Wabi-Sabi Temple Tour - Silver Temple
Another bus to the Silver Temple, this time passing by the art college Misato had attended years back.
We got off the bus after a short ride and looked for a place to eat. Misato remembered a very good soba restaurant that she used to go to when she lived in Kyoto, so we walked there. Just before going inside a large black luxury car pulled up and a hard looking man with a shaved head and wearing sunglasses got out of the car; it was an overcast day. He had a young, pretty woman with him.
I could tell by the look, the driver who stood beside the car and the way Misato stiffened slightly that he was yakuza, or yakitori-ya (the code word Misato and I came up with a few nights ago). Misato also whispered that he actually had a sticker with the name of his group on the back windshield.
We sat at the counter, sparing ourselves the unbearable pain of sitting cross-legged in the traditional style, as others were doing. Too tall and inflexible for that.
The soba was great! They gave each of us a bowl of their soup, a platter of veggies to add to the soup and a plate of warm soba noodles for dipping into the soup. Ross commented that he had not eaten anything bad yet. He mentioned several days before that he had not been crazy over the kushikatsu, but liked it nonetheless.
After lunch Misato chatted with the owners of the restaurant briefly then we walked to the Silver Temple. The building itself looked quite old and weathered; completely lacking the brilliance of the Gold Temple but matching it in majesty.
But the grounds were amazingly beautiful and serene! Thickly forested hills bordered the large compound and there were at least a couple of dozen types of moss grown there; there was a display showing the various mosses there.
Once again we all walked slowly through the grounds, admiring the trees & moss, taking in the sounds of the waterfalls and, yes, snapping dozens of photos.
On the way out Ross bought a package of incense. He had been talking about buying incense since we first went to Kiyomuzi Temple.
We got off the bus after a short ride and looked for a place to eat. Misato remembered a very good soba restaurant that she used to go to when she lived in Kyoto, so we walked there. Just before going inside a large black luxury car pulled up and a hard looking man with a shaved head and wearing sunglasses got out of the car; it was an overcast day. He had a young, pretty woman with him.
I could tell by the look, the driver who stood beside the car and the way Misato stiffened slightly that he was yakuza, or yakitori-ya (the code word Misato and I came up with a few nights ago). Misato also whispered that he actually had a sticker with the name of his group on the back windshield.
We sat at the counter, sparing ourselves the unbearable pain of sitting cross-legged in the traditional style, as others were doing. Too tall and inflexible for that.
The soba was great! They gave each of us a bowl of their soup, a platter of veggies to add to the soup and a plate of warm soba noodles for dipping into the soup. Ross commented that he had not eaten anything bad yet. He mentioned several days before that he had not been crazy over the kushikatsu, but liked it nonetheless.
After lunch Misato chatted with the owners of the restaurant briefly then we walked to the Silver Temple. The building itself looked quite old and weathered; completely lacking the brilliance of the Gold Temple but matching it in majesty.
But the grounds were amazingly beautiful and serene! Thickly forested hills bordered the large compound and there were at least a couple of dozen types of moss grown there; there was a display showing the various mosses there.
Once again we all walked slowly through the grounds, admiring the trees & moss, taking in the sounds of the waterfalls and, yes, snapping dozens of photos.
On the way out Ross bought a package of incense. He had been talking about buying incense since we first went to Kiyomuzi Temple.
posted by Aaron at 10:37 AM
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