An Afternoon in Asakusa, Tokyo

My brother was visiting us in Tokyo around late September, and during one weekday he and I took a stroll around Asakusa after lunch. No, we didn't go to Senso-ji again. Been there a million times. Instead, we started out at the famous and crowded Asakusa Nakamise and made our way through all the surrounding shotengais.

Atago-jinja, Minato, Tokyo, Part III

A few days after we returned from Taipei, hubby and I took a late afternoon stroll in the neighborhood and promptly stumbled upon a festival at Atago-jinja. As you can see, it was still gloomy and wet after having rained cats and dogs earlier that day. We were quite surprised to see a festival going on as they usually just cancel and move to the next day.

Taipei Tianhou Temple (臺北天后宮)

As J., hubby, and I were leaving Fong Da Coffee (蜂大咖啡), we spotted an interesting sight right across the street: Taipei Tianhou Temple (臺北天后宮), she of the many names, one of which you'll probably recognize: Mazu (媽祖).

Much like Taiwan City God Temple (臺灣城皇廟), what really drew our attention was the neat sight of the temple snuggling in between two neighborhood buildings. 

Taiwan City God Temple (臺灣城皇廟)

On the way to Sanmin (三民) Book Co. store, we walked by Taiwan City God Temple (臺灣城皇廟) and decided to cross the street for a quick peek.

Taipei Eats - Ximending area Part III (西門町)

After a failed attempt to visit the National Palace Museum, we took J. to Ximending (西門町) for her to try Yu's Almond Tofu (于記杏仁豆腐). Yup, even a typhoon couldn't stop us from getting some delicious almond shaved ice and as you can see, we weren't the only ones there.

A day in Nezu, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Part II

After having a delicious kamameshi lunch and taiyaki snack, T. and I walked over to Nezu Shrine famous for Tsutsuji Matsuri (Azalea Festival) during the month of April.

Nanzen-ji, Kyoto, Kyoto, Part III

The final installment of Nanzen-ji and the last of our adventures in Kyoto.

Having waited out the pouring rain in the pond garden of Nanzen-in, we moved on to the Hojo next (方丈, head priest's living quarter).

Nanzen-ji, Kyoto, Kyoto, Part II

Here's a quick detour to Tenju-an, a sub-temple at Nanzen-ji. The original Tenju-an's completion date was 1337, but it was burned down some 110 years later along with most of Nanzen-ji in a great fire of 1447. 

Nanzen-ji, Kyoto, Kyoto

After Kiyomizu-dera, hubby and I headed over to Nanzen-ji with our friends C. and A. Again they didn't quite fit this gigantic temple complex into their schedule during the week before we all met up, so we went together instead. The current temple dated to 1597 but the original temple was founded in 1291 and burned down a few times since in 1393, 1447, and 1467.

Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto, Kyoto

On the second day in Kyoto, after breakfast and checking out of Seikoro Ryokan, our first destination was Kiyomizu-dera. Both hubby and I have been to the temple, but C. and A. didn't quite make it there by themselves during the week. And it was just about a mile from the ryokan anyway.

Niomon (仁王門), then main entrance of the temple.

Nishiki Market, Nishiki Tenmangu, and Teramachi Shotengai, Kyoto, Kyoto

We left Tofuku-ji at 4:30pm and we decided to grab a cab over for a quick peek at Kyoto's popular Nishiki Market that intersects with Teramachi Shotengai and Shinkyogoku Shotengai (didn't get to this one, sadly), and the famous Nishiki Tenmangu (錦天満宮) that nestled in between the two paralleling shotengais.

Why take a cab for only a quick peek? Because the Nishiki Market closed at 5pm daily. Now what kind of market closes at 5pm, folks?!? The kind in Kyoto, that's what! Argh! Although the two shotengais stayed open slightly later, we had to be back at Seikoro Ryokan by 6:30pm for dinner.

At least the taxi ride was interesting. First we passed by this go (圍棋) school. Then as he was weaving through a neighborhood alley, the taxi driver suddenly turned to his side window. "Oh, a geiko," he mumbled to himself in Japanese.

No, not that geico. This geiko. And not the particular geiko pictured (who, by the way, is geiko Tsunemomo of Gion Higashi), but a geiko.

***Stock photo courtesy of the interweb, and geiko photo  courtesy of this website.

Tofuku-ji, Kyoto, Kyoto, Part II

Continuing on with the other half of this vast Tofuku-ji in Kyoto, this time going beyond Tsuten-kyo (通天橋) to Kaizan-do (開山堂, founder's hall).

But first we wandered through this gorgeous garden.

Tofuku-ji, Kyoto, Kyoto

Immediately after leaving Fushimi Inari Taisha, we headed over to the second destination of the day: Tofuku-ji, the fourth of Kyoto's Five Great Zen Temples within the system of Kyoto Gozan. If that sounds familiar, that's because not too long ago I posted about Kenjo-ji of Kamakura Gozan. 

Fushimi Inari Taisha, Kyoto, Kyoto, Part II

Second and final installment of Fushimi Inari Taisha. Having reached the mountain top and rested for all of 3 minutes, we immediately began our descend. We'd seen the shopping streets leading up to the shrine entrance and we wanted to have time to browse and snack some.