bloggin from the bus

So, it's Friday evening and since I'm just sitting on a little bus driving back to Tokyo from Kyoto right now I decided that this would be a good time to write out my blog that I'll be able to post whenever I actually get back to Kamogawa. (turns out it is now Saturday afternoon)

After a really long day of shooting yesterday we were all super tired today, but it was a lite day. We went back to the temple that we shot at yesterday to just film some scenery around there for insert shots. I had a good time just sitting next to a pond watching frogs, lily pads, flowers, dragon flies, whatever it is that dragon flies turn in to (really creepy), and GIANT bees. It was a lot of fun and so peaceful. When we finished there we decided to do the tourist Kyoto thing.

Kyoto is full of pretty amazing old buildings and towers and gates and stuff. So we went out to eat at a place near the "largest gate in Kyoto". It's kinda funny actually because it is a HUGE gate that could keep out a massive army but the wall that it used to go with is now gone. So now it's just a giant 'protect you from the universe' gate sitting there screaming "if you want to get in 'GO AROUND'." Anyway, i got a kick out of it thinking that if there was no wall and an army showed up they'd say, "Crap that's a big gate, lets go home". It was beautiful and I knew right away that we were at a true tourist spot because two different people asked me to take their photo for them. One even explained to me how to use her disposable camera, much appreciated for sure!

After the giant gate experience we went to the first of two towers. You know the ones, the traditional Japan towers. The ones that you've seen silhouetted on everything about Japan that you've ever seen or read. Yeah, those ones. There was a lot interesting going on around the first one, tons of little shops, tourists, and general interesting people. Too bad I was with the whole crew so I couldn't just sit down and wait for the right person in the right place to make the right photo.My list of places in Japan that I want to go alone or with only one other person that also enjoyed taking photos, is growing large. Oh well, the crew is super fun, so it was alright. It's kinda sad that this is the last day that we shot with them. Just when we were all getting to know eachother and figure out how things worked together, it's over. Cheers to the crew!

After tower one we went to the second tower. I know your thinking Lord of the Rings....but don't! This tower I guess is a "world treasure".....at least that's David's loose translation. Either way, it's pretty special. It was rebuilt for the 5th time over 400 years ago. It's pretty darn massive so I imagine that they used to get pretty mad when someone would show up and destroy it, requiring a rebuild. Too bad they didn't build it up near that massive gate from earlier! There were two large buildings in the same complex as the tower that housed MASSIVE budda statue kinda things. Each building had a gigantic one in the middle and then a bunch of more normal sized big statues around of it other odd 4-6 armed critters, flowers, and other strand demon lookin things. "No photograph" sign.....AGAIN! I wanted to take photos just to rebel against such nonsense! I guess they're cultural treasures or something like that....not sure why that means they can't be photographed!

So, that was pretty much my day, pretty much fun in Kyoto for sure! Alright, well, it is nearly 10 and we have another over 2 hours of driving till we get to Tokyo. I imagine that we'll stay there tonight since Kamogawa is another 2 hours by train from there and they won't be trains running when we get there. Thanks for readin the blog again!