nateniale's travels

{ Japan April 2010 - Day 7 - Kyoto } Wanting to make full use of our second, and final day, in Kyoto, we took off (relatively) early in the morning. We only had half a day left before leaving for Osaka in the late afternoon. The plan was to spend the day around northern Kyoto, but at the last minute, we decided that we wanted to have the ultimate torii experience! The Ultimate Torii Experience Walking down the orange torii gates was a surreal experience. If you have watched Memoirs of Geisha, you may remember the scene where the young Sayuri ran through a gateway of orange torii gates. That scene was filmed in Fushimi Inari Taisha . The torii gates were donated by worshipers with their names written on one side of the torii gates (see the 4th photo with all the wordings), and put along a pathway going up the hill behind the main building. We only managed to walk a section of it, and even then we couldn't stop snapping photos! While it looked orange when we were there, it cam...

{ Japan April 2010 - Day 6 - Kyoto } It was finally time to visit Kyoto! While I love the vibrant and electric feeling that Tokyo radiates, I would still take culture and history over people and city anytime. Kyoto has one of the most number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Japan and many historical buildings. So, I was excited to see what the city has to offer. Once we reached the Kyoto Station, we went up to the Kyoto Tower that offered a 360 degrees view of Kyoto from 100 metres above ground. While the view was great (and I loved the mountains at the horizon), the tower looked like an out-of-place candle. Kiyomizudera Temple From the bus stop at the main road, it was an uphill climb to reach the Kiyomizudera Temple. The path was filled with shops and restaurants catering to tourists and selling many local specialties and souvenirs. The best feature of the temple was the wooden platform standing above the hill. It provided a great view of the city amidst the cherry blosso...

It was hard to believe that Japan is a country in Asia and only 7 hours away on the flight from Singapore. It was extremely different from all the Asian countries that I have been to - no, make that all the countries that I have been to. Japan is a land of contradictions.... Ancient temples and huge amazing gardens in the midst of modern skyscrapers Traditional wedding in Meiji Shrine with the bride in full fledged kimono and ladies in cosplay costumes right outside the shrine in Harajuku Clean streets and yet it was difficult to find rubbish bins (apparently Japanese will keep their rubbish in their bags till they see a rubbish bin!) Separating rubbish by combustible, non-combustible, plastic bottles, cans and papers while using lots of papers, ribbons and packaging materials for gifts and decorations. Young man purchased a fortune from a shrine and tied it to a frame with the rest of the paper fortunes, and walked away using all the gadgets and gizmos imaginable Modern anime an...