Ever wondered how a student lodging looked like back in the old days? In this pic, the lodging of a university student around the year 1930 has been recreated. I could imagine that students back then have worked really hard.. even getting admitted into a university was very tough back then

Cicada (or ‘semi’) is man’s best friend during summer season in Kyoto City. The sound of a group of cicadas is like ‘an orchestra out of tune’ and it’s all over the city. During this season, many kids go out to catch it, I don’t know what they do with it! By the way, this one in the pic is probably sleeping.. no harm was done to it

Japanese people surely have geared up for the hot-hot season in Kyoto by purchasing 'sudare' (or bamboo/rattan blind). The price seems to be pretty reasonable which explains why I saw every single Japanese carrying one the other day. I guess it blocks the sunlight and turns the hot air coming through it into moderately cold air. For me, the hot-hot season is much more better than winter!

Time flies! Seems like it was only a week ago I had to endure the winter season but already five months have passed. On the bright side, luckily I'm fully aware now that five months have passed, so that I can start thinking about the upcoming months. I'm guessing now that I'll be watching TV more (Olympics in three weeks time). At the same time, I better start planning some other things also..

Lessons learned from Rafael Nadal: 1) Never-ever give up (only on his third Wimbledon final he managed to capture the title). 2) Continue fighting and have confidence with ourselves (he said that during the interview even though he lost the 3rd and 4th set). For average people like us, this lessons are sometimes difficult to replicate but it's not impossible!

'Tanabata' is a Japanese star festival. Although it has a long history, at present people generally celebrate this festival by writing wishes (anything from health, wealth, studies, career, love etc.) on a piece of paper and hanging them as shown in the pic. Large-scale tanabata festival maybe still celebrated in some parts of Japan. I asked my Japanese male friend, "did u write your wish?", he told me that it's not cool for guys to do it..

Daimonji Mountain, Kyoto

A climb up this mountain was surely a tiring one especially for amateurs like us. A rainy day made it even worst. However after reaching the desired check point, the feeling was unimaginable. I was surprised to know that the 'giant green square' (see pic, indicated with red arrows) is actually Kyoto Imperial Palace. The fact that Kyoto is surrounded by mountains, which made it very cold during winter and very hot during summer couldn't be more obvious. For those who are wondering what are these kids doing.. they are actually spelling out the word 'KYOTO', Cayalah!