[JP18] A Day in Nara: A Wrap Up, and One of my Regrets While Travelling

A day is certainly not enough to soak in all of Nara. I am guessing, not even a couple of days. But you know what? That’s OK. Of course, if it were a younger me, I wouldn’t think that. My young self would be full of regrets that I did not spend more days here, not even when faced with the reality that I do not have the luxury of time.
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[JP18] Kyoto, Japan: Walking Around Nishiki Market, Pontocho Alley & Gion District (plus Ichiran Kawaramachi!)

This is yet another tl;dr, image-heavy post, which I’m not really gonna apologize for because, really, if I don’t have the photos, then I won’t really have much to say, now, do I? This blog post is all about… walking. Yes, walking. Because if you don’t know me by now, I really, really, really like to walk. A fact that drew the ire of one or two of my companions from time to time. #sorryNOTsorry So, yes, this’ll be all about that time my friend and I practically walked almost the entire length of the road from Nishiki Market, across Kawaramachi to Pontocho Alley, then across the Kamogawa to get to Gion District, until finally we ended up in front of the Yasaka Shrine. Yes. All on foot.
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[JP18] Arashiyama, Kyoto: The Tenryuji Temple

It’s the last day of July, and all I could think of was “Thank goodness July is over, but DANG AUGUST CAME TOO SOON”. I guess that’s the thing about time: it passes, and it does so in an unforgiving fashion. There are no rewinds, no take twos, just pushing forward, and all we can do is to keep pace with it. Or, at least, try to. And while doing so, make memories. Good ones. Lots of them. So you will have lots of them to look back to even months, years to the future.

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[JP18] Arashiyama, Kyoto: The Nonomiya Shrine

A visit to Kyoto won’t be complete if you didn’t step foot into a shrine. Or two. And practically all areas of Kyoto have them, so whichever part you choose to go to, you can be sure to pass by at least one. In Arashiyama, it was one of those unexpected things, us stumbling on a small shrine while following the Path of Bamboo, which I talked about in my previous post.

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[JP18] A Day in Kawagoe, Japan: Kita-in Temple

Finally getting around to talking about my jaunt in Japan several months ago and I’m pretty sure as I go through these hundreds of photos and videos I took for the duration of my trip, I’d be feeling all itchy about going back there very soon. Revisiting Japan will probably be perpetually on my mental bucket list, as there are still so many things to see and explore. Oh where’s a gold mine when you need it?

For my first posts, I’d be talking about that hot, sweltering, day we spent walking around the city of Kawagoe.

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Hanoi, Vietnam: The Temple of Literature

Growing up, I’ve always had a soft spot for literature. I was a sucker for stories and I lapped them up when I had the chance, reading whatever I can get my hands on. At that time, I loved it as much as I loathed Maths. (The fact that I ended up in a profession involving numbers is beside the point.) The library is the closest thing that we can have to a place-dedicated-to-literature. I swear, if my country had something that’s also called a “temple of literature”, you’d have probably found me there. Worshipping. Daily.

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Hanoi, Vietnam: The One-Pillar Pagoda & The Ho Chi Minh Museum

I’ve always seen museums as the best place for a crash course. Like, say, you don’t know much about a person, place, or incident, (and you don’t feel like going through tons of narrative or listening to a lecturer go on for hours about it), then GO TO A MUSEUM. I’d be honest, though, and say that museum visits are low on my list of things to do, especially when visiting a new place. But curiosity wins out in the end, and this one in particular was conveniently located, so I thought it made sense to check out Ho Chi Minh MuseumContinue reading “Hanoi, Vietnam: The One-Pillar Pagoda & The Ho Chi Minh Museum”

Hanoi, Vietnam: Hoan Kiem Lake & Ngoc Son Temple

Say “Baguio City” and “Burnham Park” isn’t likely to be mentioned far behind and, along with it, Burnham Lake. These two have become practically staples for anyone visiting Baguio City, especially for the first time. The same thing goes for the nearby town of La Trinidad; if you are in the area, you just have to check out the Strawberry Fields in Km. 6. Well, what about Hanoi? That staple would be Hoan Kiem Lake and, by default, the Ngoc Son TempleContinue reading “Hanoi, Vietnam: Hoan Kiem Lake & Ngoc Son Temple”

Kyoto, Japan 2014: Fushimi Inari Taisha Pt 3

As much as I would like to say that “I am back”, I couldn’t, at least not entirely, since I think I left part of my soul (and heart, I kid you not) in South Korea. 5 and a half days are barely enough to get my fill of SoKor, and I hope to go back to explore more of it. I’ve soooo many stories (and photos!) to share, but I resolve not to do that until I have finished my Japan travel diaries. And this is the last in my three-parter on Fushimi Inari Taisha.
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Kyoto, Japan 2014: Fushimi Inari Taisha Pt 2

I have a love-hate relationship with the month of August. Hate stems from the fact that it is the month where there are soooooo many deadlines. It’s bad enough that my line of work means I have deadlines to deal with on a monthly basis, but August just piles them right on. But I also love it because of a couple of long weekends, which means trips and travels. OH YES. But I’m getting ahead of myself. This post is all about the AH-MAAAAY-ZING Fushimi Inari Taisha, which I’d love to go back to in the future. Take a walk with me?
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Kyoto, Japan 2014: Fushimi Inari Taisha Pt 1

And so we have come to my favorite among the many Kyoto attractions we visited during our short stopover in Japan’s old capital: the Fushimi Inari Taisha (Shrine). I loved it so much that I am devoting more than one post for it. Yes, because it turns out I took so many pictures, and I didn’t want them to go unshared! It’d be such a waste, don’t you agree?
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Kyoto, Japan 2014: Fall Illumination at Kiyomizudera

I have one complaint about Kyoto: there are simply too many places that are worth checking out that, for someone like me who has a limited number of days to spend in the area, it’s almost tragic. While mapping out where we want to go, it was with a heavy heart that we had to slash many of them on the list. Kiyomizudera was one of those places that we had to let go of. But, one evening, while walking around aimlessly in the Gion area looking for a place to eat, Peach and I bumped into Sheryl, Hazel and another new friend, Jas. And plans were changed.
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