Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
SILVER AND GOLD:
October 29th, 2013, 10:01pm.
I'm so sorry! I sort of fell off the face of the Earth this week! I got so busy that I couldn't find time to blog! I think I did a good job keeping up before, though.
I'll just briefly touch on what I did today: (And by briefly, I mean, here's a novel.)
Real and I split up today. He wanted to go see many gardens in Kyoto, and so did I, but I'm pretty sure he had his mind made up that he wanted to go at it alone... So with the help of my mom, I found some things to do on my own. I took a bus up from our hostel to the Silver Pavilion, or the "Ginkaku-ji Temple." It was a beautiful Temple surrounded by sand gardens, moss gardens, trees, and small creeks.
Here is a short reading on the origin of the Ginkaku-ju Temple: Ginkaku-ji Temple, a Zen Temple, was established in 1482 by Ashikaga Yoshimasa, the eighth Muromachi Shogunate. Yoshimasa, folliwing Kinkaku-ji Temple Kitayama den (The Golden Temple) built by his grandfather, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, built villa Higashiyama den to spend his retired life. Ginkaku-ji is the common name, and formally i was called Higashiyama Jishoji, taking after Yoshimasa's posthumous title after his death. Higashiyama den is the place where Higashiyama culture formed mainly by Yoshimasa started, and is the start of modern life style of the Japanese.
Even now, the combination of Higashiyama culture and Zen culture can be seen here.
The Temple sat at the bottom of a mountain, so the higher you climbed, the greater the view. I was in total awe as I got to the top. There was a wooden fence keeping all the people from falling off the steep cliff, which was coated with lush, green moss. The sand gardens around the Silver Pavilion (also known as Kannon-den, or Ginkaku) were beautifully raked, in swirling and straight patterns. There were rocks and small plants in the sand garden, too. Since it would take a lifetime to explain all of the meanings and symbols behind the simplicity and placement of the objects in the garden, I won't go into it. I don't even know all of them. All I can say was that it was simply breathtaking.
People were walking past me, quickly making their way through the garden. Even though Real wasn't with me, I decided to take my time and truly appreciate my surroundings. I looked up. The tree branches seemed to reach out towards each other. They were decorated with green, orange, and red leaves. I felt sad knowing that we wouldn't experience the real autumn colours of Japan, but I felt lucky enough to have gotten a little taste of it.
I looked at the ground. It seemed unusually coiffed and clean. Even though many leaves had fallen off the trees due to the season, the ground was nearly clear of them. That, or they were raked into a neat little pile along the side of the path or in the garden. I noticed a couple men working on the garden, cleaning out the small creaks to insure that water can still flow through it.
I also saw people on a ladder, trimming and maintaining the branches of some of the Japanese trees. Real later commented on that, saying that its a weird situation. While this garden is so peaceful and due to its natural beauty, it is so controlled that it almost becomes... unnatural. So can it really be called natural beauty? Or is nature so modified and altered that it becomes a fake sort of natural beauty? Who knows...
As I concluded my journey through the maze of a garden, I felt a little more at ease. The garden sceneries seemed to have calmed me down.
I continued along to the Golden Pavilion. Or the Kinkaku-ji Temple. This Temple had a much smaller garden, which, to me, was a lot less impressive than the garden of the Silver Pavilion. I walked through the gates to the Temple, and was blind sided when I turned the corner... There was a beautiful, two story Temple sitting on the side of a medium sized pond. The Temple shimmered in the sun, as it was actually coated with gold foil. There were hundreds of people huddled against the fence, trying to take pictures of the pond and the Temple. There were numerous school classes and tourists flooding the area, making it nearly impossible to get a good view! I waited my turn, (patience is a virtue!) and finally god some good shots. I even got an English speaking tourist from England to take a picture of me with it! This Temple has meaning to my family and I, as my grandma had painted a beautiful picture of it.
I walked around, again, appreciating the scenery of the environment.
I took many pictures, even though it was much of what I already saw at the Silver Pavilion. I liked the gardens and surroundings of the Silver Pavilion more than the scenery of the Golden Pavilion, but I like the actual Golden Pavilion better than the Silver Pavilion. Does that make sense? They are both equally beautiful, though. Both in their own ways.
So I reached the top of the small hill at the Kinkaku-ji Temple, and found myself at a unofficial Tea House. It was a small Japanese-style building, accompanied by a couple picnic tables and umbrellas. I snapped a pretty picture of 4 women dressed in Kimonos, enjoying a cup of tea at one of the tables. I thought to myself, "Hmm, maybe a cup of tea would be nice!" Clouds were appearing overhead, anyway. So it was getting kind of cold out! I went to the entrance, handed the girl a 500 yen coin, and sat on a small cushion looking out at the garden and picnic tables. The house had sliding Japanese doors, all of which were wide open so that the visitors could look out. It was a great view. There were only 3 couples in the house with me. A short while after I sat down, a lady in a Kimono shuffled over and gave me a paper and a sweet. The sweet was decorated with small pieced of gold foil, and had an impression of the Golden Temple on it. It was so cute! She then handed me a bowl of tea, which looked exactly like the tea I had sipped on the night before at the tea ceremony. I felt confident that I had a slight idea of how to act at this point. I ate the sweet and savoured it. Then, I picked up the cup of tea, making sure to turn the front away from my lips accordingly. I even located the secret mark on the bottom of the cup and positioned it correctly! At least, I THINK I positioned it correctly. Oh well, I was proud of myself anyway! I took three gulps of tea, (which is what you're supposed to do) and made a small slurping noise on my last gulp. (Which is also what you're supposed to do.) I then took the time to appreciate the cup, and all of it's beauty. I genuinely appreciated it too! Not just for the sake of doing it!
I looked around the room too. I noticed the walls, the ceiling, and to my right, I saw a wall with a display on it. There was a scroll hanging, a little container of incense, and a small flower arrangement- Just like the one at the tea ceremony yesterday. Of course, it was completely different. May told us yesterday that nothing is ever the same. She also told us that the scroll had a message on it, which is supposed to be the main theme of the ceremony. The host and visitors should have this theme on their minds as they enjoy the comfort of the tea and company. It was in Japanese, so I couldn't read it, but I called one of the girls over and asked her to read it to me. She said it means, "smile." I was taken back a little. It was so simple but so powerful! Especially for today. Since I was feeling a little down, it was a message that I really needed. In turn, I smiled and gathered my things. I snapped a picture of the arrangement, and went on my way.
I originally wanted to visit the Nijojo Castle in the centre of Kyoto, but it was already 5pm, and the castle closed at 4:30pm. I guess I was enjoying my tea too much!! :)
I decided that a nice onsen experience would be good to wrap up my day. One of the ones I wanted to go to was walking distance from the Golden Pavilion. So, I started walking. I purposefully made my way through side streets so that I could witness more of the real Kyoto. I actually came across a building titled, "Miyuki." I don't know what it was, but it was still awesome! Another Miyuki establishment! We've been seeing that everywhere! I arrived at the onsen, and continued along with the process... Once I was naked and got in, I was a little uncomfortable. There were a lot more tourists at this onsen, so it felt sort of awkward being around English speaking people for once... I got in, and sat at one of the cleaning stations.
In the onsens that I've been in before, there are always washing buckets and soap and stuff at your disposal. So I found a counter with some and picked some stuff up to examine it. Soon enough, an older Asian woman came running up to me, yelling something that I didn't understand. What I did understand, however, was that we aren't actually provided with cleaning products, and I had picked up her belongings. She ripped the bucket out of my hands and shook her fingers at me. "I'm sorry! Gomendosai!" I kept saying. She just kept shakingher head and pointing her finger, saying, "No! My. No!" She walked away...
Feeling really embarrassed and not knowing what to do, I just started splashing water on my body with my hands. I didn't want to get up anymore, I was embarrassed, naked, and cold... It was just a bad feeling. A little later the lady came up to me and shoved a different bucket in my face. I guess she had watched me slap water on myself with my palms and felt sorry for me. I said thank you and just rinsed myself with water. I mean, it was probably disrespectful not to have soap and stuff, but I knew I was clean!!! I had just showered that day! And what was I supposed to do? I didn't have any products!
A little while after that, the lady left. And another lady came in. Out of all the many places to sit, she chose to sit beside me. We seemed to get up and go into the tub, and go back to the washing area at the same time. She noticed, and moved finally. Which was also awkward. But it was okay. I realized, I'm not TRYING to be disrespectful, and I'm not going to see these people ever again... So, I continued my enjoyment of my bath...
There was a small cold pool, an electric pool, and many hot pool areas. After about an hour, I decided I had had enough, and that it was time to go back to the hostel.
I had a long, annoying bus ride back, and eventually got there safe and sound and fell asleep immediately!
What started of as a crappy day, ended up being a great day! Who knew?
Love always,
Lindsay Lehr
- comments