Kiyomizu Temple + Osaka Castle

Day 10. I'm starting to feel like as if I've been living in Japan all these time liao.. tis is really a long trip. Anyway, to kick off the day, we went to see one of the tourist favourite spot, Kiyomizu Temple.

Kiyomizu-dera known more fully as Otowa-san Kiyomizu-dera is an independent Buddhist temple in eastern Kyoto.

Souvenirs sold on the street to Kiyomize Temple ;o)

A Deva gate

Random pics taken before entering the temple.

The three-story pagoda

A lot of love/ blessing/ wishes plates were hung here. Wanted to put one up too but it was kinda rush so.. maybe next time ;oP

Entering the great hall. The main buiding of the whole place - the main attraction.

The old people back then sure have "taste" when it comes to coming up with a special design of lamp ;o)

View taken on the veranda of Kiyomizu-dera hall.

The main buiding and its stage.

The main hall has a large veranda, supported by tall pillars, that juts out over the hillside and offers impressive views of the city. Large verandas and main halls were constructed at many popular sites during the Edo period to accommodate large numbers of pilgrims.

The special thing about this temple here is because not even one single nail is used in building the whole temple.

Kiyomizu-dera was one of 21 finalists for the New Seven Wonders of the World.

The popular expression "to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu" is the Japanese equivalent of the English expression "to take the plunge". This refers to an Edo period tradition that held that, if one were to survive a 13m jump from the stage, one's wish would be granted. Two hundred thirty-four jumps were recorded in the Edo period and, of those, 85.4% survived.

The practice is now prohibited.

The heavy weapons the warriors used back in the old days.. siao.. really heavy, I can't even move it with two hands..

Cute neh their Gods.. hehehe..

Then, there we were. Probably my favourite spot of the whole place (altho I'm married liao la), Torii of Jishu-jinja, a matchmaking shrine.

See all those charms?? haii.. too bad I'm married, if not sure I sapu!! haha..

Jishu Shrine possesses a pair of "love stones" placed 18 meters apart, which lonely visitors can try to walk between with their eyes closed. Success in reaching the other stone with their eyes closed implies that the pilgrim will find love, or true love. One can be assisted in the crossing, but this is taken to mean that a go-between will be needed. The person's romantic interest can assist them as well.

I managed to walk thru smoothly.. yeah yeah..

They were selling charms everywhere around the temple, I was starting to get tempted but I managed to control myself. Not only it doesn't come cheap but I don't really believe this kind of stuff ;o)

Beneath the main hall is the Otowa waterfall, where three channels of water fall into a pond. Visitors can catch and drink the waters, which is believed to have therapeutic properties. Drinking the water of the three streams is said to confer wisdom, health, and longevity. However, some Japanese believe that you must choose only two; if you are greedy and drink from all three, you invite misfortune upon yourself.
Matilah.. I din know about tat, just read about that after I drank from 3 sources lehhh!!! tiam..!!!

Doing some light shopping before heading back to our mini bus~

We were given 3hrs to spent here but we managed to finished up the place just using 2hrs.. maybe all of us was getting a bit tired looking at temples and shirines liao.. hehe..

*Random pics taken before we head into the bus*

It was time for us to head to the train station and head back to Osaka!!!! YESSSS!!!!! But since we finished early here, we still have a few hours to spare so Nelly decided to bring us to another place before boarding the train ;o)

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We went to the Temple of the Hair Rope.

Ok.. I guess all of u can guess what this place is so special for.. yea, "hair rope".

Too bad we can't get a clear shot of the hair rope. It was really a very BIG rope and it was only ONE part of it. The ladies back in the old days chopped off their hair and made up strong ropes for the hall's construction.

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When we're done with the "rope" it was time to get to Kyoto train station to head back to my city Osaka.. jeng jeng jeng..

yea.. why can't we have such fancy train station back home huh..

The Kyoto station is the only building u can find in Kyoto with a modern design - the goverment doesn't allow modern construction in town cause they wanted to perserve its culture and tradision.

Time to borad the bullet train.

It was a 15mins train ride for us.. ko lien punya bus driver, he had to drive all the way from Kyoto back to Osaka to meet us (for our luggage bag).

jeng jeng~!!!

We're back in the city~~!!! FINALLY~~!!!!

who says Japanese ppl doesn't break the law?!!

smoking in the prohibited area.. tsk tsk tsk..

After waited around for about 5mins, we hop on to our bus and off we head to our next destination of the day. The weather is getting warmer as we moved back into the city.

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After a short bus ride, we arrived at our next destination, Osaka Castle.

see that tiny little ninja turtle bus? tat's our ride for the entire trip!!

I always said that we are riding a "MINI" bus and now u know why..

The train sending/ picking ppl to/ from Osaka Castle.

We decided to just walk over and ride it on our way back ;o)

Japanese students having an outdoor activity session - painting the view of Osaka Castle.

Behind us: Rokuban Turrent

Time to start off our looonnggg walking journey - would have taken the train nia if we knew the walk was going to be this far ;o(

Behind us: Ichiban Turrent

*Another lesson of Japanese English*

After a tiring 30mins walk, finally we reached the Sakura Gate - the main entrance to Osaka Castle. I was sweating when we reached there.. yea, tat was a big deal when ur in Japan during winter time! had to take off my coat cause I can feel the sweat on my back ;o(

Upon entering the gate, we were thinking on drinking of this thing but that was when Nelly shouted saying "I know what u guys are thinking, NO! this is for washing ur hands.. not for ur thirsty throats" - sienzzz...

The stone-wall were built using man-power.. it's really hard to figure out how the Japanese were able to carry such BIG stones to build up the wall.

Behind us: Former Head Quarter of 4th Division

Before proceeding into Osaka Castle, we decide to find something to eat first nearby.

It was time for lunch.. hungry hungry and all I can think of is "Japanese curry" so yea, I had another one here, but the previous one tasted better ;oP

My uncle was so hungry he had to order the BIGGEST ramen in the shop and YES, he finished it!

My dad's lunch ;o)

Happy mommy ;oP

After finishing our delicious lunch, it was time to pay a visit to Osaka Castle.

Osaka Castle Park is a public urban park and historical site situated at Osaka-Jō in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan - 2nd largest park in Osaka. The park was constructed on a site with a long history which I don't plan to go into - for more info, ask my husband! He is more of the history person ;oP

In 1931, Osaka Castle Park was opened to the public, but most of the area was used by the Imperial Japanese Army. After World War II, most of the military complex was removed and replaced by the public urban park.

Reaching the top of the castle. It was a looonnngg walk up... and down of course~

We didn't snap a lot of pics inside the castle cause' it was kinda dark and most of the item displayed are their historical items such as hanging scroll with fan-shaped pictures, cuirass (domaru type), wooden image of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, poems and etc.

Tat's all for Osaka Castle but if u happened to be in Miri, u can drop by TOYO Institute cause most of the catalogs and info I brought back are all there for viewing ;o)

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Off we head to our last destination of the day, Umeda Sky Building.

The Umeda Sky Building is the seventh-tallest building in Osaka City, Japan, and one of the city's most recognizable landmarks.

It was almost Christmas and a group of foreigners set up a small Xmas market selling Xmas goodies just at the entrance of Umeda Building.

*Random pic taken*

The building consists of two 40-story towers that connect at their two uppermost stories, with bridges and an escalator crossing the wide atrium-like space in the center. It is located in Kita-ku.

The longest escalator ride I've ever taken.

Sitting, looking out at the wonderful view of Osaka city ;o)

Carpet of the lift which we'll be riding to get to the "Floating Garden".

The 173 m (568 ft) building was designed by Hiroshi Hara. It was constructed by Takenaka Corporation and was completed in 1993.

Pics taken on the highest floor of the building. North + East.

The building features a rooftop observatory, well known as "The Floating Garden".

The Umeda Sky Building was featured as a renovated skyscraper in my hubby's favourite computer game, Simcity 3000.
The Floating Garden Observatory in the Umeda Sky Building was also visited in Leg 10 of Amazing Race 12.

My dad and uncle hated this place cause they were scare of tall places.. hahaa.. my dad didn't even wanted to look outside the glass lift when we were riding it to the top ;oP

The lowest floor, the underground market that attempts to recreate the atmosphere of Osaka in the early 20th century.

After done taking pics on top, it was time for us to get down and do some sight seeing of on the base of the Umeda Sky Building.

Like I said earlier on, Xmas items were on sale liao..

These ppl are selling even more expensive than the Japanese.. tsk tsk.. of course I didn't buy anything, I would have been totally broke if I did.

The only thing I can afford was THIS - popcorn ;oP

It smell too nice to resist liao bahh...

After finishing here and bought my popcorn, it was time for us to head back to our main hotel, Swissotel. Can't wait to get back and shower then we could head off for a heavy shopping spree on the shopping streets nearby our hotel - before getting some shut eyes of course..

-stay tuned-