~KYOTO~





On New Years Eve we had a very nice walk around the area where I live, which most of these photos are from. We walked towards the mountains, where there are a lot of quiet houses and temples, and found this strangely eerie area of houses, at the end of a long, steep path. Very nice, just very quiet.





We then found ourselves at Ninna-ji temple compound, well-known for its pagoda and double-petalled cherry blossoms, which people flock to see in the spring.









That night, we headed out in a group to have a meal (not the best meal I've had - we ended up at a meat only restaurant, so all I could eat was a bowl of rice and some leaves. Mm, tasty.) Then, we headed up to a local temple, where we were served some kind of sweet, oatmealy sake concoction, and joined a queue to make an offering and draw a 'prayer card'. We then joined another queue, where we went up to ring a large bell, and make a wish for the coming year. It was all very serene and peaceful, there wasn't even any kind of signal that the New Year had happened already, except when the monk turned on a microphone to say a New Year prayer. It was a very nice experience. We then went downtown, and spent the rest of the night at a bar/club.

The following four days were spent around Kyoto and Osaka some more, before Dave's flight left on the morning of the 5th. Hopefully he can come back out in a few months time :)

~NARA~

(Those are crackers for the deer!)



On Dec 30th, Dave and I headed to Nara... at last! It was a sunny day, and although our main aim was to see the deer, which it is famous for, we discovered what a lovely little place Nara actually is. Much smaller than Kyoto, it was formerly Japan's capital in the 8th century, before the court was moved to Kyoto. Walking around Nara, we found lots of historic buildings, green space, a strangely high amount of people who seemed to be living in temple compounds, and a cute little main street that made us feel like we were in somewhere small like Fraserburgh or Macduff (but really nice!) while we were walking down it.

Below: Various sights around Nara.

















After wandering around the town for a little while, we headed to the deer park, near the great Todai-Ji Temple.

Oh Deer!

















After having finally seen (and fed) enough of the deer, we moved on to Todai-Ji Temple, the world's largest wooden structure, which houses the world's largest bronze statue (a giant Buddha) inside. To get to this, we had to pass through Japan's largest gate. Inside the temple, along with the Buddha, are two other large statues, to his right and left, many other statues and relics, and a wooden pillar with a hole in it, which people try to squeeze themselves through, often succeeding, because the size of the hole is supposed to be the same size as the opening to paradise. It's not a very big hole.



It was difficult to get photos of the Buddha that actually show how big it was, but to help indicate the size, every New Years Eve (we were a day early, but already all the preparations were in place, food stalls set up in the grounds, etc) the small opening under the arch in the centre is opened and the inside lit up, and the Buddha's eyes can be seen looking out through this. So, that little arch = eye level.























People pray to this figure here in order to cure any illnesses or ailments that they might have. You put a coin in the box as an offering, then rub the applicable part of the statue's body, then rub the same area on yourself, and any ailments will supposedly be healed. So he's good, even though he looks a bit scary.

After leaving Todai-Ji, we walked back into town, but visited the twin pagodas that we had passed on the way to the deer park. On this site is a 3-storey pagoda and a 5-storey pagoda, plus some other small buildings, some houses that look like temple buildings, and some stray deer.









After all of that, we headed to a nice Italian restaurant where we had tea, and then caught the train back to Kyoto, where we climbed up to the skywalk to get a view of the city at night. And that was our happy day out in Nara, with the deer.

~MOUNT FUJI~

On the 27th, we headed back to Kyoto on the !Shinkansen!, and this time we got a clear view of Mt. Fuji from many angles, and Dave managed to get a lot of good pictures.







Fuji: bigger than I thought.

~TOKYO~

Boxing Day - Epson Aqua Stadium, GE999 Rollercoaster, and Shinjuku

Now that my exams are over, I can continue recounting the tale of my happy festive season, and this tale is the best because it involves penguins. Lots of penguins.



We awoke on Boxing Day to torrential rain. In Japan, if it's raining in the morning, it's not going to stop that day. But luckily our hotel was well-equipped with distractions, and all indoors, too. So, after lunch, we headed to the Epson Aqua Stadium, where, obviously, we saw the penguins :)











We got there just at Feeding Time, where one little penguin misbehaved and went !steal! quite a lot...





... And another silly penguin decided to pick up the stones with his beak, and make another pile of stones at the other side. Except it took about 10 attempts each time to actually pick up the stone without dropping it, and so his new pile didn't seem to grow very quickly.





As well as penguins, there were some other weird and downright terrifying creatures to be seen. And some clever ones. Those were the dolphins, which we didn't get any good pictures of, because they jumped and danced too quickly.







I don't like lobsters very much...



Or giant mutant crabs...





... THIS big...



After that I headed excitedly to the Galaxy Express 999 rollercoaster, which I enjoyed very much.



We then had dinner at a posh Italian restaurant in the hotel, before heading out to brave the rain and meet up with Tomi in Shinjuku.



First we headed to the Skyscraper District, where all the tall government buildings live. It was still pouring, and a mysterious-looking mist enveloped everything, meaning that we couldn't see right to the top. But it looked cool.



We then went on to an izakaya (pub) in the middle of the flashy-lighty district for some drinks, and to dry off for a bit.





After that we wandered a bit more, ducking into subway passages to avoid the rain, getting soaked, but it was fun :)



Dave and Tomi at the station :)

We then headed back to Shinagawa, where a full thunder and lightning storm had taken force, as we desperately tried to find a convenience store in order to buy breakfast for the next day.





Eventually, Mr Penguin found one for us!



Me and my silly hood in the sheltery maze of footbridges that we found.



Eventually, we made it back to the hotel, where we watched the thunderstorm (which went on for nearly an hour) from the safety of our 24th storey hotel room. Mm.