Just wanted to share a fun video clip that makes me groove these days (seen on Tracks, 2 weeks ago)... It's Toe Jam by The Brighton Port Authority (ex-Fatboy Slim). Featuring David Byrne & Dizzee Rascal.

Nothing really surprising, we met Astro Boy during our trip in Japan! He is a very nice guy, but we had not much time to talk as he was pretty busy fighting crime and evil robots. ^^



  Astro Boy flying in front of Kyoto train station

On our first dinner in Kyoto, we went to Kushimon 8 restaurant just because we arrived late and it was conveniently located close to our ryokan... And we had so much fun with the staff, that we came back there to have dinner on our last day!





  
  Our adorable hosts at Kushimon 8 restaurant :)

If ever, one day, I get married, I want a traditional Japanese ceremony! ^^
A Franco-Japanese couple friends of ours (we met them in the flight back from Osaka!) showed me their Japanese wedding pictures, and it's just amazingly gorgeous! The embroidered kimono with golden enhancements that the bride was wearing was a real piece of art. The family rented it, as it costs a fortune!
Ok, I know getting married is not only about wearing nice clothes, but at least, I'd like to try on a kimono like this once in my life.




Traditional japanese wedding costumes from a shop in Kyoto

  Taking Kyoto bus was quite a fun experience! Before the first time, we observed from some distance how people get in and out. So ok, you get in from the back or middle of the bus and pay to the driver or insert your pass when you go out. Pretty simple! ^^

  For long distances inside Kyoto, we traveled by bus with the City Bus Pass, which was very convenient for only ¥500 (about 3 euros) a day!

  But most of the time, we just walked! Still the best way to discover a city.




    Inside Kyoto City Bus

September 9th, Kyoto
At Daitokuji

Daitokuji is a complex of several temples, located in north-western of Kyoto. Daitoku is one of the 15 branches of Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism.





Daitokuji's alley


                                          Daitokuji's main gate



Inside Ryogen-in,
one of the many
subtemples of Daitokuji



        The smallest zen garden
        in the world, in Ryogen-in


Serenity at Ryogen-in
We really enjoyed the beautiful zen garden of Ryogen-in.
We were almost alone in the temple (only two Japanese women came to pray and went away), so it was a true serene moment. Much more quiet than the famous Ryoanji where there were crowds, with an Italian guide speaking loud to her group during half an hour in front of the garden... Not really propitious to meditation!


   

     In Ryogen-in, one of the many
     subtemples of Daitokuji








    Inside Ryogen-in








   Vermilion building in Daitokuji temple complex




  


    Buddhist altar in Daitokuji

Hope we'll celebrate it soon! ;)

September 7th, Kyoto    /Part 3

Pontocho


Like Gion, Pontocho is one of the most traditional area in Kyoto, full of old wooden houses, narrow paved streets, tea houses...

After visiting Kinkakuji, we went to Pontocho and enjoyed the view of the illuminated restaurants over Kamogawa. Lots of people were sitting along Kamogawa too, or having picnic there. Really nice atmosphere.


Pontocho & Kamogawa




       Pontocho restaurant


Then we walked to Gion Corner, a theater that shows tourists an overview of different Japanese traditional arts and entertainment such as the tea ceremony, flower arrangement, koto (Japanese harp), gagaku (court music), kyogen (comic plays), kyomai (kyoto traditional dance performed by maikos), bunraku (puppet theater)... It's nothing really authentic as it is designed for tourists, but still a nice initiation. After the regular show, we experienced a tea ceremony initiation. We were lucky as we were the only two people ! So it was a private lesson :)


 Gion street




                             Bunraku at Gion Corner





   First dish of our dinner in a Pontocho restaurant



   (Sorry for the blurry pic, I was salivating so much that my eyes were all blurred ^^)

September 7th, Kyoto    /Part 2

Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion)





 
  The trees around Kinkakuji
  were magnificent under the sunlight...







  Kinkakuji








   Thelma at Kinkakuji







  Kinkakuji lake turtle and carpus







In Kinkakuji park









   Kinkakuji




                                                                   Kinkakuji restaurant






    Street near Kinkakuji

September 7th, Kyoto






Kyoto street


                                             Kimono ladies


Doraemon lamps!
Behind a shop window on Shijo-dori





Dried food
in the supermarket







Rain...
Before coming to Japan, we were a bit afraid of facing
typhoons and violent rains during our trip, as September
weather is quite unpredictable... But fortunately,
this sudden shower was almost the only that came up.
And we were under shelter ^^









Nijo-jo
The inside of Nijo Castle is simply amazing! But no picture authorized ;)

September 5th, Kyoto     /Part 4

 


   Walking down from Kiyomisudera


















   Shijo-dori



                                                    Modern geta  
 















    Gion Night atmosphere






















    Front of the restaurant where we had dinner. It was a very 
    nice place, only one meal (succulent!) is proposed...
    The inside was a bit curious too! Around each table, there was
    a dummy lady all dressed-up in kimono! Maybe this way you 
    never feel alone even if you have no company for dinner!






Sweets loot of the day:



---To be continued... ---

Japan, Day 2 - September 5th, Kyoto     /Part 3

When approaching Kiyomisudera, we met these two fake maikos. Ok, one thing you need to know, geishas are one of my longtime obsessions (you could tell by the number of pictures of maikos that will follow, and not only on this day ^^). Even if these two were fakes, they looked lovely!



    Maikos walking to Kiyomisudera

    It looked so hard to walk with their okobo. They walked
    very slowly and it took them a long time to climb the stairs  
    leading to Kiyomisudera!

 





 
 


    Taking pictures
    of themselves at Kiyomisudera

    Maiko good manners lesson 1:   

    Always put your hand before your mouth    
    when you laugh  
 

September 5th, Kyoto

When our belly was full of sushis, we walked to Yasaka-jinja, and then headed to Chion-in where we had the opportunity to attend a prior with bell ringing and monk singing.

      Yasaka-jinja

     In our way to Kiyomisudera

September 5th - Kyoto


First day in Kyoto. So many things to do and see here. Hard to know what to start with!
We walked from our ryokan (very conveniently located) to Shoren-in. We were particularly slow as there were so many things to look at... Old traditionnal wooden houses, flea market with Japanese antiques, narrow streets & alleys lined with Tanukis and bonzais, all topped by a criss-cross of electric wires.

Kyoto streets
     


Inside Shoren-in


Never seen such a fish before! Its colors were amazing.
 

 





     First lunch in Japan...
    The restaurant was an awesome place. It's 
     called Isuju, located in the West of Kyoto.

September 4th, Osaka

Our plane landed 4 hours late at Kansai International Airport, near Osaka. Fortunately, we arrived in time to make a stop at -Girlest Girl-, a great Blythe shop runned by lovely Mina and Pon_ne. That was a pleasure to meet you girls!

Overview of the shop




Cake hat girl:


On the left: Mina's dreamy custom Blythe, named White Butterfly.


Cute @nai customs




On the left: Mina. On the right: Pon_ne. The sweet runners of -Girlest Girl-



Then we took the train (with our JR Kansai Area Pass) to Kyoto and took our quarters at Kyo no yado Shimaya ryokan.

Our room at Kyo no yado Shimaya:


It was a nice, clean and quiet room opening on a small garden. We had a very pleasant stay here. And the hostess was really nice. New cakes or local specialties, tea set were waiting for us each evening.

Loot of the day:

- 1 brown/pink dottie dress
- 1 sweet white & pink dress made by Mina
- 1 Momolita_preta coat and striped scarf
- 1 pair of Blue Kangaroo boots
- and last but not least: 2 pairs of Atelier Matin sunglasses! It was a hard choice, but I finally ended up with a pink and a blue ones. -- Thank you so so much Masanari-san for your kindness :)) --

Not pictured: lovely pink boots made by Mina that Thelma was already wearing ;) + a Megahouse retro style cupboard that will look great in the dollhouse I'm working on!

-- Thank you so much Mina and Pon_ne for the warm welcoming and the lovely presents! --

Well, I created this account years ago, so I assume time has come to post my first entry here...

Diaries are not my thing, so you will mostly see here pictures and short texts.

Now you're wondering... why opening this Live Journal now? I would say... maybe because I'm a bit jetlagged and not fully conscious of what I'm doing right now!

The other reason is that I would like to share some pics of our trip to the most wonderful and fascinating country in the world. The birthplace of geishas and Astroboy. Busy, crowded and well-ordered at the same time. Hardworking and gadget loving. You got it? Japan!

I would have liked to post pics day after day during our trip, but we lacked time (and Internet access as well...). Anyway...