A Step Back in History-Kyoto

Our last and most favorite stop of the trip was Kyoto. We arrived into Kyoto Station from Osaka by the JR lines. Below is the gorgeous station that we were greeted with. Never have I been in such an innovative and futuresk (please excuse the creation of new words) public space.

This is the road leading up to the Kiyomizu Temple. While on a student exchange to Japan 10 years ago, my host family brought me to this same temple. It was so exciting to be sharing the same place with hubs years later.

Outside the entrance of the temple

Visitors light incense and try to cover their head with the smoke

Overlooking the city of Kyoto

Beneath the main hall is the otowa waterfall. Three different channels of water fall into the pond below. Visitors can hold long sticks with metal cups at the end and get a drink from these falls and get a wish granted.

There is a popular saying in Japanese that is similar to the states "take the plunge" and it is "jump off the stage at Kiyomizu". In the Edo Period (no idea what year that is) the tradition held that if you were to survive the 13 meter jump off of the veranda, your wish would come true. 234 jumps were recorded during that time with a 85.4% survival rate. It does not list, however, what injuries were gained by those who survived. Shockingly, the practice is not prohibited.

Late at night we would walk the streets of Gion which is said to be one of the last areas of Japan where geishas are still at work in the teahouses. Unfortunately, we were unable to see any for ourselves but the streets were a gorgeous mix of old and new that we loved to wander around.

After wandering around the streets for awhile, we started to wonder if geishas were real at all or if we were on the hunt for an imagined animal. At least we weren't alone. I'm pretty sure all the other foreigners walking anxiously down the street that night with cameras ready in hand were looking for the same thing.

My favorite site of all was the Fushimi Inari Shrine. It is a shinto shrine put in place in order to worship the God Inari, the God of Rice. Foxes are said to be its messengers which is why several fox statues can be seen along the trail. The large orange gateways are called toriis and there are thousands of them along the two hour trail. All of them are donations from individuals and businesses. Prices for the smaller ones start at around 5,000 us dollars while the larger ones start at around 13,000 us dollars.

 It was a gorgeous view of all the torii gates heading deeper into the forest. 

 

 The black lettering is the name of the donator and the date of the donation

We stopped briefly at the golden pavilion. It really has little history but it's a cool looking building in the middle of the water and there were about a hundred other people there taking pictures of it. I'd say it was worth it.

We stopped by a nearby temple for new years where they were setting up for a festival. We decided to come back when it got a little closer to the countdown. When we showed back up, the streets were packed with thousands of people with apparently, the same mindset as us. The police had barricaded the streets surrounding the temple so no one could get in until after midnight. When I think of sneaking into a place, often times a concert or some sort of show comes to mind. Apparently to people in Kyoto, the best place to try to sneak into is a temple. I guess 'sneak' is the wrong word. Jumping across barricades, running across lanes of traffic and dodging police is more along the right lines. The first few people were successful, the rest...were not. The police became pretty good at lunging at the hooligans and wrestling them to the ground, then proceeding to throw them into cop cars and haul them off to jail. It made for good entertainment while we were waiting.

A group of ladies at the temple all dressed up in their traditional kimonos.

Kyoto was by far our favorite stop in Japan. Around every corner was another historical site and another attraction to see. We had no problem filling up the short amount of time we were there. 

An Old School Metropolitan- Osaka

Our next stop was Osaka. to be perfectly frank, it was our least favorite stop of the trip. It was like every other big city, lots of shopping and eating. but this one had, in our opinion, few sites that we, personally wanted to see.

The major stop that we went to was the Osaka Castle. Unfortunately, this castle was also closed due to the new year. We were most impressed by the gigantic stone cut walls that surrounded the castle and formed the base of the castle.

Our next stop is aways my favoite when traveling. We headed to one of the popular nearby markets. They had large amounts of tea in huge containers so you could pick out your favorite and get a large bag of it.

 Inside the market was a small peaceful little temple.

 Rubbing the bull's head for good luck then going and writing good wishes for the new year.

We had a Japanese pancake, Okonomiyaki for dinner. I have no idea what all was in this but it was the most delicious meal I have ever had. It had mac and cheese, hash browns and a special sauce.

From the Textbooks-Hiroshima

This post is about a month too late so I hope the saying better late than never applies on this one. We have a five day weekend right now (i love Korean holidays) so we're enjoying getting to slow down and work on little projects around the new apartment. Ok so hubs is the one working on the projects, the blog is my only project and I've mastered the art of procrastination with it.

We went to Japan during our christmas holiday and flew into Fukuoka early Wednesday morning. We headed straight for the bullet train station to take the train up to Hiroshima for the first night. To get from Fukuoka to Hiroshima was only an hour train ride and man those trains are fast! But i'm sure you could've guessed that.

 Our first stop was the Hiroshima Castle. There was a gorgeous trail around the entire castle with a large moat around the perimeter. Unfortunately, we couldn't go inside because everything was closed for the New Year.

There were several men manicuring all of the trees. we just assumed that they grew this way, we had no idea that they had hired workers to make the trees look the way they did.

This was one of our favorite stops during our trip. The a-bomb building was actually the main reason we decided to stop in hiroshima at all. It was the only building that remained standing after the states dropped the atomic bomb on the city. The bomb was actually dropped almost directly above it and they say that it is part of the reason why the dome survived. Before the bomb hit, the building was known in Hiroshima for it's emerald green dome. It was amazing and so surreal to see this building after learning all about it in school and textbooks. 

We went late at night because we heard that it was all lit up and it made for a beautiful sight. The air around the building was hushed as people walked around, speaking in whispers. The picture below shows the before and after affect of the building. 

Haute Travels 2012!

This year, my Haute Travels blog is evolving to more than just where I travel; it’s all about a lifestyle. My blog is a place where I get to write about anything that inspires me or helps me discover something about myself that I can share with you.

My haute travels may take me to amazing destinations, cool places in my hometown or self-reflective moments that inspire and motivate me to live my life better. I’ll even introduce you to some friends, some famous others are more low key but nonetheless just as wonderful. But, they all have one thing in common; they teach me things about myself that inspires me to live in the moment.

Confidence, inner beauty and a great glow are the things that you take with you every time you leave your home. And yes, from time to time I’ll tell you about what’s new in Paris, London or my favorite little Islands in faraway places. And yes, I’m planning another Haute Travels Beauty event and fashionable night out event so stay tuned.

There’s just one thing left to say… Welcome to Haute Travels 2012!

Haute Healthy Hair for 2012

As you know, I started my hair evolution in 2011 with healthy hair strategist Robin Groover. We began working together last spring and the results are amazing. I’m completely Keratin-free and I will never put any kind of chemical back in my hair again. (Although I do add mininal color to keep my roots in check ;)

My golden brown tresses are all natural and extremely healthy and hydrated. My hair has grown tremendously over the last few months. It’s also a lot stronger and fuller thanks to frequent hydration therapy and Groove Therapy products.

In a few more months, my hair will get longer thanks to frequent trims and custom shampoo and conditioning treatments. Our goal is to grow it out to the middle of my back with lots of bounce and shine. Although, I'm in the hair salon about every 7 to 10 days on average... I have noticed that even if I can't get to the salon, my hair will still maintain shine and movement.

If I could give advice to girls who are struggling with their natural hair... I would suggest that you contact Robin at Too Groovy Salon in Midtown in Atlanta. She's the truth when it comes to beautiful, healthy hair first and style second. She is not only a hair stylist and product specialist but she really cares about hair and educating the consumer on individual hair needs. I've had a lot of great hair stylists take care of my hair but I have never had a stylist that invested as much as Robin... she's amazing!

What's your hair story?