On Day 4, we woke up with
excitement anticipating the most-visit temples in our wish list – Kinkakuji temple
(A shimmering gold temple) and Kiyomizu-dera (“Pure water” temple built on top
of a hill). As usual, we had our caffeine fix at the friendly neighbourhood café
near our hotel. Albeit a slightly “old” café run by two senior Japanese
couples, the restaurant offers quite an extensive list of food such as fried
udon with localized flavour, generous sandwich with extra eggs which you seldom
find it here, in Malaysia. Just saying! Well, overall, the food portion fit a
king’s meal.
Early selfie with double chin side-effect! ∩__∩y
After a hearty breakfast, we made a dash to catch the next
train to visit the World Cultural Heritage site – Kinkakuji. The entrance fee
costs ¥400 and due to the ticker's unique design, I naturally can’t resist to pose with
the signature ticket (pun intended)! ‵(*>﹏<*)′
Upon entering the Golden Pavilion, we were greeted with 3
elements of “zen” namely wooden building, grey & white pebbles and shaded
trees. At the moment, we felt peaceful and calm. _/\_
Of course, we wouldn’t want to
miss posing with the nature background. Prior to entering the gold-coated
temple, we managed to have a glimpse of the “hojo” where former head priest resides
in the living quarters. Long queue before admission…
Once we arrived at the charming
shrine, we were truly mesmerised with its beauty. A solid gold-encrusted temple
with different architecture style for each floor. In fact, each story houses
different clans of its class – 1st floor was built for the “shinden”,
2nd for the samurais and the peak of the temple was catered for the
Chinese zen hall. The uppermost floor was capped with a golden phoenix where
you will see its wings were peeking out from the roof. The golden-lacquered
shrine was a perfect backdrop for the lake which imbues mysterious allure to
it. This is further amped up with the leafless tree wigs and bonsai-style
trees.
We took a short break to savour
the matcha soft-serve (*^@^*)
Next up, we visited Kiyomizu-dera
dubbed the “pure water” temple for its scenic view with waterfall streaming at
the foot of the hills, where the water falls into a pond. The water is believed
to have a wish-granting power. Originally, it is an independent Buddhist temple
in eastern Kyoto, in fact, the most celebrated temple bustling with crowd. Not
to mention, the ancient temple is also a UNESCO heritage site.
The magnificent temple overlooking breathtaking view.
Many youngsters adorned in their
best traditional costumes thronged the must-see attraction.
The temple leads us to a quiet alley which stores a mixture of local handicrafts display, household brands, novelty souveniers and premium outlet such as Hermes to resonate to the locals with a pop of local culture.
Our dessert before we ends the night. Best cheesetart in town! {{{(>_<)}}}
Till then, cheerioz! (^_^)∠※
XOXO
sassycat
