| 1530h
Mood: very good Fact of the day: When one prays at the japanese temples, supposedly one has to throw a coin with a hole through the middle, ie a 5\or 50\ coin, into the receiving container, before praying. (But of course, I didn't have any of those coins, so I threw in 100\ coins instead.) event of the week: Exploring kyoto on my own. Yesterday (020101), my brother brought me to the temple famous for its scenery, except usually one visits it during spring for its cherry blossoms and during autumn for its maple leaves. This time of the year, the trees are bare and frankly quite boring. But I guess the good thing is, it's New Year and the temples all over Japan are bustling with life, as the japanese rush to the temples to make their first prayers of the year. I expected to see more women clad in kimonos, but my brother says that usually those more traditional women would have already visited on New Year's Day itself. Oh well...damn.. but it's not too bad I guess, I saw a few, and indeed, they looked so good in the kimono. Little demure steps, in their little slippers, holding little pretty bags. Cos it's winter, most of them also put shawls on over their kimonos. Quite a dramatic, yet classy look.
Then today (030101), I went back to the temple region again. Just to take more pictures, and to have a slow stroll without my brother's impatient looks. Gggrr... There're considerably less people today, probably because everything's supposed to be back to normal today, shops resuming business and such. With less people pushing me around in the crowd, I took a much better look at the temples. I even prayed and bought some amulets.
The big temple was divided into some smaller sub-temples, each with a different god I guess. Of them all, the most popular was the one with the god of love. Hahhaha...expectedly, isn't it? There were 2 rocks set on the grounds of this sub-temple, and supposedly, if one can walk from one rock to the other with his/her eyes closes, he/she will have very good luck with love matters for that year. I looked at the distance between the rocks (about 20m), the crowd around who can potentially push me or trip me, I didn't even try. I did pray though, and actually bought an amulet there, not for finding love, but just for having a less hurtful year. hahaha...man, the god of love must have found me a terribly cynical and bitter person. HAhahah...
It was a fruitful day at the temple. If not for the increasingly irritating crowds, I could have spent a much longer time there. Just taking in the fresh air, for one, since it is in the mountains, where the air is already fresher, and because smoking is prohibited there. Or, I can always sit down and try to imagine what it must look like, with cherry blossoms or maple leaves. A picturesque sanctuary, surely.
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