Chasing Sakura Day 7 - Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto

Assalamualaikum. Konnichiwa.

Semakin menjadi² kemalasan aku sekarang ni. Last week cuti Kaamatan dua hari, ada family day with our pekerja² tersayang. Tiap tahun memang buat on the 30^th. Kami declared itu as Labour Day budak² tu. Pastu sibuk berjimba attend wedding cousin. Walhal cuma satu jak kenduri. Selebih masa, aku berhuha di rumah. Luckily last week aku sempat published post pasal my recent (bangas a.k.a basi sudah sebenarnya) Chasing Sakura trip. Hari Ketujuh Part I gitu. Boleh baca di sini.

Sebelum jadi parah & makin banyak aku lupa, it's better for me to finish scribbling about the Japan trip as soon as possible. Ada Minah tu bakal mau jejak Jepang, sudah start jadi radio rosak. Bugging me to update more. Ngek!

After visiting Togetsukyo Bridge & Bamboo Forest, kami naik train & turun di Inari Station (JR Nara Line). Tempat ni orang bilang among the places yang mesti jejak di Kyoto.

10 April 2014

Fushimi, Kyoto

Big Torii Gate welcome the visitors. Since sudah ramai orang posing sini, aku decide untuk ambil gambar torii gate jaklah. Padahal ada jak aku posing tapi nan-buruk hasil so biarlah hasil jadi tatapan diri sendiri jak. By the way, entrance sini adalah free. 

Inari is known as the God of Rice among Japanese & Inari Shrine is the head of shrine in Inari. Since early Japan, merchants & manufacturers see Inari as the patron of business. Each of torii gates here is donated by Japanese business.
Source wiki.

Fox (kitsune) is regarded as a messenger. The one on the left is seen holding a key in its mouth at the main gate of the shrine. Key is the attribute for rice granary. 

The map. Instead of taking the suggested route (refer red arrow), we decided to skipped the main shrine (Haiden) & walk straight. Climbed few stairs, passed by a mini shrine before arriving at the path lined with thousands of torii. 

Ms P asked me how far we will be walking that day. And I told her we will walk up to the mountain. 

"Korang jelah naik...kitorang tak larat jalan jauh sangat. Kitorang tunggu kat tangga dekat gerai jual yukata."

"Ala tak adventure lah tak join naik sekali."

"Takpe lah Bie, kaki nak tercabut dah ni."

Truth is, aku pun ndak larat. And memang ndak da niat pun untuk naik sampai ke puncak gunung. Up there ada thousands of mounds for private worship so aku rasa ndak da kerja lah kan mendaki gunung mainly to see those mounds. Lain kalau memang datang untuk sembahyang atas tu. 

Se-orange torii gate. 

Torii tunnel path leading to the mountain.

One of the scenes in Memoirs of a Geisha was filmed here. Boleh relate sikit perasaan since aku suka movie tu! Watched it few times.

Group selca. Unfortunately, Ms H salah percaturan OOTD hari tu. Minah tu pakai trench coat color ala torii gate. Sudah serupa camouflage bila dia posing between gates tu semua.

Agak penat mendaki, stopped sini untuk minuk seteguk dua air. Boleh juga guna untuk cuci muka & kaki. Macam dari sumber mata air, tapi kami ndak da lah cuba untuk minum.

Punyalah susah untuk posing tanpa orang²an di sini.

Ada orang terpaksa pasrah dengan semua hasil gambar...of all days, she decided to wear her red-orangey coat that day. And blend oh-so-well she was with the gates.

Untuk yang berhasrat naik sampai puncak gunung, sila ikut jalan ke depan (arah Ahjumma tu semua). For us yang memang tiada niat untuk ke puncak, we took the left turn. 

Mini shrine.

Ni kalau autumn confirm lawa.

Rombongan budak sekolah. Explain why Japanese really appreciate & respect their cultures. Sejak sekolah sudah ditanam & terdedah with such things. Whilst budak sekolah kita, selalu trip adalah tepi laut. Dengar bunyi ombak rindu gitu. 

Area bawah dekat main entrance, ada banyak gerai jual different kinds of souvenirs & gifts. 

Kami cuma larat untuk limpas & tengok jak. Ingat mau beli replica torii gate untuk diri sendiri, tapi bila tengok harga; rasa macam hmm beli takoyaki lagi bagus ni. Cheapskate gila kan. Padahal bukan lah mahal sangat pun. Cuma ndak sure the necessity to buy. Alasan sangat.

Actually mula tu I planned to buy a pair of yukata here. Mau kasi frame & gantung di rumah. Just like the hanbok I bought in Korea. Tapi aku tengok design semua macam al-hambar jak. Ndak menarik di mata so terpaksalah lipat niat membeli tu kemas² dalam hati. Who knows next time inhsa Allah kalau ada repeat trip, ada design yang cantik harus aku sambar. Bukan mahal pun juga, dalam 1, 000 yen. For the sake of remembrance aku rasa berbaloi harga gitu. Kali ni ndak da rezeki, perhaps yang cantik semua sudah disambar orang. 

We spent nearly an hour here. Sudah berjalan sepanjang torii tunnel tu, kami duduk jap di tangga melepas penat. Sambil cuci mata tengok orang lalu lalang. No drama di Inari Shrine ni. Malar berdrama, otak pun penat berfikir tau. Drama jadi kalau si Err jadi panjat gunung tu. In which Ms P perli baik punya when she found out I lied to her about hiking up to the mountain. 

Next destination, Osaka! Before tu, bertabah hati mengangkut anak gajah dari Kyoto Station. Nasib lah kejap jak turun naik train. Ndak banyak transit juga. And first thing we did upon arriving Osaka, straight pi hostel & check in! Kami sampai ngam timing. Settled urusan check in, naik bilik rehat jap. 

Temperature dropped banyak gila petang tu. Awan mendung macam mau hujan. Angin penampar sudah mula tunjuk taring. Tapi sebab bukan selalu datang Osaka, kami tabahkan hati untuk meredah weather nan gloomy. Hujan ka ndak, itu letak belakang. We only have like one day to spend in Osaka. Masa adalah sangat berharga. But before keluar, aku pungut maps & brochures di lobby hostel. Sebab seriously, aku ndak study sangat pasal Osaka. I just wrote down the places to visit without specific directions. Nasiblah semua tempat tu pun dekat jak sama hostel. Direction pun bersepah di train station. 

Where did we go on our first half-day in Osaka? That I will continue in the next entry. Ngeh.

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