JaPaN Day 3 - 13/4/2008

Day 3 of japan... to kyoto.. mmm... think kyoto is more of the rural part of japan, not exactly a bustling city like tokyo.. v mountainuos and green area.. basically no tall buildings at all.. mm... many of the attractions i cannot rem the names le.. lol~
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tt's the golden pavilion.. im not sure if the whole thing is made up of gold, or issit juz the pheonix at the top of the pavilion is made up of gold. anyway it stands in the middle of the lake.. cannot go near de. can only take pics frm afar.

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after tt to the kyo-mizu temple.. 清水寺
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see the 3 'waterfalls' at the rite bottom pic? basically each represents something. think is health, weath, and wellness.. something like tt de lar.. but many pple and we din have much time, so din go and drink...

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here comes the geishas...
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the guide said there are many misconceptions abt the geishas. basically the geishas are entertainers but they dont sell their bodies. they can dance, can sing, can chat with you abt anything under the sun from politics to geography. v smart and knowlegdeable. to engage a geisha in performing can cost quite a bit, according to the guide... and according to him, in japan, it's an honour for a female to enter the geisha industry and for the male.... guess wad? yeah.. the sumo wrestler industry! i think these 2 r the 国宝 industries in japan.
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the lunch for the day... tempura!
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and then to the kimono show..
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and a ride on the shinkansen ie. bullet train. ermm... basically we only took 1 stop.. juz to let us have a feel on how fast the train can run. actually you cant feel how fast it runs, juz like how you dont feel u r moving when ur on a plane. but if you look out of the windows.. u can see the things outside passing you at a super fast speed. think bullet train is an alternative to domestic flights.

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taking this bullet train wasnt an easy task for us AT ALL. becuz there r specific timings for the train to come, so if we missed the timing, the next train will only come 1 hr later. and there's nothing we can do at the station, so it's a MUST for us to catch the train. and then... can u imagine a whole tour grp of >30 pple literally rushing for the train??! it's really a sight man! wad with a grp member with walking stick and one on wheelchair. the guide simply point to the elevator and told them to take the elevator to so-and-so floor and to meet at so-and-so place and left them on their own and cheong with the rest of us.. i mean.. it's quite bad lor. wad if they lost their way? or wad if we missed them out? i mean he cant juz left them like tt and rushed off lor. haii..
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anyway.. like i said.. the bullet train can be a substitute for domestic flt.. so the journeys can also be quite long and hence.. food r sold in there as well..

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dinner tt day was buffet in a shopping centre..
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actually i don really like buffet.. cuz most of the times.. out of 30 choices, only 10 i will like..

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tt's the only chance when i get to eat sushi.. quite sad huh... all the way to japan but did not try the authentic sushi and sashimi ~~~~~~ wad a waste.. !!

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accomodation for the nite. i remembered the blanket was super comfy.. :)

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nights. ZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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