Kyoto Japan, Kinkaku-ji (Golden Temple)

Well I woke early Sunday morning to watch the Air Force - BYU game on CSTV.com. We had our chances and led 14-10 at halftime, but a fumbled kickoff after BYU went up 17-14 quickly then became 24-14. BYU then pushed the lead to 31-14 before my Falcons closed to within 31-24. Air Force had the momentum, and on the ensuing drive had BYU on 3rd down and 8, from their own 11... hold BYU here and get the ball back with a chance to tie! But BYU converted that third down and five plays later BYU went for the kill with a beautiful call, a 45-yard touchdown pass with 4 minutes left in the game.

Unfortunately, that was game over...

Fortunately the game ended at 8:30 in the morning here in Japan, so I ate breakfast, showered, and we were out the door for a beautiful day here in Kyoto, Japan! My friend, and fellow Olmsted Scholar, Will is a Naval Academy grad and his Midshipmen also lost a close one against their nemesis Notre Dame. So we both needed something to revive our spirits and make us forget about the games that just got away from us. A trip to Kinkaku-ji was all that we needed...

Bling, Bling!!

I'm currently on a little trip to Japan, and have stayed with fellow Olmsted Scholars in Kobe and now Kyoto while Morgan is back in Shanghai with the girls. Morgan and Tally came out to Japan last year with me and we visited Tokyo and Kobe. Like last year, I have some appointments later this week at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo, so we figured I might as well take a little time to see some more of the beauty of Japan while I'm over here.

So before starting this trip report to Japan... Morgan ROCKS! I love my wife!! You all would be so impressed to see how anybody could so effortlessly carry on with three kids under the age of 4 in China.

We went to Kinkaku-ji, one of the most brilliant places in all of Japan. This magnificent temple was originally built in 1397 as a private retirement home for the Shogun when he abdicated the throne to his son with the promise that it would be converted into a temple when he died. Kyoto served as the capital of Japan for a thousand years.

I don't think I could have followed my dad's wishes... I think I would have been tempted to keep this all to myself after dad died...

And with my "pimped out" bachelor pad I then probably would have had lots of girls in kimonos for added measure...
Just joking. These gals dressed up in traditional kimonos just to go around and take pictures with people. You can probably see their cameras... you can take a picture with them, but only if they can take a picture with you... that's a fair trade!

Back to the temple... this place is GORGEOUS! The trees have started to change into their magnificent fall colors. It's situated right in the foothills of the mountains. The air is crisp and clean so the sun reflects off the REAL gold leaf used to cover this temple. All you can say is WOW!

Here's another shot of the trees around the lake of this temple. It is just so beautiful.

A picture of my friend Will going up some steps in the surrounding park. Again, these trees are just beautiful.
Ok, one last look... this place is flat-out gorgeous!
The lake is appropriately named Kyoko-chi, which means "mirror pond." It definitely lives up to its name.

If you can believe, a crazed monk burned this place down in 1950. He was so madly in love with this place that he didn't want to share it with anybody else. Fortunately the Japanese government rebuilt it in 1955, a significant event considering that was only 10 years after World War II ended, and as you can tell, this is an expensive building to build.

If you're looking for a place to visit, I HIGHLY recommend Kyoto! I'll continue talking about Kyoto later, but I just wanted to share some pictures and feelings from one of the truly beautiful places on this earth.