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Friday, December 28, 2012

Kyoto

The very first time I saw a glimpse of Kyoto was on a cigarette calendar.  That was more than 3 decades ago. And when I had the chance to go to Kyoto during a long weekend in October, I grabbed it right away.  I took the 7-hour midnight bus, which I thought was a bad idea as it made me very sleepy the next day.  I guess I won’t be in another midnight bus anytime soon, unless it has beds. Finally reached Kyoto around 7 am, immediately saw lots of locals and tourists holding a map of the city.  I didn’t have any map so I applied my sumimasen-while-smiling method of asking for directions.    

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like watching a film
embrace Japanese cultures
aishiteru



After a quick breakfast, I fell asleep. Late afternoon, I biked around Gion in hopes of seeing maikos and geishas but it wasn't just my lucky day. It is such a quiet place where old-style Japanese houses can be seen. As much as I wanted to see Gion at night, I wasn't able to do so. Maybe next time.

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The next day, I started my trip as early as possible. It was a long day. First stop was at Byodo-in Temple. Unfortunately for me again, it was being renovated. Another reason to visit Kyoto again next year.

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I had a quick stop at Kyoto's oldest bridge, the Uji-bashi bridge. I may not seen any geishas the other day, but saw lots of locals in kimonos. It was like being in another era.

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Visiting Kyoto won't be complete without visiting the famous golden temple known as Kinaku-ji. I expected it to be very crowded but going there was a bit of a challenge. The buses were always full and it was making me very impatient. But once I got there, the challenge was how to take photos with lots of tourists blocking the temple.

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Forgetting to take my lunch, I headed to Fushimi Inari-taisha. The very moment I saw a shot of the place in my friend's photo stream, I knew I had to go there. It was a long walk, and too bad I wasn't able to finished path leading to the shrine. Again, maybe next time.

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Before the sun sets, I chase to visit yet another popular temple in Kyoto, the Kiyomizu-dera. I arrived too late that I failed to appreciate the place as it was getting dark already. But in case I'll visit Kyoto again, i'll see to it will be during autumn.

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I think there's still lot to discover in Kyoto. But for the meantime, thanks for the memories and see you again, Kyoto. I still have some unfinished business with you.

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totomai 
2012/12/28

14 comments:

  1. I'm curious, can you just buy a kimono there? I want my own kimono eh. :P


    http://www.dekaphobe.com/

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    Replies
    1. yup. pwede din. pero ung mga traditional kimonos talaga sobrang mahal. :-)

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  2. Oh, yeah; I gotta get out more. Thanks for bringing me along!

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  3. quite the adventure... your haiku is lovely.

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  4. amazing sights, thanks for sharing your visit. Happy New Year!

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  5. thank you for these wonderful photos and the haiku too..
    am so inspired to visit Kyoto now..

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  6. Wonderful haiku and beautiful photography of Kyoto ~ now would like to Kyoto ~ Happy New Year to you ^_^

    (A Creative Harbor aka ArtMuseDog and Carol ^_^)

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  7. me too i have an unfinished business in kyoto.on my first day it rained kaya sayang.

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    Replies
    1. umulan din nung andun ako kaso saglit lang. salamat melvin

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any thoughts to distill?

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