Osaka and Kyoto

So we went from Nagoya to Osaka and met up with Doraina's sister Liz. Her apartment was posh! It was really huge for Japan, especially for someone single. It was really a nice place with a great view. We got in fairly late and had a bit of confusion regarding trains... (We thought we were at Osaka station, she also was at Osaka station, we couldn't find her, she couldn't find us... then we realized that we were at SHIN-Osaka station... a very different station from Osaka. Go figure...) But we made it and basically fell into bed that evening and slept.

The next day we went to Kyoto with some of Liz's friends. It was great fun! We started out the day walking up to one of the huge Buddhist temples. Here are some cool pictures:



This is one of the fountains. No, not for drinking. At least I didn't see anyone drink out of it. Although a lot of people probably wanted to since there are no drinking fountains ANYWHERE! You have to buy bottled water out of random vending machines all over the streets. But I digress... Anyway, we were told that these were used to cleanse yourself before entering the temples.


This is just part of the temple. But I thought it looked really cool. There was this cute little kid standing underneath it putting incense in a big pot. I tried to get a picture of the kid too, but he didn't stay still long enough!


These are wishes, not prayers, wishes. I found it really interesting. I also enjoyed watching the people come and do ceremonial worship, meaning they rang a bell, clapped their hands, repeated some phrases, and threw some money in. I'm glad I don't have to pay to have my prayers answered... And I digress again...


On the left we see some stone statues with napkin/aprons. No one we asked could tell us why they had those on (they were all over in all different kinds of temples, not just this one). So if you know why, let me know!

On the right we see Buddha. One of many we saw. But none compared with Giant Buddha, which you will see in the next post :)


On the streets in Kyoto, heading toward the Ginza district. In Kyoto there are TONS of samples of mochi (rice cake...not the crispy kind we have in America, the chewy, gooey kind that I love!). Specifically the kinds that are filled with all different kinds of flavors! I loved the blueberry and lemon kinds. We also had ice cream covered with mochi, they looked like little snowballs. SO GOOD!


Some cool tapestries that were hanging in the temple in Ginza. (This is the district where the old school stuff still prevails... it's the one place you might see Geisha or Meiko. I think we saw one, but that is unconfirmed. We saw plenty of fake ones though!)

The day in Kyoto was awesomely awesome. That night we were back in Osaka and had some okonomiyaki (cabbage pancake) and it was super good, though not as good as the kind we had in Hiroshima with noodles in it!