Like did you sweat and all? What about shorts its ok to wear at that time right? Otherwise i wanna try layering keke.

Anyone been to the asahi breweries? I saw it on nagoya travel website. Looks nice

Japan one easy to get Visted. US Marine Air base are open for visitor once a year only

sweat la especially from 12-3pm. but still they hv chill winds, so i helps to cool u off.
shorts...erm depends la. long pants to be on the safe side.

From Ueno Station to Maihama Station, which route is easier to transfer (less walk) ?

(1) JR Yamanote Line(Outer loop) >>> TOKYO station >>> JR Keiyo Line Local

(2) Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line >>> HATCHOBORI(TOKYO) station >>> JR Keiyo Line Local

Thanks

This post has been edited by Human Nature: May 10 2014, 10:20 PM

2nd choice definitely. Tokyo station is crazy huge.

Japan Trip 2013 - Kiyomizudera at Night (& a little bit of Gion)

From Nishiki we then walked to a subway station (Keihan Main Line) and then took the train towards Kiyomizu Gojo Station.

DSC07318 by zstan, on Flickr

DSC07320 by zstan, on Flickr

From the station we then had a good walk up slope to Kiyomizudera, which is one of the the world's UNESCO Heritage Site and one of the must visit spots in Kyoto. It was a good 20 minute walk. Not like we needed more exercise.

DSC07331 by zstan, on Flickr

The journey up to the temple was rather picturesque as we passed by ancient and untouched wooden houses from Japan's past and houses with unique architectural designs. It was a great breath of freshness compared to the concrete jungle of Tokyo.

DSC07336 by zstan, on Flickr
Making great use of limited space to build a house

DSC07342 by zstan, on Flickr

DSC07354 by zstan, on Flickr

There was also a surreal feel passing by this place, as the sky grew darker, compared to walking around this area in broad day light. The darkness and dim lights just adds some mystery into our journey. Having said that, most shops were already closed by this hour. This reminds me so much of my Jiu Fen trip back in Taiwan.

DSC07357 by zstan, on Flickr

To make matters worse, as we reached the peak of the hill, we were welcomed by a huge sign indicating that the temple has closed. Another mistake of not checking the opening hours of this temple. In Kyoto everything just closes much earlier than Tokyo.

It was quite understandable too as the whole temple area was pitch black and no amount of spot light can showcase the temple's glory of its own. Upon further contemplation and discussion, we decided to cancel our day trip to Nara the next day and come back here again. It is really a waste if we do not explore this place. After that we then proceeded to further the explore the place and then find a place to settle down for dinner.

DSC07376 by zstan, on Flickr

DSC07384 by zstan, on Flickr

Apparently the Japanese are really, really conservative with their energy and lightings as the whole area was almost completely engulfed in darkness. There is hardly any lamps near the temple area. It was really scary to walk under near pitch black conditions and with not a single soul on the streets. The pictures does not do the darkness any justice as I was using a really low shutter speed and crazy high ISO for the shots. Fortunately as we got closer to Gion, there was more street lights. Having said that, we still felt really safe despite walking in the dark.

DSC07394 by zstan, on Flickr

DSC07394 by zstan, on Flickr

Our initial plan of having dinner in Gion was called off as we were thrown back for the crazy prices of their menus. Maybe next time when I've earned enough cash to travel luxuriously.

DSC07393 by zstan, on Flickr
Typical restaurant around Gion area

DSC07390 by zstan, on Flickr

On our way back to Kawaramachi area in search of cheaper food, we were so lucky to spot a real Geisha! Geisha's are very, very rare during the summer season since they don't perform during summer. A blurred shot but nonetheless.

DSC07398 by zstan, on Flickr

hmm i wanna go tokyo this sept...

looking for model train toy set... will i find in akihabara? or any shopping malls will sell ..

ooooh, the night photos really interesting, naise!

Please refer to Page 1 tip of the month

Today Sin Chew Daily newspaper Happy Sunday Section got Travel to Nikko artical.

for more info refer to page 1

This post has been edited by RegentCid: May 11 2014, 12:34 PM

Emm...some of his statement are not very true

zstan I found that the shops lining up to Kiyomizudera even close early around 6pm during the fall illumination season.

This post has been edited by Human Nature: May 11 2014, 01:07 PM

Nop
some closed on Sat + Sunday + public Holiday
mostly are open 365 days from 0900-1800

oh ya..i forgot to add the word closed early

In Kyoto, is it easy to find fridge magnets?

For example, if i am looking for the red torii magnets of Fushimi Inari, can I get them at other souvenir shops around Kyoto or they are only found near the temple itself?

thanks! the days photos look much more bland though in my opinion

i think they close right on time or slightly before 6pm. very frustrating to do last minute shopping.

There's a lot of souvenir shops leading to Kiyomizudera. i think that's the best place for souvenir shopping for tourist. Reagent Cid may disagree

I mostly buy those traditional deli during way to Kiyomizudera

Did you notice whether the shops at higashiyama/kiyomizudera selling red torii gate magnet?

If they are available, then i can push Fushimi Inari visit to night time to allow more time at higashiyama/kiyomizudera.

I've planned to go and visit Shirakawago from Nagoya but I realised the journey to there is pretty long(nagoya to takoyama then bus to Shirakawago). Seems to me that its like a whole day trip. Is it really worth going?