39th Floor Views: Umeda Sky Building

I haven't been very keen on visiting Osaka despite how close it is to Kobe, but finally decided to go and my friend was kind of enough to meet up with me and show me around. The Umeda Sky Building immediately piqued my interest when I read that visitors have a spectacular view of the city when they reach the observatory on the 39th floor. The building is actually two skyscrapers that are connected by the "Floating Garden Observatory" and for a 700 yen fee, you can see the view for yourself :)

You also go up this very loooooong escalator that is surrounded by glass on both sides, giving you a rather nice view of the city as you go up :)

Many of the buildings don't look quite as impressive when you're this high up ^^

Hanging up their wishes

The building is a popular couple's spot, hence the entire fence being filled with locks :]

You can also go up one more floor to the open-air observatory for a 360 degree view

Going back down...

Inside the elevator just before it whizzed down all thirty-nine floors

Thank you so much for reading! :) I hope you all have a wonderful weekend ^^

Christmas is Coming

Happy Thursday everyone! :)

Can you believe that Christmas will be here in a week? It's coming way too fast, but I'm milking it for all I can--nonstop holiday music, decoration galore and all those festivities ^^ Since it's definitely the most wonderful time of the year, I thought I'd share some pictures of various holiday decor that I've seen while traveling :) I hope you enjoy!

This cutie is located in Mosaic, next to Umie and I can't help but think of colorful gifts when I see the various metal boxes :]

I've seen quite a few large Christmas trees, but this one in the middle of Kyoto station is pretty high up there :) 

If you're ever in Kyoto station, then stop by the cafe on the opposite end of the gigantic Christmas tree and you'll see this beautiful one. They also have a Christmas buffet around this time! 

This one just screams "Frozen" doesn't it? Although you can't deny how beautiful it is :)

Complete with miniature lit up trees, people, fences and buildings, I love looking at this holiday decoration in Umie :)

While walking towards the Luminarie, my friends and I passed this church which was coveredwith twinkling lights and a gorgeous Christmas tree as well.

Heading towards the Port Island Railway in Sannomiya, you can walk past these festive lights as well and if you look at it from the opposite side...

It literally looks like a fairy garden :)

Dreaming of a white Christmas :) 

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful week ^^

Tunnel of Lights: Kobe Luminarie

With Christmas coming in less than two weeks, I just had to post something with Christmas lights! :) The Kobe Luminarie started in December of 1995 to commemorate those who died in the Great Hanshin Earthquake, which devastated a large area of Kobe. The lights gave hope to the citizens of Kobe and became immensely popular, becoming a tourist location during the month of December (it is held during the first two weeks of December).  It has since been held every year and draws over a million locals and tourists alike to the intricately designed lights which were donated by the Italian government. The design changes every year and I was not going to miss this year's one! Last year's one can be seen here.

Crowds along the street waiting for the Luminarie to begin.

Even from far away, the lights were still very impressive.

And it only got better as we got closer :)

Once you pass the entrance, you enter a tunnel of lights that extends almost a hundred yards. 

Once you exit, you're greeted by another design as well as smaller ones throughout the park.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful week :) Stay warm! 

Crowds and Jewel Tones: Autumn in Arashiyama

Hope everyone is off having a good weekend! :) Today's post will be from my day trip to Arashiyama a few weekends ago. Arashiyama is one of my favorite areas in Kyoto because of it's beauty and location, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go see more autumn foliage. However, I definitely wasn't the only person going as Arashiyama is one of the most popular places to go to during autumn. If you really want to visit Arashiyama during the fall, DO NOT GO ON A WEEKEND. That is my advice. Go on a weekday if possible. There were so many people there and to be honest, it was a little overwhelming, but I was still glad to have gone. My friends and I started at Tenryuji before walking away from the main street and up towards the smaller temples in hopes of avoiding crowds, but it was simply impossible. Wherever you went, there were huge crowds. It was still quite an experience though! :)

The famous garden and pond at Tenryuji Temple :) 

View from the temple

I thought it was crowded during sakura season, but fall seems to be more popular O.o 

Quick coffee break and I loved their menu display! It was so festive ^^

My friends and I didn't even attempt to go further in because it was so crowded (and this wasn't even on the main street!)

By lunchtime, the crowds looked like this. There were LONG lines outside of restaurants and the wait time seemed to be at least an hour or so. They even had to close off part of the main street because people started to walk on the street instead of the sidewalks.

Heading back to the station and they had these to prevent people from walking on the street.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 

Hidden Stones: Ryoanji

Only two more weeks until Christmas!! :) Are you all finished with your holiday shopping yet? I'll admit that I was scrambling a bit to find Christmas presents this past weekend in order to mail them all out this week! But back to today's post ^^

This is a continuation from Kinkakuji and may be the last post from my long day in Kyoto (gotta post some Christmas pictures!). The walk to Ryoanji from Kinkakuji isn't a mere five minute walk, but it's not too long either. It's a rather nice walk along the road and you can see even more trees lining the side in a variety of colors so I enjoyed it ^^

Ryoanji is a Zen temple that also houses Japan's most famous rock garden where fifteen stones are placed inside. However, it is impossible to view all fifteen at once as at least one stone is always hidden from view no matter what angle you look at it. I could only count thirteen or fourteen max!

Heading west from Kinkakuji and followed the golden tree path :)

Heading up the stairs to the entrance of the temple

A much smaller scale of the famous garden that allows you to see all fifteen stones

Followed a path from the temple entrance

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful week! :)