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Japan Trip—Day 5

Breakfast. It finally became what should be the biggest meal of the day:
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We stayed here for one night and the hotel came with dinner and breakfast.

Frankly, having so many assortments of dishes and knowing little about their culinary culture, we guessed when and how we should consume half of the things across our table. Nonetheless, not only was it a good meal, it was also a memorable experience.
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That was a wrap for Atami. We then took the noon train towards Kyoto, where they house the famous golden-temple, the shrine of thousand pillars (torii), and much more.   091013_6

Tickets to Kyoto ain’t cheap. Riding Shinkansen costs about $110/person. The speed goes up to 360 mph, and it would take around 2.5 hours to reach Kyoto from Atami. 091013_7 091013_8 091013_9 091013_10

Touch down.091013_11

Dad already met a babe, a geisha. She just doesn’t talk much. 091013_12

A small pie shop in Kyoto train station. 091013_13

…but the portion’s nothing near small. 091013_14

In Kyoto, we’re staying in a hostel for the rest of our Japan trip. It resides in a suburban area, but just 20 minutes from downtown by feet. 091013_15 091013_16

The key feature of this hostel is its traditional Japanese architecture. It’s nice to experience the authentic lifestyle, except the house tend to be a bit short. I’ve bumped my head twice so far, and if it happens again, I’m seriously consider getting a helmet for the place. 091013_17

Streets of Kyoto. 091013_18

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One of the well-known brands from Kyoto is the Ichizawa Shinzaburo Hanpu. They design and build canvas bags. 091013_20

All of them were built by hand, and sold exclusively in Kyoto. Limited hand-made production and exclusivity typically means one thing—it’s expensive. Quality goods comes with a fair price. A typical medium size bag goes for around $100 US. 091013_21 091013_22 091013_23 091013_24

Variety of patterns: 091013_25 091013_26 091013_27

They also expanded their product line to watches as well: 091013_28

Just a couple minutes away, we swung by Chion-In. “It is the headquarters of the Jōdo-shū (Pure Land Sect) founded by Hōnen (1133–1212), who proclaimed that sentient beings are reborn in Amida Buddha’s Western Paradise (Pure Land) by reciting the nembutsu, Amida Buddha’s name. The vast compounds of Chion-in include the site where Hōnen settled to disseminate his teachings and the site where he died.”091013_29 091013_30 091013_31

Like I mentioned in the previous posts. Kyoto’s drastically different from Tokyo. Kyoto’s the city of traditions and arts; it’s soothing to engulf ourselves in such refreshing atmosphere. 091013_32 091013_33 091013_34 091013_35 091013_36

Many came to wish for love and romantic relations: 091013_37

MANY came. 091013_38 091013_39

Adjacent to Chion-In is Gion. “The district was built to accommodate the needs of travelers and visitors to the shrine. It eventually evolved to become one of the most exclusive and well-known geisha districts in all of Japan.”091013_40 091013_41

The district is filled with tourists and we found many interesting souvenirs in their local shops: 091013_42 091013_43

One of the big things here is Chopsticks. They represents their upmost standard and deep culture for food. Shops carry in all shape and sizes. They run from $5 to $300 a pair. It’s incredible. 091013_44

Speaking of chopsticks, time for dinner: 091013_45 091013_46

Before the day ended, we swung by a local convenient store. I found this: 091013_47
Isn’t it awesome?!

Parents wanted to call of the day early for we’ve traveled quite a long way. Allen and I decided to take out the bikes the hostel provided and take a stroll around town. It was 9PM.
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Saw the Kamo River. It was used as the main water source for the Kyoto residents back in the days, now it’s a walk around spot for tourist and…091013_51

…a romantic spot for lovers. 98% of the people I saw on the bank were couples (with 1% bromance and 1% others like us). And due to its low light environment, there’s a lot more going on than just holding hands.
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The vintage seals of city officials and utility companies.  091013_53 091013_54
BAM, Day 5 down, few more to go!

Click the following to check out rest of my trip:
Japan Day 1
Japan Day 2
Japan Day 3
Japan Day 4
Japan Day 5
Japan Day 6
Japan Day 7
Japan Day 8 (The Best of Japan)

’til next time,
-B)


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  1. I just realized something thanks to your post…
    var city = “tokyo”; city = city.substr(2) + city.substr(0,2); console.log(“city is”,city); // city is “kyoto”

  2. i love the font you use! where did you get it?

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