What books and/or magazines did I read this month?
- Darkest London Series Book #2: Moonglow by Kristen Callihan
- Book #3: Winterblaze by Kristen Callihan
- Book #4: Shadowdance by Kristen Callihan
- Book #5: Evernight by Kristen Callihan
- How to Fall in Love by Cecelia Ahern
- Currently Reading: This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
What movies and/or TV shows did I watch this month?
- Invisible Sister by Disney
- The Intern
- On the Job
What special days did I celebrate and how?
- Valentine's Day! ♥♥♥
What illnesses or health concerns did I have?
- Allergies are starting this month :(
What fun things did I do with my friends and/or family?
- Met up with Hubby's College friends for an annual get together
- Celebrated the VDay with my sister, CFC Friends and Family (Day)
- Met up our new household! Yey!
- Had Taco Saturday
- Kids' Assembly
What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?
- Slice
- Cyma
- JayJ's
- Pancake House
What special or unusual purchases did I make?
- No shopping this month ♥
What have you learned this month?
- I've learned that to be able to control your emotions you must learn to detach yourself from the situations that make you mad, angry, etc. Take the gap, a few seconds, a few hours, a few days or even a few months just to let the emotions subside. But most importantly, P.R.A.Y.
- Every person has his/her own likes, rules, dreams and goals. You cannot expect anyone to be the same as yours.
- “Life is a series of moments and moments are always changing, just like thoughts, negative and positive. And though it may be human nature to dwell, like many natural things it's senseless, senseless to allow a single thought to inhabit a mind because thoughts are like guests or fair-weather friends. As soon as they arrive, they can leave, and even the ones that take a long time to emerge fully can disappear in an instant. Moments are precious; sometimes they linger and other times they're fleeting, and yet so much could be done in them; you could change a mind, you could save a life and you could even fall in love.” by Cecelia Ahern, How to Fall in Love
- “Things won't change unless you change you.” Cecelia Ahern, How to Fall in Love
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You have a sky full of stars? Tell them through this song by Coldplay! (*wink*)
Have a good one, peeps!
On our third day in Kyoto, it was still raining and cloudy but we still looked forward to a great day!
As always, we started with a good breakfast...
And then off we went to ride a bus to Arashiyama District.
After more than an hour, we finally arrived in this beautiful district.
This is just a train station!
We've been putting off eating this green tea ice cream (didn't know how good it was!) until finally we felt like trying it...
Aaaah, it was definitely good! ♥♥♥
And, here's the preview of Arashiyama District.
Will post more about it later. (*wink*)
Check out our yet another yummy Japanese dinner on our 2nd day in Kyoto...
YES, we have officially decided that we will go back here just because of THE FOOD. ♥♥♥
1. Beautiful Songs
2. Whom Shall I Fear when God is with me?
3. Feeling healthy
4. Relaxing Weekend ♥
5. Kids' Assembly
6. Taco Saturday
7. Movie and Wine Night with the Hubby
8. Summer Getaways Soon!
9. Musical.ly
10. Movie Time with the Kids
To know how this started and credits of the header, click here.
After the rain stopped pouring, we finally entered Fushimi Inari Shrine and went straight to the beautiful Torii Gates.
At the very back of the shrine's main grounds is the entrance to the torii gate covered hiking trail, which starts with two dense, parallel rows of gates called Senbon Torii ("thousands of torii gates"). The torii gates along the entire trail are donations by individuals and companies, and you will find the donator's name and the date of the donation inscribed on the back of each gate. The cost starts around 400,000 yen for a small sized gate and increases to over one million yen for a large gate. SOURCE.
The hike to the summit of the mountain and back takes about 2-3 hours, however, visitors are free to walk just as far as they wish before turning back. Along the way, there are multiple smaller shrines with stacks of miniature torii gates that were donated by visitors with smaller budgets. There are also a few restaurants along the way, which offer locally themed dishes such as Inari Sushi and Kitsune Udon ("Fox Udon"), both featuring pieces of aburaage (fried tofu), said to be a favorite food of foxes. SOURCE.
It was the highlight of our 2nd day in Kyoto. I highly recommend that you check it out too.
To get there...
Fushimi Inari Shrine is located just outside JR Inari Station, the second station from Kyoto Station along the JR Nara Line (5 minutes, 140 yen one way from Kyoto Station, not served by rapid trains). The shrine can also be reached in a short walk from Fushimi Inari Station along the Keihan Main Line.
It was a raining went we arrived at the gates of Fushimi Inari Shrine. So we stopped for a couple of minutes to take a couple of photos at the gate.
Yes, this is just the "tip of the iceberg".
While waiting, I can't help but take a shoefie with my transparent umbrella.
Too bad I had to leave this at the hotel when it was time to back home. We had to bring home so many stuff already and our luggages are so full!
We loved this orange wall...
After the rain off we went to the torii gates which I will post soon! (*wink*)
One of the most peaceful and serence Rock Garden we ever saw in Kyoto is the one inside Ryoanji Temple. It was simply breathtaking!
Ryoanji Temple (龍安寺, Ryōanji) is the site of Japan's most famous rock garden, which attracts hundreds of visitors every day. Originally an aristocrat's villa during the Heian Period, the site was converted into a Zen temple in 1450 and belongs to the Myoshinji school of the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism, whose head temple stands just a kilometer to the south. SOURCE.
As for the history of Ryoanji's famous rock garden, the facts are less certain. The garden's date of construction is unknown and there are a number of speculations regarding its designer. The garden consists of a rectangular plot of pebbles surrounded by low earthen walls, with 15 rocks laid out in small groups on patches of moss. An interesting feature of the garden's design is that from any vantage point at least one of the rocks is always hidden from the viewer.SOURCE.
Here's more, there is a spacious park with pond nearby too...
Ryoanji's temple grounds also include a relatively spacious park area with pond, located below the temple's main buildings. The pond dates back to the time when the site still served as an aristocrat's villa and features a small shrine on one of its three little islands that can be accessed over a bridge.
To Get There:
Ryoanji can be reached directly from Kyoto Station by JR bus. The bus ride takes about 30 minutes, costs 230 yen and is covered by the Japan Rail Pass. There are buses every 15-30 minutes. Alternatively, Ryoanji is a five minute bus ride or 20 minute walk west of Kinkakuji.
1. Freshly Brewed Coffee
2. VDay Loots!
3. Royce Chocolatessss
4. Darkest London Series by Kristen Callihan ♥
5. Get Together with CFC Friends
6. Family Day
7. Massage Date with my Sister
8. Impromptu Bonding Time
9. Planning the Summer Vacation!
10.Gift of Family ♥
To know how this started and credits of the header, click here.
After our very interesting trip to Kinkaku-ji Temple, off we went to Ryoanji Temple.
Here are the things that we saw before entering the beautiful temple...
Watch out for my next post about this famous, beautiful Rock Garden inside Ryoanji. (*wink*)
So, it's NOW or NEVER!?
Oh yes, we should definitely "live while we're young".
HAPPY VALENTINE's DAY, everyone! (*wink*)
Our first stop on our first whole day in Kyoto was the beautiful Kinkaku-ji Temple of the Golden Pavillion
Kinkakuji (金閣寺, Golden Pavilion) is a Zen temple in northern Kyoto whose top two floors are completely covered in gold leaf. Formally known as Rokuonji, the temple was the retirement villa of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, and according to his will it became a Zen temple of the Rinzai sect after his death in 1408. Kinkakuji was the inspiration for the similarly named Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion), built by Yoshimitsu's grandson, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, on the other side of the city a few decades later. SOURCE.
Kinkakuji is an impressive structure built overlooking a large pond, and is the only building left of Yoshimitsu's former retirement complex. It has burned down numerous times throughout its history including twice during the Onin War, a civil war that destroyed much of Kyoto; and once again more recently in 1950 when it was set on fire by a fanatic monk. The present structure was rebuilt in 1955. SOURCE.
Kinkakuji was built to echo the extravagant Kitayama culture that developed in the wealthy aristocratic circles of Kyoto during Yoshimitsu's times. Each floor represents a different style of architecture. SOURCE.
I highly recommend that you visit this beauty.
How to get to Kinkaku-ji...
Kinkakuji can be accessed from Kyoto Station by direct Kyoto City Bus number 101 or 205 in about 40 minutes and for 230 yen. Alternatively, it can be faster and more reliable to take the Karasuma Subway Line to Kitaoji Station (15 minutes, 260 yen) and take a taxi (10 minutes, 1000-1200 yen) or bus (10 minutes, 230 yen, bus numbers 101, 102, 204 or 205) from there to Kinkakuji.
Hubby and I woke up as early as 7AM for our first WHOLE Day in Kyoto. Yes, we were that excited! Even the rainy weather didn't put our moods down.
After all, we've been looking forward to this trip for monthssss!
Spring is like the rainy season of Japan. We didn't know this! We were just after the cherry blossoms so we didn't expect it to be this rainy.
But still, Kyoto was still a beauty.
And we are off to our first stop.
Kinkaku-ji Temple. One of my favorite temples in Kyoto. Will post more about it later! (*wink*)
1. Meeting up friends over the Weekend ♥
2. Long naps
3. Bonding with the Kids
4. Long Weekend!
5. College Friends
6. Photos and Photobooks
7. Friends from CFC
8. Beautiful songs
9. Hugs and Kisses
10. Family ♥
To know how this started and credits of the header, click here.
After a long day on our first day in Kyoto, we finally went back to our "home" for the next two nights - Green Rich Hotel Kyoto.
Our initial reaction when we saw our room - Surprised and Excited! The room was huge ...and so was the bathroom!
We love that hotel was very new and the location was perfect too.
I would definitely recommend this wonderful hotel when you decide to stay in Kyoto.
And look, our first dinner in Kyoto was from a grocery nearby. We were in the mood for red wine too!
This dinner was definitely cheap yet very good! Didn't expect the food to be that good considering that it was cold and bought from a supermarket but really, we were impressed.
Japan, is now officially our favorite country! ♥♥♥
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