Beautiful Kyoto

I went to visit Kyoto for sightseeing the other day. I used to live in Kyoto and been to most of the tourist places (parks, temples, downtown..) but I wasn't bored at all. Kyoto is the most traditional Japanese city where there's many temples, old houses, geisha so many forigners love it there, but it is also a place where Japanese want to visit once in a while just to feel the atmosphere and relax. Walking in the Japanese garden, seeing the temples and discovering the history... I don't know how to explain but just feels GOOD.
I took many pics and will share some of them so that you can get the image of Kyoto.


Banboo path to the temple / at night time



Arashiyama



saw a wedding held at / Seki-tei ; sand garden
the temple. Bride in white kimono.



Kabuki theatre / real Maiko (Geisha)



Huge Budha!!

Speaking of Geisha, I saw "Memories of Geisha" or in Japanese title "Sayuri". It was amazing!! Ziyi Zhang's dance in Kimono was so beautiful and gorgous. Took my breath when she was dancing on the stage in the snow. All the jp actress, acters were good especially Ken Watanabe (of course!). He was in a huge dept a while a go but now he's a hollywood star and got married recently. Must be happy.
In this movie, JP and English were mixed. Most conversations are done in English but sometimes they speak Japanese. I felt a little wired listening to that. I learned about Geisha too. They are not same as prostitute. "Geisha is a moving art."

神戸ルミナリエ開催♪Kobe Luminarie

ついに今年も神戸ルミナリエスタート！今年で11年目。阪神大震災の復興と被災者の希望を込めて1995年から始まった行事。毎年行ってたんだけど、去年は留学でいなくて行けなかったから今年は行かなきゃ☆本物を見るのが楽しみ。人が多くて嫌って言う人もいるけど、あれは絶対見る価値あるよ～平日にいけばまだましだし。神戸に住んでてよかった～って思う事の一つ。週末はもうギュウギュウ詰めで小さい子がいる人とかは絶対行かない方がいい。押しつぶされてみててかわいそうになる。そんでもって母親が無理やり引っ張ってるんよね。。ということで、来週行く予定です♪
Kobe "Luminarie" started☆☆ Those of you who don't know about this, this is a illimination festival held in Kobe to courage people who suffered from the Hanshin Big Earthquake happened in 1995. It is held every winter since this earthquake and this is the 11th year. (Every year they have a different design!) I used to go see this every year except last year(cause I was in Seattle) so I am soooo excited that I can see this year☆ The illuminations are lightened up along 1 big street and leads to the park. and in the park, you can get into the center of the wall made out of　millions of lights. 360°surrounded by illiminations!!! So beatiful and breathtaking. Some people say that it's too crowded so they don't wanna go but it's worth it. If you avoid going there on the weekends, it's not that bad. But DO NOT take little kids there in the weekends cause they'll be squashed n dead. I saw some moms taking their kids, dragging them around but they didn't seem to be pleased. Poor little kids... anyways, I'm planning to go see next week:)

Autumn in Japan

I've been studying so hard these days, and I finised the draft for my thesis (I wrote about 60 pages!!) so I took a break yesterday. I went on hiking to see the changing leaves. It was a little too late for the fallen leaves season but luckily, there were still some that were red and beautiful.
The pic on the left is called "Momiji" which is the most typical type of tree that Japanese enjoy the red color. It is so beautiful when there are bunch of trees that are in bright red. Usually we go to see them in temples or japanese gardens. But this time I needed some excercise so I went hiking in the mountains. Man, it was so tiring to go up these rocks...
In Japan, people love hiking in the mountains especially older people. Like in the pic, many people wear the same outfit (hat, stick, vest and backpack are must) and go up for their health. My grandpa used to do that every morning in 5 a.m. for 10 years, never missed a single day except when it snowed. Wow. He actually got awarded for that.


It's getting colder and colder everyday. Winter is coming. I love winter though. It's my favorite season:) My birthday, Christmas, beautiful decorations and illuminations, New Years... It just makes me exciting! Hope everyone will enjoy the remaining 2005 and wait for the 2006 to come!!

紅葉はやっぱいいねぇ～☆こういう四季を味わえる時って”日本人でよかったなぁ”って思います。