Our itinerary for the day: explore the temples of Kyoto, turn into Geisha, eat plenty of good food, and drink plenty of good sake. As the pictures will attest, we succeeded on all counts with flying colors!
Our first stop: Nijo Castle
Surrounding Nijo has an outer moat and a high protective wall complete with guard towers.
Kurumayose entrance to Ninomaru Palace
Detail of Kurumayose entrance
Heart in gold
Peak of Ninomaru Palace
More detail on roof
Entrance to Ninomaru Palace of Nijo Castle
Roof detail
Ninomaru Garden
What a job! Each tree, bush, and scrub was manicured with attention to the finest detail.
Love this pic
Tea House in Ninomaru Garden...I had to join the tea ceremony!
Amazing views while sipping green tea and eating a Japanese sweet.
Endearing woman who served tea
This one's for you, Greg. I was making a souvenir coin from Nijo Castle for your collection. : ) Love you, Bro.
We said goodbye to Nijo Castle, consulted the map, and walked to our next destination, Imperial Palace in the Kyoto Gyoen National Garden.
Japanese license plate
School Bus
I love walking through the streets of Kyoto...on just about every block was a sweet flower shop bursting with color.
Thinking of you, John Vitale!
Internet Cafe...catching up on correspondence
Kara
Veronica
Next stop: Kyoto Gyoen National Garden and the Imperial Palace. We soon found out that the Imperial Palace was closed to the public, so we were only able to get peaks of the building over the high walls.
Most common mode of transportation in Japan
Munakata Shrine inside Kyoto Gyoen National Garden
Ritual cleansing of hands and mouth fountain
Oh, Maggy, now I'm thinking of you and I missing you more than words can say. Notice the little hearts in the woodwork above the cat...
Carvings on shrines.
Megan reading the Ema, votive tablets for personal prayers and gratitudes
The Year of the Rabbit
Hey, check it out! I was born the Year of the Rabbit and here I am celebrating Chinese New Year here in Asia and...it's the Year of the Rabbit!
Bell with sweet little heart--I'm just captivated by all the little hearts in the shrines and temples here in Japan. Must find out what they signify, but I know in my heart that it's Mom telling me she loves me each time I see one. : )
Kale in garden
Prayers and wishes tied to trees
Signs of spring!
Shirakumo Shrine
More wishes and prayers tied to tree branches
Thinking of you, Christiane. : )
Peach tree buds
Consulting the map for our next destination: Ginkaku-ji (Temple of the Silver Pavillion)...
...which was about a 20 minute taxi ride away. Now I'm thinking of you, Rosemary!
Ginkaku-ji Temple this-a-way!
The narrow street leading up to Ginkaku-ji Temple was lined with quaint flower shops, restaurants, and stores. We did a little shopping and munching along the way.
I have no idea what these cinnamony treats were called, but they were delicious. Megan and I purchased quite a few little bags and stood there in the street munching away.
Entrance to Ginkaku-ji (Temple of the Silver Pavillion), a temple belonging to the Shokoku School of the Rinzai Zen sect of Buddhism
Our ticket into the temple
Ginshaden Sand Garden
In the middle of the Ginshaden Sand Garden you see a cone shaped structure rising about 2 meters high called the Kogetsudai, or Moon viewing platform. There are several theories about this mountain of sand. Some believe it is meant to resemble Mount Fuji, while others say it was designed as a simple mound of sand used by the grounds keepers to replenish the walkways. Still others say that the cones of this type are meant to reflect divine light into the hearts of visitors. (I like this theory the best.) The best view of the garden is said to be at night when with a full moon shining on the sand, making it resemble a calm, peaceful, silver sea.
Group shot in front of Ginkaku, the Silver Pavilion
Ginkaku (Silver Pavilion) and Kinkyo-chi (Brocade Mirror Pond)
A very happy grounds keeper : )
Sengetsu-sei or Moon Watching Fountain
The tiny trickle from this waterfall is designed to spread ripples across the water. I must come back to visit this temple during a full moon. It is said when the moon reflects on the pond, combined with the reflection of the moonlight on the sand garden, it's a sight to behold.
Can you see the ripples from the waterfall?
Another view of Ginkaku (Silver Pavilion) and Kinkyo-chi (Brocade Mirror Pond)
View from the trail leading up above the temple
And yet another beautiful view of Ginkaku (Silver Pavilion) and Kinkyo-chi (Brocade Mirror Pond)
More signs of spring...woohoo!
Heart in rope on bamboo fence...hi Mom.
While leaving Ginkaku-ji, we passed a family dressed in traditional Japanese clothing.
We hailed yet another taxi to take us to our next destination, Maico Costume Rental Studio, for a bit of a "make-over."
I loved walking down this little, narrow street that led us to the Maico Studio. These are hung over doors for good luck.
Here we are...ready to become Maica (apprentice Geisha).
We were not allowed to take our cameras into the make-up studio. As a matter of a fact they made us lock all our cameras in special locker until we were all made up, but Megan managed to snap a couple shots before we did so...
Cute socks!
Kara
Kimberly
Veronica
We all went through a bit of an identity crisis being dressed as Maica. It was very strange and unsettling seeing ourselves and each other looking so utterly NOT like ourselves. We were all quite relieved to wash the makeup off and see our own faces staring back at us in the mirror.
Upon leaving the Maica Studio, we walked a few blocks and found this cute little restaurant and it quickly became the highlight of our trip.
Once again, the menu was all in Japanese, but we did well the night before and were willing to give ordering blindly another shot until...
...the waiter dug into a closet and brought us the English version!
First came the beer, then the sake, then the most incredibly delicious food I have ever eaten!
My kind of restaurant...you get to pick your own sake cup!
Loved my little kitty chopstick rest. : )
Megan and Veronica
Kara and Kimberly
Is that really a salad??? I hadn't seen one of these since I left home!
Sashimi
I think Veronica likes the sashimi, don't you?
Our collection of chopstick rests
Chicken wings, too??? This girl is in H-E-A-V-E-N!
Our adorable, goofy, charismatic waiter named Tamura. He soon became our best friend and made our night a truly memorable one!
Tempura! Yes, the food (and sake) just kept coming and coming...
More sake, please.
We shared our Geisha pictures with Tamura...
...and he shared his fishing pictures with us!
This guy was a kick, such an entertainer!
Veronica and Kimberly
Kara and Megan
As we were sharing our pictures, a true Geisha walked into the restaurant.
More food...
...and beer.
Soon Tamura joined in on the sake and the fun.
Kanpai!
Down the hatch, Baby!
He was just too cute.
His companion on the other hand was very shy, but smiled for this shot as he brought out more beer.
Tamura then brought out his guest book full of incredible art work from his patrons and asked us to create a page for him.
Tamura let us know that this entry into his guest book was created using soy sauce.
The book was full of impressive art work by people from all around the globe, this one being very near and dear to my heart. Now, I've got my thoughts on you, Aunt Jan. : )
We decided to draw a Geisha's eye with something representing each of our home states inside the iris.
Kara drew a Florida orange, Megan the Washington Monument, Veronica a Texas longhorn, and I drew Sonoma County, California grapes.
Tamura loved our finished product. We wrote "An Ode to Tamura" at the bottom.
Dessert time!
And card trick time!
Pick a card, any card, Veronica.
It's the nine of hearts.
"Now I will slide this nine of hearts back into the deck...
...and let's give it some good energy!"
Tamura then "magically" pulled out...tada...the nine of hearts from the deck.
You can't see it very well in this picture, but it turns out that over half of Tamura's deck was the nine of hearts!!! You should have seen the smile on his face!
What a great evening!
The check wasn't too painful, considering the massive amounts of food and alcohol.
This is just about how we all felt as we got up from the table drunk from delicious food, drink and laughter.
The cook...
Saying goodbye to our new friend, Tamura.
He even hailed a taxi for us and did a little dance as we drove away. I am going to cherish the memory of this sweet man for a long time to come.
We made it safely back to our cozy temple and snuggled in for a good night's sleep. What a fabulous day filled with the gifts of friendship, explorations, transformations, laughter, and tons of fun!
No comments:
Post a Comment