Heian Shrine Kyoto – Buddhist Shinto Shrine The Heian Shrine, a Shinto shrine, is different in architecture to many other shrines and palaces we visited in Japan on our tour. The buildings are very colorful with an attractive mix of vivid vermilion,white, and jade colors; offset by dark green cypress pines and pink cherry blossom trees. […]
Archives for 2013
Kyoto Imperial Palace – Kyoto
September 22, 2013 by
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A walk down a meticulously clean and evenly graveled roadway, along an enclosed earthen wall, known as Tsuiji, led us to the Seishomon Gate, entrance into the grounds of the Imperial Palace. The enclosed earthen wall stretches some 450m north to south and 250m east to west around the palace. The total area of the […]
Kooka-Kookaburra Blue
September 13, 2013 by
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Thursday Challenge: BLUE (Sky, Jewels, Birds, Balloons,…) The handsome blue-winged kookaburra flies into my garden regularly during the year. They bird sits very patiently on the rotary clothesline, with beady eyes watching the garden bed for any movement. Quick as a flash they dive down to the garden, fly back up in seconds to perch, with […]
Golden Pavilion – Kinkaku-ju – Kyoto
September 10, 2013 by
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Golden Pavilion a Zen Buddhist temple I was really looking forward to see the Golden Pavilion. I had read about it before coming to Japan, hard to imagine a building covered in gold leaf. I was not disappointed when I saw this graceful pavilion. Our tour group followed a tree-lined pathway leading into a […]
The Scrapbook – destination Kyoto Japan
September 9, 2013 by
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Destination Japan – Ninomaru Palace in Kyoto Japan, such a fascinating travel destination. I really enjoy browsing through the scrapbook I made on Japan, which has photos from my trip around the main Island. After a few years it is hard to remember details of all you have seen. If you scrapbook your trip,and add journal notes you will […]
Kosho-ji Temple Nagoya
September 5, 2013 by
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Kosho-ji is a Shingon Buddhist Temple in Yagoto, Nagoya, Central Japan This temple complex set in woodlands on Yogota Hill felt very peaceful and serene. A wonderful old, rustic, five tiered wooden pagoda, ageing gracefully, stands serenely among the other wooden buildings of the complex outlined against a perfect blue sky. The complex dates from […]
Fav Foto for Wednesday – Golden Buddha
September 4, 2013 by
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The ancient and the modern On our Wendy Wu group tour through Cambodia we visited the ancient Hindu temple of Phnom Chisor. We enjoyed the magnificent view over the countryside from Chisor Mountain, and exploring the temples ruins of Phnom Chisor. A short walk up the hill from the ancient temple ruins brought us to a modern […]
Tokugawa Shogun – Nijo Castle – Ninomaru Palace -Kyoto
August 31, 2013 by
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Arriving in Kyoto a new guide greeted us on the train platform and took us to our hotel, the Rihga Royal Hotel, our luggage already arrived and in situ. Our hotel room,very clean, comfortable, a good standard, staff very friendly and helpful, another really nice hotel. Great breakfasts with a choice of western or Japanese cuisine. Kyoto […]
Sunken Hearth – Traditional Japanese Fireplace
August 29, 2013 by
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Thursday Challenge – FIRE (Candle, Fireplace, Fireworks, Sparks,…) Traditional sunken hearth and adjustable hanging hook known as a jizai-kagi. Irori -an open fireplace or traditional sunken hearth Toyama Farmhouse Visiting the ancient old farmhouse (now a Folk Museum) I loved the family room with the open fireplace or traditional sunken hearth made of iron, known […]
Ducks-ducks – Herds of Ducks | Favorite foto-Wednesday
August 28, 2013 by
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Favorite foto for Wednesday Ducks, ducks and more ducks First sight from a distance I thought, with horror, this was a pack of black rats moving en masse along the road? Horror of horrors! (rats always make me think of the ‘bubonic plague’). On closer inspection I realized it was a herd of dark brown […]