Life in Japan by Yanna: First time in Japan as a tourist! First time in Kyoto!

I promised to reward myself with sightseeing treats almost every weekend when I get a job. Now that I have one, I can afford to tour around Japan! Yay! :D
My first tour was to Kyoto and our tour guide was Hiro! You guys met Hiro in my previous posts, by the way.
Noah and I decided to meet up with Hiro on Sunday at Kyoto station. You guys won't believe it's a train station! It is GINORMOUS! After getting there at 10:15am, Hiro helped us get bus tickets to go around town. We got our all-day bus passes and took the bus to our first stop, Sanjusangendo. The temple is centered around Kannon, the (Japanese) Buddhist goddess of mercy. She has 11 faces and 1000 hands. The temple is called sanjusangendo (三十三間堂-33 "length" hall) because the goddess can assume 33 different shapes on her missions of mercy. Since I saw 1001 statues in the hall, and believe me it's a HUGE temple, there must be 33033 different shapes that the goddess can assume. Unfortunately for my blog readers, I couldn't take any pictures of the inside since it was against the policy. Well, all the more reason for YOU GUYS to visit Japan! Here are the pictures we took outside the temple:

Our next stop was at KiyoMizuDera (清水寺), another temple. This temple was beautiful in every aspect. You'll have to see it for yourself when you actually get there.

The gate to KiyoMizuDera

The main hall has a large "balcony" for large numbers of people who visit the temple every single day. Ever since Edo period (early 1600's - 1868), this temple has been accommodating many many religious pilgrims.

Part-view from the veranda/balcony

This is what you see when you look down from the veranda/balcony

View of Kyoto behind us

The large veranda/balcony from a different angle

Although it was freezing and snowing on that day I was able to enjoy the whole trip without feeling exhausted. I also promised myself to go there again during Spring time for Hanami (花見). It will be BEAUTIFUL! After visiting Kiyomizu-Dera, we walked down the main street and took pictures and tried some traditional Japanese snacks!

Front

Back

Itadakimasu! (I will gladly receive the food!)

They showed us how it's made too! :D

Japanese candies(colorful!)

Japanese bento candies! lol

As we were walking down the street, I saw people running towards something to take pictures and that's when Hiro said, "Yanna take picture! Take picture! Maiko-san! Maiko-san!" So, I quickly got my camera out and took a snapshot of 3 Maiko-san(s)! (For those of you who didn't know what Maiko-san was: Maiko-san is another term for Geisha :D).

When we got to the end part of the street, Noah poked me and said, "Look, Boo! Look inside!" and guess what I found?! :D

Yup, a mini-Ghilbli Store!!! YAYYYY :D
Oh and I saw Obama mask in one of the street stores!:P

After the temple-visits, our next destination was to a shrine. For those who don't know much about the differences between Temples and Shrines, Temples are Buddhism-based and Shrines are Shinto-based. Shintoism is more spiritual than Buddhism. Shintoism originated from Japan. Buddhism came from India. I hope this quick explanation helped clear things up. Anyway, our visit to Yasaka Shrine was very pleasant as well. It was constructed in 656 (yes 3 digits, I didn't have any typos here).

One very interesting/funny thing happened while we were there though. An Asian lady tapped on my shoulder and requested me to take a picture for her. I gladly agreed to her request and held her camera. What I didn't realize was that she was running towards Noah to stand right next to him for THE picture! Apparently she hasn't seen a white person before! She and her friend regarded Noah like a celebrity and they were very happy to have a picture taken with him. Hiro and I couldn't stop laughing at Noah for a good ten-minutes. (LMAOxD)

After visiting temples and shrines according to plan, Hiro took me to a "surprise" location! It is called Hanami-koji street and all the houses on the street are traditional Japanese houses (and by houses, I mean restaurants and traditional/souvenir shops).

We crossed Kyoto's biggest river on our way to the modern-looking side of Kyoto.

After shopping a little bit here and there, we went back to Kyoto Station to eat ramen (and by ramen it's not the ramen you think! This is REAL ramen and it tastes like "See Chat Kout Swae" (in Burmese). I was blown away when I took the escalators (yes, escalatorS) to the ramen "street" (and by street I mean a hallway filled with ramen shops left and right).

I couldn't help but be awed by the grand-ness of the station (at night). This was the climax of the trip!Hiro really planned this trip very very well! I am so grateful for his effort and kindness!