golden temple, monkeys, shogi

So yesterday, i traveled with Martin from Hong Kong and Takashi from somewhere near Tokyo (met at the hostel), and we bought a day-pass for the chikatestu (subway) and basu (bus). We went to Kinkakuji (the Golden Temple), famed for its precarious positioning in a carp-filled green lake nestled between tall hills full of beautifully colored trees in the autumn season. Apparently, our timing was perfect. The temple itself literally shines, and i swore they must paint it every day, or do something to maintain its luster. Afterwards, we journeyed to the Kyoto Monkey Park, which is basically a nature reserve and research station right outside the bustling city full of Japanese monkeys, or macaques. At the top of the mountain, the monkeys are fed sweet potatoes and fruits, and when you finally reach it, you are suddenly surrounded by monkeys, large and small, and screeching and marking territory and begging for food at the wire fence where tourists are allowed to feed them from specially bought plastic bags of apples and peanuts. I enjoyed watching the babies roll around with each other and squeak at their mothers, tugging emphatically at their long shaggy fur. After the park, Martin parted ways with us after a long sleepy bus ride and Takashi and i walked around the city center looking for bamboo craft materials for his friend, and we stumbled upon a long narrow market where mostly fish, tofu, tsukemono (pickled vegetables), and wagashi (Japanese sweets) were sold. Luckily, we also chanced upon a Nepali restaurant and dined there happily... i was thankful to finally eat some real curry. We traveled back to the hostel afterwards and spent the rest of the night hanging out in the common room, playing chess and drinking beer, coffee, tea, and whatever else we could find to poison ourselves. I almost tapped into the laundry detergent but decided against it--i dislike the smell of artificial citrus. Takashi taught me the marvelous game of Shogi, or Japanese chess, which is quite similar to Chinese chess in that all the pieces are kanji, but has the dissimilar characteristic of the concept of "powering-up" your pieces once they reach your opponents side. Much like the swapping of a brave pawn for a queen, but in this case nearly all your pieces can get upgrades. Simply sublime. Then i got three hours of blissful sleep, and before i knew it i was down here writing this. Cheers!