Interior Design, Architecture, Communication Graphics, and Education by David Matthews

Today we woke up refreshed after getting much needed sleep at Nine Hours Hotel. We were also thankful that David decided to push our check out time to 9:00 am to give us two extra hours of sleep. After walking to the subway and realizing we were not at the close entrance we decided to take cabs. We enjoyed the views of the city of Kyoto on our ride to The Palace Side Hotel.

After dropping off our luggage we took trains to our destination. Upon arriving we split up for lunch. Some of us enjoyed fried pork and onions on a stick and green tea ice cream. Afterwards, we made our way to the Tenryuji Temple and had a scenic walk of a beautiful river with the mountains of various shades of green in the distance.

The Tenryuji Temple was fascinating. The gardens were large and plush with ample trees, bushes, rocks, creeks, and the mountains in the background. The group enjoyed sitting on the tatami mats in the large room that looked out onto the garden. The views were so soothing that the entire group was tempted to remain there to take a load off our feet and enjoy the cool breeze.

Next we walked through the Bamboo Forrest and were awed by the height and amount of the bamboo. The light filtered in through the leaves and was gorgeous. This area of Kyoto provided lots of impressive traditional ceramic pottery and bamboo shops.

We then arrived at Nembutsu-ji Temple at Adashino where we were able to appreciate the sea of Buddha gravestones since we were not allowed to photograph them. Afterwards we went our separate ways for dinner, which turned out to be a rather interesting experience.

Some of us went to the sushi-go-round where we were able to choose our preferred sushi from a conveyor belt or request a special order from a digital screen. If digitally ordered it would arrive directly in front of you via a miniature replica of the JR train. Once we were satisfied with our usual selections Rochelle had the bright idea to play “sushi-go-round of disgust” where everyone (except Piper) willingly participated. The group decided on a gag-alicious roll for each participant to eat. We then traded plates and ironically we all preferred each other’s rolls.