Day 2: December 27
The first thing you must do when you arrive in a foreign country is visit the science museum! At least that was what our family did... A brisk walk in the winter air brought us to a large futuristic spherical structure that was the planetarium of Nagoya's science museum
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| Photo op! |
Although the exhibits were mainly in Japanese, science proved its universal nature as I actually recognized concepts from my chemistry, physics, biology, and math classes.
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| Periodic Table of locker storage |
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| Digital media/interactive exhibits were also very popular. |
After a filling lunch of beef and rice, we visited the famous Atsuta Jingu Shrine. Since the near year was approaching, the temple was preparing for the large rush of pilgrims coming to say their prayers for a fortunate new year.
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| Lunch :P |
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| Prayers are written on slips of paper or wooden tablets. Many of them wish for luck, health, and happiness. |
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| A water well allows visitors to cleanse themselves spiritually. |
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| An interesting measure taken by the Japanese: female-only cars during rush hour on the subway. |
Day 3: December 28
The third day was a transition between Nagoya and Kyoto. By catching various local trains on the JR system, it was fun to view the Japanese countryside before arriving at our next apartment. This time, we were a few blocks away from the Kyoto tower.
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| Traditional Kyoto meal: salmon, rice, miso soup, steamed egg, yam, picked cucumber and fungus |
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The Kyoto tower at night.
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| Pour soup into the rice bowl and eat together! |
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Day 4: December 29
Instead of rice balls or noodles, we opted for a very traditional Japanese breakfast at McDonalds. We were on our way to visit Kinkakuji Temple, or the Golden Pavilion. The main attraction was a golden pagoda surrounded by a picturesque garden, and pond that reflected the shimmer of the gold metal-coated building. The secondary attraction was the crowd of tourists edging each other for the best selfie position in front of the World Heritage monument.
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| Morning jog to McDonalds |
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| The Golden Pavilion |
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| Tourists!!! |
Aside from the pavilion, the temple grounds included many good luck areas where people could toss coins or burn incense for good fortune. Or, a pretty good fortune could be amassed by the temple from all the tourists buying charms and souvenirs.
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| Steps to ensure a good year: light a candle, burn incense, write some scriptures, pray, rinse hair with smoke, repeat. |
In a different part of Kyoto, the Nishiki Market was fully packed with curious visitors and slightly annoyed locals who were trying to buy food for new year's celebrations. The open air market consisted of stalls on either side of a narrow alley, and vendors were selling things from mochi and fried octopus, to fresh sashimi and soybean donuts.
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| Tourists: "ooh take a picture" | Local: "Let me buy my dinner =.=" |
Pictured below is a soybean donut and matcha (a type of green tea) mochi
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