Kyoto: Part III

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! :) I hope you've all been enjoying today with your friends and family ^^ We have so much to be thankful for on a daily basis. I am grateful for so many things such as my family who have supported me in everything that I've done and my friends, both old and new, but I would like to say how thankful I am to be living and teaching in Japan :) It's truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I am so blessed to be able to be doing what I am doing and to be able to travel to wonderful places such as Kyoto. So, without further ado, here is the third part! As before, click on it for a better quality picture :)

If you wanted a different experience other than walking up to the temple, you could plan out a route with one of these men who would pull you along! :) 

Yummy food vendors and shops lined the entire way up to the temple. It's hard to resist stopping to get a sample or even buy something to nibble on ^^

And yes, they had a Studio Ghibli shop!! I'm not sure if I would pay 90,000 yen for Jiji though...

The entire length of ninenzaka and sanenzaka was crowded with tourist from all over as well as locals =]

A rare time where a street was quite empty. I love the old, traditional wooden shops and stores that takes you back to a different era :)

We arrived at the top, with a lot of other people, but the main entrance was so impressive and breathtaking. Many people were getting their pictures taken at this spot to remember their special day~

A different angle shot that I thought was interesting ^^

Once we paid the entrance fee of 300 yen, we followed the crowds to the veranda where hordes of people waited to find an opening to snap some quick pictures of the view. Sadly, a part of the area was undergoing construction so there was blue tarp that covered various places =[

If you wrote down your troubles onto the paper and put it into the water, the paper would dissolve thus symbolizing that your troubles would be over with. 

The oh-so-famous shot of Kiyomizu-dera :) I've gotta say, it was absolutely breathtaking to finally see it in person instead of through the internet. I was so humbled and thankful to be able to experience it :]

We decided to not stand in line to drink the water from one of the three channels of water from the Otowa waterfall after seeing just how long it was...

Although not all of the trees had turned color, the ones that did were so vibrant ant colorful :) 

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and shop safely for those of you who are facing the hordes of shoppers on Black Friday :) 

Kyoto: Part II

Happy Saturday everyone!!

I hope everyone's weekend has been relaxing and fun so far :) Here is the second part of our Kyoto daytime adventures~ =] click on the pictures for a larger size and better quality ^^

A sharp contrast: city on the left and traditional on the right

A glimpse at Yasaka-jinja~ :) 

We arrived a little after lunchtime so the large crowds weren't a surprise for us

Lots and lots of vendors were selling so many yummy foods!! We decided to wait until we reached Kiyomizu-dera to decide if we wanted to buy some on the way back :) 

And so many omiyage to purchase as well! These adorable Geisha geta charms were so very tempting to buy 

November 15th was 七五三 which is a traditional rite of passage in Japan for three and five-year old boys and seven and three-year old girls. There were many children dressed up in a variety of colorful kimonos and hakama :) 

We were lucky enough to witness a traditional wedding ceremony! The maiko led the bride in with her traditional white kimono and headpiece along with the groom and her mother and the rest of the wedding party coming in after. Not many people do traditional weddings anymore so it was truly an amazing experience for us :)

There were a variety of shrines within Yasaka-jinja and one of these were dedicated to beauty. Many people wrote their wishes whether it was to become a beautician in the future, to become more beautiful as they grew up or to be beautiful on the inside.

If you splashed the water at the shrine on your face, it was said to help grant your wish of becoming beautiful. 

I definitely wasn't the only one who wanted a picture of the gorgeous fall colors and view

Japanese photoshoot in the middle of the park? She was stunning! :)

Sorry I didn't make it to Kiyomizu-dera in this post! I will try and get to it in part III though~ Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend :) Please stay and warm and take care of your health! 

Kyoto: Part 1

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Since living in Japan, the destination at the top of my bucket list has been Kyoto. I've heard countless stories and seen hundreds of pictures of this magnificent place from my parents, but have never been able to experience it for myself. This weekend, I went to Kyoto for the day with a couple of friends and we explored around Higashiyama (the eastern region) which is home to the famous Kiyomizu-dera. Being as this was my first time going, it was truly unforgettable :) My friends and I got off at Shiji-Kawaramachi and were only a few minutes walk away from the Gion district. This area is known for its streets that are lined with old wooden buildings, tea houses and Japanese restaurants. I'm not sure how many parts there will be, but without further ado, here we go! :)

Got to explore Kyoto with these two lovelies! So lucky to have them as my friends :)

These cuties were sold in various shops as different animals, peoples, and objects and I couldn't resist buying one or two :) Even their name, Chiri-men, was enough to call my wallet out of hiding ^^

Geisha keychains and geisha coin purses as omiyage from Kyoto? You can't go wrong with that :]

I found it fascinating to see the urban side of Kyoto where department stores and various buildings lined the busy streets and yet...

Traditional and old wooden stores and buildings such as these were only a five minute walk away...

We went to a shop named Kyo-Kinana in Gion where they sell popular fall parfaits. The owner only makes 20 of these a day so we were sure to order ourselves a parfait as soon as the store opened! :) It was ice cream layered with cookies in the middle and a jam on top with piped kuri cream and a kuri on top ^^

They are also famous for their dekitate ice cream which is the creamiest, smoothest ice cream you will ever eat~ I got the kinnako-flavored dekitate ice cream along with my parfait because I couldn't not order both while in Kyoto :) It had a smooth, creamy texture- no ice or anything! A definite must if you're in the Gion district ^^

We made our way to the southern end of the Gion district to Kennin-ji which is the oldest Zen temple in Kyoto. For a fee of 500 yen, we were able to walk inside the temple grounds and rooms-an opportunity that none of us could pass up. 

The Twin Dragons painting was drawn for the temple's 800-year anniversary and took the artist almost two years to complete. This masterpiece is located inside the Dharma Hall and words cannot describe how magnificent and majestic it was to see. 

Thank you so much for reading! Part 2 will be up later this week :) It will have more temples and shrines and a glimpse of the crowded streets leading up to Kiyomizu-dera ^^

Bread and Pastries.:.A Bite of Heaven

While Kobe is known for its Kobe beef, it's also quite popular for its abundance of bakeries. It's quite common to see a bakery inside every train station (and so far, I've seen one inside every train station that I've been to!) in addition to the many bakeries that are scattered around towns. The bakeries are a death trap for me. Coming home from work, I'm tired and hungry and when I pass by a bakery at the train station and catch a whiff of freshly baked bread escaping from inside, it's hard to ignore the desire to buy one of those sweet or savory perfections :)

For all you chocolate lovers, you can always find a chocolate-type of bread or pastry inside any bakery

Bakeries will fill bread with an assortment of foods: croquet, hot dogs, chocolate, cream, azuki, the list goes on and on 

As if it can't get any better, you can find bread in the shape of your favorite Japanese characters! :)

Saving Money: Setting Aside Your Coins+ Update

Happy Saturday everyone!

Sorry for such a lack of posts. Things have been pretty slow these past couple weeks, but I just wanted to share another money-saving tip with you all :) A few years ago, my parents started setting aside every $5 bill that they received. If they bought something and a $5 bill was in their change, they would put it away and not touch it. At the end of the month, they deposited all of their $5 bills and it really added up!

Since coming to Japan, I've been doing the same thing. I set aside every 500 yen coin that I receive and then deposit it into my bank account at the end of the month. As soon as I get home, I put any 500 yen coins that I have into a coin purse and will not touch it. Imagine my surprise when I realized that I had 14,000 yen in 500 yen coins in a little coin purse after one month! This month hasn't been as much, but it still makes a nice difference when I deposit the money :) It might be hard to resist the urge to spend your $5 or 500 yen on something small like a lunch or a few snacks, but it will add up and both you and your bank account will be grateful for it in the future ^^

On to my short update! My trusty camera finally gave out on me about three weeks ago so I haven't had a camera until this week when my new one came in~ :D It's a Nikon D3200 and it weighs significantly less than my D70 did! So far, I'm very impressed with it and will be exploring Kyoto for the first time tomorrow with a couple girlfriends so I will be sure to take lots of pictures to share with you all!  Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a wonderful weekend :)