To Kyoto

---

Today, we went around Kyoto, and the city experience was really wonderful; much better than Osaka IMO. So anyway, here's how it all went.

We already knew there were alot of train routes from Osaka to Kyoto, but of course, we had to choose the cheapest & convenient price as possible. One was with Shinkansen (the bullet train), but it was too expensive, then from JR Osaka are two trains that head to Kyoto nonstop for 30 minutes & the other one with stops for 40 minutes (both 540 Yen), and the last one was from JR Hankyu to a different station in Kyoto which only costed about 300+ Yen. We decided to go with the 40 minute train from Osaka to Kyoto, since we then found out that the nonstop train costs more, and even if the train from Hankyu was the cheapest, at least the station that we'll get off is very convenient for traveling around Kyoto.

After arriving at Kyoto's main station, we went to the Kyoto Tourist Information. Kyoto station is probably one of the most beautiful train stations I've ever been. I love the onyx walls, and the place was really well maintained. Good thing also that there are English speakers in the tourist information, because duh, Kyoto is a popular tourist destination in Japan. We all decided that we would ride the tourist bus called "Raku Bus", a bus convenient for all tourists going from temple to temple. We bought the Day Pass for the Raku bus too, which allows us to take buses for a whole day, and it only costed 500 Yen for adults. The map of the bus was also easy to learn too. There were specific numbers with their respective colors which shows their routes, and where they stop.

Our purpose in visiting Kyoto is to visit the "Big 3" temples, mainly Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion), Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion), and Kiyomizu-dera. First stop was Kinkaku-ji, since that's what the lady in the tourist information told us. Upon arriving, I was already expecting a huge line at the ticket counter, since I've heard from reviews that it gets too crowded often. But, turns out the lines were really small. I'm guessing there were not much visitors there since visitors mainly come to Kyoto in autumn, when the leaves turn into different colors. I have to agree though; Kyoto does look beautiful on autumn, and too bad we visited it in the wrong season, but still, we visited it, so I should stop complaining already. LOL. Entering the gates & seeing the Golden Pavilion shrouded by trees already made me excited, and once I saw it in full view, I was really astounded. The temple was literally gold! Well... not all gold, but it looks something that you'll never find anywhere in the world. The place was really tranquil and peaceful, despite the tourists, but it was definitely breathtaking. I remember my bro laughing at the golden "chicken" on top of the temple, since the head of the statue looked like a man, haha! Moving on, we saw a ground filled with pennies, a silver bowl, and rocks with carving. We immidiately knew it was a wishing ground, so me & my bro tried once, and we both didn't shoot. Damn, now me and Ger... oh-kay, nevermind. :D

Next temple was Ginkaku-ji or Silver Pavilion, and it was waaaay to far from Kinkaku-ji. While waiting for the 204 bus at the bus stop, my mom bought us some lunch first at a store called Lawson. Suddenly, a 204 bus arrived, but she still haven't arrived, so we had to wait for the next bus; oh well. The bus finally arrived, but on the way to Ginkaku-ji? It was so looong, I think we had about 22 stops in total! When we FINALLY touched the ground, we decided to eat lunch first at a nearby creek. It was really peaceful there, and the creek was really clean. This just comes to show that Japan really is a respected country, huh? After lunch, we walked for about 5 minutes to the temple, and on our way there, we already saw the 100 bus that goes to Kiyomuzu Temple & they were very frequent; so I guess now we know where to go after the temple. Upon arriving at the temple, we passed through an alley filled with trees and pebbles on the ground. When we entered the area, I immidiately saw a weird rock formation; a bone with no tip. To the right was the Silver Pavilion, and on the left were beautiful zen rock stripes on the ground. There's also a stair up to the nearby hill, and we can see the whole area of the pavilion, and a district in Kyoto. The pond and garden were also a nice touch; much like in Golden Pavilion. I have to say, the overall ambiance of Silver Pavilion was so much better that Golden Pavilion's. The zen rocks were really a nice touch, and we also had the chance to view the whole pavilion from above.

Lastly, the last temple that we visited is the Kiyomizu Temple, one of the finalists in nominating the New Wonders of the World. Honestly, I dunno what's the big deal with that temple; it's just a temple with good views, but overall, the temple I saw in the pictures looked like a dark colored ordinary temple. W still went though, so I could find out what really made it one of the finalists. After visiting Ginkaku-ji, we walked by alot of shops, and my mom bought a pair of slippers for her & a birthday gift for my cousin to make up for not attending her birthday last May 2. We waited for the 100 bus that we thought was frequent after seeing the buses before we went to the pavilion. Time was ticking, and it was only a few minutes to 4:30 PM, and for all I know, the ticket counter in Kiyomizu will close at around 5:15 PM, so I was really getting impatient that time. I closed my eyes for a second, thought lightly, and bam! There it is finally! During the bus ride, my anticipation wasn't over yet. Time was fastly ticking, and I can already feel that we're not going to make it.

We arrived at the Kiyomizu bus station; 5:00 PM. We walked the road uphill, and I didn't stop at all & all I thought of was going in the temple. I stopped for a moment to take a look at the map, and I felt my heart sink a little; the map says that admissions are sold from 9 AM - 5 PM. I kept moving despite the sign; there were tourists going up too y'know! I kept going while my mom, dad, and bro were so slow-moving, and I stopped at an intersection thinking "where is this road going to a f---ing end?!" I already saw two pagodas on the entrance, but I still waited for them because we have to get inside together. What a sigh of relief, as I saw that the ticket office was still open! No worries now then, as we walked around the area.

The Kiyomizu Temple is nestled on a forest of a mountain. The place was also tranquil, but the special feature of this place? The forest. Looking at nature just made me feel calm, plus the tranquility of the temple made it even more beautiful. The air was pure mountain fresh air; no foul smells at all. We arrived there at sunset, and I guess that was a pretty good time to visit the temple. That time, it was just us, with the temple, sunset, and nature's beauty; now I know how this place became one of the finalists for the New Wonders of the World. Everything was going great... except when my mom forgot the bag filled with the stuffs we bought in Ginkaku-ji! When we saw the whole temple from the other side, we saw a sky blue bag from there, and immidiately knew it was ours. I decided to fetch it, since obviously I was the fastest walker *lol*. I was able to found it with no missing items, but as soon as I crossed the bridge, a guard already closed the bridge since it was already near closing time! I called out my mom to let me in; good thing the guard agreed! Well, the good thing anyway is no one stole anything from the bag; thank God it's Japan, or else it would've been stolen already when we're in China or Philippines... Hey, my mom said that! But I have to agree! Hahaha!

After a whole day of exploring temples, we decided to stp by Gion first before going back to Kyoto Station. Gion, from what I heard, is also known as the old town of Kyoto, and the perfect spot to see the geishas. We eventually met two of them, but they didn't look like the geishas I know. We didn't find any food stalls around the town, so we decided to call it quits and head back to the station. Before going back to Osaka, we ate at one of the restaurants below Kyoto Station called Shinsaibashi Mitsuya. I really wanted to try the Tamago Rice (or whatever it's called), an omellete filled with sauce & has fried rice inside. I wanted to try it since I've seen it in alot of animes, so I was really curious to taste it. We found that restaurant eventually after searching for restaurants around the mall. I have to say, it tasted pretty good, along with the side dish included in our order.

And... that's it for today. Kyoto was so much fun, and I'm glad we still made it to the final minutes before the Kiyomizu Temple closed! Kyoto is actually one of the cities that I've always wanted to visit, and I'm glad we did visit it. All of the temples were so fantasic, I can't choose a favorite out of all of them! Tomorrow, it's time to take a break from everything, because we're spending most of our day tomorrow at Universal Studios Japan, baby! Not sure if I'll make a blog entry for it; ah well, I'll see! 😉

By the way, have you noticed that when you say Kyoto over and over, you get "Tokyo", and Kyoto also used to be Japan's capital city? Just sayin'.

- Joko

---