Food

Sometimes in Japan you have no idea what you are eating.

Other times, you know exactly what you're eating.

Ryoanji

The last stop on our trip to Kyoto was to a temple called Ryoanji. It has one of the most famous rock gardens in the world. First are some pictures from the grounds.

Here's the rock garden. There are 15 stones and when you sit down, no matter where you sit, you can only see 14. When you stand up there are a couple spots where you can see all 15 if you look carefully. Many people say that this is representative of our imperfection and short-sightedness, especially when we are down in the world. But, as everyone knows, rock gardens are like literature and each person derives their own meaning from what they see.

We were all too busy playing with this little kid to really contemplate life from a rock garden though.

Here are some more shots from the hall and the grounds.

Kinkakuji

After Kiyomizudera we hit up another Japanese tourist trap: McDonalds (Makudonarudo). I got a shrimp burger. It was good!

Looks pretty normal, right?

After the meal we went to Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion. There's some legend behind this place, like an insane monk and love is involved or something. Or maybe that's just from a novel.

Foreigners!

I know you can't tell, but these fish were monstrous!