Japan - Day 6

October 14, 2016

We woke up in our quaint little hostel and the boys ran to get pastries while Vic and I took showers and watched funny SNL skits on her phone.  Here's a very flattering picture of us all eating pastries and I think watching something on someone's phone.

Our first stop was Sanjusangen-do - a Buddhist temple.   There wasn't the beautiful grounds or anything like some of the other temples - it was just a big, long building.  The temple name means hall with thirty three spaces (between the columns), describing the architecture of the long main hall of the temple.

It is the longest, wooden building in Japan.

This might be my favorite place we went to though - I don't know I just loved it.  It's overwhelmingly impressive.  I remembered loving this from my previous trips too.  You walk in and see this -

Kannon gods for dayzzz....
There are one thousand life-size statues of the "Thousand Armed Kannon" with 28 stone guardian deities in front.  The Kannon statues are made of Japanese cypress covered in gold leaf. They stand on both the right and left sides of a huge seated Kannon in the middle of the hall - so 500 statues (10 rows of 50) on each side.  At first you think they are all the same but it's so fun to just stare at all these statues and see all their differences.  And to see their arms and all the things in their hands.    The temple was finished in 1146 but in 1249 a huge fire burned up most of them and so 124 statues are from the original temple and the rest were redone (can you imagine!) in the 13th century.  I just really loved it all.

A closer look at the Thousand Armed Kannon (not really 1000 arms but it just mean infinite arms.  I think there were 20 on each side and 4 main arms so 44 arms).

Then it was time for lunch.  After our disappointing dinner, we were determined to have a good lunch (it would be our last meal in Kyoto).  We found a place with good reviews, Tiger Gyoza Hall.    It was a long bike ride away, but we were determined to make it.  All in all, it turned out to be worth the effort.  On our way, we accidentally passed through the Nishiki Market, which on its own was worth the ride and visit.  Nishiki Market was several blocks long, and contained the strangest foods you could imagine.  Lots of fish, octopus and squid on a stick, and sparrow on a stick (we did not stop to eat).

It was such a crazy place and so crowded - not the best place to ride bikes through - but definitely fun to see.


Tiger Gyoza Hall did not disappoint.  The Gyoza was outstanding and my yakisoba with cloud ear mushrooms was so yummy and Joey loved his ramen.

Here's a few video clips of bike riding.   One is in some small streets and then one by the canal.  And I'm really glad that Mike or I didn't crash while taking these videos. :)


Kyotobiking from katiehale on Vimeo.

Next, we returned the bikes, and grabbed a train to KinkaKu-Ji (the “Golden Pavilion).   We almost didn't go here because we were pressed for time but I really wanted everyone to see it.  They ended up loving it and it was actually Joey's favorite.  The golden pavilion itself was awesome but the grounds were just gorgeous and so lovely and relaxing to walk around and take it all in.  We all took so many pictures. 

 

tossing some coins in a bowl - because it's Mike Malmborg and he can find a way to play a game wherever he is.

Next we took a very crowded bus (I think Troy was having some claustrophobia) to a train station to go to the bamboo forest.  Tough guys waiting for a train.

 Here we are peacefully smiling - little did we know that M&V's backpack WITH their PASSPORTS are in the rack above us about to be LEFT ON THE TRAIN! 

We had accidentally gone to a wrong station (trying to outsmart google) and it was actually cool because we got to see a beautiful canyon. Anyway - we jumped back on the train and it was empty (a rare thing) and so Mike threw his backpack up on the rack and we all took a seat for the 2 min ride.  When we got off - Mike said "Vic- our backpack!"  And panic set in.  Passports!   We tried our best to communicate with the sweet train attendant lady.  And she totally saved the day.   Between her broken english and my broken japanese - she realized what had happened and frantically called and they somehow tracked down the backpack and had it waiting for them at kyoto station.   Such a miracle!  Vic & Mike loved this lady and found a new love and gratitude for Japan's honesty.   Joey, Troy and I stayed to take a peek at the forest - although it was pretty dark and we didn't stay long.  But on our way out they had me take a picture of their new friend.

grainy pic of bamboo forest

on the way out - this teacher and her kids stopped us and asked us a bunch of questions in english to practice their english - it was so cute.  Then they wanted to take a picture with us.

And this ended our Kyoto trip.  We got tickets on the shinkansen back to Tokyo.  It was nice to just sit on that smooth and beautiful train and relax.  Mike let me listen to Hamilton on his phone - which blew my mind.

Mike Hale picked us up from the train station and took us straight to eat one of his favorite things - Doner Kebabs.  Joey has talked about these kababs with awe and hushed tones ever since.  I think these might have been his favorite thing in Japan - but really - it was basically a whole week of favorite food ever whether it was japanese, indian, french or turkish.

I asked if we could drive by the Tokyo temple on our way home.  It was so good to see that temple.  So many blessed memories of that place.   Couldn't get pictures because it was way too dark but here's one from the internet.

So with kebabs in our tummies, kyoto adventures in our hearts and our passports safely in our bags - we went back to our Tokyo Halesies house and fell fast asleep.  :)