"Living Among the Geisha"

"We learn from history that we learn nothing from history."

-George Bernard Shaw

We did a couple of flying ninja kicks

into Japan's samurai

and geisha world,

inside the city called
Kyoto.

We consumed delicious
{over-expensive}
delicacies
and almost ate each other
for dessert.

Taking a bus west,

we somersaulted into a fairy book,
and were dwarfed by shadowy bamboo forests.

The gargoyles loved Liz's face so much,

they imitated it,

and now they may be stuck that way

forever.

In Nara,

we made deer friends of all sorts.

Sleepy ones.

Blind ones.

Curious ones.

And amorous ones.

Celestia loved our new friends so much,
she tried to join them.
But they knew how much we'd miss her,
so they gave her a hat to remember them by
and sent her on her way.
The dears.

Sembei crackers
are good to eat,
but only the people-kind.
Just in case you were tempted.

The beauty of Nara.
We're sorta cute too.

Though Japan has no holy day,
Sunday seems to be the favorite
for sacred, traditional rituals,
such as this one.
Doesn't the bride just glow?
So lovely.

Japanese houses are tiny

{in general}

thus, smaller dogs are popular,

resulting in pup packs.

What a happy little guy.

Utah has churches on every corner;
Kyoto has archaic shrines.

And, also, temples.
Right, Brooke?

I-I-I...

looked out the window

and what did I see?

Popcorn popping

on the sakura tree.

I'm seriously entertaining the thought
that the owners of this club
put up this sign
just to see tourists pose for silly pictures
like this.

Together,
we learned how traditional Japanese sweets are made...

...and even got to make some
ourselves.

Hitting the main streets,

we were dazzled by sparkly-haired boys

who either idolize David Bowie

or Mr. Cullen himself.

Perhaps both.

Though we loved our new deer friends,
we decided human ones were pretty nice, too.
Meet Leon,
a tri-lingual, Japanese-German
with a British accent.

And Leon's friend,
Hiroki,
a bi-lingual Japanese
visiting from a university in Tokyo.

Camera tag!

If you've been following previous posts,
you'll know Japan goes all out
on their sweets.
Crepes included.

Of all the shrines we patronized,
the Fushimi-Inari-Taisha
{1,000 gates}
was my absolute favorite.
Mainly because the guardians were
gigantic stone foxes,
but also because
the gates went up the mountain forever,
much more than 1,000.
So incredible.

The three fountains of Kiyomizu-Dera:
one for your education/career,
one for your longevity,
and one for love.
You're allowed only a single drink,
so, which one would you choose?




{Music via Caro Emerald}