Samurai, Sakura, Sushi: Japan 2013 (Part 2: Shizuoka and Kyoto)

- March 31- April 1, 2013, Easter Sunday to April Fools (Monday.)

- Easter Sunday started with a very long drive, with two restroom stopovers, from Loisir Hotel Toyohashi to Shizuoka prefecture. Our first stop in Shizuoka was the Owakudani Hell Valley, where sulfuric smoke comes out of the ground. This sulfur is also used to boil eggs until the shell turns black, and so they are called "kuro-tamago" (black eggs.) I think this is also the same thing they use to make the kuro-ice cream. Both the eggs and vanilla ice cream tasted like normal eggs and vanilla ice cream, though being black and all makes eating them more "interesting."

Before leaving Odaiba.

Last view of the Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Tower far behind.

Owakudani Hell Valley.

Black vanilla ice cream.

Cable car.

A ton of Doraemon!!

- From Owakudani, we rode the cable car downhill, to Lake Ashi (Ashinoko.) It was a foggy day, so we were not able to see the great mountains - Fuji being one of them. We rode a "pirate ship" for a short cruise in the lake. The pirate ship reminded me of the Gokaiger vehicles/zords. (Gokaiger is a pirate-themed super sentai. "Super sentai" is a long list of series that was franchised in the West as the "Power Ranger" series.)

Pirate ship.

The ship's name is "Victory"

An awkward pose.

- After a bento lunch, we went to Mount Fuji. Interestingly, a giant fog was "chasing" us, like some kind of spirit, but after a certain tunnel, all the fog got "left behind," and we were able to see a clear view of Mount Fuji from the bus window.

On top of (errr, almost) Mount Fuji!!

- We went up to the fifth station of Mount Fuji (also known as Fujiyama or Fujisan,) and were not able to see the various peaks that surrounded Mount Fuji. However, what caught my attention was the leftover snow that was scattered in the area. Friends who went to Fuji around a week before we did were still able to experience snow on top of Mount Fuji. While I was not able to experience snow, as I've never experienced snow as of today, I was more than happy to be able to touch and feel the leftover and partially-melted-away snow on the ground, albeit a bit dirty. (My first time to see snow-capped mountains was in Nepal, during my Mt. Everest plane flight, although I wasn't able to step on the mountains and touch them with my bare hands, and I was not able to experience snow in Nepal too.)

First time to touch snow.

Pictorial with souvenirs before I give them away. Haha.

- As we passed by the same tunnel, on our to our overnight hotel in Toyohashi, the fog seemed to have waited for us, and devoured the bus whole on the other side of the tunnel. Fortunately, nothing bad happened to us, and I was able to take some snaps of Mt. Fuji on the way back.

Took as much Fuji photos as possible.

Took these photos from the bus window.

Finally going to eat my Owakudani kuro-tamago.

A K-Pop gem I found in Ministop. (I didn't buy it though. Haha.)

- The next day was a trip to Kyoto, one of the former capitals of Japan. Kyoto's highest tower is the Kyoto tower, and no other establishments are allowed to be higher than this tower. Kyoto also wants to preserve the traditional look of the city, so no shocking-colored establishments and advertisements can be found. (McDonald's in Kyoto was colored brown and yellow, instead of red and yellow.)    

Mochi on the way to Kyoto.

Kyoto Tower.

- We first visited the Sanjyusangen-do, or "33 Ken Temple," where ken is a unit of measure. It is named as such because of the equally-spaced 33 columns that serve as the foundations of the temple. It was made originally in 1164, had a fire in 1249, and was rebuilt in 1266. The temple houses a thousand Kannon (Guanyin/ Avalokiteshvawa/ God(dess) of Mercy,) and are guarded by the Hindu-derived 28 guardians (Indra, Vishnu, Lakshmi, etc.) Too bad photos were not allowed inside. I wanted to stay in that temple for a longer time because I wanted to examine all the intricately-carved statues, and the battalion of Kannons that were individually hand-made to resemble each other. Also, I have a certain attraction to religious establishments. We were only able to take photos outside the main hall, where there are some Japanese gardens, adorned by white and pink sakura, and other fancy-shaped flowers.

Outside the humble, but awesome temple.

Buddhist prayer beads.

Geta.

Pink sakura.

Japanese garden.

Another garden.

Halls from the outside. The white window covers are made of strong paper.

Wishes/

- After lunch, we headed to the Kiyomizura Temple, or the "Pure Water Temple." Kiyomuzudera ("dera," from "tera," meaning "temple") was built in the Heian period, and has not a single nail in the construction of the temple. Drinking ponds are also scattered throughout the temple complex, and people could drink from them. The Kiyomizudera is one of the UNESCO world heritage sites (although I am not sure why the Sanjyusangen-do is not though. I strongly feel that it should be part of that list.)

Heehee.

All the way up to the temple.

Deva gate.

Main shrine.

People drinking from a big drinking pond below. Wasn't able to go there since it was too far from the main shrine..

Japanese visitors rented kimonos and zori (another kind of footwear.)

Placing wishes.

- I felt sad that we were not given enough time to explore the vast temple complex. We were only able to see the main shrine and terrace, and the Okunoin Hall. Okuninushi is the god  of love, and has the white hare of Inaba by his side.

The Amitabh Hall, I think.

With Okuninushi and the Inaba Rabbit.

- On the way back to the bus, there was a long line of souvenir and snack stores, which was also why we had to shorten our time to explore the temple, although the actual time to explore the temple was short to begin with. I was able to buy a good-quality Japanese jinbei.

Drinking station in front of a gate.

The things I find....

- We soon headed to the Shinkansen (bullet train) station, to ride the train from Kyoto station to Shinosaka station. The bullet train was very stable, it felt like we were hovering, although its speed could be noticed through the view outside the windows- everything was slanted.

Here comes our shinkansen!! :D:D:D:D

My ticket. (Kyoto -> Shinosaka)

Parked shinkansen.

Bunraku puppet displayed in the train station.

- We had a sushi meal for dinner, our first meal in Osaka, before going to Hilton Osaka Hotel. I liked Hilton Osaka because it was situated right across a Daimaru mall in the same building as a train station with some shops.

Sushi!!

The flower behind my mom is just falling water.

Many manhole covers in Osaka have painted Osaka Castles on them. Too pretty to step on.