The Bullet and the Bamboo Grove (Help my shoe is falling apart !)

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Woke up to Macdonalds yehhhhhhhh.

So our first foray on a Bullet train went off without a hitch. The trains look like dolphins. Osaka via Kyoto... Bamboo forest (Arashiyama) as well as the Tenryu-ji Temple, a cultural heritage site.

Upon arrival we had to walk about 15mins to get to the Bamboo forest area. It was a strange site. We all know what bamboo looks like, but to see a forest of them was quite eerie. Long sticks with no widening at the bottom made the bamboo look like twizzle sticks. Some of these were dark green, light green, and some had turned yellowish, which means that they were probably dying. Along the sides of the path were hay woven to become a fence to keep us on the path. Bamboo, as it gets tall tended to lean top heavy towards the center of the path , thus creating a tunnel like effect. I enhanced this using the fish-eye effect on my camera.

I came across something flying by and followed it with my eye. To my astonishment it was a Praying Mantis. A small one but easy to capture.

We then took a break and walked the the village suburbs and marvelled at the ingenuity of the people who lived there in Arashiyama. One thing about Japan is that it is very clean and proper. There is a lot of pride in ownership. You can see the evidence everywhere. When people hang out laundry it is very even and color matched.

My shoe is falling apart. My left shoe sole has collapsed! I now walk with a limp because of the damn shoe. A close look at it shows that it hasn't worn out but the rigid foam holding the sole on has collapsed! Now I have to walk around like a cripple even though I am not. people are now thinking I need help. Lol Where am I going to find size 11 shoes in Japan? Heeeeeelp!!..

The Temple was established in 1339. A world heritage site. Gardens within the temple (Sogenchi Garden) is large and well landscaped but while we were there, nothing really was in bloom. However, to our surprise we had an even better view of the Bamboo forest. The pics are beautiful.

After 4 hours we were pooped. Time for lunch. We stopped in a mom and pop restaurant and ordered a set plate consisting of various little dishes like greens, meat, egg, and stuff I did not recognize but ate anyway. I was full. So was the wife. No supper tonight.

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