Kyoto - The absolute BEST part.

While at Kinkakuji I had tea at the teahouse beside the shrine on the hill. It was staffed by girls in cute kimono uniforms and, I suspect, some of the monks.

In the picture above, you can see the view from the seats. Broad, low flat benches covered with a red cloth and a red umbrella.

I only had time for a small snack so I paid the girl, received my token and took a seat in the sunshine.

The snack was stamped with an image, which I found adorable, and I ended up bringing a box of them home. It tasted vaguely like marzipan and redbean. Tasty but rather rich.

The monk server appeared very quickly (and man, did he move fast in those robes) and rattled off a sting of instructions in japanes to which I smiled and nodded when I wasn't 'Heee~ tea-time! ^-^'

He firmly instructed me to eat the snack first and then to drink the tea. The tea was traditional matcha and foamy on the top. It was delicious.

I really would have like to bring some home but unlike the different blends of loose tea I haven't the foggiest notion how to brew it right.

To be perfectly honest, sitting out there in the nice weather, without any bugs around,  under the canopy with a nice serving of fresh tea was probably my favourite part.

Kyoto Tour- Kinkakuji

I was glad the weather was still fine when we went there. It's not clear from all of the photos but the place was heaving with tourists of all sorts. Understandably it would be ten times worse in a week fews hence when you would be smack dab in the middle of the 'season'

The Golden Pavilion is a Buddhist reliquary said to contain relics of the Buddha. (But my feelings on such things have always been rude so let's not get into it.)

It is part of the extended 'Rokuon-ji Temple' which is a Zen Buddhist Temple. The gardens and buildings were designed, according to the fashion of the time, to reflect 'The Pure Land' of Buddha in this world.

This is where I note that this is what it is now and it was officially a pimped-out pad for a fabulously wealthy samurai and converted into a temple proper posthumously. Then why, you cry, all the buddhist influence in design. Well, you silly goose, I could argue it with you but let's point out the grand medieval tradition of having your family members painted into religions icons with holy people of your choosing. -_-
Never underestimate the cultural impact of an official state religion.

The temple is still in service  and the lands are quite large. This particular temple is a faithful reconstruction after it was burnt down by one of the monks in the fifties. (1950s)

That is indeed gold leaf covering the upper tiers and before you ask no, you can't go inside. You're not worthy...and neither am I. TT^TT

There is a phoenix on top and the interior is decorated with paintings of dragons and male and female phoenixes. (Which I found slightly odd because I had understood the phoenix was supposed be genderless and simply reincarnating itself every so often. *shrugs shoulders*)

 Do you see the tree held up by sticks? That's a bonsai gone wild m'dears. It was planted outside after the death of the owner and really toook to ground with enthusiasm.

 

 Off the side of the Pavilion is a fishing deck. The waters here, like most similar places are positively teeming with carp.  Is carp good to eat? There's certainly enough around these temples.

The building was certainly impressive but it seems the architects understood the importance of the garden because it is the landscape that makes this place beautiful and not grandiose. A unison of opposites I suppose or a sarcastic comment on organised religion if you fancy. >:3

In short, it's the grounds that make it so spectacular. If this was in a more urbanised area, you have to admit it'd probably come off as..........tacky. XD

 

As part of our entrance tickets we each got a good luck charm. Well, that's what the guide said it was so I hope it's generic good luck charm because these shrines do sell some slightly unusual ones. Traffic safety? I'm not questioning how sensible it is but it does seem oddly specific in the midst of the others.

Kyoto Tour- Nijo Castle

An important thing to remember when visiting historical sites is that time does generally have an effect on everything. Kyoto may not have been bombed in WWII but it has been wrecked plenty of times - most notably by fire.

Most (but not all) of the buildings I saw were damaged by fire at some stage or another. Several were completely accurate reconstructions, others were simply rebuilt differently while these buildings were still in common use.

In Nijo Castle, we were not permitted to take pictures of the interior for multiple reasons. The cynical reason is that it damages copyright, the plausible one is that camera flashes (And don't say you should just tell people to turn it off because that invariably never works) damage the ancient, faded and peeling paintings.

First lets be clear, these gates are enormous. All of these buildings are pretty damn big and imposing. Seeing as this was intended to be a quasi-fortress it makes perfect sense really. The shogun made his residence in Tokyo so this castle was more of a second home for him.

This castle, built as a show of power as well as the practical reasons, was established in 1602 by the famous/infamous samurai Tokugawa Ieyasu.
(A problem I have with this dynastic founder is that pop culture loves him depicts him a million diffent ways such as here, here, here, here and here. Like any other significant Sengoku era individual, he has been appropirated by popular culture to the extent that snickering invariably issues forth.)

Nijo Castle was the official Kyoto residence of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Ieyasu made his 'home base' in Edo. The Nijo fortress was a deliberate challenge to the Chrysanthemum throne built with the main gate unusually facing the Imperial Palace. While they did not try to unthrone the Emperor the powers of the throne, court and religious factions were duly restricted by the Shogunate who was the defacto ruler of Japan until 1867.

...and we can't take pictures inside. Boo. :C

We had to remove our shoes and place them on the racks you see there to go inside here. This is the internal living and business area - Ninomaru Palace. To enter we had to pass several buildings including the guardhouse where Samurai had to leave their swords. XD No-one gets in to see the Shogun with their Katana.

This is where I walked on the famous Nightingale Floor.  (Regarding the video. Someone was naugh~ty. >:3)The floor itself does not look any different than the floors anywhere else. Personally, I think that's what makes it so clever. It's certainly not the only such floor in Japan but it may be the most famous.

This particular floor surrounds what would have been the 'public offices' of the Shogunate. It certainly doesn't go near the residential section. I think you'd get used to it quickly enough but it seems the Boss-man was having none of that near his sleeping quarters.

The building is raised up from the ground so outside you can peer underneath (Or, eum,  just jab a camera in there) and see the nails. These hinges are the secret to how the floor works. In short, pressure makes them 'sing'.  Cheaper than keeping an aviary down there, that's for sure. =.=

I couldn't take pictures of the interior but I did shell out for a glossy book full of pictures of the paintings.(Among other things.) It was particularly interesting how the themes in each room reflected the intended purpose.

The earlier waiting rooms, for example, were decorated with full wall panels of tigers and leopards intending to create an intimidating atmosphere while the residential quarters were decorated with soothing landscapes. Not that these animals were native to Japan at all but it seems that they were painted from skins bought from Chinese merchants.

It should be noted that it took several waiting rooms and meetings wirh retainers and officials before these men were admitted into the presence of the Shogun. It might smack of paranoia but seeing as this man seized power through force of arms and pissed off a lot of people I'd say it was just good sense really.

Of course the paintings, while a fascinating example of early modern art schools in Japan were stuffed full of symbolism and other things I'm far, far too lazy to get into or scrunch my brow over. I think you've got the essential idea there.

Here you can see one of the walkways that surrounded the building. The kitchen was, naturally enough, in a completely seperate building so if I was going to assassinate me some Tokugawa I'd infiltrate there with some delicious poison rather than deal with the nightingale floor. This is where the servants would carry the food around. (Walk inside? They were servants.)This was where we got to peer in the darkness at the hinges underneath. (I would also consider sabotage here. :3)

Parts of the palace are not opened to the public and certain parts are only opened seasonally. Nonetheless we saw some of the carefully designed gardens.

I believe this section is the Ninomaru Gardens and is designed as a 'strolling garden'. I certainly found it striking even if I did not fully understand what it was supposed to be representing and the guidebook has misleading phrasing.

Nevertheless this is titled 'Isle of Eternal Youth' fashioned by Enshu (Who it seems aside from landscaping was famed for calligraphy and tea ceremony) The cranes weren't there when we looked.

I imagine that all of these places must be something to see in the seasonal colours but I sincerely doubt you'd see much of anything with the crowds.

So, Nijo Castle. Nice Digs.

Japan loves the Colonel, I think.

Apparantly KFC is the thing for a Japanese christmas party. It's very popular over here. They love the Colonel.............apparantly.  =_=

Yes, that is two swords in his sash. I think he's dressed like a Shinsengumi...why though.

Kyoto Expedition - begin deconstruction

My flight was the following day after Everland and I hadn't really finished packing. In part because I was using some of the things I was going to pack and in part because I confirmed what I knew about travel-sickness medications.

The box says one every four hours. Four hour is not enough time for the stuff to flush out of your system and it acts as an efficient sleeping agent instead. :C So I spend the entire tripping dozing off and waking suddenly. Yays~

Anyway, Japan. First of all, it's true. Japan is horrendously expensive. If you're not prepared for the rates you'll get a horrible fright. I knew this and still had a 'how much?!!' moment within the first day. I'm very glad I was careful to save my money though. My biggest problem was that I've been working in KRW since May so I kept having to kick myself everytime I went to spend money.

Aside from this facet, which made the Cavanwoman in me crawl, I really enjoyed myself. Kyoto is a nice city and very interesting. Yes, like  a great many other places it is blatantly westernised but it is still foreign at its core. The approach, the design, the map itself feels like it has been layered over an ancient city.

Kyoto is famously the historic capital of Japan. (Although that did reside in Nara for a time) and was considered so important that it directly led to Edo being renamed 'East Kyoto' (To-kyo)
Of course, all history and culture I reference (and flail over) is being grossly simplified so feel free to skip it if you do.

I had the same tour guide for both days of being bussed around to significant sites and she pointed out the electrical wires. The landscape is simply swarming  with electrical wires between buildings knotting them up like a web. There are simply so many that it is somewhat jarring when you glance up and notice the sheer quantity within a restricted space. This is because it is nigh-on impossible to bury electrical wires in any part of the city. When they start digging they invariably run into something that has the archaeological teams called in post-haste. One of the hazards of being a truly ancient city I suppose.

Now I arrived Friday and didn't really do anything other than find my hostel. (By the way, bus from the airport - financially painful but I wasn't in the mood to wrestling with the rail system in a foreign country after getting off the airplane). So Saturday, I had an all day tour around Kyoto and Sunday was for Nara.

Monday was for meandering around the city, which I did while discovering how uncomfortable my shoes were.

I'll admit while I was there I spent as little time as possible in the hostel itself, leaving very early and returning only when it got dark, but I would recommend it to any who would head out that way. Personally, I was vastly amused by the fact that I had to remove by shoes when I entered, this very modern westernised hostel, and was glad I'd worn sandals.

Everland

For the uninitated Everland is a theme park in South Korea.

It has a certain Disney-esque feel what with their ugly mascots and seasonal themes. Naturally these affairs are best enjoyed in a stress-free environment when you can relax and stroll about the different zones at your ease.

So, basically we spent a day herding small children from point to point. I had  sore throat from the end: "Let's stay together now", "Stay with your partner." "oh god I've lost one Where is XX? Let's catch up now." "That's not a giant hornet."

Giant hornet? Where did they even hear that term? They were just bees. -_-

Anyway, after getting everyone their badges we shuffled them onto the bus where it felt like 'mom-time' as I went around making sure seatbelts were buckled, bags were placed and we hadn't lost anyone. (I spent the rest of the day doing the same and helping everyone with their cardigans as well.)

After a bus trip where (miraculously) no one threw up (not even me) we were shuffled off the bus with no clue what to do next. Seriously, that was my biggest problem and it added an awful lot of unnecessary stress. We had no itinerary and were told nothing. I could write one now of course, but that's a bit late isn't it?

 

Nevertheless, I'll summarise. First we had lunch, then we took all the children to a safari ride and a seashow. Photo ops were interspersed along with a train ride before some 'free time' where we took the *children on a few rides. (*So, no rollercoasters for Aoife.)

Lunch was an unnecessarily stressful experience, I ended up not sitting down or eating  much of my kimbap. There were bees, lots of bees so I think there must have been a nest in the vicinity, and I had to keep shooing them away from the children because y'know.

Then we took the kids to this. It was actually quite fun. (Sad too, in a way looking at those animals.) But the kids loved it, and the tiger bus we rode. XD

They had a liger, which was pretty damn cool, but he was sleeping in a rock crevasse that shielded him from us. (Clever Beast)

They also had trained some of the bears. A couple came and walked on their hindlegs next to the bus which was admittedly freaky to see.

They had other animals too, trying to remember here, beaver, chameleon, goose etc.

After that we took them all to the sea show which I must admit to enjoying. Even though it was in korean I could understand how ridiculous the 'story' was but the animals were well-trained and it was impressive to see. I have absolutely no idea why there were randomly chickens though...

The best part of that was probably the little otter though. It skittered out, rode a swing and sailed a little boat and everyone there went asdfg!!

There were official pictures, *buries face in hands*, toilet trips, rehydrating of the kidlets and much much herding. Cats would have been easier. Them  I could have packed in a box and continued on my merry way.

We took our groups on a few rides in the latter half of the day. Let me wrack my elderly memory for it now. The Peter Pan, (Good fun actually. C:) The Magic Swing (Also, quite a good one, especially for the kids), Kingdom of Cars (Just for little kids), The Royal Jubilee Carousel (Completely with terrrifying impressively sneering steeds), The Festival Train (Lots of garden to see and who doesn't like trains?) and The Global Village.

In the Global Village I sat with two of the girls and we identified all of the countries. What I cannot possibly explain is how horrifically nightmarish I found the whole thing. A part of me wanted to leap out of the boat and wade to the exit. Not too bad you say?

Oh, the things I suffer. (Note my perfect seriousness)
After we got all the feral kittens children hoarded back onto the bus we headed back whereupon I discovered that all travel medication has the same effect on me when I fell asleep and hit my head against the window....multiple times.

Even more gifts...

 

After the misadventures  in Everland we returned to the school and collected our Chuseok gifts from the company.

 

You know what? I ahev no problems with this at all. I mean, I'm actually going to use this now! These were things on my shopping list that I was intending to buy and I can hardly fault practicality. :D Now I shall have cleaner and shinier teeth.

 

 

I will say this though. A part of my soul deeply feared we would have gotten the spam giftset instead.