Japan 2010 Day 2

100910 1159 local time (GMT +9)
Kawachinagano, Japan

Woke up early this morning to participate in a Buddhist ritual, in which all the guests had to watch the priests play with fire and pray. After that, we visited a famous cemetery. Highlights include a flagpole with the flags of Japan, Australia and Malaysia, and a memorial put up by a pest extermination company for all the ants they killed.

At the moment I'm on a train headed for Nara. RIMB and alumni who went for the 2008 trip should be familiar with it as the first stop on our tour.

2230 local time (GMT +9)
Kyoto, Japan

What a tiring day, and I didn't even do that much. Basically went straight to Nara and had a delightful tonkatsu near the Cafe et Pain, before visiting Todaiji. It was just as I remembered it, complete with deer. Some scaffolding marred the view of the temple though. Hmm I wonder if the deer remembered me.

The next stop on our journey was Kyoto. By the time we reached, it was quite late, so we just headed for the hotel. The hotel was nice, budget but with Internet and a toilet which opened automatically when the door to the bathroom was open. Annoyingly though, while the net worked on my phone, my com couldn't get it.

Anyway we went for dinner at Hisago, one of the most acclaimed sushi restaurants in Kyoto. While the sushi was excellent, the prices were absurd. One particular type of tuna sushi costed 1000 yen, which could probably get you the whole buffet in Sakae. The owner of the bar was nice though, she told us she'd been to Singapore before.

After dinner we walked around Gion district. Apparently Shinbashi is supposed to be the most beautiful street in Asia. However I personally felt that Lorong 2 Toa Payoh looked better. The whole place reminded me of the sort of place some of my colleagues are probably way too familiar with. In all I can best describe Gion as the Geylang of Kyoto.

Ah well, off to sleep now, as I'm dead tired. I hope tomorrow is more relaxing.


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