profile

Cecilia Lanny Winata
Aliases: Lanny/Cecilia/Xenopus
Location: Singapore
Occupation: Grad Student, National University of Singapore
Interests: Zen, Martial Arts, Japanese Culture and philosophy, Life Sciences, Religious philosophy, Christianity
Hobbies: exploring new places, learning new things, walking (preferably outdoors), cooking, eating good food, home making, swimming, sea sports, anime (Naruto being the best by far), good music to accompany my different moods, and good books to read
Schools/Past Affiliations: TK Bunda Hati Kudus, Jakarta (Kindergarten); SD Bintang Kejora, Jakarta (Primary 1-2, 4-6); Ironside State School, Brisbane, Australia (Primary 3-4); SLTP Santa Ursula, Jakarta (Secondary School); SMU Santa Ursula (High School); Indonesia International Taekwon-Do Federation (Jelambar, Jakarta); National University of Singapore



archives

November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
April 2006
May 2006
August 2006
October 2006
January 2007
August 2007
January 2008
March 2008
June 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
June 2009
July 2009
September 2009



affiliates

5h4d0w's Lair
My old Friendster blog








credits

skin by: Jane
Sunday, June 14, 2009 @ 10:03 AM
Japan - Day 2: Kyoto - The tourist-infested Higashiyama-ku


We were dead tired the day before, especially for me, coz I didn't get to sleep lying down in a comfy A380 during the 6 hours flight from Singapore like somebody else. We woke up at 7am, and started to get ready for the coming day. Mike was cursing almost the whole morning, according to him, we were at least 3 hours behind his schedule. Yup, he had actually planned to get up at 4.30am to start the day before sunrise. But thanks to the extreme cold I could sleep a little longer. The morning chill made us throw the idea of taking a bath straight out of the window. We dressed up and ate the leftover onigiri from the night before, then we head out to say hello to the city that's getting ready for the long day. It was a beautiful sunny morning. We walked to Kyoto station to catch the bus to our first destination according to Mike's list: Kiyomizudera.

The walk to the station looked totally different from the gloomy night before. People were rushing to work, the weather was pleasant and the air was fresh. I noticed many things I didn't, such as the nicely decorated restaurants along the way, a bus stop, and the names of the streets we walked. It was a beautiful morning.

We reached Kyoto station, and waited for bus 206. They have a gadget in each bus stop which would tell you that the bus has arrived at one stop before, so you could start queuing. Unlike the digital ones they have in Singapore, this one is simply... well, not digital, like shown in someone's blog here. Basically, when a bus is coming, the figure of the bus will move one step closer to the stop you are waiting at. There was quite a crowd taking the 206 bus. I guess coz it goes to the hottest world-famous spots in Kyoto: Sanjusangendo, Kiyomizudera and Gion. There are basically two types of bus fares in Kyoto: a ride around the city central would have a flat fare of ¥220, while further out the fares depend on how far you travel. But since we bought a Kyoto City Bus All-day Pass (¥500) we were entitled to unlimited free rides for the day.


From the bus stop to Kiyomizudera, we had to go through a stretch of narrow streets which were also publicized as a touristy spot. The two parallel streets Ninenzaka/Sannenzaka is lined with shop houses selling souvenirs, restaurants, and tea houses. When we got there at around 8am, none of them were open, although some shopkeepers could be seen preparing to set up their goods.


Tea bowls at a display along Sannenzaka.

Sannenzaka/Ninenzaka viewed from Kiyomizu temple grounds.

One quirky thing about Japan is the messy electrical wires all over the place. It somehow blended in rather awkwardly with the majestic traditional buildings around, although the end result makes for a memorable sight which gives the characteristic of Japan itself.


The temple itself was a tourist magnet. There was nothing peaceful about sharing the narrow hallways with some 1000-ish tourists posing every few steps for picture. However, among the chaotic horde of humans, there is always beauty if we look careful enough, like these sun-kissed wishing tablets by the entrance to the main hall.

Or else, the haunting beauty of the winter landscape.
The water fountain is a common feature in all temples in Japan. It is meant to purify yourself before entering the temple. In some temples, these water springs are considered sacred and are believed to have healing powers.

The temple is open from 6am to 6pm and an admission into the main hall costs ¥300. The main stage of the temple, which has been featured in many internet sites, tourist brochures, and souvenirs, were quite impressive. It raises 13m above the ground below, allowing a panoramic overview of the city of Kyoto. According to wikipedia, there was a tradition during the Edo period that if you were to survive the 13m plunge from this stage, your wishes would be granted, and that about 200s of jumps were recorded with a survival rate of ~85%. It is understandable that the tradition were not allowed to survive up to this day.
And if you watched Rurouni Kenshin, especially the Kyoto Arc, you may find this 'skyline' of Kyoto rather familiar. I'm not sure if this pagoda was the one featured against a red sky (setting sun or burning city? can't remember...), but Yasaka pagoda seems to be more likely since it's located more into the center of the city. Anyway...When we descended from the high temple grounds, it was almost noon and we were rather hungry. Fortunately for us, the street stalls selling food souvenirs let visitors try 'samples' of their goods. So we made use of this generosity and devoured anything up for 'sampling' from each stall, from fermented cabbage to the heavenly sweet azuki-filled pillow cakes locally referred to as otabe. We were sufficiently stuffed when we reached Gojozakka, where I shopped for souvenirs. From there we walked to our next destination: Yasaka Shrine.
It was a pity that we didn't have the luxury of time, which necessitated us to take a straightforward route from Kiyomizudera in the south-east, up north through several spots, including Yasaka Shrine, towards our end point for the day: Ginkakuji. It would have been nice to visit Yasaka at dusk. This shrine is located at one corner of Gion, the very essence of Kyoto's traditional landscape. The famous Gion matsuri, which also happens to fall on my birthday, is one of the cultural festivities associated with this shrine. There were lots of paper lanterns... my favourite! The shrine itself dates back to as early as the Heian period around the 9th century, and together with the festival, was established in an attempt to ward off some plague which ravaged through the land. It worked somehow, and both shrine and festival was preserved up to this day.

By the time we were about to wander off to our next destination, we felt hungry again. It seemed that rice flour, red beans, and preserved veggies aren't meant for proper meals. We spotted a stall selling takoyaki, so we decided to buy a packet of 8 for ¥400. We sat in a wooden bench just nearby, there were lots of other stalls selling souvenirs, from paper dolls to fake Japanese outfit. Each temple, each shrine, and other kinds of tourist spots mentioned in tourist brochures would have a line of souvenir stalls just around their vicinity. And this one seems to be the souvenir 'section' of the Yasaka shrine.

After stuffing ourselves with takoyaki, we continued our journey northwards. Our final destination for the day was Ginkakuji, the silver pavillion. But on our way there, we found many interesting sites, such as the Maruyama Koen, which has a strong flavour of Japanese landscape. During springtime, this park is one of the main spots for viewing cherry blossom, but when we were there, the trees were bare, including the park's centerpiece, the shidarezakura (weeping cherry tree) at the side of the pond. Nevertheless, the austerity of the barren winter landscape presents a beauty of its own, as Yoshida Kenko puts it:

"... are we to look at cherry blossoms only in full bloom, the moon only when it is cloudless? To long for the moon while looking on the
rain, to lower the blinds and be unaware of the passing of the spring — these
are even more deeply moving. Branches about to blossom or gardens
strewn with faded flowers are worthier of our admiration."


0 Comments:

Post a Comment