Osaka to Kyoto, about 40 minutes on a semi-express.
I think this is in Kyoto… The Kanji character on the hill is O, as in Osaka, and means big. And saka is hill. I think they light the whole thing up at night during festivals.
Random but kinda Zen.
The Golden Pavilion.
I like throwing five- and fifty-yen coins at these things. Something special about a coin with a hole in it.
Sumimasen.
Hai.
Basusutoppu wa doko desu ka? Ahh. Arigato!
Also, I didn't take some of these photos (the sharp ones). My friend did.
The Silver Pavilion.
Note the big sand pile. How Zen is that?
Bamboo.
I'm sure there's a pirates versus ninjas joke here.
This is the awesome Kyoto Station.
Notice the lights running down the middle of the raised ceiling. That's actually the bottom of a walkway. But what's great about it is the eleven story, four lane wide, open-air escalator that takes you up there. And it's pretty much just so you can see the view, the only other thing up there is a food court.
A taxi queue. Imagine waiting through that and then getting some cheap foreigners who only want to go around the block… :D I kid!