halloumi and fall vegetable roast
1 hour ago
Kappabashi, Tokyo
Kappabashi is a cook's delight and not much of a touristy place at all. The whole street is lined with shops selling items related to cooking & food. This is where the restaurants shop. I shopped to my heart's content. My finds includes a few kettles, Bento boxes for the kids, chop sticks, tea mugs and salt and pepper shaker.
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Sansoji, Tokyo, Japan
Sansoji also called as Asakusa Kannon is one of Tokyo's oldest Buddhist temple. Apart from a very quiet sanctum sanatorium, you are bound to find red lanterns, pit in the middle of the temple for incenses, huge statues of Buddha and lots of people.
The streets leading to the temple has all kinds of shops including local sweets, kimonos, fans and the usual suspects.
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Higashiyama District, Kyoto
Higashiyama district is one of the best places to experience historic Kyoto. The place is so well preserved you will see many Chinese visitors, usually young girls, dressed up in Kimonos. You can find small cafes, restaurants, shops that sells anything from fans, kimonos, pottery, many varieties of tea, scarves, knives, art works ...
..including green tea ice cream.
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Travel
Nijo Castle, Kyoto, Japan
Shogun's palace or Nijo castle is any history buff's dream destination to go to. This was an imperial palace and when the royal family moved to Tokyo, they donated this for public viewing. The entire castle is surrounded by moat, wall and a beautiful gate (pic above)
The castle has absolutely no furniture inside as Shogun's enemies could hide behind it. There are some small desks for the clerks to work on. The floors are squeaky so Shogun's enemies cannot sneak into the castle. If you look into the structure below the castle, even today you can see the nails that helped create squeaky wooden floors. The ones visiting the castle has to wear a certain type of garment.
Shogun would let only certain ranks of officers to visit him and even when they do visit him, he would sit on an elevated platform and his security men hidden in closets. Only women were allowed to enter the inner chambers.
The garden surrounding the palace is a traditional Japanese garden. Visitors would bring him gifts in the form of plants & rocks to beautify his garden. There is a portion of the garden where Princess Diana and Prince Charles had a private tea ceremony when they visited Kyoto. It does pay to be royalty.
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Golden Temple, Kyoto, Japan
The golden temple is a Zen temple and the entire second and third floor is covered with gold leaf. It has been burnt down multiple times in the past and has been reconstructed. The garden around the temple is as beautiful as the temple itself. This used to be Shogun's retirement house.
We did a day trip to Kyoto and realize now that we should have stayed there the entire time we were in Japan. Most of the traditional architecture and structures are preserved in this part of the town.
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Travel
Kiyomizudera or Pure Water Temple, Kyoto, Japan
The Kiyomizudera temple is an architectural marvel. The logs simply rests in the carved wooden structure and has absolutely no nails. The entire structure can move this way and that. I am guessing it is to protect itself from the earth quakes. The roof is anything like what I have seen before. It was a hot day and the temple inside was so refreshingly cool. Our guide took us to this vantage point for a good picture of the temple.
Many budding artists in the past have donated their art work to decorate the interiors of the temple. displaying their work in the temple was a good way to promote their craftsmanship. There is a smaller temple for Buddha's mother on the other side of the hill. People believe expecting mothers who visit the temple have easier deliveries.
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Travel
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