asia - day 7 - rain rain go away

we booked a couple of free bicycles from the hotel because everyone in kyoto rides bikes. i haven't ridden a bike in years and i was scared... no, petrified. not only that but we were going to ride up to kinkaku-ji, the golden temple, and i had never seen the route before. i figured if we stayed on major streets, we would be ok.



we were fine but dog tired by the time we got to the golden temple. it was far AND it started pouring rain. even with our 100 yen rain coats, we got soaked. kinkaku-ji was beautiful but it was not exactly enjoyable because it was raining so hard.




we saw this little turtle walking around - i was afraid he would get stepped on because it was sooo busy and crowded.



it rained and rained so we decided we would try to wait it out. we hung out under the roof of a little building and took some silly photos. it didn't stop raining so eventually we had to move on.



two of my silly faces are almost exactly the same - can you spot which ones?



there was another smaller temple near the middle of the walk and it had a lot of vending machines selling fortunes and such. i find it odd but i guess money makes the world go 'round.



it was still pouring by the time we were done and we had to ride all the way back to the hotel. it was scary because it was downhill and i was trying to go as fast as i could to get out of the rain. the boy was fine because he rode holding an umbrella in one hand but i needed both hands to control the steering plus we only had one umbrella anyway.



when we finally got back to the hotel, we gathered our stuff and took the train to osaka. luckily it wasn't too far because i was absolutely exhausted. we checked into our osaka hotel in a lively area called dotonbori and headed out to find food.



we ate udon and sushi at one of the many restaurants. then we looked around and found a little pet shop with the cutest puppies! the first one reminded me of kimmy, my family's beagle. the second one looks just like a little toy. cuuuuuuute!




we got home and enjoyed another bottle of champagne and then we ate what would eventually become our favourite sweet treat - a crispy haagen dazs ice cream sandwich! oooh i wish these sandwiches were available in toronto.