Flying by the Seat of My Pants

I took a random, not-well-planned trip to Osaka and Kyoto.
Here are some pictures of that adventure!

That's my train! The Hikari 463!

The shink! By the way, "shink" is short for "shinkansen"
meaning bullet train.

And a little bit later, Osaka Castle!

Eskimo me!

Osaka Castle from a different view.

This is called a Capsule Hotel.
Obviously, my "room" is nothing but a capsule.
Not too bad and quite roomy for a little girl like me.

Shinsaibashi Shopping District.
It's especially popular with the young generation.

Shinsaibashi Shopping District

That's a mall. It's pretty sweet looking.

I was swept away by my friend, Junko, and her family to Kyoto.
And I FINALLY got to see Kiyomizudera,
one of the most famous temples in Kyoto.

Kiyomizudera

Because it was a 3-day weekend, the temple was crowded with visitors.

Thank you, Junko, for a wonderful trip!

Faculty Trip to Nara and Kyoto

This is mostly what I saw of Nara.

Stairs... upon stairs... and more stairs... oh! and in the rain too.

Hase-dera, the temple of stairs.
Park the bus in China, walk back to Japan, then climb a bajillion stairs to get to the temple.

In Nara, we didn't go to any of the famous places, such as the largest/oldest wooden building in Japan, the Giant Buddha of Nara, or the park with all the deer.
So I will have to go back again on my own dime.

In Kyoto, Kinkakuji!!!! A World Cultural Heritage Place.

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!

For more photos, please visit my Facebook album