Hmmm… I don’t know why I don’t write in English either, since usually it’s still easier for me to speak English than Chinese when I’m talking to people. I guess that’s why I try to write more in Chinese, because it gives me a chance to practice communicating in Chinese? Which brings me to another question of “why don’t you try to write in Japanese?” Well, that would be an impossible task =p
Anywayz, to bring people up to date on what’s new, my closest coworker left me and went to Vietnam, went to Kyoto and saw pretty leaves, and am now recooperating from a bad case of the flu that’s been going around the school.
Hmmm… that may be just a little too short of an explanation =p OK, for my complete Kyoto review and all the gruesoome details of my cold-fighting weekend, click the link below ^_^
Visual – for those too lazy to read all this crap
I’ve wanted to go to Kyoto as soon as I learned of its existence in Japan. I wasn’t one of those fanatics who planned out every detail of the dream trip, knew the names of all the temples and the stories behind the aged wooden walls, and imagined the perfect rendevous along a pebblestoned street, I just simply wanted to see this city.
It did not rain, thankfully, although I never managed to catch the beauty of Kyoto in the sun either. I packed light — a backpack that fits perfectly into the 300 yen a day locker at the station, and a purse with all the essentials, coins, music, and of course, the most important of all, my lovely assistant, Konica A something or other =p
My first stop was Kinkakuji. I have to say it looked better on the postcards. Perhaps it was the heavy clouds that loomed over us, or the rowdy crowd that !!!!!!!!!!! over everything they saw, the glamour didn’t impress me much.
Ok, I got lost no less than 6 times the entire trip, and this was one of my best getting lost experiences =p I was actually not planning to go to Ginkakuji (in English, the silver pavilion), especially since I wasn’t impressed by the more famous gold one. But somehow I got on the wrong bus and decided to just go there to take a look. It was beautiful. The main building wasn’t covered in silver or anything (how tacky would that be!), but merely an old wooden building sitting in a garden that would have been peaceful and serene if not for the hundred of tourists there. What caught my breath was the little sideroad that’s too hard to describe in words. Now looking back at my picture, perhaps it was not as beautiful as I claim, yet at that moment, I felt like I was in a fairy tale.
This is one of my favorite pictures, taken in front of Heian Shrine. I don’t know, it’s kind of like the old woman is watching time go by and society change. Ok, I’m totally reading too much into this, but when I visit cities like Kyoto, Shanghai, Beijing, the old and new seem to mesh so well into each other, and everyone takes it for granted without another thought. Am I the only one who is amazed at how fast things change yet how some things still remain there, silent as ever, generation after generation? <-- Julie's philosophical thought of the day =p
Spent the evening at Maruyama Park and Chonin Temple. Saw my temple light up as I wished, and was utterly disappointed. Maybe it was the temple I picked, but I think red leaves are meant to be seen under sunshine. I really liked this tree at the park — my camera didn’t get the effect of the sunset, and gave it a haunted look instead. The contrast between colors of the sky and the monotoned tree and crow was spectacular.
So it took me FOREVER to find my hostel and I wished I’d packed even lighter by the time I got there. To my disappointment I didn’t have any roomies in my 6-person dorm room, but I guess just as well, I did want to experience Kyoto on my own.
Next morning, bright and early, after getting lost for an hour, got to the Kyoto Palace. I didn’t really care to go inside, but it was a special treat reserved foreigners, and I thought I’d take advantage. Our tour guide was really good, and told us some funny anectdotes. It was a great learning experience, even though by now, all the things I tried to stuff into my little brain has but all vanished. The Palace Park itself was very peaceful in the morning. Not many red leaves in contrast to all the temples I saw the day before, but the simpleness, even bareness (is this a word? I meant to say barren I think) of it all was a nice break for me.
My absolute favorite picture of this trip — outside of Tenryuji in Arashiyama area. Walking with only my music being my companion, seeing people pass by with smiling faces uttering words I still can’t understand, I felt like happiness surrounded me yet I am missing something. This picture was one of those happy scenes that I stole. =p
Ok, the gruesome details can wait till later — all I have to say is, you know that scene in When Harry Met Sally when Sally got sick and she was throwing dirty tissues all over the place? Ok, may have been a different Meg Ryan movie, but that’s what my apartment looked like =p
P.S. No more complaining about me not writing in English for a while! 🙂
Leave a Reply