Onto happier subjects...
May. 13th, 2008 04:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rkoldSo while I should be finishing my GinoSuzu fic or starting my sketches, I've decided instead to share more Japan pictures! Woot! Go me!
BTW I just wanted to share the extremely happy new I got over the week end. As alert readers might know, last Fall while having work done on my house, the workers managed to kill all 4 of my expensive hydrangea including the Tokyo Delight I'd been nursing along all summer. Well, Tokyo Delight and Blushing Bride or completely gone but surprise, Penny Mac which I thought was gone has actually brought up shoots and my other blue hydrangea has one small tiny green stem on the otherwise dead and lifeless looking branch, so here is hoping the painters don't finish the job the insulation people started and they make it!
I believe, I am up to Monday the 28th, which involved checking out of my hotel, grabbing lunch at Dean and Deluca and catching a shinkansen to Kyoto.
Fuji-san seen through the humidity/smog/fill in the blank
I was staying in a new hotel close to the station because I thought it would make things more convenient for day tripping and friend visiting. My single turned out to be rather lovely and modern, and is probably the first place in Kyoto I would stay again. I also discovered when hungry there is a Capricossa Italian restaurant in the shopping arcade near Kyoto eki. I met![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
chocolate_chip for dinner and we did karaoke <3 We also made plans for the next day since unbeknownst to me she had the day off from school.
We decided to visit Kurama, a small town just outside Kyoto famous for one temple on top of the mountain and a shinto shrine known for its particularly clear water. I want to say the shrine appeared in Shounen Onmyouji for all you anime fans and Kurama of course is in Yu Yu Hakusho. Secretly, I was hoping to see the end of the sakura since I had seen some from the shink the day before when going through Maibara.
Kurama is well known for its stories about tengu. (Though I think the tengu statues at Kenncho-ji in Kamakura are more impressive)
There was a large tour group there that day as well, so we tried our best to avoid them whenever possible.
This is the entrance gate to Kurama-dera. From here, one had the option to either climb to the main part of the temple on the top or take some sort of cable car. Happily, Emily and I were of like mind and so we walked!
The tour group we were trying to avoid
A small shrine going up to the temple
Finally, we made it to the top!
I think these are a type of sakura and if they're not, they're still gorgeous!
Azaleas
No idea what these are but they're pretty
worship my super special awesome hat!
Some has been burying aliens under these sakura XD;
After we got our fill at the temple, we decided to finish climbing Kurama-san and crossover to Kibune jinja on the other side.
These trees are famous for the way their roots overlap
Another small shrine, I think this is where Ushiwakamaru measured himself
I thought this tree looked creepy
This tree is super old lol
Other than its super clean water, Kibune jinja is known for the black and white horses. I'm still not 100% sure what is going on with that, I think it's a luck thing lol
At Kibune jinja you could either buy a water bottle and fill it up or bring your own. I bought one for 300 yen, but wow, other Japanese tourists were filling bottles like it was a drought o_O; There was also a super cute priest at the shrine, but sadly I did not get his picture. Supposedly the original site of Kibune jinja was upriver a bit so we decided to walk it.
Despite the weather there were some camellias still in bloom
Peony Pink
We then followed the road back down to the train station, about another mile and a half or so. The road was very narrow and twisty and oddly I felt safer walking it.
Not as cool as the sign in Takasago
After getting back to central Kyoto, we went to the main shopping arcade and found the Animate. I then left to meet Kate for dinner. We went to a speciality tofu restaurant which was super yummy and involved eating tofu in lots of different ways. I then caught a bus back to my hotel, exhausted.
BTW I just wanted to share the extremely happy new I got over the week end. As alert readers might know, last Fall while having work done on my house, the workers managed to kill all 4 of my expensive hydrangea including the Tokyo Delight I'd been nursing along all summer. Well, Tokyo Delight and Blushing Bride or completely gone but surprise, Penny Mac which I thought was gone has actually brought up shoots and my other blue hydrangea has one small tiny green stem on the otherwise dead and lifeless looking branch, so here is hoping the painters don't finish the job the insulation people started and they make it!
I believe, I am up to Monday the 28th, which involved checking out of my hotel, grabbing lunch at Dean and Deluca and catching a shinkansen to Kyoto.
Fuji-san seen through the humidity/smog/fill in the blank
I was staying in a new hotel close to the station because I thought it would make things more convenient for day tripping and friend visiting. My single turned out to be rather lovely and modern, and is probably the first place in Kyoto I would stay again. I also discovered when hungry there is a Capricossa Italian restaurant in the shopping arcade near Kyoto eki. I met
chocolate_chip for dinner and we did karaoke <3 We also made plans for the next day since unbeknownst to me she had the day off from school.We decided to visit Kurama, a small town just outside Kyoto famous for one temple on top of the mountain and a shinto shrine known for its particularly clear water. I want to say the shrine appeared in Shounen Onmyouji for all you anime fans and Kurama of course is in Yu Yu Hakusho. Secretly, I was hoping to see the end of the sakura since I had seen some from the shink the day before when going through Maibara.
Kurama is well known for its stories about tengu. (Though I think the tengu statues at Kenncho-ji in Kamakura are more impressive)
There was a large tour group there that day as well, so we tried our best to avoid them whenever possible.
This is the entrance gate to Kurama-dera. From here, one had the option to either climb to the main part of the temple on the top or take some sort of cable car. Happily, Emily and I were of like mind and so we walked!
The tour group we were trying to avoid
A small shrine going up to the temple
Finally, we made it to the top!
I think these are a type of sakura and if they're not, they're still gorgeous!
Azaleas
No idea what these are but they're pretty
worship my super special awesome hat!
Some has been burying aliens under these sakura XD;
After we got our fill at the temple, we decided to finish climbing Kurama-san and crossover to Kibune jinja on the other side.
These trees are famous for the way their roots overlap
Another small shrine, I think this is where Ushiwakamaru measured himself
I thought this tree looked creepy
This tree is super old lol
Other than its super clean water, Kibune jinja is known for the black and white horses. I'm still not 100% sure what is going on with that, I think it's a luck thing lol
At Kibune jinja you could either buy a water bottle and fill it up or bring your own. I bought one for 300 yen, but wow, other Japanese tourists were filling bottles like it was a drought o_O; There was also a super cute priest at the shrine, but sadly I did not get his picture. Supposedly the original site of Kibune jinja was upriver a bit so we decided to walk it.
Despite the weather there were some camellias still in bloom
Peony Pink
We then followed the road back down to the train station, about another mile and a half or so. The road was very narrow and twisty and oddly I felt safer walking it.
Not as cool as the sign in Takasago
After getting back to central Kyoto, we went to the main shopping arcade and found the Animate. I then left to meet Kate for dinner. We went to a speciality tofu restaurant which was super yummy and involved eating tofu in lots of different ways. I then caught a bus back to my hotel, exhausted.
