Daley-sensei's Adventures in Himeji, Japan.

Much delayed, but here are some photos from the day in Kyoto! I'll write some more posts soon about some of the highlights of the first few weeks of the new school year here in Japan, as well as some photos I'll be taking on a trip to SPring-8 this weekend, so stay tuned! Toji Temple My first stop in Kyoto was to see Toji Temple (which I visited before in December for the massive flea market they hold there. I'll be doing some serious yukata-shopping there again come June 21st!). It was nice to see the temple during a sunny day, versus the rainy one it was the last time I was there. However, that darned temple is just about as impossible to photograph in daylight as it is during cloudy weather; it seems no matter what angle you try to take a photograph of it, it ends up looking like a big black box in the sky. The cherry blossoms were nice, though! And there were turtles everywhere; though they were only Red-Eared Sliders, which makes them an invasive species, but th

I don't think words can even begin to describe how incredible Spring has been so far in Japan! It is such a relief to actually be warm for once (which is now in the mid 60's for me). Everything you've ever heard about cherry blossom season in Japan is true: they are absolutely phenomenal! I've been doing a lot of travelling this week to experience the blossoms, and I have taken many photos! I'll sort them by locations, within different posts; all of these photos have been taken between March 29th and April 2nd. I still have some more trips planned for spring vacation, but I'm taking advantage of my first restful evening in the last week. The scaffolding is coming down fast at Himeji Castle! Sometimes you can see the castle peeking through the steel beams, and it still manages to look impressive despite the construction surrounding it. I've visited it twice so far this last week: on one day it was a bit rainy, and today it was just a bit cloudy instead.

I happened to be going by the Koko-en when the sun came out, and I couldn't resist the temptation to take photos of the gardens! There were so many kinds of flowers I had never seen before; I have since discovered that I can take--literally--hundreds of photos of flowers and still not get bored of them. Perhaps I've spent too long living in a desert, but I  really  like to admire flowers! The garden is very relaxing to visit. I love how the Japanese design and landscape everything so that everything is not only one with nature, but also the way it emphasizes the beauty of nature at the same time. A heron in the moat near the entrance to the Koko-en. He didn't seem to mind too much that I was taking photos of him. I think this is the best photo I've ever taken. What do you think? I might tweak it a bit in Photoshop at some point, but I don't think it needs much touching up. The branches are from a Weeping Cherry Tree, which are, in my bias

I decided that, since I've figured my camera out a bit, that I should properly try to take photos of all of the Buddha statues lining one of the main trails on Mt. Shosha. All but two of them ended up having their portraits come out nicely, so I'll just have an excuse to do this again sometime!  There weren't as many cherry trees at the top of the mountain as other parts of Himeji, but the ones that were in bloom stood out the more because of this. I have yet to be tired of looking at these beautiful blossoms! It's a shame they last only a couple of weeks, but I suppose that forces us to admire them more closely during their brief blooming time. While visiting the main three-temple complex from  The Last Samurai  film, I came upon a (secret) film set for a Japanese period movie. There were so many actors and actresses in traditional clothing! T