Mimuro Toji - The hydrangea series

Mimuro Toji is actually more famous for its hydrangea garden rather than the lotus plants. But since both flowers bloom at the same period, we decided to kill two birds with a stone and arrive at the temple earlier to catch the lotus flowers blooming.



There were approximately 10 000 (or was it 20 000?) hydrangea plants in the garden. We were actually a bit too late to see the "peak" of the garden's beauty but most of the flowers were still in bloom, though some were obviously dying and other shrubs, bare.



It was lovely walking along the small pathways, surrounded by the beautiful blue, white, pink flowers interspersed with the ramrod straight pine trees and seeing the hills beyond. It was very picturesque, made more so by the lack of people in the gardens.



As mentioned in my last post, we went there on a weekday - yes, yes, we had been naughty and skipped lab! So we were happily all by ourselves there, save for a few more tourists, but not enough to cause a headache and those inevitable photography-opportunity jams (yes, yes, I freely admit, I am guilty of it too which is why I prefer to go when there is less people or better still, no one!).



By the end of the pathway, I was freaking thirsty! Forgot to bring water with me and rushed to the vending machine to get myself one of my favourite thirst quencher - Lipton's Lemon Tea - cold. Ahhhh.......bliss! That or coke with ice or icy cold beer (of course, I am not a beer fan and after a sip or two, I would not drink it anymore - so I usually sip it from my friends' cups!)



Next up is Gion festival again! I hope that this time, during the main parade, it will not rain! I hope to get some good pictures with my Canon since my only copies were from my trusty Olympus! It does not bode well that the past few days had been raining....

Also, I have a photoblog - What Do I See? - where I post my pictures nearly daily and in larger sizes. So for those of you who want to see the pictures in larger sizes, please head over there. I just started it, so there are some pictures that are new, and some pictures that you had seen before. Enjoy!