May 6, 2008
Kyoto
Kyoto
...after exiting the Pure Water Temple (Kiyumizu-dera) grounds, where we had also visited the matchmaking shrine, we walked towards Kodai-ji Temple, and in the process passing by the Ryozen Kannon War Memorial.
Kodai-ji Temple was built by the widow (more familiarly known as Nene) of Toyotomi Hideyoshi to pacify his spirit, and also to commemorate his memory.....btw, Toyotomi Hideyoshi-san was the general who succeeded in unifying Japan. The temple was extensively financed though by Tokugawa Ieyasu (chief vassal of Hideyoshi-san) and who later became Shogun of Japan.
Admission is 600 yen for adults and it is open from 9 am to 5 pm.
Apart from visiting the beautiful gardens laid out by famous landscape architect Kobori Enshu (sorry, no time to visit the quaint teahouses designed by Sen no Rikyu, a well-known 16th century tea master), we were also lucky enough to view the lighting of the rock garden, take more pictures of the Kangetsu-Dai or Moon Viewing Pavilion... which allowed viewing of the moon's reflection on the surface of the pond; and the nearby Kaisando Hall (memorial hall); Otamaya (a mausoleum) as well as of the different ponds (whose names I cannot possibly remember now...waaah!) and other buildings.
Please note, that in some of these structures and paths you may be shooed away for cameras and/or tripods are forbidden...while you are inside them or on the path. I'm sorry I had a limited time to browse and take pictures as there are some other noteworthy structures here which I was not able to take good shots of...please check the website for this temple as it is of historical importance.
Moving on...we proceeded to see the bamboo grove with its walking paths. This grove separates the Ryozen Kannon from the Kodai-ji Temple.
The Ryozen Kannon War Memorial - The Ryozen Kannon, or 'Goddess of Mercy' is a twenty-four meter tall memorial to the 2 million fallen Japanese soldiers of World War II. The statue is located between Kodaiji Temple and Ninenzaka, on the Higashiyama Path. The 80 foot tall concrete statue was built in 1955, and visitors can go inside its hollow body to see an eleven-headed icon of the goddess Kannon.
Admission is 200 yen. The shrine is open daily, from 8:30 am to 4:20 pm, so since it was already closed by the time we passed by, I can only offer a picture from the outside.
- Jul 8, '08 8:27 PM
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ReplyDeletedesyang8 wrote on Jul 9, '08
Kanindot didto Cat noh...love the gardens, the pond, esp. the bamboo grove :) nindot mag stambay ..mag pa hiyong... og mag muni-muni.. whatever that means...hehe
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chitoirigo wrote on Jul 9, '08
Ganda! Parang eksena sa "House of Flying Daggers."
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chiarajulieann wrote on Jul 9, '08
nice!
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chiarajulieann wrote on Jul 9, '08
bat sya may bib?
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cuh888 wrote on Jul 9, '08
desyang8 said
Kanindot didto Cat noh...love the gardens, the pond, esp. the bamboo grove :) nindot mag stambay ..mag pa hiyong... og mag muni-muni.. whatever that means
I think if all our historical spots were like this - clean, well-maintained, I'd probably be just on "standby" anang mga lugara...
really nice to just hang around and as you say "muni-muni" hehehe..its not obvious siguro but actually I sort of sped through this shrine too since not only do shops and restaurants close early, but also temples and shrines...
luckily, the bamboo grove looks nice at night..so alanganin if they close it early..hehehehe
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cuh888 wrote on Jul 9, '08
chitoirigo said
Ganda! Parang eksena sa "House of Flying Daggers."
what I remember naman Chito is yung Crouching Tiger fight scene nila on top of the bamboo...coz...I didn't see the movie HoFD...
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cuh888 wrote on Jul 9, '08
chiarajulieann said
nice!
unsa ban ni nga bulak....hmm...I thought now it looks like bombil..hehehe...
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cuh888 wrote on Jul 9, '08
chiarajulieann said
bat sya may bib?
hahaha...thats what I also ask myself when I see dogs having these hankies around their necks...I thought at first baka kc nag-drool...but cows don't do that, do they?
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chitoirigo wrote on Jul 9, '08
cuh888 said
I didn't see the movie HoFD...
Meow Cat. May DVD nyan. Galing din. At ang favorite kong si Zhang Ziyi din ang bidang chick. By the way, siya din yung nasa "Hero."
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cuh888 wrote on Jul 9, '08
chitoirigo said
Meow Cat. May DVD nyan. Galing din. At ang favorite kong si Zhang Ziyi din ang bidang chick. By the way, siya din yung nasa "Hero."
gusto ko nga panoorin yon on the big screen...e...nangyari is nagkwento yung isa kong classmate at nagsabing di naman daw nya masyadong nagustuhan..kaya ayon..pfft!
I liked Hero much more kaysa Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, though I liked the latter too....mahilig ako sa mga ala period action movies..hehehe...swordfights, ninjas, etc. etc.
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chitoirigo wrote on Jul 9, '08, edited on Jul 9, '08
cuh888 said
mahilig ako sa mga ala period action movies..hehehe...swordfights, ninjas, etc. etc.
Magka-sundo tayo diyan. Actually, noong panahon pa ng mga ninja at "Wang Yu" movies, hilig ko na rin yan. Mas maganda lang ngayon kasi ang tindi na nag cinematography. Besides, talagang base na sa historical or semi-historical accounts. Kaya, enjoy ka na sa action, may natutunan ka pa, especially so na ang subject ay isang bansang sarado sa mundo until the late 19th century.
By the way, if you are not familiar with "Wang Yu" movies, ito yung mga chinese swordflicks in the 70s na kahit isa lang ang bida kaya niyang lipulin ang mahigit isang libong kalaban (one-armed pa nga minsan ang bida), and lumilipad talaga sila, i.e. they start fighting in a temple but when they jump they land on a mountain side and continue the fighting. Wang Yu is actually the name of the most popular Chinese actor then. Classic na 'tong mga ito ngayon.
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ReplyDeletehugzone wrote on Jul 9, '08
Did you ring the bell?
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hugzone wrote on Jul 9, '08
This is not simply to wash physically right? It is a form of ablution I think.
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hugzone wrote on Jul 9, '08
Baka naghahanda na kumain ng sizzling bulalo o porterhouse steak. : )
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hugzone wrote on Jul 9, '08
Ganda ng laro ng ilaw. : )
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hugzone wrote on Jul 9, '08
sementeryo ng mga nobility?
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hugzone wrote on Jul 9, '08
ganda. so serene.
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hugzone wrote on Jul 9, '08
Clear naman 'day. Okay ang tiyempo!
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hugzone wrote on Jul 9, '08
nice! ganda pati ng ilaw nila.
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cuh888 wrote on Jul 9, '08
hugzone said
Did you ring the bell?
in all the shrines I visited, I didn't dare ring the bell....with my luck, baka mahulog pa...:-(
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cuh888 wrote on Jul 9, '08
hugzone said
This is not simply to wash physically right? It is a form of ablution I think.
cleansing yes....
sa linis ..parang ang ganda nga inumin eh...
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cuh888 wrote on Jul 9, '08
hugzone said
Baka naghahanda na kumain ng sizzling bulalo o porterhouse steak. : )
hmm...pwede nga...dito sa Pinas, that would be the welcome statue at a steakhouse...ehem..
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cuh888 wrote on Jul 9, '08
hugzone said
sementeryo ng mga nobility?
I don't think so...this is just the tip of the iceberg, ika nga...
if you google and look for photos of the Kodaiji Cemetery..you will see its quite big...family shrines yata ng iba-ibang tao..di lang nobility....or..I could be wrong..
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chitoirigo wrote on Jul 9, '08
cuh888 said
dito sa Pinas
Dito sa Pinas...bukas wala na yan! Hehehehe....
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cuh888 wrote on Jul 10, '08
eh-he-he!
grabe ka naman Chito...sino naman dito magka-interest ng statue of a cow...fuera lang if marble or gold-plated?
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cuh888 wrote on Jul 10, '08
hugzone said
ganda. so serene.
the imp in me wanted to stamp on the pebbles actually so make a mess of things..
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ReplyDeletecuh888 wrote on Jul 10, '08, edited on Jul 10, '08
chitoirigo said
. Besides, talagang base na sa historical or semi-historical accounts. Kaya, enjoy ka na sa action, may natutunan ka pa, especially so na ang subject ay isang bansang sarado sa mundo until the late 19th century.
I think so too!
this is why also sa anime, I gravitate towards those historical action stories like Ruruoni Kenshin, based on a true hitokiri (itago natin sya sa pangalang "Assasin" hehehe)...
...after I saw it and read the manga, ayon..I was researching and googling about history ng Japan, weapons ng Japan, culture ng Japan...amen!
I have heard of "Wang Yu" somewhere...but kung sa 70's yata baka Bruce Lee lang nakita ko (teka, circa 70's ba sya?)..ehehe...though now and then meron naman historic flicks like "Once Upon a Time in China" ni JL which I like because of the intrigues and fight scenes...all these flying about rooftops and hand-to-hand combat...
one of my fave action movies na rent sa beta before (and which I don't know kung ano ang title) was this story of a Chinese man who married a Japanese woman, and they had marital spats about the fighting styles of China versus Japan...
...with the woman ending up as getting some master Japanese weapon and hand-to-hand fighters from Japan to challenge her hubby...wwowowow! showcase ng mga fights and weapons na iba-iba...it was there for example nalaman ko at a young age that the red-threads at the end of the Chinese spear had a specific purpose...akala ko ba naman decoration...*grin*
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cuh888 wrote on Jul 10, '08
oh, and as a PS...one of the most exotic weapons which is earning a reputation as a myth is yung "flying guillotine"....wala lang..segue from a an answer on movies about fighting...hehehe
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chitoirigo wrote on Jul 10, '08, edited on Jul 10, '08
cuh888 said
a myth is yung "flying guillotine".
I saw this in one of the episode of NG (National Geographic). They tried to replicate (based on folk stories), how it would work. And their conclusion was that it can be done. But it is too impractical to be used in actual combat. Their theory is that it must have been an assassin's weapon, i.e. must be used with the element of surprise and one must be able to jump more than 10 feet in the air (or jump from an elevation such as a roof), put it on the victim's head, pull the trigger mechanism, and immediately vanish into thin air while tugging along the guillotine (with the head inside the guillotine bag), and all these in a matter of seconds.
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ReplyDeletechitoirigo wrote on Jul 10, '08
cuh888 said
historic flicks like "Once Upon a Time in China" ni JL which I like because of the intrigues and fight scenes...all these flying about rooftops and hand-to-hand combat...
Jet Li is certainly a good martial arts actor. Mas bagay siya sa mga movies na medyo seryoso tulad ng "Once Upon a Tiem in China". Ok din si Jackie Chan kaya lang mas humor ang kanyang linya.
Ang di ko napuntahan sa Japan was the the Iga region. It's supposed to be the birthplace of Ninjutsu, the secret martial arts of the legendary Ninjas. Actually, there's a Ninja Museum at a place called Iga City (near Nara). Kaya lang nung time na nasa Japan kami, closed for renovation.
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cuh888 wrote on Jul 10, '08
chitoirigo said
Actually, there's a Ninja Museum at a place called Iga City (near Nara).
yes! *excited*
... thats what I heard too from Calvin, yung nakasama ko sa Kyoto....wala rin kaming oras na eh...I so wanted to visit yung Ninja Museum...and I think may castle din in Iga City...
next time! ehehehe...
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cuh888 wrote on Jul 10, '08
chitoirigo said
Mas bagay siya sa mga movies na medyo seryoso tulad ng "Once Upon a Tiem in China". Ok din si Jackie Chan kaya lang mas humor ang kanyang linya.
I agree...mas ok si Jackie sa comedy-action...I can still remember scenes from Snake in Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master...*nostalgic*
if ever they were to switch....i.e. JC in "Once Upon a Time in China..." and JL in action-comedy like Drunken Master..ano kaya ano?
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chitoirigo wrote on Jul 10, '08
cuh888 said
if ever they were to switch...
Actually, di ko ma-imagine ito. Parang na stereotype-cast ko na kasi silang dalawa sa mga current roles nila.
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kaiyen70 wrote on Jul 11, '08
niiiice!!!
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cuh888 wrote on Jul 11, '08
chitoirigo said
Actually, di ko ma-imagine ito. Parang na stereotype-cast ko na kasi silang dalawa sa mga current roles nila.
sabagay, I can't remember JL in a funny action movie..though I think nakita ko na si JC before...can't remember though, di ko yata nagustuhan thats why I can't remember it..
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cuh888 wrote on Jul 11, '08
kaiyen70 said
niiiice!!!
thanks, nag-manya akong camera..so gamay ra akong bamboo grove shots which wasn't blurry...plus bawal ang tripod..