Kyoto

Our first full day in Japan we went to Kyoto with the whole Aochi family. Dad was planning a day off work to relax and mom had a four day weekend as well. So, I don't think our timing could have been much better. In Kyoto we ended up going to three or four different areas. First, we went to Tennoji Temple and while we were there, we visited Jishu Shrine (a love temple/shrine), and we grabbed some lunch at Robinson's, a place Hiroko's friend Nabe found. After lunch we headed to Kinkaku-ji (The Golden Temple) and we finished our day in the Gion District - home to the famous Geisha women. Unfortunately, we didn't see any Geisha women. So, here are my favorite pictures from Kyoto.

Here is my highlight reel from Kyoto:

(Entrance to Tennoji Temple)

(Pagoda inside of Tennoji)

(View of Kyoto and temple from a lookout point)

(Me trying to pick out a good fortune. Unfortunately, I did not do so well... I got the second worst one. Sad.)

(Stone Structure at the top of Tennoji Temple)

(View from above of the next picture. The water is supposed to make you beautiful so I took an extra sip.)

(Katrina and I getting our beauty water - it was a reach, especially for Katrina.)

(View of one of the many love temples in the love temple area.)

(A little love man, supposed to help your love life in some way. He has his own little shrine.)

(A Love Rock. They had another rock just like this one about 20 feet away and you had to close your eyes and find your way to the other rock. If you did, you are supposed to have a happy love life.)

(Golden Temple - Kinkaku-ji)

(Hiroko, Me, Katrina, and Hiroko's sweet best friend Nabe)

(OKa-san - Hiroko's Mom, Katrina, myself, and Oto-san - Hiroko's Dad standing in front of the temple from a different perspective. If you look between myself and Katrina, you should be able to see the top of the temple.)

(Similar to a pond in the States, people throw money for good luck.)

(Getting in touch with our spiritual side)

(When you get a bad fortune, this is what you do - you tie it up and forget about it. So, I tied mine up.)

(Here it is - Goodbye Bad Fortune)

(A fun shot by Hiroko, don't know what the sign says)

(Another sweet shot by Hiroko)

(Me and Oto-san)

(Last place we went to, don't remember the name)

(Hand Cleaner before you enter the temple or shrine area. I shouldn't say so much hand as body purifier - a Japanese custom.)

(For about a $100 you could get a lamp to hang on this building, at least according to Hiroko - fund raising, happens everywhere.)

(A cool photo Katrina took)

And, that was a picture show of Kyoto.