Cherry Blossoms in Kyoto, Japan

Kyoto is the heart of traditional Japanese culture and the hills here turn pink during the cherry blossoms. After our visit to Osaka and Himeji Castle, this was our next stop. To this day, Ryoan-ji is one of my favorite places in the world because of the sight above. It's impossible to capture the moment in picture or word, but my friend and I entered the temple a bit burnt out from a day of temple hopping, turned the corner to see this cherry tree over the Zen garden, and were speechless. Literally. We both sat down and turned our full an complete attention to the scene.

I earnestly believe that we seldom truly experience the world around us. It's actually a skill that needs active practice because it's easy to get caught up in either the past or the future, instead of the present. In short, we think too much and it keeps us from truly experiencing the world around us. On top of the challenge of simply being present, we also add ourselves to our perception of the world. At a very basic level, even adding names to what we see around us is a distortion of a type because it adds values and associated concepts to the object being viewed. True experience wastes no energy on what is not there and instead focuses all the senses on everything around you. That might sound like a stretch, but this garden was built in part to help attain these types of true experiences through their use in Shikantaza, which is part of Zen Buddhism and is the practice of "quiet sitting in open awareness, reflecting directly the reality of life". We fell into some version of this when we were there and only left after someone politely let us know that they were closing for the night.

There is so much more to Kyoto than just cherry blossoms and Ryoan-ji. After the break, we'll continue the sakura festival and take a look around Kyoto.

(Some) Cherry Blossoms by Himeji Castle, Japan

Himeji Castle is located about 50 miles outside of Osaka and is an easy day trip from the city. By train, it's about an hour and a half and $20 and there are plenty of options for getting there and back at all hours except early morning. We arrived after the peak bloom when most of the petals had already fallen, but the castle is worth a visit anytime. Unlike many castles in Japan which have succumb to fire or destruction by war, this is a 400 year old original. It's the quintessential Japanese castle. 

Cherry Blossoms in Osaka, Japan

In Japan, cherry blossoms are more than just a mark of a new season. They are as deeply part of the national identity as Mt. Fuji, but to really understand the connection that the Japanese have to these blossoms requires seeing it in person in Japan. In my case, I visited in 2009 and found out for myself, completely on accident, how wonderful the Japanese sakura season is.

When I purchased my tickets to Osaka, I hadn't thought about timing the visit at all. I simply wanted to see Kyoto and the Kansai region and found a tremendously inexpensive fare that made it possible ($437 roundtrip). My friend and I arrived at night in Osaka and it wasn't until the next morning that we realized that the cherry trees were in bloom when came out between the skyscrapers and onto the grounds of Osaka Castle. We had obviously arrived just after the peak bloom, but there were plenty of trees left full of blossoms and when the wind blew the sight was like pink snow on a warm breeze. It's very easy to see how the Japanese fall in love with the sight generation after generation and have integrated it into their landscapes and identityover the centuries.

Osaka is a wonderful place to visit. It's a blue collar town with a great baseball team (The Hanshin Tigers: Win or lose Tigers Pride!) and a fantastic food culture. Osaka is actually the epicenter for food culture in Japan partially because of it's blue collar heritage: Merchants in Japan were at the bottom of the traditional caste system in the 1800s because money was considered to be corrupted or dirty. However, while successful merchants had plenty of money they were not allowed to flaunt their wealth directly or own form land. Instead, they showed status and wealthy by spending on art, food, and non-obvious luxuries like silk linings to otherwise mute clothing. As a result, Osaka's food scene flourished with the patronage of wealthy merchants. The canal district, Dōtonbori, is still a flourishing restaurant and entertainment district that offers something for everyone: There are street vendors serving up takoyaki, walk up booths with snow crabs, open charcoal grills for do it grilled meat, and a wide range of restaurants for any price range.

From Osaka, it's easy enough to get to Kyoto, Himeji, and the rest of Japan via bullet train. Next time, we'll take a look at the last blossoms at Himeji Castle, one of the last authentic ancient castles of Japan (most other castles like the one in Osaka are reconstruction). After the break, more photos from my trip to Osaka!

McDonald's Around the World: Breakfast in Kyoto

Awhile back when I was in Japan (which will be the focus of the next couple travel posts), I decided to drop by and try the McHotdog that I saw advertised on the subway. A McHotdog is nothing I would expect to see in the states, so this was perfect to satisfy my curiosity. I waited until we reached Kyoto and since there was a McDonald's on the way to our bed and breakfast, I decided I would swing in and get one.

When I walked up to the counter and tried my best to the little functional Japanese I knew ("McHotdog o kudasai!"), the woman behind the counter started looking a little nervous. After a moment, I figured out what she was trying to tell me: The McHotdog is a breakfast only item. Who knew?

I came back the next day and was successful in my quest to try the creation below. It was actually not that bad, but odd to think that it belongs next to a McMuffin.