favorites of the whole trip! Then, a group of us decided to go see Nijo Castle. Nijo Castle was built by Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Edo Shogunate, as the Kyoto residence for himself and his successors. It survives in its original form and is famous for its Momoyama architecture, decorated sliding doors and floors that squeak like nightingales when someone walks on ... read more