last full day in kyoto

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the day started off with breakfast in the room, an array of different things picked up from little convenience stores in the kyoto station.

then we went to the kiyomizu shrine in kyoto, a nominee for one of the new 7 wonders of the world! (i wonder, does that mean there'll be 14??) apparently you can vote at: www.new7wonders.com. i have yet to check the site out. the shrine area is located at the top of a hill... we walked, it wasn't too bad. and paid $3 to get in... although i found out that theoretically you can get in for free if you walk up through the "exit" path located on the right side, past the toilets and all the way up a slope and sets of stairs. the buildings were pretty impressive architecturally. there were many tour groups there, so i guess it's kind of a touristy area.

we met up with chiaki (the one who recommended the great restaurants during matt and my trip to europe) and she showed us around, and was able to translate some things. i got a haircut which i really needed, and we had a good lunch and dinner.

the last time i was in japan... 7 years ago, i heard a japanese song played all over the place and after asking around found out that it was called "secret of my heart." well, the song of this trip is "sakura iro" by angela aki, who i found out grew up in japan but moved to hawaii and graduated from iolani! that's pretty cool.

its almost midnight and i'm really tired. i'll edit this tomorrow and post the pictures then. goodnight!

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Photos

but its a bad one
so she hangs it up so it doesn't follow her

people write down their worries on a slip of paper,
toss it into a bucket, and when the words dissolve, their worries dissolve also

shrine
people drink water from the little waterfountain with long stick cups and it purifies

cow hormones? yummy.
not. i didn't even try it.

authenticity certificate of a geisha house
didn't see any though. but it was early. if you walked down the street later at night you'd most definitely see some walking in and out