Here is a temple just very close to the streets you see above. It is Shinto based as you can see with the Shinto style entrance.
Notice the intricate roof.
Here is Jessica and I under red "Arches". Notice my skull shirt.
A close up shot of a statue at the temple. It seemed old to me so I took a picture.
I took this picture for the little building and the weird statue. I cannot decide whether the statue is a fox or a very very large and scary squirrel. Lets take a vote :)
Here I am, looking sexy. I am on a swing in a play ground near the temple. Notice the chains on the swing protect the hands from the dreaded pinch! I now wish my old childhood playgrounds had these wonder chains created by gods loving hand. But, in the end, I still got my shoes and pants wet. Notice the puddle under me.
Here is a typical scene where girls get distracted by shiny ceramics.
I am officially addicted to these cans of warm coffee . Let me tell you, if there is anything that I am going to miss when I leave, it is going to be these. There is nothing more satisfying in winter than grabbing a nice hot can of coffee on the street from one of these wonderful machines. In winter, this is as close to heaven as you can get.
We eventually left the Shinto shrine and headed to a Buddhist temple. Let me tell you, these people are very careful with everything. The bushes and trees are cut with a very nice aesthetic sense. I can take a picture of anything and it will be a good picture. Look at the random shot below, its good no matter how much I tried to botch it up.
When we entered there was absolutely no one there, no one. It was quiet and sort of creepy. I expected a ninja at this point crawling on the top of the roof to jump down to the ground so we could commence hardcore ninja fighting. But, as I have feared, no such ninja appeared. Yes, I am a poet and I didn't even realize it (Props to Damien). I would have said Kung Fu fighting, but this is Japan man!
Here is a picture of little Shinto stone statues inside the Buddhist temple. For those that do not know, Japanese usually follow both Shintoism and Buddhism. Often you will see small Shinto shrines inside Buddhist temples.
Here is the entrance to the main building. Notice no ninjas. Peace is the way of the Buddha.
Here is a touristy shot of Jessica and Skull Shirt.
Here is a big beautiful tree that reminded me of fractals. For those of you mathematically inclined, this picture will be amusing. For those not so mathematically inclined, I am a loser.
This was a nice area of the temple. But the best part is the bulbous bush at the very bottom. We need more of those in America.
Here is Jessica bored because there were no ninjas.
I have recently watched Bill and Ted. I think I make a good Keanu Reeves impression. Oh, and eventually someone came to the temple. See the car in the back? So I don't want anyone telling me I lied about that.
Here is a picture of Robert and Spring. Robert was also confused of the absence of ninjas. Scratching his beard.
Eventually we decided we wanted to treck up the biggest hill in the city. There was supposed to be something at the top so we were excited. On the way I took a picture of this beautiful rusty shack. As rusty shacks go, this one is a winner. I think it is important to show this part of any rich nation. The difference here however, the houses around it were nice, big, and old.
Here is a picture of the street on our way to the mountain/hill. I liked this part because it was definitely an older part of town. The street is very narrow, but cars still go through here. I am surprised every time when I see a car go through a street such as this. You would think that there would be many damaged poles, but there are not. I guess it helps that people have to pay about $2,000 dollars for driving school just to get a license.
This was funny because one of the houses was a factory which made red masks. They were cool devil masks. If anyone (Anyone I know) wants, I can find this place again and buy one for them :-)
Another picture of rusty shacks.
We finally found the path to the mountain and trekked up there. The climb was steep until we came upon a cemetery with Shinto shrines.
We climbed farther and ended up at the top where Jessica and Spring had this picture taken. In the back you can see apartment buildings. Just to give you a sense of how high we climbed. Jessica is of course satisfied with herself so she gave the patented dork smile. Notice its dorky power.
Here is the majestic temple that we so eagerly climbed a mountain for! OOOOOHH shiny! So nice and new! So spiritually metallic. I think I liked the rusty shacks better than this.
But I guess it was worth it for the beautiful hidden cemetery we found.
Here is a picture of Jessica scared of potential ninja ghosts.
Here is another shrine. Notice that there is a little cup under the statue. This cup was filled with nice sake. I guess if you can find enough of these shrines and drink all of these, you can get drunk. However, are there any alcoholics worthy enough?
Here is a picture of a spider the size of a golf ball. Needless to say, Jessica ran the other way.
Now this is a rusty shrine shack worthy of a mountain climb. Unlike the strict metallic one, this one doubly useful as a place to put old wood and gardening tools.
Ah, a fine days end to a fine trip of seeing shrines and temples and climbing. I wish I can play you some kind of music to set the mood of the picture below.
I hope you enjoyed this post. I have been very busy so I really do hope you enjoyed this post. Just a note, to show how far behind I am, right now when we go outside, we put on heavy coats and mittens. I have the Shirakawa and Kyoto trip to post. So keep an eye out for them. Oh, and leave a comment if you can.
