Kyoto II

DAY OFF IN KYOOOOTOOOOOOO 🎵

Like most of the trips I take there was no planning to this. I had a rough patch with the fam so I called my mate in Japan for an escape...within 11 hours I was on my way to Japan for a couple months with my first stop in Kyoto for couple days sorting out a long overdue catch up. 

Lucky for me, Japan from Nov to Jan is pretty pleasant. You have the amazing fall foliage, a nice winter, and tons of great celebrations for the New Year. Best of all, I was seeing some people that I hadn't seen in years! I landed hungry and took the hotel staff recommendation for some nearby ramen....My GOD. It was one of the best ramen shops I'd ever been to.  This trip was already off to an amazing start. 

With no agenda, I just wandered. I had done Kyoto before so much of this was like seeing an old friend, walked the same paths, enjoyed the same scenes, and used the time to reflect on how much and how little both of us had changed. 

                                     Fond memories of blowing stuff on the bank of that water way 

I did find myself under an UNUSUAL amount of bridges on this trip #TrollLife

Aimlessly walking all day hours at a time down little streets and alley ways, down river banks and really wherever my mood took me. There was something pleasant about not having an agenda, just me and however far my legs would take me, which is fucking far cause I have 10/10 stamina. 

My best Erik Reeves impression and a reference that only makes sense to 2 people

Ladies and gentlethems, after 9 long years....

MAYOOOOOWAAAAAAAA SANNNNNN!!!!

9 years prior to this Mayowa and I met in California, he was getting ready to head to Japan to have a go at starting his life over. Didnt know anyone, didnt have a plan, didnt know any Japanese....he just had a dream.   Flashforward nearly a decade and his fluency in Japanese was so impressive, everyone commented on it everywhere we went. On top of it, he is making his living as a very well known singer!!!

“EYES” - Vibe Video (MV TEASER)

Talk about following your dreams!!! 

facts. 

Fun side note - the owner of the coffee shop Mayowa and I stopped at had also recently moved back from Melbourne and lived near me in Prahran....."I probably saw you on Chapel Street" he said to me lol, and yes, he probably did 😏 small world, smallllllll crazy world.  

Kyoto

艾薇兒 Mina saiko, arigatou

Lets clear the air. I am not a weeb. I am not into some weird Japanophillia. You won't catch me shoving Hello Kitty shit in your face.  I am a serious person who came here purely for the cultural immersion of Japan's Golden Week and sight seeing.

                              

                            All of that is a lie. 

Ima Hello Kitty QWUEEEEEEEEEEN!

   

My 7 year old niece was having Japan Week at school, meaning I was finally able to be the cool guncle who was in Japan sending her pics of all the things she was talking about.... take that John Kittle. 

How I looked this whole trip.....

Seriously, everything felt properly photogenic. 

I'm a train girl, look at me being all mysterious....hey fun fact, some train cars in Japan are women only.....you know whats silly? If you get on at some stations, those lines don't add up to those at other stops and eventually you're the only man in a car full of ladies. 😬

FUCK ME UP!!!!!💓

                 

And it doesn't end there! Kyoto has a billion shrines and temples to see....this post is 90% pic dump.

Shosei-en Garden

  

*adds to tinder profile, updates bio* "I'm worldly"

Me asking random people to take pics for me and forcing feedback while I look for other places to pose

i was fortunate enough to not miss both the 800th celebration of  Jodo Shinshu and the 850th celebration of the birth of Shinran Shonin! (like duh, why would i)

There is an incredible feeling of power and transition - what felt like an endless line of people take a symbolic journey around the temple. You can't take photos inside, and of course out of respect, I kept pics as a whole at a minimum. 

Higashi Hongan-ji Temple

               

Kyoto Gyoen National Garden
                               

                                                    See that? PUT. A. BIRD. ON. IT

the 30 yr old gay smile 

Obsessed with the stories carved in everywhere

door porn

Shōkoku-ji Temple

                    

was a little weird this temple was almost completely empty. 

堀川 遊歩道 Park under Takeyamachi Bridge

Just random stuff around Kyoto.

So. Art.

The incredible basic bitch drive to take photos at Fushimi Inari was the sole influence behind this trip. For YEARSSSSSSS I envied people posting on IG with these orange pillars looking all coool, unbothered, wordly, trendy and hip. Yeah, fuck sake.  It was MY time to shrine. 

(hehe)

Fushimi Inari Taisha

Nah yeah, it was fucking awesome. When you start off at the entry it's so terribly packed with tourists holding their phones up that its hard to believe this is the same place... you really just get pics of people and their phones...the trick to this is to keep walking....and walking....

and walking...

and walking...

and walking.

eventually you're half way up a mountain and you're met with large spans of empty pathways free of other influence hungry photographers (like me)....this...this is your moment. 

Take selfies, make tiktoks, stop and read a book. Hell, anything. 

I went to a lot of great restaurants and bars...my fave was this gay bar called Apple. Due to how packed in things are, it was a bitch and a half to find....but its small, intimate, lovely, and fantastic. The owner is incredibly kind and helpful, 10/10 would recommended.   In a silly way, it was a bit of a bummer to be there and the other patrons be from America ---hey, it was something. 

                    THE FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD

       

IDC I FUCKING LOVE RAMEN AND ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE GOOD

                                                              

MINA SIAKO ARIGATIOU ...... MEOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

                                Now..............off to OSAKAAAAAAAA