17 March, Tuesday (Osaka-Kyoto)

Sleep was great for the night. Grab a quick bite and hop onto the subway to Osaka station to transfer to a JR to Kyoto. Thank God that I manage to hop onto a special speed train instead of the normal one and it only took me about half hour. Yes at the same price! The man at information counter at Kyoto station was really helpful. Gave me a lot of useful map and recommended the places I should visit. But he just couldn't really tell me where exactly my hotel is. Just the general direction. So once again, I know I had to depend on angels to guide me. Indeed I actually just walked past my hotel across the road when suddenly I dunno why just turned my head to look back and I saw the hotel! It is not facing the main road at all! Thank you angels!

Quickly did some final planning and off I went to board the bus to my first check point - Ginkaku-ji. It was build by Shógun Ashikaga Yoshimasa in 1482 as a villa for genteel retreat. It belongs to the Shókoku-ji sect of the Rinzai school of Zen. Ginkaku-ji translates as Silver Pavilion and has one of Kyoto's most beautiful garden. Can't wait to see! But first I had a simple lunch of soba in soup with bean curd skin and soba tofu. Love it! And up I hopped onto a bus that I believed would bring me to the right place. Nervous coz that was my first bus trip in Japan and I hope I got off at the right stop! But indeed God help us through the people around us. I gave up my single seat to an old lady and went to the back to sit with a young lady. And God helped me through her! Her name is Maki and she used to study in Brisbane. So we had a really good chat along the way. She happened to have Indonesian friend over for a visit and she just sent them off after bringing them around the past few days. So she could offer me a lot of suggestions on where to go and how to go. There's simply God's grace in this! She even told me if I'm lucky I might even have a chance to take photo with a maiko at one of the temple. Best of all she alighted at the same stop as me and she could give me direction to Ginkaku-ji. Gave her my email and hope we could keep in touch. Maybe one day she come Singapore I could bring her around! Maki explained to me why there isn't as many subway line in Kyoto as Osaka. Because there's a lot of treasures from ancient times buried in the ground. Hence, to preserve these historical treasures, the governor here does not allow more digging of ground for subway except for 2 main lines. As a result, most of the places of interest have to be accessible by bus. Also there is a different between temples and shrines here. Temples belong to Buddhism while shrines, differentiated by the red gate, belongs to Japanese Gods. A pity Christianity is not very popular here. Our dear members in Japan, Gambadeh!

The walk up to Ginkaku-ji was quite a long one. If not because of Maki's direction and the crowd, I would never know if I'm on the right track. Pity the roof top was under reconstruction but the garden is indeed a beautiful sight. Noticed how the Japanese paid attention to little details. Even the pebbles are sweep to create some design. It's just like how God has took care of all my travelling trips. Every little detail is well taken care off. Surely I will have opportunity to testify few events in this trip too. In fact, it is not just through this trip but in my daily life too. I thank God that I didn't meet with any accidents in my daily travel. I thank God for giving me food that are safe to eat everyday. I thank God for blessing me in every little small ways in my daily life.

Next was a walk down the Path of Philosophy. Known to be a serene and scenic path especially during Sakura season. Autumn time will be a good view too. What! What was that tree with white flowers! Oh my God! It's cherry blossoms! Not the "cousin" cherry plum but cherry blossoms! The season was estimated to start in 1 April but I got to see now! Really thank God for this blessings for I would probably not get to see the flower as long as I'm a teacher in Singapore! The walk was about an hour long and I did a lot of reflection along the way. God has loved me so much in so many ways. He has always been trying to communicate with me and bringing many moments of happiness to me. But in return, I must admit that I have not love him enough. I can feel that He is always looking over me with a smile. Hence I must make a more conscious effort to be smiling at all time for God is smiling at me. He's always ready to forgive me and I must be able to do so to other people around me too.

Next stop was Nanzenji Temple. It is one of the Five Great Zen Temples of Kyoto. As the headquarters of the Nanzenji branch of the Rinzai school of Zen, it is also one of the most important Zen temples in the world. Another cherry blossom tree! Gosh. I really feel like being on a romantic date with God. Every few stop and He's showering me with flowers and more flowers! And no one can give as big a bouquet as Him for it's the whole tree! So sweet!

By then, my feet were already aching. Walking on pebbled ground for almost 2 hours in my heeled boots is no joke! Must I must persevere on! Gosh would I be able to finish the rest of the journey. It's already 4 pm and most of the temple will close by 5 pm! Nevertheless I just keep walking. Third stop Heian-jingu Shrine built in 1895. It has a really big and grand red shrine gate. The architecture of these Japanese shrines really impressed me. How they used blocks of wood to interlock to create a beautiful and sturdy structure. Well, we should interlock our life with God too. Build a strong faith with God in our everyday life.

Okay my tired legs would not be fast enough to bring me to the next two temples before they closed. Hop onto the cab and the driver was really nice to stop over at the first temple, Chion-in Temple for me to take some photo shots. As the head temple of the Jodo (Pure Land) sect of Buddhism, Chion-in (or Chionin) in Kyoto is one of the most important sacred sites in Japan. Old yet well preserved. Think there would be some lantern light up celebration at this temple but thought I should just move on. Asked for Yasaka Pagoda coz remembered Maki told me there's bloomed sakura tree there. But later found out the cab driver dropped me at Yasaka-jinja Shrine instead. Actually I was the one who made the mistake. Yes Maki mention Yasaka but she referred to the shrine and nope there was no sakura but the place that Maki also mentioned that I could took photo with a Maiko if I were lucky. And indeed I was! Only the first 100 got to do so! Then I just followed the crowd and end up in a street with litted lanterns lining both sides of the road. Found ou later that there was this lantern festival going on just this week. What blessing I had! I simply followed the lanterns, passing by few other temples like Chorakuji and the famous Kodaiji Temple. God continued to shower me with cherry blossom and plum trees now and then along the way. How romantic! Wanted to cover Kiyomizudera Temple and Gion street but guess I could only do so the next day since the sun already set. Just immersed myself into the festive mood and followed the lanterns down streets of old shop houses, trying some local delicacy here and there for my dinner. And before I knew, I was actually at the entrance of Kiyomizudera Temple! And it was magnificient! After trees and trees of flowers, now enormous candle light feast! This must be the most romantic night our for me with God! This place is not usually open at night. Only during special occasion. Yes it's my special night with God. What a surprise! Totally not planned for! And the visual feast ended with a beautiful garden. Oh how I wish I can continue to enjoy the romance forever! Okay I must work hard to secure a place in God's Kingdom.