I woke up at 7a.m because we have a tight schedule ahead. Sis reserved a table for 2 at a cake buffet restaurant called 'Sweets of Ninja' at noon, so we could only visit one attraction in the morning.
1st stop - Kinkakuji (The Golden Temple)
Sis and I walked from her apartment to Kita-Senri station, which is approx. 30mins away for a train to Kyoto. I have to say, public transportation in Japan really makes my day. Their logistics and punctuality are unparalleled, especially when compared to a certain country which boasts their own from time to time. Cleanliness, efficiency, engineering and the workers' helpfulness; the reason why I would definitely choose to take public transport in Japan. Prices for a one-way ticket averages around 250yen (RM10 or 3$) depending on how far away is your destination and is considered to be very affordable by the Japanese community.
A view of one of the train stations around Osaka. Spotless.
A cutely decorated densha. Other designs may be seen on other cabins but most are cute and colorful.
It took us around 2 hours before we managed to reach Kinkakuji, apparently Kyoto is kinda far away from Osaka. It was a good thing sis has a 3G-enabled iPhone to guide us for shortcuts around the area, the roads were indeed quite confusing.
Japanese styled houses along the way to Kinkakuji.
Kinkakuji was crowded, must be because of the Japanese golden-week holiday. We reached the main entrance of the temple compound after 15mins of walking from the Kinkakuji Station:
The three characters at the bottom (金閣寺）: Golden Temple
Entrance to view the famous temple requires tourists to pay a 400yen entrance fee, I came all the way from Canada so of course I won't mind the small fee. They need money to maintain the area and feed their family too don't they? And look at the fancy ticket I got for it:
The ticket itself looks like a charm, usually stuck on zombies' foreheads in Chinese folklore.
We went in along with the crowd and the impact when we saw the temple itself was indescribable, the gleam could be seen from afar and was magnificently astonishing, I managed to get a few good shots even though there were tons of other people walking around and taking photos:
Majestic. Brilliant. Beautiful. Astounding. Golden. Awesome.
At a closer view. One could never have been to Kyoto if this view was never seen personally.
Stone Buddhas where people ask for blessings and offer gratitude in return.
Main shrine area where the locals pray.
Sis and I went back in to the compound after we came out for the first time just to take more pictures, but most of the shots we took were similar to the ones before. After completing our visit to the Golden temple, it was already time to head on to the long-awaited buffet session!!
2nd stop - Sweets of Ninja Cake Buffet
We continued our journey at around 10.30am, with an hour and thirty minutes to spare prior to our reserved time slot. Sis typed the address of the restaurant into her google maps app and we took the fastest route to the pointed destination; Horikawa-dori. Here comes the strange part: when we arrived at Horikawa-dori, we tried to search for the restaurant but it was no where to be seen and it certainly does not look like a good place for a ninja restaurant to be. We double checked the address and it matches what we had in our gps. In the end, sis asked a friendly firefighter who was on duty around the area for directions and to our astonishment the actual restaurant was more than 10 blocks away. We started to panic as we only had 30minutes left to noon. At a point sis suggested that we give up on the cake buffet thingy but sorry, I dreamed about this cake buffet thingy long ago and I would not give away a chance for me to actually experience it so we walked there instead. The route was around 2, 3kms away and it took us around 40minutes. I saw some really cool stalls and walkways along the way but I had no time to stop and shop so I only took a few shots:
We continued our journey at around 10.30am, with an hour and thirty minutes to spare prior to our reserved time slot. Sis typed the address of the restaurant into her google maps app and we took the fastest route to the pointed destination; Horikawa-dori. Here comes the strange part: when we arrived at Horikawa-dori, we tried to search for the restaurant but it was no where to be seen and it certainly does not look like a good place for a ninja restaurant to be. We double checked the address and it matches what we had in our gps. In the end, sis asked a friendly firefighter who was on duty around the area for directions and to our astonishment the actual restaurant was more than 10 blocks away. We started to panic as we only had 30minutes left to noon. At a point sis suggested that we give up on the cake buffet thingy but sorry, I dreamed about this cake buffet thingy long ago and I would not give away a chance for me to actually experience it so we walked there instead. The route was around 2, 3kms away and it took us around 40minutes. I saw some really cool stalls and walkways along the way but I had no time to stop and shop so I only took a few shots:
A scene of the city while rushing.
Pretty cool walkway to our destination. Awesome designs and colors!! Very, very clean around the area.
Sis received a call from the restaurant while we were walking, it was really nice of them to call their customers and ask, and it was better when she said she would wait for our arrival and move our time slot forward (Great job!!). When we arrived, we were exhausted, thirsty, hungry but delighted although the long walk.
Outdoor view of the Ninja House!!
Very ninja-ish indeed.
Once we were taken to our table a ninja-dressed worker knelt down on one knee and explained the rules and regulations of their restaurant just like a ninja would do to their master!! COOL!! I did not understand a single word he said but I couldn't help but nod every time we made eye contact:
He used substitution justu with my bag and caused my camera to lose focus!! The rules are written in the scroll shown.
We were so hungry we took tons of cakes and snacks wherever we could find them. It's a pity we did not try the famous ninja crepe due the the long queue. But next time it is!! Snacks were filling as a buffer for too much sweet stuff and the cakes were heavenly good:
1st round. Itadakimasu.
Lovely spaghetti with some really good tori karaga (Deep fried chicken).
Only a portion of the wide selections of cake available. Too good to resist!
Self-serviced ice cream sundae.
We had almost 4 rounds until we were bloat. Sat for a while to rest and refresh ourselves after the tiring walk before we moved on to our next destination. I have to say, cake buffet in Japan is pretty common and is loved by Japanese of all ages. Their services were excellent and for the price offered, it is again considered to be very affordable by the locals. A wonderful experience for a foreigner like me. And a big thanks to my sis who intently reserved a table when she knew I would be visiting her!!
3rd stop - Fushimi-Inari
After a filling buffet session, sis and I took our time to walk to Kawaramachi train station, which was actually only a short distance away but we were so full we walked like robots. From there, we were supposed to take a normal train to Gion Station but instead we took an express train which misses out that particular station. So we got off immediately once we knew we were on the wrong train and hopped on to another... until we noticed that second train was going in the wrong direction too! In the end we got off at a far-far-away station and took the correct train in the correct distance (finally!) back to Gion, where we would have to walk to our next destination - Fushimi-Inari*. Took some shots while walking to the station:
*For readers who do not know what is it, Fushimi-Inari taisha is a shrine located in a place called 'Fushimi'. Inari in Japanese refers to a god or deity which blesses on fertility, rice, agriculture, foxes and industries. Of all shrines in Japan, Fushimi-Inari is the head shrine of Inari (according to wikipedia).
Link to wikipedia on Fushimi-Inari
Japanese shrines are one of the most symbolical entities which I personally think as a representative of their culture culture. It is famous worldwide for its unique appearance and elegance. I took a lot of shots while sightseeing at Fushimi-Inari:
After a filling buffet session, sis and I took our time to walk to Kawaramachi train station, which was actually only a short distance away but we were so full we walked like robots. From there, we were supposed to take a normal train to Gion Station but instead we took an express train which misses out that particular station. So we got off immediately once we knew we were on the wrong train and hopped on to another... until we noticed that second train was going in the wrong direction too! In the end we got off at a far-far-away station and took the correct train in the correct distance (finally!) back to Gion, where we would have to walk to our next destination - Fushimi-Inari*. Took some shots while walking to the station:
Shopping centres along the way.
Shijyo bridge.
Empty station with only my sis and I. Almost thought we got on the wrong station again!
*For readers who do not know what is it, Fushimi-Inari taisha is a shrine located in a place called 'Fushimi'. Inari in Japanese refers to a god or deity which blesses on fertility, rice, agriculture, foxes and industries. Of all shrines in Japan, Fushimi-Inari is the head shrine of Inari (according to wikipedia).
Link to wikipedia on Fushimi-Inari
Japanese shrines are one of the most symbolical entities which I personally think as a representative of their culture culture. It is famous worldwide for its unique appearance and elegance. I took a lot of shots while sightseeing at Fushimi-Inari:
Shop lots along the way. I spotted a Kumon leaning centre!
Me sitting by the big entrance monument thingy. The characters on the stone reads as: Fushimi - Inari - Taisha; 2 characters by 2 vertically from top to bottom.
Huge main shrines at the bottom of the mountain. RED!!
Main entrance to the mountain and shrine.
There is a tradition for visitors to the shrine to wash their mouth and hands in shrines of Japan. But since I can't read Japanese very well I did not know it meant 'gaggle' and the illustrations did not show any traces of not swallowing so I accidentally swallowed a bit. Did not taste particularly 'holy' in any sense and no, I did not fall sick.
A statue of a fox deity guarding the entrance. The 2 characters read as: 'to give'
To give prayers, one must first offer any amount of money to the shrine as a token of gratitude. Once thrown into the box, one could put their hands together and pray for whatever suits you and shake the big bell on top.
Good luck charms available for purchase and to write wishes on. According to my observations, a lot of the wishes made at the shrine were for students to pass their upcoming exams, some of them were blessings for their family and their faithful other half. A lot of them were also written by foreigners like me to bless their beloved far away. Unfortunately I did not purchase a good luck charm to write on it. It was particularly expensive, around 1500yen for one charm.
These weird looking papers tied to ropes are actually charms that visitors got in random to test their luck at the shrine. To be specific, these are all 'bad luck' indicated charms. It is believed that once a person has got a bad luck charm, he or she may tie the charm on ropes provided by the shrine and that charm would be void, thus that person could go ahead and obtain another charm with a small fee. This process could repeat numerous times until one has got a charm indicating 'good luck'.
Main entrance to the mountains.
Walking in shades of red. Beautiful.
Miraculous.
These 'torii' are gifted by various companies and individuals around Japan. I saw the pricing list for toriis and I can assure you they are no where near affordable. Seems like only established companies could afford one here and also as a symbol of a company's success.
Stunning.
Very happy.
Cute fox charms which are blank and white upon purchase. One could draw the face of the fox on it. Costs 700yen for one.
A shrine worker taking care of the candles in one of the smaller shrines halfway up.
Pathways linking to smaller, individual shrines on the mountain.
Awesome view on my way down. I did not climb until the top of the mountain due to time restrains. But when there is a will, there will also be a chance. Next time it is!
Cute Darumas!!! Darumas are Japanese tilting dolls and notice the white, blank eyes? Buyers are required to draw the black part of the eyes on it to complete the doll. Sis and I both got 1 for ourselves for 700yen. Cute ornament indeed.
We continued on shortly after exiting the shrine to the nearest train station, just to get on with our schedule for our next stop - Kiyomizudera.
4th stop - Kiyomizu-dera （清水寺）
By the time we finished our sightseeing in Fushimi Inari, we started to feel the exhaustion and our legs were starting to feel numb but for the sake of another famous tourist hot spot we continued. We walked from Fushimi-Inari's temple back to Fushimi's train station and took an express train to our next stop - Kiyomizu-Gojo station; where it would only take around 20mins to walk to the next temple.
For readers who have no idea what is Kiyomizudera, it is an independent Buddhist temple located in eastern Kyoto which is also recognized as one of the world's heritage centres by UNESCO. This temple is also regarded as one of the national treasures of Japan. The temple is somehow situated at the mid of a mountain and has extended platforms for broadening the interiors.
Wiki link for 'Kiyomizu-dera'
Here are some shots I took while enjoying the view:
By the time we finished our sightseeing in Fushimi Inari, we started to feel the exhaustion and our legs were starting to feel numb but for the sake of another famous tourist hot spot we continued. We walked from Fushimi-Inari's temple back to Fushimi's train station and took an express train to our next stop - Kiyomizu-Gojo station; where it would only take around 20mins to walk to the next temple.
For readers who have no idea what is Kiyomizudera, it is an independent Buddhist temple located in eastern Kyoto which is also recognized as one of the world's heritage centres by UNESCO. This temple is also regarded as one of the national treasures of Japan. The temple is somehow situated at the mid of a mountain and has extended platforms for broadening the interiors.
Wiki link for 'Kiyomizu-dera'
Here are some shots I took while enjoying the view:
The main building and the famous platform/stage which extends outwards.
Popular among the locals, it is believed that one may survive a jump or fall from the extended platform. The expression 'to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu' is the Japanese equivalent of the expression 'to take the plunge'. The platform has a height of 13metres and 234 jumps were recorded since the edo period and over 85% of them survived. Of course, for the sake of safety the practive is now prohibited. -wikipedia
The main temple requires tourist to pay an admission fee of 400yen and of course I was more than willing to give them this token of appreciation. The main temple within was huge but it was very much crowded during my visit. Seems like the Japanese were having their holidays known as the 'golden week'. Scenery from the famous platform was astounding, several kilometers with a blend of natural and concrete forests within my sight was easily obtained, I am really glad that sis included this in our schedule, it was really a worthwhile place to visit and experience their unique architecture.
Trees as green as ever. A feel of mother nature surrounding the magic of human technologies.
Too bad a part of it was under construction or maintenance and off limits for tourists.
Stone deities I spotted on my way down from Kiyomizu-dera. It is believed that these deities protect children from demons by letting them hide under its apron.
And that would mark the end of today's schedule. After long walks during the day my sis and I were so beat we were both silent on the way home. We even took the long way which required us to walk for another 20mins before reaching her room to save a mere 240yen, an action which we later deemed to be stupid and vowed to not do the same on our outings later on.
I slept early at night, reminiscing the paths I've walked today and the things I saw and experienced. Satisfied and grateful, I fell into a deep slumber (until the energetic neighbors partied hard enough to wake both sis and I and left us dumbfounded for another hour before we could actually fall asleep again).
