Fushimi Inari Taisha

The next stop we went to was a shrine in the southern part of the city, about 15 minutes taxi ride from Kiyomizu-dera. A smaller complex, but a fascinating one none the less.

Fushimi-Inari Taisha is a tribute to wealth, located at the bottom of Mount Inari, along a path leading up to the top. Here, local businesses put up tributes in the form of square arch lining up the path called the torii. All the arch in turned was coloured orange, making a straining contrast to the lush greenery of the surrounding area.

Traveling to the temple from Kiyomizu-dera

The main tributes here was for the God of Rice, as this is the main form of food in the region. And along with the rice come sake. At the entrance, there were barrels of the stuff on show. Not sure if they were filled up though.

Another feature was there were plenty of statues of foxes at the bottom of the hills. These foxes were guardians of the shrine and they have keys in their mouth to signify their role as protectors.

Sake barrel lining the entrance as tribute to the Rice GodsThe torii were all painted in glorious and distinctive orange tingeBy the main entranceOnce you reached the foot of the hill, you have a choice in terms of how far up the you wanted to climb to. To go up right top, it would take at least three hours. SInce we didn't have all morning, we decided just to take a leisurely stroll forming a loop leading back down to the entrance, all within 45 minutes or so.

We didn't hang around too long here as we wanted to get to the famed Golden Pavilion next, and we planned to take the underground train and taxi to get there. Therefore it would have taken a bit longer to travel to next destination. Not much lingering around here.

More entries from my Kyoto trip here. The slideshow for the Fushimi visit here.

The Day Before

Wow! The myth about today being a slow day had been shattered. My clinic this morning was full, and being on call today, I had admissions coming into critical care bards already. Emergency Room also looked filled. Hopefully not many admissions as I planned for a slow day leading up yo the election day tomorrow.

I will be voting at Bukit Antarabangsa. And after listening to scary stories from colleagues who had their name disappeared from the registry, I was keeping my fingers crossed. On the blast check, my name was up. Hopefully, there would be no surprises tomorrow.

So, a quick early morning ward round first thing tomorrow morning, followed by a drive to my Mum's and we planned to vote there with the rest of the family.

Wishing for a peaceful voting day ......

Dull Day. Weatherwise.

Friday morning. A couple of days before the General Election. Weather? Dull. And I was stuck in clinic, waiting for some blood results. Really could use some coffee after the busy Labour Day call, and bad traffic heading into Subang this morning.

The worse thing was, I would be on call again tomorrow ...... Dull week ......

Morning Suns

Yes, the venue was sub-par, but the location of the hotel was to die for. With my room facing the glorious sunrise - I had always preferred sunrise to sunset - I was treated to brilliant spectacle on each of the morning I was in Penang.

If not for the flags and manifesto lining the beachfront - the General Election was due in a week's time - I would have happily enjoy a morning walk in front of the hotel. But, maybe next time ….

Gurney Down

I was rather disappointed with the current state of Gurney Hotel, the venue for our recent Haematology Meeting. The place had certainly been run down compared to what it was back in 2010, the last time I was there. It needed proper maintenance, or to put in bluntly, it needed proper management. The current crop should hang their collective heads in shame.

In the past, the food was reasonably good, the state of the room were well above average, the jacuzzi in the main bathroom suite was in working order, and the internet actually was of broadband speed.

Now, the food was dreadful, the room was stuffy, and even the air conditioning was not working properly. I had four air-conditioning unit in my apartment, and only one remote was available. My room lacked proper lighting, I couldn't even get any work done. And the internet …… I was sure you could get faster speed in North Korea.

The other thing which actually irked me was the lift. The hotel had almost 30 floors, but with only 3 lifts for the patrons. The less I elaborate the better I thought …..

But the main reason why I was strong in my criticism was the fact that the hotel wasn't not able to cope with the 550 delegates - and 31 pharma booths - for the event, despite claiming that they could easily manage 750. Bold claims, but couldn't deliver ……..