Kyoto and Kobe, August 10, 2008

Our first destination, after buying breakfast at Lawson, was this place called " thirty three rooms" when translated from Japanese into Chinese and then into English, if you know what I mean.


And it's very misleading because although it's called "thirty three rooms" when translated from Japanese into Chinese and then into English, if you know what I mean, because it houses actually a thousand and one statues, not thirty three.


And the above picture shows just how awesome it was to stand in front of all 1001 statues and to gaze at them quietly. But the picture was also very misleading because we were not allowed to take pictures inside the room. So how did I get this picture?? Guess =p

And then we set off to "clear water shrine" w.t.f.j.t.c.t.e, which soon turned out to be my favorite. One thing bad was it was packed of people. It would have been a very serene place if not for the crowd.

We paid and enter this hall inside the shrine which houses a few statues, and we could pray inside. But again, no pictures allowed. And it was time to walk around.





We can to this other shrine inside the "clear water shrine" which is famous for relationships. There are two stones located there, and it is said that if you make a wish and walk from one stone to the other stone with your eyes closed, your wish will come true. And I saw girls doing it. And ONE guy. It was funny to see him doing it.


And then to another shrine. The most famous one in Kyoto. The "Golden Pavilion".




Around the area, many hills have the word "big" on it. They would be lightened up on August 16, but we would be in Tokyo then. I would have loved to see it though..


Another thing you see whenever you visited a temple or shrine are these:


Souvenirs are expensive.

And then we got to this bamboo place. There's a road in between, but the left and right were all bamboos. It was cool after one oven hot day.



And what's Kyoto without geisha? So under the guidance of our very dedicated tour guide, we came to the geisha area, Gion.





I like the settings. Quite and nice, if not for intruders like us. There were tourists everywhere like us who were trying to find geishas. Some even brought their big cameras. And many girls dressed up in Yukata, although I don't know what for.

And we walked around and around, really hoping we would see a maiko or geisha. And then our tour guide heard a sound, and then we hurried to the junction, and then we saw. My heart skipped and leaped. Camera was in my hand, but I just couldn't lift it up because I thought it really disrespectful. She was dressed in Kimono, her face expressionless. She just took one look at us, and then entered the taxi. We really weren't sure if she was a geisha or a maiko, and I believe that she was one. I still have no idea till now why my heart rate quicked when I saw her...

And this was exactly where she got into the taxi:


It was a long day. We took the train to Kobe afterwards to look at night scenery. But first, dinner at chinatown. Felt nice to hear chinese.


And last but not least, the Kobe tower!


This tower was really cute. And if you lie on the floor looking up at it like we did, and if the weather was windy, you can see clouds moving at the back which made it seem as if the tower itself was falling. Quite scary, but fun =)