okay. here's the ever-delayed continuation of trip. as in. set within kyoto last november 4th. enjoy! *winks*

as i think i said at the end of the first part, i woke up early in the morning and finished the necessary preparations. the meeting time was ten minutes to 7 at the corridor, and at the appointed time i opened the door of my room and was shocked to find my LP standing right in front of me. well, if she was waiting for me she should have knocked, right? i was freakin surprised but i hid it well anyway. *grins*

we went down for breakfast, which was what they call 'viking' or 'biking' - couldn't figure out which because they use the same katakana for b and v syllables. anyway, it's what we call buffet at home. there were lots of yummy-looking food, but having this small stomach of mine, i got to taste only a few of those treats. but it was a good meal anyway.

after the splendid meal, we went back up and went back down again to have the hotel send our luggage home. after that was the supposed free time, which i spent in my room brushing my teeth and tying my hair in a side-ponytail (since it was so bad if let loose). i still had a big clothe bag to carry aside from my small hand bag (which, by the way, my LP's niece claimed to have been hers. she said she gave it to the bazarre committee during their school festival. well, guess what? i indeed bought mine at their school festival, from the bazarre. *sweatdrops* really, it's an amazingly small world that we have under our feet). so anyway, we left the grand hotel, and headed for the not so grand trains. *shakes head*

do i need to say that i had to stand up and have my arms ache during one of the successive train rides? if your answer is no, then good, 'cause i don't plan on repeating what i've just said. let's fast forward on to the end of the train rides, shall we? although it's still a not so pleasant setting: we entered the comfort room only to find out that there's only one cubicle, so we had to take turns, like children lining up for the candies given away by the clowns at a birthday party, except the candies turned out to be an unpleasantly unclean comfort room in our case. after that, we rode taxis (my LP actually had the others leave me behind and the two of us rode together), and finally, we arrived at our real destination of the day (by foot, since the taxi had to stop at one point where there are too many people).

i don't know what the shop is really called, but the famous spot near it is the kiyo mizu dera, a temple that is built high above the mountains, and famous for the criss-crossing wood that holds the whole thing up. and there's also a spot a little down the mountain where people line up to drink water. i think those two are the main attractions of the place, except maybe a handful of maiko-san's walking around. (they are apprentice geisha. have you read The Memoirs of a Geisha? then you'd probably have an idea. it's the stage before someone becomes a real geisha).

guess what? i've been part of one of those attractions.

the shop wherein we first stopped is actually a restaurant, with a maiko-san make-over salon at the back. that's were we headed. as far as i can remember, we arrived there at about ten in the morning, and left at 12 noon. the preparations were that long. okay, let me give a brief drescription:

first, we changed into thin white robes. there weren't any males around so it was kinda fine. it was funny because we were changing behind one side of a white clothe, while on the other side there was this girl who just finished her preparations and were having her picture-taking. so anyway, we also wore the cute japanese kimono socks. it's white like normal socks, but wasn't made with the stretchy fabric so it really didn't cling onto our feet. it also has something like a sole, and there's a partition between the big toe and and other four toes. (weird description, sorry.) after that, we had our hair pulled back and captured within nets, and then we were asked to clean our face, i think it was with baby oil. yoshi. all ready for the make-up!

yup, you guessed it right. the make-up was white, pure white for our faces up to a little above our chests and with a design i've never known before on our napes. wow, i was amazed. then came the red for our eyes, lips and eyebrows (yeah, i was surprised with this one too), and of course there's the usual mascarra and stuff. and then the best part of the preparation: picking the kimono. *jumps around in enthusiasm*

my favorite colors are blue and black, but i've already worn yukata's in those two colors so i couldn't decide well how to pick my kimono. in the end, my LP picked one for me (or rather forced? just kidding). i was neutral about it at first, but after wearing it and judging from all of the people's reactions, i liked it. it's red, with all the flowers and stuff, and the bottom is black. oh, i just can't describe it with words! sorry. *flashes peace sign*

let's get on to the dressing part. above the thin white robe, next came another white piece, with red sleeves printed with bits of white. that was just for the top so a matching skirt followed. and then, there's this hard thing placed around my nape and crossed in front of me, and then kept in place by a strip of clothe tied around me. if i remember it right, the real kimono came next, tied around me with another strip of clothe, and then secured in place by a wide red clothe that was wrapped around my waist up to hip region. then came this pink hard thing above my stomach and small pillows on my back, and then the great obi in cream with gold flowers and design. i really loved that! there was an orange and green rope tied around the middle of my obi, with an ornament at the front and a circle of pearls. then came this red thing to cover up the part of the hard thing on my stomach that was peeking out, and last but not the least, the long continuation of the obi was secured behind me and hung like a great sparkling banner. *dreamy look*

the last part before completing the preparation was the hair. they have ready made hairs there, and they picked the one with the yellow flowers for me. it was itchy and heavy, but i like how it looked on me anyway. *grins*

before finally setting off, we had our picture taking. the first one was with a red japanese style umbrella, the next was with a ball, and the last one was with a fan. *ear-to-ear smile* i sooo felt like an artista at that time! *beams*

and so, off we went!



there were four of us dressed like maiko-san's - me, my LP's niece (in a white and gray kimono), my LP's pretty daughter (in a blue one), and my LP's son's wife (in a pink and purple gorgeous outfit) - walking with my LP, who was like a photographer because of the amount of cameras that were dangling from her body as she took the lead. we walked around the place until 2:30, the delay caused by multiple stops when foreigners and japanese people alike asked us if they could have pictures with us. grabe, feeling artista na talaga. it was so tiring but so fun at the same time. and i bet all those people never realized that i'm not japanese! there were even two filipinas who asked if they could have a pic with us. musta naman?

my feet were a little sore after walking for two and a half hours in that high wooden slipper, but i still managed a smile for our last picture outside the shop. we removed our outfit and washed ourselves, and i had to tie my hair again because it got frizzy, although my fringe was messy and i couldn't do anything much about it.

we walked for about eternity until we reached this place wherein finally, we had lunch. yasai tendon, as my food was called. it was delicious but way too much for me so it took me quite some time to finish it all up. we took another look at each other's studio pictures, and then decided to get moving.

we stopped by two shops, and i bought two packs of yummy food, which i later on decided to give to my other LP and to the akita family (my one-week homestay last october) since i'd be staying over their house again the upcoming thursday. the day was finally over when we decided to face the pain of crowded train rides yet again, although there was a break in which i got to eat a drool-worthy banana caramel cake. yum. we passed by USJ again in order to get to the bus, and my LP's niece bought takoyaki and gave a piece to me when we were settled in the vehicle. we said good bye to our other two companions after the cake-y dinner, by the way.

can't recall bits of the bus ride. i was sleeping like a baby then.

my LP's niece went down at iida, and i went down with my LP at matsukawa (almost leaving behind one of my pink earrings on my seat. it miraculously got detached from my ear). i stayed over at her house until monday. just slept in until sunday noon, visited her best friend sunday afternoon, and did my homework sunday night. the monday was a school day.

whew, all finished! glad i took time to write this. there are still many others that i want to write about, but they could wait until i find the time. *grins*

as for today, went to ina to watch my sister play cello, and hang round with my mom and grandma. and do you know that today is a very happy day? oist, happy 9th. *belat*

wee, finished this longer than i expected. gotta run. God bless and good night! *peace*