14th October 2007
The morning was cold and windy, I would be taking the early morning Shinkasen (Hikari) to Kyoto.
Once again I had that feeling again, the dreaded feeling of loneliness. I’m not really afraid of being lonely or sad about, I’m just sick and tired of that feeling of loneliness.
There is a different between being on one’s own and being loneliness, being on your own is your own choice. While loneliness is the result of circumstances, yet here I am going to Kyoto on my own and not because of circumstances but of my own volition . So why in Hell am I feeling lonely? I’m so sick of that disgusting feeling, one that always felt.
I also hate the color green because that has always been the color of Malaysia and it sickens me.
Well I wasn’t really lonely, I had someone following me.
Cold and desolate.
I was riding on the Hikari 401 which is the second fastest bullet train after the Nozomi express.
My seat where I was the only one sitting there throughout the whole ride.
Here is my first tip, that coffee you see there? Cost me 500 yen (RM15) which is VERY expensive even by my standards and not really that good. So tip here is try and not buy coffee on the train……
Soon I arrived at Kyoto
I then proceeded to the hotel, after spending a while trying to get my bearings I finally reach the station Ryokan Seiki
Once again I was told that check in time was 2pm so I left my bags there (significantly reducing a HUGE load off me) I then decided to go out and do some sight seeing.
Unfortunately, the bus map given to me was very hard to grasp. It’s not that it was complex, its just that there was so much information and I didn’t know what would be an optimal path to take. I realized I would need redo some of my Kyoto plans later on so until then I settled on one play as I was quite tired, the Fushimi shrine which is very easy to reach simply by taking the JR Nara line.
So after a short stroll back to the Kyoto station, I then took the JR Nara line and headed for the Fushimi shrine which opens 24 hours.
- It was a very overcast day
- It was 12pm, there were a lot of people………..
When I say a lot, I MEAN A LOT!
At the entrance……too many people……cannot compute……..
A picture of the map of the place! Fushimi is a shrine located at the foot of a mountain where the path is “shade” by all those big torii gates.
A shot of the Tanukis which are badgers and regarded as lovable buffo0ns or drunken rascals. Here I adjusted the settings in Photoshop lightroom.
Hehehe, my love for bokeh knows no bound!
Though the same can be said about Photoshop lightroom and it’s effects list! Tip here, never discard any of your mistakes, a few tweaks with colors can sometimes do amazing things!
For those of you wondering what did I wish for, don’t. Let’s just say it involves vengence and sadly, the rock was so heavy I couldn’t lift it…..
If yo want to get a good clear shot of the toriis without something in the way, I would suggest coming very early as this place is open 24 hours a day although the train service is not so time your visit nicely. But in retrospect I’m glad I took this pic the way I took t as the 2 ladies at the far end gives the pic depth.
Taken using my nikkor 85mm if I recall correctly. I should seriously consider in my future plans to get a FF digital camera but then what would I do with my current film line up?
The hike up the mountain has many rest stops which I graciously made used of to rest my body as the hike up was taking a serious toll on me.
Good thing we ca also drink from these as I saw many people doing it. Thirst can be deadly especially hiking up with the load I was carrying.
I then noted that everyone of those toriis have writings on them, I think they are the names of people who donated the money to make theses? I can’t be sure but would make logical sense. I didn’t see this as I made my way up, the way these thing are facing, you only see the names when you are coming down from the top of the mountain.
A close up look of those writing. Also you may note that my exposure can very greatly, this is due to the insane overcast that day which made it very hard to meter.
A shot of a cute kitty! I was bored by the lack of things to shoot as I hiked up.
It was getting warmer and I really hated that. I wanted it t be cold. Although there were a lot of people, I remember taking a lot shot of this small wayward shrine that was off the beaten track but for some reason I can’t find it anymore.
I also fell into the drain when I took this pic. Note to self, BE CAREFUL! Also consider that an important tip!
After moving a few more flights of stair from this point, I came to a horrible yet very true conclusion. I cannot go on~~~~!! I was too tired by that point, I decided to take one of the many paths leading downward and it was getting late. I could use the rest.
I wonder what was this procession was about. Dang it! Wish CC was there then!
Drinking from one of the fountains. Heheh I wasn’t the only taking pic of this cat, there was another cat watching over this one which I think was the mom?
After which I made my way back to the train station and headed back to Kyoto and “crawl” my way back as I was dead tired. The room was ready by then and I unloaded all my gear and headed out across the street to a curry rice place which brings me to another point, what is with them and curry rice? It’s not really spicey, just really salty. I’ll have some pic of it up next time to show you what I mean.
Then I headed back to my hotel where I then went through all the maps and schedule on how to handle tomorrow. So until then pleasant dreams~!
