Day 4 - Kyoto

It is SPRING Time!!!

Pink Flower

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White Flower with yellow & purple spots

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Maple Tree

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Maple Leaves

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Green Green Green!!! Love it.

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This photo reminds me of the famous painting:

The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo

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Simply Beautiful

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Marveling at the simple yet beautiful Nature's creation

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Colourful Maple Tree

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Looks like Autumn

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White Flower

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Blue/Purple Flowers

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Spring time is just Beautiful.

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ARASHIYAMA BAMBOO FOREST

Self-Reflection

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Bamboos

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More Bamboos

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More!!!

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Bamboos always exudes a sense of peace, tranquility, elegance & strength.

Amazing and I love it.

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RYOAN-JI

The most famous Zen Garden in the world.

"The researchers propose that the implicit structure of the garden is designed to appeal to the viewers unconscious visual sensitivity to axial-symmetry skeletons of stimulus shapes. In support of their findings, they found that imposing a random perturbation of the locations of individual rock features destroyed the special characteristics"

Stunningly beautiful

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Sitting down and contemplating about life

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Where am I rushing to?

Why am I going there?

Have I forgotten the reason to get here?

Is this place not good enough?

Is the other place a better destination?

Where am I going?

Why am I going?

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Love it!!!

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The answer is not in the rock, but it is from within.

The view is not clear when the mind is running wild,

when one starts to quieten down like the surface of the water,

the view at the bottom can be seen

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KINKAKU-JI

No doubt, this is one of the most iconic temples in Japan, however, it is disappointing and boring. Just a beautiful and lifeless structure.

Reflection on the Pond

(this is prettier than the Golden Pavillion)

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The Golden Pavillion

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Pretty...Boring

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WALKING ALONE IN KYOTO

Coincidence on the Street of Kyoto.

It was the golden week holiday in Japan. SF was traveling with his parents, and I was traveling alone. He was staying in Osaka while I was staying in Kyoto. He was driving a car with his parents and I was taking public transport.

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I was walking alone to a remote temple in the north of Kyoto.

2.23pm - Text from SF: "You will see me next corner when u turn right."

2.25pm - I texted SF: "Haha. I saw you and waved at you, but you didn't respnd."

Obviously, We were just joking with each other.

At 2.40pm, SF was driving in the opposite direction shouting at me!!! What a coincidence!!!! We were so happy to see each other in in Kyoto. =)

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May be that's fate.

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DAISEN-IN

"The Daisen-in was founded in 1509 by the Zen priest Kogaku Sotan (1464-1548) upon his retirement as abbot of Daitoku-ji. The hojo, his residence, was completed in 1513, and the most famous of the gardens that surround that structure probably dates from the same period. "

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This temple was not in my list of temples to visit, it was a last minute decision to visit this temple. Quite random, yet, this is the BEST temple I visited in Kyoto. Even though it is the smallest temple I visited, it is the temple that I felt connnected and truely understand the beauty of Zen Garden. The best thing in life happens when you least expected it.

Entrance to Daisen-Ji

(Unfortunately, Photography is not allowed, below are the pics taken from the web)

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Daisen-Ji Zen Garden

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As none of the Zen monk speaks english, I was given a english guidebook to tour around the small temple myself. The Zen Garden is not just aesthetically pleasing, and there are deeper meanings of life. It was expounding the profound Dharma Teachings of Buddha in a subtle way. It was a deep sense of peace. Reflecting on my insignificant life and the things that I am clinging on.

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At one point, i was just sitting down in peace. Stop thinking and analysing. Jus looking at the evening sun rays falling onto the roof, listening to the rustling sounds of the leaves, breathing the fresh cooling air... I do not want to go anywhere, I do not need to go anywhere. I just enjoy that moment of deep peace and tranquility. What a wonderful feeling! Grateful for it. That's the real beauty of a Zen Garden.

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After completing the circuit, I felt that I just finished a life journey. Below is copied from the guidebook

"As we complete the circuit and return to the great Sea, we may again contemplate Eternity. Most souls who enter the great sea will have to go back to the beginning of the waterfall and travel through the river of life again and again on our path to enlightenment."

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Time flies and I stayed in that small temple for 1 hour already, and coincidentally, the Zen monk was conducting a Zen Meditation Class. I saw a caucasian in the class, and was happy - thinking that the Zen monk might conduct the class in English. I was so wrong, as that caucasian is very fluent in Japanese. The Zen monk explained the meditation & its protocol in Japanese, and he would use a few simple english words to explain to me.

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One of the interesting practices is that a meditator would move forward with hands held together to request the monk to hit on his/her back 4 times to wake him/her up. The meditation session lasted 1 hour with a 5min break in between. It was VERY HARD to keep the thoughts off my mind. Did not experience any insights.

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After the 1-Hr meditation, all participants were treated with Japanese Tea and Sweet Cake. People were posing questions to the Zen Monk, who answered them with enthusiasm. I could not understand a word and was just trying to read their body languages.

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Felt great and happy about this whole experience. =)

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ONE KIND DEED

After the meditation session, it was already 7pm++, apparently the bus that I wanted to take was not operating anymore. I approached a Japanese lady asking for advice, unfortunately, she could not speak english. I indicated to her that I wanted to go to Gion, and somehow, I interpretted that she was going to the same place.

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I followed her. We took the same bus, then alighted on the 4th Stop, crossed a traffic junction and walked 100m to another bus stop. Then she indicated to me to take bus 43, and she left in the direction where we alighted. I was touched by her kindness, as she went out of her way to bring me to the right bus stop.

Took this picture to remember this incident

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GION

"Gion (祇園) is a district of Kyoto, Japan, originally developed in the Middle Ages, in front of Yasaka Shrine. The district was built to accommodate the needs of travelers and visitors to the shrine. It eventually evolved to become one of the most exclusive and well-known geisha districts in all of Japan."

Canal

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Old Japanese Houses

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Nice View

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The LP guidebook raised my expectation of this place - the most beautiful street in Asia. I did not see any Geisha, and I find it beautiful, but not the MOST beautiful street in Asia. It was a nice place to stroll.

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In my opinion, the MOST beautiful street I have seen is the cobbled street of the Old Town of Lijiang (Yunnan, China). See this travelogue.