Horses Of Courses
On Sunday the 'rents and I went to the temples on Mt Shosha near Himeji. In order to get to them we took a ropeway up the Mountain.
Below is the Bell of Benevolence which you ring in the hope of world peace. We all had a turn 'cause it sounded cool!
This is the main temple, as you can see it is pretty dramatic but I was surprised to find that the view from it was really nothing special. You would think that if you went to all that trouble to build something in such a position you would give it a matching outlook!
Here's the entrance of the main temple and some shots of the interior. The Buddha statue you can rub with the big drumstick-like things for luck or you can touch a part on his body that is injured on yours and then touch your own injured body part to promote healing.
Then we had a walk around the rest of the temple complex before taking the cable car back down.
After we returned to Himeji we visited the gardens next to the castle. Inside we explored the themed gardens and then stopped to have a mini tea ceremony performed for us. The pictures below are of dad and mum at the ceremony, me in one of the gardens with gardeners in the background and the castle in the background of one of the gardens. As you can see the Autumn leaves are just starting to turn so I am hoping for some good shots of them in the coming weeks.
After the gardens we found a big pottery market that we wandered around for a little while and then we headed back to Kakogawa. We tried to find somewhere for dinner but many places were closed so we kept going back towards my apartment and in the end we ate at the restaurant across the street from my building! Luckily it turned out to be a new experience anyway, we ate at a table with a mini barbecue set in the middle of it and grilled our own meat. It was very tasty but made us all rather warm!
On Monday I had my first riding lesson and the 'rents came along to watch. I really enjoyed it and it was great to be back on a horse. I felt a bit of a novelty as many staff members and students came to say hello, in English, I really don't think I need to worry too much about not speaking Japanese. I also discovered that one of my students also rides there, as I was taking my lesson a voice suddenly called out hello, so I asked her to please introduce herself to my parents, it was nice that they got to meet one of my students, even if it was on strange territory!
Here's a picture of some of the facilities, certainly leaves my previous riding clubs in the dust and that's just for the horses! In the clubhouse there is a locker room with several showers, a cafe and an equipment shop.
After my lesson we went back over the bridge into the main part of Kak and had lunch and then it was time for mum and dad to head back to Kobe :( and then the airport :( :(, while I made my lonely way home. Awwwwww.
Below is the Bell of Benevolence which you ring in the hope of world peace. We all had a turn 'cause it sounded cool!
This is the main temple, as you can see it is pretty dramatic but I was surprised to find that the view from it was really nothing special. You would think that if you went to all that trouble to build something in such a position you would give it a matching outlook!
Here's the entrance of the main temple and some shots of the interior. The Buddha statue you can rub with the big drumstick-like things for luck or you can touch a part on his body that is injured on yours and then touch your own injured body part to promote healing.
Then we had a walk around the rest of the temple complex before taking the cable car back down.
After we returned to Himeji we visited the gardens next to the castle. Inside we explored the themed gardens and then stopped to have a mini tea ceremony performed for us. The pictures below are of dad and mum at the ceremony, me in one of the gardens with gardeners in the background and the castle in the background of one of the gardens. As you can see the Autumn leaves are just starting to turn so I am hoping for some good shots of them in the coming weeks.
After the gardens we found a big pottery market that we wandered around for a little while and then we headed back to Kakogawa. We tried to find somewhere for dinner but many places were closed so we kept going back towards my apartment and in the end we ate at the restaurant across the street from my building! Luckily it turned out to be a new experience anyway, we ate at a table with a mini barbecue set in the middle of it and grilled our own meat. It was very tasty but made us all rather warm!
On Monday I had my first riding lesson and the 'rents came along to watch. I really enjoyed it and it was great to be back on a horse. I felt a bit of a novelty as many staff members and students came to say hello, in English, I really don't think I need to worry too much about not speaking Japanese. I also discovered that one of my students also rides there, as I was taking my lesson a voice suddenly called out hello, so I asked her to please introduce herself to my parents, it was nice that they got to meet one of my students, even if it was on strange territory!
Here's a picture of some of the facilities, certainly leaves my previous riding clubs in the dust and that's just for the horses! In the clubhouse there is a locker room with several showers, a cafe and an equipment shop.
After my lesson we went back over the bridge into the main part of Kak and had lunch and then it was time for mum and dad to head back to Kobe :( and then the airport :( :(, while I made my lonely way home. Awwwwww.
posted by nokillingkenny at 9:37 pm
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