Beautiful Kiyomizu Otera!

Kiyomizu Otera (Kiyomizu temple) is a very large and famous temple in Kyoto! Some of you who have facebook may seen some of the pictures already, but here are the details of my trip. I'll try to keep it short but with tons of pictures for you all to see! If you can't spot me, I'm standing at the gate of Kiyomizu temple, next to the "no smoking" sign. Why the sign? Cuz' I want to. But let's start at the beginning. The picture above the temple gate is the streets of Kyoto!

Seven Eleven even exist in Japan! And believe me it's everywhere (there's one near my school too!) but the products they sell and customer service are way better than in the U.S.

But anyways, the whole streets are filled with shops selling antique-like, highly detailed ceramic bowls and tableware, and some are very adorable with reasonable prices that makes me want to come back for it. My roommate, Stacy does too!
Oh yea I forgot to mention, this trip was arranged by the school and international students are split into groups and partner up with some Japanese students. My group has 3 int'l students and 2 Japanese students to guide us.
Note: I use a lot of exclamation mark (!) in my sentences because I'm pretty excited and shocked at everything I seeeeeeee

People actually park their car in their shop!! A rare sighting ;)

Can you spot the temple?




















Here we are at the ancient grounds heading toward the temple gate. Many many shops to look at! Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to look around because I was still in awe with the temple and running around like bunnies, taking pictures of everything lol...









This is my the group!
Japanese people love peace~
(and enjoy showing it you'll see it a lot in my later posts if i get to it)


























These are some of the many shrines in Kiyomizu Temple.








































I'm not much of a photographer but breathtaking isn't it?

















This shrine is where our group paid 100 yen to go see a mysterious wishing stone. It's a worthwhile experience. After you pay your money and take off your shoes, you have to hold on to a rope as you move forward into the abyss. You're basically blind at that moment and it is very scary when you rely on sight so much! Everyone was moving slowly and giggling and saying "kowai!" (which means "scary!" or "I'm afraid!"). I was afraid too but later we reach the stone and made our wish :D
Later I learned that that stone is the fertility stone (lol!) and the darkness is like being in the womb....whether you like the meaning of it or not, it is definitely an experience you won't regret! (And hey the guys went in too lol)



I think this is the living quarters for monks...not sure though, but there's a lady down there cleaning...














Now we actually enter the main part of Kiyomizu temple. The others were shrines ;)

Like I said earlier, this place is very large!













On the left is the metal staffs and sandals that monks back then wore. I can lift a bag of rice but I can hardly lift the sandals, let alone the smallest staff...

















Do not judge its cover, this is not just any incense burner! Inhale the flowing fragrance and you will surely pass any exam! (haha)











Since we're high up from the ground, I took some scenery pictures! It is such a perfect angle and correct lighting that I cannot pass up the chance.
You see those dried up trees below the mountainous green area? Those "dried up trees" are cherry blossoms waiting to be bloom in the spring time!












From above looking down, those people are gathering at a small shrine for children. Next to the shrine are shops and rest spots for viewing cherry blossoms in the spring. Hopefully I'll get a spot when I visit *fingers crossed*



Another attack of the peace sign!




Love! ~ Love Shrine~























We are now at Jishu Shrine and this statue is the representation of Okuminushi no mikoto, the Japanese god of love and matchmaking. Anybody who is having difficulty find love or found love but wants to strengthen the bond between your partner, please come visit and he will promise "splendid love," endless love, and future happiness!
















At this shrine, people pour the holy water on their hands to wash away their sins and impurities inside them. I saw at another shrine where people drink the water too but I don't want to drink it because my stomach may not be able to handle the pureness ;)


























I don't think I need to explain. Read the sign.

Note: These pictures are provided by my roommate Stacy.

This is me doing the walk!! The two love stones are about ten meters apart, which feels very long. If you think walking straight from one stone to another with your eyes close easy, you're dead wrong. The ground is consist of tons of small stones chiseled neatly together but once you closes your eyes, you'll lose balance trying to walk...so the whole time I was like wobbly and trying to to fall. I even almost tripped myself lol...What's nice about it is you can feel a great surge of encouragements by people passing you saying "Ganbatte!" "You can do it!" "Good luck!" Thus, I made it safely across to the other stone with the help of my group ;)

Here are the charms! There are charms for good marriage, love knot, love chance, safe delivery, good health, victory, passing an examination (lol I need one of those), successful study (maybe this one too for double power), traffic safety, good children, etc. If you need a charm then tell me so I can get you one when I go back there. You don't have to believe in it but it is a nice souvenir and not that expensive too ;)




This shrine is to pray for babies and unborn children for safe delivery and health. All the statues wear red bibs like a baby does. In Japanese language, 'red' is 'aka' and the word for 'baby' is 'aka-chan', which has the word 'aka' in it. Therefore, the Buddha for baby often wears red bib, but sometimes you might see some Buddha statues wear white bibs. I found that Japanese people like to do word play a lot.





Many Japanese couples dressed up not just to visit the temple, pray for good love, or take pictures, but also to watch this beautiful sunset of Kyoto!
Irashaimase! Welcome to Omiyage shops (souvenir shops)!

Along the road towards the temple, countless of souvenir shops for tourists to visit. The prices are reasonable and some are quite cheap! They even have Tiramisu chocolate balls covered with matcha (green tea) powder. It's really delicious (I tasted the samples) and I'm excited to come back to get some more of those goodies!






Doll heaven! Some of you already know that I'm in love with dolls (porcelain ones, not barbies >.<) and as I was walking, all of a sudden I found this shop and I want to bring the whole shop home with me! They all types of Japanese dolls in many different materials.





















































The dolls ranges from $2.60~$300.
Pricey eh?



































Ok so enough with the dolls (^_~)

How about toilet?

This is an old style toilet at the train station, which I didn't try because I don't know how to use it. Stacy said you have to squat down...Oddly, as Stacy and I were taking the picture of the toilet, the Japanese students that guide us on this trip was like "Ohhh! No, no...it is dirty! Very dirty" but we didn't see anything dirty. The toilet was quite clean and shiny compared to public restrooms in the U.S. (even more clean than my toilet at home!). But anyways, that's pretty much my whole trip to the fabulous Kyoto!

Cute eh?