Hotel Fujita Kyoto

... headed off to Kinkaku shrine! Kasumi somehow didn't get us lost, and we finally came upon the place. I'll be honest, it was a bit more breath-taking than I expected. Wish the pictures did it justice.<br><br>We walked around for a while, through the area of the shrine in the forest, and I decided to splurge on some traditional Japanese green tea and snack. We ended up sitting there for a while, just relaxing and enjoying ...

... been able to actually visit a few of these places. They offer something the bigger cities don't. And that's, well, I guess... Awesome?<br><br>But first up is Osaka. Its not really a 'small town', In fact, it's the second largest city in Japan. If Tokyo is all bright lights, and Kyoto is all about sophistication, Osaka is about nightlife. Loud, Merry nightlife. Osaka is a Japanese Vegas. Yet it lacks the tackiness associated with Vegas and instead teams up with all things Asian ...

... nd oldest wooden structure; which is, impressively, due to fires *nd gener*l *ging, only one third of its origin*l size. Needless to s*y the visit w*s nothing short of bre*tht*king, *nd the surviving structure * true test*ment to J*p*nese *rchitecture. The Buddh*'s st*tue itself is just so liter*lly overwhelming in its sheer immensity th*t words c*nnot do it justice. It must be seen to be believed. An experience, I liken to the loc*ls *nnu*l L*ntern Festiv*l, 'Setsubun', which we h*d ...

... for two d*ys *nd spent the first d*y exploring Fukuok*: Which *ctu*lly only re*lly involved going to C*n*l City, * huge complex th*t h*s been n*med * 'city within * city'. It h*d ret*il stores from Gucci to Hello Kitty, Pokemon Centers, Hundreds of b*rs, * The*tre (Which w*s showing the Lion King music*l) *nd even Hotels. We ended up wondering *round *nd getting lost *nd eventu*lly found * Movie The*tre, *nd decided to go see Sweeney Todd. Lets just s*y, I ...

... country wide for its volcanic hot springs - some of which for bathing, whilst others still, though too hot for human flesh, are beautiful spectacles. Sulfuric steam seems to spout from every which drain, gutter and pipe available to it, rising above the houses built upon houses, adding a fantastic atmosphere about the quaint, crowded little town. Our first stop was the affectionately named 'Monkey Mountain Park', home to some 1,200 wild snow monkeys which roam about ...

... the neatest feature of the whole building. The giant planks had nails places under them in such a way that the floors squeak when someone walks on them. Dubbed nightingale floors, these floors were supposed to make the Shogun's residence "ninja proof." Some of the rooms, had small manacans to show how the shogun would set up court. It must have truly been a spectacle. Leaving the main building we were greeted by the intense sun and after a bite of walk came across a beautiful ...

... to walk along and browse the mountains of incredible tat inside the shops. There are loads of cats with waving arms and I want to get one just because they are so tacky, but the DH puts his foot down. Inside the temply, you could forget that you are in the middle of a city, as you stroll around neatly clipped hedges, carefully balanced fountains and raked-to-perfection gravel. <br>Outside, we found a shopping mall and went ...