Ryoanji

Myself and three friends went to Ryoanji on Saturday. It is a wonderful temple, with a very famous fifteen stone rock garden. Regardless of where you sit to observe the garden, one is always only able to see fourteen of the fifteen stones, and therefore, is never able to grasp the whole essence (of life). Although we arrived later than we planned, it was not too busy and we were able to sit for a while in relative peacefulness. We are definitely planning on returning early one morning. Moreover, since Ryoanji is far West, the area is much more residential and away from the busy (and noisy) downtown area. Nestled in the trees with the atmosphere of a community, I very much liked this part of Kyoto!

As we left the rock garden and tea house, we strolled off the main route through a landscape garden and paused to gaze at a lake. Here, a Japanese woman offered me fresh sweet strawberries. The fruit here is so juicy, sweet, and just delicious! She was very kind and wanted to share them with us. I wrote this haiku about the experience:

Choose a different
path and receive sweet berries
when sakura bloom.