Nagoya / Kyoto

Nagoya was cool - we used it as a great base to travel from and stayed with my former teacher from uni. They let us have a flat to ourselves which was really cool and we did our exploring from there.

After settling in on Wednesday, we got ready to do some serious exploring of Kyoto on Thursday and Friday. We went to loads of famous shrines and temples and saw old buildings in Kyoto. Kyoto was one of the few cities that weren't bombed to shreds during WWII and has therefore got a lot of original structures and houses left. They are really interesting to see and almost all wooden.

We went to Kiyoumizu-dera, which is a big temple perched on top of a cliff with verandahs that are supported by wooden beams. No nails were used in securing it and the whole place stands up supported by its own weight! Scary and amazing at the same time. It was such a hot day and so busy - it got a bit much after a while - but the view was lovely and as it was set in the hill side, the trees looked pretty and the forest was shady. There is a natural spring there and a waterfall, where people can stand under for some ritual cleansing or you may scoop some water from a three streams and drink it. One stream is for good health, the other is for good brains and the other was for good fortune. I heard some school kids debating which to go for and one was saying he would choose the fortune one but his mate said to go for the good brains instead, as they had exams coming up and was a safer choice. So funny. We didn't do it as the queue for that was very long and you had to pay extra for it - what a tourist trap - and I was also feeling quite content with life as it is, so decided to just be happy with what I have.

We also went on to a number of different temples and walked through the streets of Gion, the famous geisha district. It was funny, because we saw three doing a photoshoot by coincidence so Phil got excited and we went closer to look and maybe take a picture, too. What a sight! They were dressed beautifully and all done up but by God they were uuuuuuugly. Phil said they looked like men in drag! So funny. We kind of shuffled away quietly ...

The old streets and houses are packed with shops and are very cute. They all sell lots of tat and weirdness, but Phil picked up a nice bracelet for good luck and related to some buddhist meaning. He was born in the year of the horse and so it shows a picture of the deity that protects them and also a horse. Some have said though that the horse in the picture looks more like a goat... anyway, it's pretty with wooden beads made of sandal wood so it smells lovely.

We also went to the Heian Jingu and saw the gardens there - very pretty and overall walked for absolute miles. It got dark before we saw everything we had planned so we had to stop and went back to Nagoya for some rest.

The next day, back to Kyoto and round two of trying to see as much as possible. At first, we went to the Nanzen-ji (another temple) and then walked the Path of Philosophy to the Ginkaku-ji (another temple). We looked around some more and went on to another temple or shrine - to be honest, they start to blend together for me. Phil is really good and remembers the names and is genuinely interested in them. I'm a bit more of the 'hey that's pretty, great temple or is it a shrine?, let's go somewhere else as it looks the same to the other one we saw and I think I came here on a school trip before...' school. Some are genuinely impressive though.

The garden on the Ginkaku-ji is beautiful and has silver sands raked to represent the ocean and waves and a mound representing Mt Fuji. We went to a number of other places, and then rushed to try to make it to the Golden Pagoda but unfortunately it was shut by the time we got there. Then it got dark again and we had to come back. Shame to have missed that one, as I wanted Phil to see it as well as the famous rock garden but we might have to come back for that one another time.

The weekend was spent with the Ito's and we went to a temple near by the house on Saturday with their daughter Marie. It was a nice temple and there was a big festival going on where people brought their kids dressed in special outfits to pray at the temple to ward off evil. There were many priests and lots of chanting old ladies - presumably to ward off the evil bits - and I tell you, if I was evil, those old ladies' chanting would have put me off, too. Yowz!

On to Nagoya town and to some shopping centre with a glass roof covered in water! Great building!!! We went up to see the view and then went up the TV tower which was nice, especially the outside balcony. Apparently last xmas, some man went up and threw 5000 pounds from up there and got into a lot of trouble!

For dinner, we went for Yakiniku, which is a japanese bbq style restaurant where you cook your food at the table. It was great and very tasty. We had beef tongue and tripe - but it was surprisingly tasty. I like the tongue but not the tripe... the other meat was nice and of course the veg was lovely.

Sunday, we went to a concert, where this famous chinese artist was playing the chinese guitar. It's an amazing instrument! So varied and there was a japanese singer and a korean piano player. This was also to promote harmony between the nations due the current political climate and it was really nice. A mixture of chinese music and classical western music which was really good. Afterwards, there was a reception with lots of food and a bingo game.

Very funny! We played bingo and I won a stuffed penguin you can use in the bath. Apparently it contains negative ions which are good for your health. I gave it away. Maybe I'm missing out but I'm not carrying a negative ionic penguin around with me for a year...

After winning it, I had to stand up in front of everyone and make a speech and introduce myself. God I was so embarrassed! On then to a japanese flower arranging show which was beautiful. Ito-san's wife Harumi had a display as well and they were all so striking. We also took part in a tea ceremony and got to eat cake and bow a lot. Phil was bowing lots too and it made me giggle. The cake was yum.

After that we went to a reproduction Italian village with a fake canal and gondolieries. Hilarious! There is also a faux church where you can get married and boat for cruising - not again! - and lots of Italians work there to give it an authentic feel. There is Italian music piped along the streets and shops sell imported items and olive oil and tomatoes for extortionate prices. I wasn't sure whether to like it or not...

This really was the end of the day as the next day, we will be making our way to Osaka!

Goodbye Sensei, goodbye Nagoya - see you again soon!