May 20

Hotel Breakfast
Two rice balls (one with salt, wasabi and seaweed another with black seaweed flake), all kinds of pickled stuff, miso soup, coffee that was too bitter to drink even after 4 creams and 2 sugars, and hot tea.

Maiko Photo Shoot
Back in the states, Cathy and I booked an aapointment at a portrait studio to take Maiko pictures. Maiko are geisha in training. We both agreed we should do whatever touristy kinds of things we`d never do on our own, and this was one of them. I thought it would be silly, but this was serious business. There are professional make up artists and the kimono selection is huge. We paid for one costume change since we couldn`t decide which to wear。 Part of our package included a walking tour, and we actually walked up a ｓteep hill for like 10 minutes in those wooden block slippers to the nearby temple to take outdoor shots. Everyone was pointing at us and snapping photos. It made me feel kind of shy. I picked the crazy colorful kimonos and Cathy`s are all calm and sophisticated. I guess I am a true Latina after all...

After about 3 hours I couldn`t take anymore. I was starving and hot and was meditating so I wouldn`t complain or get grumpy. The photo shoot lady told Cathy we should at a tiny restaurant at the foot of the hill. It was a tradtional Kyoto spot and Cathy didn`t even recognize their dialect. I had a rice bowl with mushroom, egg, fish cake and seaweed. I didn`t think I could eat it because the egg was still all gooey, but I surprised myself and gulped most of it down with an Asahi.





The Gold Pavillion
After lunch, I didn`t think I could do anything else. My feet were tired from the wooden shoes, plus all the hours of walking from days before were piled on. I wanted to come back to the hotel and take a nap, but Cathy kept us on schedule and we headed out to the Gold Pavillion. I got super lucky that the bus ride was long enough to take a nap. I ate the last of my melon Hi Chews and stayed focused.

The Gold Pavillion is amazing; imagine a huge temple covered in gold leaf. The area around it is perfectly manicured and there isn`t even one branch out of place. I feel like my vocabulary isn`t even developed enough to describe how the landscape here is arranged. The trees and flowers are layered so perfectly; the textures and colors of the leaves are completely in balance. We left prayers and I even managed to toss my yen into the bowl in the middle of one of the outdoor altars. Another good luck charm to add to my arsenal.

Dinner and Shopping near Kyoto Tower
We had Japanese pasta for dinner again. This time I ordered mine with eggplant, enoki, and avocado in a tomato sauce. It was nice and garlicy. I saved room for the coffee and donut dessert Cathy planned for us at Cafe Du Monde. I guess that chain is here in Japan and in New Orleans.　Go figure...

We walked into the mall and what`s playing? Tupac`s verse on I Get Around. Most of the music I hear sucks. It`s bad elevator covers of American songs. Luckily this mall was playing R&B and hip hop. McDonald`s was blasting Kiss Me Through the Phone and it made me smile (and sing). 6-7-8 triple 9 8-2-1-2... I`m shopping around, trying to decide what my Tokyo-Style outfit will be.

Tomorrow we are heading out to the beach and our night ａｔ　ｔｈｅ　Ｏｎｓｅｎ．　　Ｉ　ｈｏｐｅ　Ｉ　ｃａｎ gｅｔ　ｓｏｍｅ　ｓｅｒｉｏｕｓ　ｐａｍｐｅｒｉｎｇ　ａｎｄ　ａ　ｃｒａｚｙ　Ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅ　ｓｔｙｌｅ manicure. The fashion is to have fingers painted up, with super bling.

Face masks are sold out in Kyoto. I guess there is an influenza outbreak. Cathy`s friend called to say we should wear one and the taxi driver said the same thing. I hope we don`t get beat up with Cathy coughing from her allergies...

May 19

Memorial Park in Hiroshima

Kiyomizudera Temple, Kyoto
From our hotel we took a bus to see one temple before dinner. We got to Kyoto around 3:30 and started our exploring at 4:30ish. The temple closed at 6 so we had to move fast, even with aching feet.

Red is everywhere... One thing that is different about these temples and the ones built by the Spanish in Mexico are that these are part of nature- they`re integrated into the landscape. Also, there isn`t art everywhere showing supremacy of one people over the other. We washed our hands and drank from springs that are said to bring you lots of good luck. Kyoto is a pristiine city built around ancient temples, not ruins, with people dressed even more fashionably than Tokyo. After the prayers and sight seeing we set out for the next stop on our list...

CoCo Ichiban Curry House
I had not prepared to have discovered curry that will make me sad to go to Curry House in J-Town...