So! Today I went to see another very big Buddha, this time the largest outdoor Buddha. It's in Kamakura, which takes about an hour to get to from Tokyo on the regular train, with stops. So it's not bad at all. We didn't even know there were green cars on that kind of train, so we sat in the regular part of the train, but it was fine because we had seats. I spent a good portion of the ride watching this really cute baby next to us ._. it was so cute!
I actually wore a light sweatshirt for most of the day today because it was very cool. It rained all morning but eventually let up, which is when we left. When we got there, we went down a shopping arcade by the station and ate at a good Chinese restaurant, though it was definitely Japanese-style Chinese. I only sort of understood what I was ordering, heh. But it tasted good. Then we went back to the station and took a bus over to the site of the big Buddha.
It was really cool! :< It had a nice patina on it and was just very nice to look at. The surroundings were also very pretty... the trees there were nice. There was also a big hill (small mountain?) in the background. You could even go inside the Buddha! We went in and climed up the little staircase. Inside they had a display about the way the Buddha was cast and put together in sections. There was another staircase that led a little further up, so you could look out some windows in the back of the Buddha, but it was blocked off. ._. I did a thing where you try to stick a 10 yen coin somewhere inside the Buddha, which is maybe supposed to bring luck? But you can't just set it on the ground or something, you have to find a spot on the inside of the sculpture. I found a little creavace and stuck it in :< but I liked seeing where other people managed to get theirs.
Afterward we walked down the street to Hase-dera Temple, which is home to a very large statue of Hase Kannon, a Bodhisattva. Sweet potatoes are big in these parts, probably moreso right now because of autumn. ._. I got some sweet potato chips and cakes at a little shop.
A few stores down we got hot, giant rice crackers... like the ones we got in Asakusa, only big. They wrap it in a piece of nori. Even though I was so full, I ate one anyway. So good ^_^ That's me with my half-eaten giant cracker. I look a little weird in that picture but oh well. :<We got to Hase Kannon, which ended up being really awesome, and not just for the statue. The grounds of the temple were awesome, built into a hill. The whole place was a garden which apparently is all abloom (abloom?) with peonys and other pretty things during the spring. Even now, there were nice flowers and trees all over. There were these caves with many alcoves full of statues... I really enjoyed ducking my way through there. It feels like a secret only you know about :< except everyone knows :<<<
The Kannon statue was huge and awesome, all covered in gold leaf. You couldn't take photos inside the cave or any of the temple buildings ._. so no pictures of the cool stuff. But outside the statue building, there was an area overlooking the sea, which was very nice. There was a hawk flying overhead which was a little terrifying o_o;
After exploring the grounds (and its giant spiders x_X; eew) we got back on the bus and went back to the station. We walked down to the main street for shopping for souvenirs, etc. It was divided in the centre by a sidewalk lined with cherry blossom trees... obviously Kamakura would be really awesome in the spring time. We got some dove-shaped cookies that are a thing there, and also they're cute ._. We also explored some stores full of pieces of a particular type of carving from Kamakura, which is all a deep red colour. Mrs. Black got a nice vase on sale for a good price... generally the pieces are very expensive.
At the end of the street was a shrine, which we decided to investigate. It ended up being a really beautiful place. The pond had awesome birds I've never seen before ._. and there was a gigantic ginkgo tree (it's on the left in the photo). The main building sat at the top of a set of stairs, which is picturesque, if not a little tiring, heh. I remember reading somewhere that at this particular shrine, there are practicing monks... and indeed, when we went there, there were chanting monks. There was also another monk in a side room using a computer, which was kind of funny :<
We wound back down the street and cut over to the busier arcade that we had eaten at earlier. I had been looking for some soft-serve in a flavour I was in the mood for, and when I found a store that specializes in different types of honey, I knew their ice cream would be for me. So I had honey flavoured soft serve... it was really good! Just enough flavour. ^_^ We looked over some awesome umbrellas, too, but like all the awesome umbrellas I've seen in Japan, I didn't choose to invest in one. They can get quite expensive. Mrs. Black got one, though, to replace one she left in a cab (oops). Umbrellas are a big deal here because of the urban environment, I guess, and they're just very practical. People mostly carry the long umbrellas with a handle. There are umbrella lockers in a lot of places like museums, and most stores have at least an umbrella stand, but usually it's a plastic bag system. There are long skinny plastic bags and underneath, a trash can for the used bags (only!). Some places have fancier versions where you stick your umbrella right into a hole in a box and pull it out sideways, and you have a bagged umbrella. I like all these sorts of things :< Kind of like how I like coin lockers, hee.
Anyway, we made it back to Shibuya without incident. We stopped at the Tokyu food show (I WILL MISS FOOD BASEMENTS A LOT) before grabbing a cab. I got a mango mousse thing at the basement, but it was nothing to write home about, uh... as it were. The fresh mango on top was awesome though.
Tomorrow is Ghibli day! I fell asleep writing this post so I'm actually finishing writing it on Ghibli day, heh.
