Enkoji 圓光寺

I went back to the normal size I used before since it took a long time to load the pictures from my previous post.



Anyway, this is Enkoji, situated in the Shugakuin area. It is near the other famous temples in the area which are Manshu-in and Shisendo. All these temples are famous for their autumn foliage.



I am not really satisfied with my pictures from Enkoji. I was fiddling with my camera settings and managed to screw up some photos in the process. Oh well, trial and error, right? So these are the few pictures I had managed to salvage.



If you look closer, you will notice that the picture is blur. Haha...but the small size hides that fact very well. I had been to Enkoji during my first autumn outing. It was wonderful then and it is still wonderful. It was less packed than the other temples, but however, as I was leaving, a busload of tourists came, so I guess I was wrong.



But like WY said, it was like walking into a postcard.



You can't walk into the gardens but you can admire it from the fringes. It is a small garden but beautiful nonetheless. There are more pictures of Enkoji in my flickr album, so feel free to browse!

Shugakuin Imperial Villa 修学院離宮

Okay, I have switched to the new Beta Blogger, though I am not planning any major reconstruction for my blog site. I am content for now. I have however decided to make my pictures bigger for better viewing. I have another photoblog as well which you can see on the right where I will post only pictures in much bigger sizes than you can see here. If you guys are having problems downloading this blog page because of the change in picture size, please let me know so I can revert back to the old sizes. I know all about Malaysian internet speed and how much of a headache it can cause. But before I start talking about the merits or dimerits about beta blogger, let me bring you on a tour of Shugakuin Imperial Villa in autumn.



This is my third time here now, my annual pilgrimage to this beautiful place in autumn. I remembered my first time being there and I was so happy because it was my first autumn experience and I was justifiably awed. The place has always been beautiful.



Best part about visiting this place is that it is FREE! Although you have the little hassle of pre-booking a place at the Imperial Palace Information Center, it is well worth it. You can also book through the internet, though you if you choose to do that, you have to book months before. But don't worry if the internet booking is full because you can still go to the information office to book in person.



Shugakuin Rikyu is famous for the its gardens and you can see why. There are three gardens: the lower, middle and upper gardens. I have the pamphlet somewhere....can't find it, so most of this information comes from wikipedia. You can't roam the grounds freely; you have to join a guided tour. But it beats hassling with the insane crowd during momiji season in Kyoto.



The past two times I had been here, the weather had been the same, cloudy and sunny interchanging. In fact, the weather this autumn had been pretty miserable....there had only been a few sunny days.



Short history of Shugakuin Imperial Villa: This place was first built by the retired Emperor Go-Mizunoo. After his death, his daughter Princess Mitsuko built a temple there which later became the Middle Garden. It was renovated during the rule of the 11th Shogun.



Because it is a guided tour, you have only limited time to take pictures of the place. In fact, sometimes you don't really have that much time, especially with the guard behind you with his stern face asking you to move along. At times, I was just tempted to put my camera on continuous shooting mode and just walk and press my finger on the shutter! So we were like hurry hurry...pose, snap and run!



Despite having been to alot of places to view the momiji, I still think that Shugakuin Rikyu remains one of the better places to view the autumn scenery. Other temples like Tofukuji, Kiyomizudera and Eikando are beautiful as well but the crowd can drive you nuts! Well, with either option, you have to give up something: deal with the crowd but you can take your own sweet time or no crowd but on limited time.



Ah Radhi and Raghu! These are the autumn views you guys were suppose to see! Nevermind...next time yeah! Or during the cherry blossoms period, though for that, you have to get the timing just right!



Just look at the colours! The orange, the red, the yellow....



So if you guys are scratching your heads figuring where to go this autumn, why not try Shugakuin Imperial Villa? I have more pictures in my flickr album, so feel free to look.

Falling leaves

Autumn is here finally. The ginkgo trees in the north campus had turned into a beautiful shade of yellow, transforming the whole atmosphere. It feels ethereal, well almost, walking underneath those falling yellow leaves, walking on those fallen yellow leaves. That reminds me, I have to pick some up for my mum.



But the days have not been so kind lately; mostly gloomy or cloudy. When the sunlight manages to pierce through, it just lights up the whole place, bringing more colour to the world, more colour to my eyes.



Autumn also invokes those melancholy feelings; read most autumn poetries and you will see what I mean. They lament death or despair, they sing of sadness or regrets. Autumn signals the end of sunny summer days and the coming of cold, bleak winter.



As much as I love spring for bringing "life" back, I love autumn for its "death". It is strange to see so much beauty in the "death" of the leaves. Although I take much pleasure in this, I know that it is not permanent, and that come spring, the trees will burst to life again. But just for this moment, it is......beautiful.



Autumn days also brings to mind solitude. Sitting alone, surrounded by the falling leaves and the beauty that is before you, it is feels peaceful, it feels calm. In Kyoto, it is hardly that though, as hordes of tourists descend to this historical town to view the famous momiji scenes and temples and shrines take advantage of that to up their entrance fees.



Don't get me wrong, I love summer and winter too. I love summer because it reminds me of home. I love winter too because it brings the promise of snow. Although in Kyoto, it will most probably stay a promise much to my disappointment.



This brings to mind one of my favourite songs about autumn. I used to play on my piano when I was little. A sad, beautiful song.

The falling leaves drift by my window
The falling leaves of red and gold
I see your lips, the summer kisses
The sunburned hands I used to hold



Since you went away the days grow long
And soon I'll hear old winter's song
But I miss you most of all, my darling
When autumn leaves start to fall

Light Projection Display

Contrast adjusted

It is still November and the leaves are still green, yet the Christmas ornaments are out in full force here. But, just listening to those Christmas carols makes my heart sing knowing that Christmas is coming and I get to spend it with my family.



But this post isn't about Christmas or holidays. It is about this light projection display held here in Sanjo a while back. It was a three day event with the participants projecting lights or short movies and animes unto the walls of the shops along Sanjo street. In this case, light patterns were projected unto transparent sheets which were hung above the small stream that ran along Kiyamachi street.



I like it. I thought it was rather cool and sort of mesmerizing.







The others had short movies, adverts or animes projected but this was, in my opinion, was the best of the lot.


Side view


Close up

BBQ anyone?

The first thing about bbq-ing is to get the fire going. Now, I personally had been through my share of fire failures. There was that one time whereby we were there for 2 whole freaking hours and could not, however hard we tried, to get the fire going! People were cooking and eating and packing up to leave but we were still there, sad souls, our stomachs growling and the fire dying.



And then, there is the matter of the food. Which marination sauce works best with which kind of meat? How much meat should we buy? We always end up buying more than we can eat.



I had always wanted to bring marshmallows to the bbqs but I keep forgetting. I love marshmallows but I love it even more when it is toasted. Hmm.....I wonder why it is that we never really bbq or grill back home? Well, I guess, it's because the weather is just to freaking hot for such things. First of all, we will be drenched in sweat even before the fire has started. And by the time the bbq party had ended, we will probably be dehydrated! And then there is the matter of place. Where can we bbq in KL besides our front lawn?? Here, in Kyoto, there is a lovely river running through the city and it is clean and gorgeous, with banks wide enough for bbq parties etc. Can you imagine us doing bbq at Gombak river? The stench alone is a killer!



Another question will be how do we know the meat is cooked just right? Ooo....this picture showed our success in getting a perfectly cooked meat. Juicy and tender inside. Of course, this was the only one out of four pieces of meat that was a success. The rest was eatable, not bad, but did not come close to this masterpiece. In fact, I don't think I can ever replicate this success again!



Sometimes we end up overcooking the meat or burning them to bits!



I think we should do satay the next time, once I find out how to marinate the meat and make the sauce. And grill fish!

Arashiyama

The early days of autumn in Arashiyama. By late autumn, the greens will be interspersed with shades of reds, yellows and oranges and it will be gorgeous. I suppose I should whip out a pen now and furiously jot down the beginnings of a poetry inspired by the place. But I'd better not. I had long ago accepted that I can't write anything to save my life, so no need to put you all through the agony of reading my Arashiyama-inspired haikus.



In this picture you can see the famous Togetsu-kyou bridge, one of the landmarks of Arashiyama. This place is always nearly packed with people, either Japanese families on a day out or tourists. Frankly speaking, it is just a bridge but for some reason, it is damn popular. I suppose the view from the bridge is the reason or there is a history behind it.



I have not gone there in spring yet; I will next spring. And I want to visit it in winter as well, when it snows. I think I had better change that last sentence to IF it snows ENOUGH to protect its crystally bits from melting too fast under the morning sun.



The river that runs through Arashiyama is called Hozu-gawa and you can take a trip along the river that passes through forested canyons. It takes 2 hours to cover the 16km journey. But if you don't want to pay 3900¥ perperson for that journey, then head for the simple boat ride near Togetsu-kyou bridge for a fraction of that price. Haha, I sound like some tourist guide!



I cycled to here once. It was just a straight road from my house right up to Arashiyama. Going was easy. It was the coming back that was hard because I was so tired from walking. Did not thought it through the first time and now I am once bitten, twice shy. Okay, I need to ask. Why once bitten, twice SHY? Why use the word shy? I mean, if I was bitten once let alone twice, that other fella better run cause I sure as hell gonna give him a taste of my pearly whites!



My friends went for a boat ride. I decided to skip it and watched them from the river banks. I was also taking care of their bags and the boat tour guides kept asking me what was I doing and poor thing, I had to take care of the bags! I didn't mind, I had fun just sitting there, watching people rowing and trying to guess who were there on their first dates.



As you walk along the quiet roads, you will pass by these stone statues. I have no idea what this place is called. Walk a little further north and you will reach small bamboo groves, which at first I thought was Sagano (THE bamboo groves everyone here talks about), stupid me.



Three cute monk statues. Picture taken somewhere in Arashiyama. Don't ask me where.