Kyoto: the rest

So now that Tamagawa has become Hagi and they have screwed up on the internet I am behind on things. Kind of like Dan:)

So the following day Chris, Bren and I biked to Ginkakuji (the silver temple that isn't actually silver). Then I met up with Lauren and her friends and we went to Gion so they could dress up like Maiko. It was quite a cool thing to watch. They had their make-up properly done and got to chose one of about 30 kimono to wear. Then they were photographed by a pretty hot dude, so I was a bit jealous of that. We did spot a real Maiko which was pretty cool. The next day we met at Zara and did a little bit of shopping. We went to the market and saw the wonderful fish and veggies that Japanese people love to eat but aren't very appetizing to westerners. We visited the Heian shrine and then to the Kyoto handicraft center. Kyoto is full of tourists as you may expect but I was still shocked to see so many westerners. I got the biggest dose of culture shock while I was in the handicraft center. I was waiting in the lobby for Lauren and her friends and there was a group of Japanese Americans sitting there. I could NOT stop staring. They were Japanese people but they were so different from what I am used to seeing. So American. They were dressed in the typical American costume. Jeans, sneakers and sweatshirts. They were very loudly discussing exchange rates, very obnoxiously. Finally they were very over-weight, not for American standards but for Japanese standards. It was remarkable.

After that we did the philosphers walk, a very beautiful walk along a creek lined with sakura trees. We visited 3 shrines on that walk and ended up in pouring rain. It was very eerie and added to the experience. That night we did karaoke. The next day I met Lauren's friends in front of Kinkakuji (the golden temple which IS gold). It was very touristy but beautiful. I enjoyed watching the old Japanese women sweap the grass. Yes folks, they even clean nature here. We also visited Ryoanji which is a zen rock garden created in the 16th century. Then to Ninnaji another temple. Then we headed to Arashiyama to enjoy the river and little shops there. We also took a nice walk through a bamboo forest.

That night we went to a person with ADD's dream world. It was hyaku-en (100 yen or 1 dollar) store for the mind. You pay 100 per 15 minutes and you can do ANYTHING you could ever dream of. You can go to the arcade and play the taiko game as many times as you want. You can sing karaoke, go bowling, play in a ball pool, get a foot massage, play soccer, relax, use the internet, play the piano...literally anything. I think this 100 yen world has made me a lifer here in Japan. (only kidding) So that was the big bad trip to kyoto. hope you all had a great spring break