Nagoya castle, Aichi

A visit to this historic site was surely a memorable one. I came to know that the construction of this castle was completed in 1612. However, during the Second World War, most of the important buildings in this area were burned down and were reconstructed in 1959. Today, this monument is considered incomplete without a modern structure attached next to it (maybe many more monuments out there). The best known item associated with this castle are the golden dolphins (or kinshachi), which are placed in the castle roof

Udon

Some of my friends favorite 'udon' (noodles') restaurant. For me it was my first visit. One could get a hot bowl of 'udon' for as low as ¥280 (usually ¥600 'udon' is considered satisfactory with the addition of fried shrimp and other tempura). Pic 3, I assume indicate the freshly made 'udon' here. Finally the end product is a hot, simple and tasty 'udon' meal that can be very refreshing during the cold season

Kyoto Imperial Palace. I've posted before about this place here. This time around was my second visit with a group of friends to view the autumn colors. The color change is not fully complete yet, but we still enjoyed the beauty of nature in this area. More older pics can be viewed here

Dinner with Zuru-chan the other day, we choose a restaurant that is completely new to us and it served vegetarian food. This place turns out to be pretty cool. One of the things that caught my attention was the tag line for this restaurant which read 'Better is a dish of vegetables where love is, Than a fattened ox and hatred with it'. The main dish was so-so but the dessert was awesome. For more info visit here

Ryōan-ji, Kyoto

For an unknown reason, I did not find the stone garden interesting at all (maybe it's just me). A bunch of people staring at a bunch of rocks for hours.. I did not understand the meaning of it. Instead, I found the lake of Ryōan-ji more fascinating and worth the visit. According to Wikipedia (2008), when looking at the garden from any angle (other than from above), only fourteen of the boulders are visible at one time; it is traditionally said that only through attaining enlightenment would one be able to view the fifteenth boulder. I hope many people have attained their enlightenment after visiting this place, unlike me (sorry-sorry for not posting last week)