Day 12

Simon here reporting from day two Kyoto in Japan! As I sit on my bed writing this extremely long blog, I tend to ponder on the small things in Japan. From common practices in the malls to people on the streets, Japan continues to entertain me everyday of my stay. Enough small talk; you might want to know about my adventures.

            Starting off our day with a western and Japanese style breakfast buffet, we head out to our first stop, the Heian Jingu Shrine. Although it was the first shrine we visited in Japan, the shrine resembled a lot of the temples we had seen; an intricate building with a praying stand. While similar to temples, the method of praying is different. Instead of just slapping your hands together, at a shrine, you do 2 bows, 2 claps, and 1 bow. Also, the shrine focuses on the future rather than temples, which focus on the past. Just food for thought.

            Our next stop is yet another temple by the names of Ginkaku-Ji. Although the name translates to the “Silver Pavilion” no one understands why it was given the name. Though a mystery, the temple and scenery was no joke. Leading to the temple is a massive passage with walls of bushes. Waiting for us on the other side was several flights of stairs leading to a temple in the mountains. Inside were several buildings, with one containing a giant bell. Walking through the temple was nothing surprising but outside was a lovely view of the entire area below the temple. With a little more hiking up stairs, we reached the mountainside, overlooking the entire city and the temple. Lovely indeed.

            With a surprised mind and an empty stomach, we headed out to eat lunch. Today’s lunch was Udonsuki. Although it is like hotpot, imagine a flame burner with a coffee filter holding soup, udon, meat, and veggies. Yes, a coffee filter over a flame… Well, isn’t really a coffee filter but it still amazed many in our group. Our lunch came with rice, scallops, and pickled vegetables. The process of cooking it was amazing, even if we didn’t actually do anything.

            Last stop of the day was yet another temple, but the best is saved for last. Tenryu-Ji is an extremely large temple with an amazing garden. The temple consisted of many rooms, which many contained old art, alters, and structures. Going through the temple, not much really impressed me until we arrived at a huge pond filled with Koi fishes. With beautiful scenery of trees in the background, the pond was truly inspiring. Now came the garden in the distance.

            Before we venture into the garden, what do you think is the garden? A small plot of flowers and grass? Maybe it might be covered in fences to prevent people from stepping on them. Well… it isn’t that type of garden. Walking behind the pond we find a huge fenced off area full of blue and purple flower blossoms. With trees and streams nearby it was truly nature. With more hiking, we discover a bamboo grove. Looking like the setting of a samurai showdown, the forest of bamboo featured a path for visitors to walk through and on the trail were the carved names and messages of brave rebels who wanted to leave a legacy for the future generations to see. With sprinkling bamboo leaves the area looked like something straight from a movie. Truly inspiring indeed, we walked along the side of a river, back to our bus.

            Dinner was the same style as lunch, except with a special starch noodle, chicken, and veggies with soup with a side of rice and friend hamburger steak. Yeah. Nothing to say here except today was spiritually awesome :D!