First sunrise

By then, we were almost half way into our trip, and still no good weather for sunrise or sunset shoot yet. That day was our day trip to visit the Himeji Castle and Nara park. As our itinerary does not start till 8am, I took a risk and ride the 5am train to Osaka Castle.

I was rewarded with the best sunrise yet. Clear sky, deep saturated colours that gradually changed from deep blue to deep orange. The only pickle: I cannot get anywhere near the castle! Such was meant to be.

This is my best attempt at the castle in the morning. Next to me was an old man using film camera. I did not want to invade his space but from what I can see, I think it was probably the likes of Canon A1 or Nikon F2.

Following which we had the shortest visit to Himeji Castle before the authorities install scaffolding around the castle for restoration. It will be another 3 years or so before they complete it. Till then.

Path of Philosophy

The rain came just in time to ruin my chance of shooting that moon bridge. Pardon me, I forgot its name.


After the rain, and lunch, we took a bus to the silver temple (Ginkakuji). From there we started the walk down the Path of Philosophy. It was only the first few days of the sakura bloom, so the number of flowers on the trees were limited. The number of trees having the flowers were also limited. 1 week from then, it would have been mankai (full bloom). Here are some pictures of the path and of Kyoto.

Day out in Kyoto

I have always had high expectations of Kyoto. It is supposed to be the embodiment of what is quintessentially Japan. The Geishas at Gion area, the temples, the rickshaws, the many folks walking about in Kimonos, etc.

But this day, my expectation was ever so high as we were planning to walk the Path of Philosophy under the cherry blossoms. More on that later.

We started off with very good weather. Blue sky. Nice cool breeze. Off we go to the Arashiyama area, to visit not the Tenryu-ji Temple, but the famed bamboo forest that I read about by chance. It is not easy to find as the guides did not explain its location well.

After some misadventures, we finally found it. And just in time, the rain came.