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October 18th 2008

Published: November 8th 2008

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chiuj

Bento lunch

for shinkansen ride from Tokyo to Kyoto. This was beef with egg. It didn't look very appetising when I opened it but it tasted pretty good.

We decided to visit Kyoto again coz it seemed like a pleasant place with many more temples & shrines to explore.

We had a tiring start to our Kyoto trip. It took us a really long while to walk to our lodging (Econo Inn). Even though we were pretty proud of how fast we could walk, it took us almost 30 min to reach the Inn (its website indicated 15min walk from Kyoto Station).

Nevertheless, we quickly freshened up after checking-in... Time was running out coz we only had 1.5 days there. Hence, we proceeded to Kiyomizu Temple hurriedly on feet. And, we proved to ourselves we were really fast walkers (coz we overtook several ppl on the streets. yes, we were that bo liao).

The feel of Kiyomizu at evening was different. A little less crowded with local students... A little quieter... At least it felt more like a sacred place of worship rather than just a historical touristy place. I was glad we went there that evening despite the Inn lady's advice (that 2 hours to closing time was too short for a visit). This time round we went to a shrine within Kiyomizu that housed

How do I kill time on the skinkansen ride of slightly less than 3 hrs?

the Deity of Love (we missed it the other time). Not for prayers but to see what's the hype, and of coz for MX to get for amulets. As usual, there were the fortune-telling box, this time was abt love prospects. I tried one and it said something like "will have to wait". Ok...

On the first night there, we tot of eating tako balls which we had last year at Shin-Osaka station. Since Shin-Osaka was just one Shinkansen stop away from Kyoto, we decided to just make a trip there for food. Moreover, travelling expense was not an issue as we had the JR pass.

The next day, we headed to the Arashiyama area via JR train. It was another famous place with several temples and shrines and a famed bridge. They were best visited during spring and autumn. As it was early autumn when we were there, the views weren't so breath-taking. The Togetsukyo bridge area was crowded with local and foreign tourists on that Saturday. The banks of the river seemed to be a fav picnic ground for families (esp. young families). At first I thought going to the Togetsukyo bridge was really abt the

Road Barricade

These greeted us on the road while brisk-walking to Kiyomizu. Kawaii neh!

bridge. And when I didn't find anything in particularly special abt it, I read up abt the bridge and realised the it was abt the bridge AND its surroundings (i.e. Mt Arashiyama). What an oversight!

The Tenryuji Temple was our next stop. It was within walking distance from the Togetsukyo bridge. The temple was a zen temple and a World Heritage site. In a certain period in history, the temple was adopted as a palace of sorts. It had a famed garden and we paid 500 yen to enter the garden grounds. The main attraction of the garden was the pond area which had very much maintain the same look as olden times. Japanese are in awe with it and would sit by the side to admire it. We followed suit (the zen culture), of coz. At the ticketing counter, we received a phamplet which showed how the beautiful landscape looks like in different season. It'll be pretty awesome if there was a garden in front of my house that look characteristically of each season. How fortunate were those who used to live here....

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