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Published: November 19th 2015
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Hello world Brad here to tell you about our adventures today....
So we began not so early about 10am with a bakery breakfast, i.e. i ducked down to the local French bakery underneath the apartment and grabbed some croissants and other baked treats and cooked up some bacon, eggs and toast in the fry pan. After gobbling our way through our brekky feast we showered, dressed and made our way to the bikes located near the front entry. I thought that it might be a good opportunity to use the bikes provided and travel the 1km or so up the road to the Golden shrine. Yeah not my best idea! It started pouring down with rain as we got to the entry and we looked like drowned rats so we decided to head back to where we were staying, get changed and buy umbrellas and walk back. It wasn't so far so I was cool with it. While making our way back along the main street Maddie noticed a clothes store and she wanted to check it out. Sure glad we did! Not sure of the name of it but it was kind of like a Kmart or best and
less in Australia but better. Maddie found a nice pair of black ankle boot heals and an off white faux leather biker jacket with detachable fur collar. Ooh so pretty. So anyway we eventually made our way out of there after an hour and up to the entry of 'Kinkaku (The Golden Pavilion)/ Rokuon-ji Temple. After purchasing the 400 JPY each tickets, we walked through a short corridor and low and behold there it was. Battling with the other tourists and their umbrellas we managed to find a nice spot close to the pavilion and catch some great snaps. Weather was not ideal yet still amazingly beautiful in the rain and light mist. If you want to see other great images of the temple and surrounding gardens they are not hard to find in google images or you can wait until we upload, the 100's that we took, on Facebook. Being autumn, here in Japan currently, the path that led us around the golden pavilion and towards the other gardens and shrines were shrouded in crimson and golden leaves from the maple trees that hugged the sides of the gravel walkways. We slowly made our way along and came to
stairs that led up to a small shrine where we bought in-scent sticks and a prayer candle that we lit and placed in the corresponding alters or cabinets next to the shrine.
I couldn't describe the feeling and wonder of the garden any better than the brochure which says,
" The pond with the Golden Pavilion, and islets large and small, is the centre of the garden. Rocks donated by various lords of the period are placed throughout the garden. As a pond garden designed for strolling, it is typical of the Muromachi period. The garden is listed as a national special historic site and special place of scenic beauty."
A thing of significant architecture it is indeed and has to be seen in person to be believed!
We exited the garden grounds, with it still raining, we headed towards the main street which we came from and stumbled across a small gift store that had soft serve green tea ice-cream. Now i know many of you would assume,"Eww it probably tastes the same as a strong green tea", I can assure you it does not. In fact quite delicious and if you are not game
to go full strength you can have half n half with vanilla. After consuming our creamy treats we thought it was time to slowly make our way back. On our return we found a small place of worship. We stopped in washed hands and mouth the traditional way in the ladle fountain and said a small prayer. By this time we were getting tired and it was time to take a small break back at the apartment and head out again.
Still raining we headed towards a rather large garden that i had located on a maps app i have on my phone, which is really handy if you don't have access to the internet and instead of carrying a hard copy of a fold out map that are a big pain in the ass. We located it and were blown away! The Kitano Tenman-gu temple and gardens are so beautiful. It is filled with small cow shrines and places of offering. Large entry gates made of stone. Lining the pathways are many stone pillar light posts of different shapes, styles and sizes. Within the walls of this garden is one of the oldest Maple tree gardens. We didn't
have enough cash so didn't get the opportunity to enter and witness this great garden.
I had always wanted to check out a 100JPY store and we found one nearby. The street that it was located on was a busy market style street with many different grocer style shops, clothing stores, salons and barbers. We picked up a few souvenir type things and head back to where we were staying.
It was starting to get dark by this stage and after taking a bazillion photos strolled back to our room. But firstly we needed to make a brief stop at a local grocery store which was approximately 3 min walk from the apartment and pick up a few things for dinner. Some people say that it is really expensive to eat in Japan. Yes it is true but there are store where you can pick up local ingredients etc pretty cheap and that taste really good. We picked up a stir fry pack with veggies, some chicken and noodles. I found some sushi and sashimi. The variety of seafoods that you can get here is impressive. We made it back and Mads cooked up a mean meal and we smashed it down and decided to both have a soak and hit the hay, horses eat it.
Bye for now, Sayonara peeps, Bradaline.
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Neil
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The Kitano Tenman-gu temple and gardens are so beautiful.
Travel is certainly full of uncertainty and surprises. Epic Fail? Not! Thanks for showing us a good time.