Kyoto Trip (27 Sept)

Every week, I go to Kyoto. *sighs* So here it is, my 4th Kyoto Trip! =)

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Woke up early today because we were meeting at 9 at Yawata-shi Station (Daryn's station, which is nearer to Kyoto and Uji. My station is nearer to Osaka and Nara). The last time we went to Kiyomizudera, we stopped at Shijo Station. But, from the map, we found out that Gojo Station was closer than Shijo. Gojo Station was good in that it had signs to the famous places in Kyoto. So we didn't need to (unlike last week) figure out which exit to take... On the way, randomly, Professor Pawle suddenly turned up from an alley, and bumped into us just as we were crossing the alley. Haha, it was so random!!! Professor Pawle is Daryn's Cross-Cultural Psychology Prof. If SMU had allowed me to transfer psychology credits, I'd have taken his class instead. :x

Anyways, it was a very straight forward walk to Kiyomizudera. Compared to exiting from Shijo. Cos all we needed to do was to walk straight ahead to a cross junction, turn left and walk a little bit before crossing the road and just walking up the hill to Kiyomizudera.

Masayuki asked me yesterday, "Why are you going to Kiyomizudera again?" haha, the answer is simple: Because we never did go into the temple. All we did was to stand outside and my friend wanted to leave because she was hungry. Also, it was very hot at that time. Today's weather, I think, is all right. Yuko told me over dinner that the coldest today was 18 degrees, and the highest temperature today was 24 degrees. Hmm, I was a bit cold, despite it being a little sunny and me wearing long sleeves and my favourite pair of jeans. But then, like Daryn always says, "You Singaporean, you!" haha.

Hmm, Kiyomizudera is beautiful. And the view from up there is really really pretty.. <3 [Absolutely stunning. You'll notice my pictures are now bigger, mainly because someone complained that it was difficult to see. Haha. ] Entrance is 300yen (heart hurts just thinking about the cost of entry :().




















We were walking down the stairs to this spring. To drink from this, you have to pay 200yen. Haha, I'm not in need of miracles yet. So, no thanks. It's too touristy... And I saw people drinking right from the steel cup. How unhygenic!






















Hmm, belief is a very powerful thing. If you believe drinking out of that steel cup will lead u to riches, well... It might just work, cos the mind is so powerful. I don't believe in the wish-granting powers of the water though. haha.

The following are random pictures of the temple as well as view (of the Kyoto tower) from Kiyomizudera.







































The last picture is interesting. Is of a rock, dressed in a little girl's clothes. I think Prof Kenney will say that that is Jizo, one of the bodhissatvas featured in Japanese Buddhism. She showed us pictures two weeks ago of statues of Jizo being dressed in little baby's clothes.. I think this might be the case too. It's quite interesting! I see this quite often throughout Japan (maybe only because of Prof Kenney's lessons that is why I'm more alert to such things).

I was very very annoyed with having to pay 300yen though. Haha, for reasons that I shall not disclose here. But, as a result, as we went down to the touristy area below the temple, I swore to eat as much wagashi samples as possible. According to my calculations (and Daryn's), I ate maybe 500yen worth of wagashi from all the different wagashi stalls, plus drank a bowl of (free) green tea. BUT! At one wagashi stall, I bought an omiyage (present/souvenir) for my host family. Hence, it's not really like I ate without buying anything. *bleah* But the wagashi was really nice (very very sweet though, even for me. And I've got one of the sweetest tooth I know.) Unfortunately for everyone, no, there is no picture of the wagashi basically because I was too busy sampling and it'd be stupid and weird to take pictures of things that the stalls are selling, ne?

One thing that I found very interesting was how they made these. I have no idea what kind of Japanese sweets they are, but it's very nice. Fluffy on the outside, and inside there is red bean paste. Usually, they come in prepackaged form (like a biscuit) but this was freshly made. I tried the prepackaged one and the freshly made one. The taste is really different. For one, the freshly made one is more fluffy. And moist. Very very delicious. =) hehe. The right is a picture of the guy who's controlling the machine, and the left is of the stamping machine that stamps the words: 清水焼.




















After eating our fill (or at least, after I ate my fill and daryn got sick of the sweet desserts), we walked down a random street and found a map. So, we decided to walk to this park (which we totally bypassed and didn't even know we bypassed it) and eventually make our way to another two temples. These are pictures from our walk:

I don't know if you will get it, but look at the car plate. It says (in part): "ZEN666". Haha, Daryn was like, "Zen and 666 totally do not go together!" haha. I agree! :P But it's pretty cool, isn't it? And I'm sure the owners don't know the underlying meaning behind their car plate....








Kyoto, at least the places where I've been, is full of greenery. The way the trees frame the sidewalks make the scenery look so beautiful =) Kyoto is full of very very steep stairways. Many steps and very steep. *gasp* A little bit 危ない（abunai = dangerous). And after climbing the many stairs, you really know that you're out of shape, in need of more exercise, but in need of water and a seat first. haha.




















So, like I said, we totally bypassed the park that we were supposed to explore and came upon this. I have to be honest with you. I don't know what jinja this is. It's called Gokoku Jinja. But when I wiki-ed it, there were Gokoku Jinjas around Japan, not only in Kyoto! I know for sure, though, that this is a Shinto... It's a Shinto Shrine, and Buddhist Temples. So, when I talk about temples, it's buddhist. When I talk about jinja/shrine, it's shinto. Prof Steven made sure we didn't make any mistake on that. haha.

Daryn and I looked at the map. It had many many steps. But, it was rather quiet, unlike Kiyomizudera, which was really really crowded and very very touristy. I just wanted to hike up to get a better view of the city. So, *sighs* paid an admission fee of 300yen.

Personally speaking, I liked this better than the temple. Very few people actually go out of the way to come to this jinja. Both of us ended there because we got lost. So, it was just an accident. In the entire time we were there, fewer than 20 people were at the jinja. Compare that with Kiyomizudera. *shrugs* I shan't comment more. Haha. Anyway, there were tombstones of many people (but we still don't know who they are and what role they played in the Japanese history. I'm sure it's gotta be a great role, or else they won't have a place in a Jinja ne?) I also included a picture of the damned steep staircases (again) and several tombstones (will feature more later).




































































Maybe if Daryn wasn't around with me, I'd have felt that this was a little creepy. But then, Daryn was around and there were other people around too.

There was a point in time when the stairs were so steep both of us were walking down side ways. Three guys were sitting behind, laughing at us. It was funny lah, actually, so I don't blame them for laughing. haha. I keep thinking that the Jinja is a great place for a picnic. haha. Picnic amongst tombstones... It was so serene that you feel at peace with the world. It wasn't too cold, though we were rather high up. The weather, the view were just too perfect to describe in words. Haha, this 300yen was well spent! =)






After the Jinja, we continued our walk down (note that the Gokoku Jinja was on some hill that we had to climb up). At the bottom of the slope, we were near Ryozen Kannon Temple and saw this HUGE Kannon statue. Neither of us wanted to spend anymore money on entrance fees... So, pictures of this was enough. It was quite astounding, the size of the Kannon. [Kannon is Guan Yin, Goddess of Mercy]. Ehem, yes, I am very very aware that the tour buses are destroying the image, but what can I do?! I cant ask the buses to all move away, can i? haha.









Daryn was hungry after all that climbing up and down. I wasn't really very hungry because of all the wagashi I'd eaten, and also because of the pizza Okaasan packed for me in the morning, but both of us decided that to keep going, we needed some nutrition. It was only later that I realised that she was right. Because, both of us felt faint, and I was shaking a little bit. Don't know if it was from the cold or from being a little tired. But it was a good thing we went to find a place to rest. Or else, I don't think I'd have been able to endure the next part of the trip.

Anyway, we found the exit from all that confusing alleys by accident. Both of us wandered and wandered and suddenly, when we exited from one alley, we found ourselves on familiar ground. Our first trip to Kyoto was through another Jinja and we were right in front of it. So, haha, it was a happy thing for both of us, cos now we knew where Shijo was, and where to find food! Stopped at a very small restaurant. You enter it, go to the machine, get a ticket for whatever you want to eat (in both of our cases, Udon), pass it to the waitress and wait for ur food. Mine cost 280 (with one fishcake only. haha), and hers cost 390 (with ebi fry). Don't feel sad for me, cos I had a good dinner =) There was free flow matcha too, and our matcha, at least I'd like to think, was freshly made cos our bottle of matcha had the darkest colour amongst all the bottles. Haha. Daryn says it's delicious, but I found mine to be so-so only lah. Okaasan's udon is better :P

With energy and sweet in mouth, we went up again. Timed ourselves. By the time we'd finished, it was 4.30. Daryn had to get home by 7 and me maybe around 730 (I'd told Okaasan I'd be back around 7-8). To walk to Shijo Station, I gave us 1/2 hour (including leaving from whatever place we were at). So, we essentially only had 1 hour. It wasn't enough time for us to climb a temple. So, we walked into this other shrine (which, until now, I still don't know the name of).

That, I swear, was the best part of my trip today. You will see why later.

I think Daryn looks good in this picture, though she doesn't think so. haha. This is the long stretch of road before the shrine. I'm standing in front of the shrine's entrance acting stupid as usual. haha.




















This is the inside of the shrine. There were fewer than 10 people the entire time we were there. We finally figured out why. Cos the shrine closed at ... 5pm!!! But anyways, with the few people there, we were able to explore to our heart's delight.





















































In every temple/shrine, there will be an area for u to cleanse/purify yourself. I think this is kinda cute, the dragon with a red pipe as its tongue :) The second last picture shows what they pray to. This is rather Shinto-ish. Last week, when I went to Nishinoki Jinja, there was such a thing too. So, maybe it's a jinja. I thought it was a temple at first, but then, in a temple, there'd be Buddha, and I didn't see a statue of the Buddha anywhere. So, came to a conclusion it's a shrine.

And now, for the best part of the trip!!!

An exploration of a HUGE cemetary.

Haha. A little stunned by what I said? Well, if you were there, I swear, you would have felt the same way as I did.

The cemetary is huge. Here is a map of it. The picture on the right only shows Zone 3. I actually climbed all the way up to the 24th Zone. It was so high and so cool lah. Haha. Daryn wasn't exactly with me at Zone 24 cos it was too high for her and she has acrophobia. But, it was kinda cool climbing up all the way..




















This is the view of the entire cemetary, the city, the mountains, the trees, and a bit of the sky, plus the kyoto tower. It's amazing the number of tombstones in it. My camera couldn't take the entire scene, but if I could, it'd be a feast for the eye. It was so astounding!!!





























I think there's a pretty view (right picture). The sky made a nice backdrop for my pictures... In the right picture, I was only maybe a third from the bottom...

I must say, though, that there were many crows. Hmm, for a place associated with death, having birds of death around.. well, that's kinda expected, yet a little uncanny.









Well, anyway, when I eventually finished exploring Zone 24, we went down to maybe around the middle of the cemetary and found a guard waiting for us. He asked Daryn something (I couldn't make out what he said) and she answered, "Oh, we're international students." And he's like, "The cemetary is closed" and walked us out of the cemetary and the jinja.

When we entered, we saw him and he, of course, saw us wandering in. Yet, at 5pm, he still didn't see us. So, I think he knew we hadn't exited from the cemetary. He could have locked up everything and left us in there (since it was our own fault for not reading the signs), but no! He waited patiently for us in the middle of the cemetary. We'd disappeared amongst the tombstones, so he probably couldn't even be sure that we were there. [maybe he saw us lah...] He didn't even come up to yell at us for taking up his time and delaying him going home (we were 20minutes beyond the closing time). He just patiently waited for us. And better still, he escorted us all the way out, and when we apologised, he wasn't a single bit grumpy! I think it's difficult to find this kinda service here. Or maybe he thought we were mourning family members (impossible, given that we were laughing and talking in English) and needed time for bereavement and was trying to be sensitive? Who knows... But when he walked us out, the entire place was locked up and chained up already... Luckily he waited. I liked the cemetary, but I don't wanna spend the night out in the cold with no food (well, a half eaten pizza doesn't count) and in the cemetary!!!!!!

So, that was the adventure today. Today was very well spent. *satisfied look* I liked the ending very very much. hehe. It might sound really weird.. *shrugs* Think all you like! I'm not morbid. I just liked the exploring bit, and climbing steps to find where it leads me to. And of course, the majestic view...

Ah, Kyoto, Kyoto...

=) Tomorrow is Nara. Nara has loads of deers (shikas) and temples (teras) as well. It's also where Dai-butsu is. So, I will be going to visit it. =)

Need an early night. hehe, good night!!! =)