Forbidden City

I'm so excited to finally update you all on my recent adventures in mainland China! For those of you who don't know, the major social media and networking websites are blocked, which made it next to impossible to access most means of communication. As someone traveling alone, it can definitely be tough not to have access to most of your friends and family. Luckily, I had already generated some connections to show me the ropes in Beijing and give me a great tour of the the city's most popular sights, which made for a perfect distraction. On my first full day my friend He Gang and I headed to the Forbidden City. It was really helpful to have him along because he pointed out the subtle nuances and details in the construction of the Forbidden City. If you plan on visiting, I definitely recommend having a tour guide to show you around.

Be warned, though, tour groups can be quite large. If you can swing it, I would suggest getting a private tour. You can move at your own pace and ask all of the questions you want.

The central line of the Forbidden City. This line runs through the center of all of Beijing.
It also serves as the division between the men's and women's side of the city. 

One of the lions guarding the palace. This is the female lion, holding the cub under her paw, on the left side of the central line.

You can find 308 of these copper pots spread around the city. They were constantly filled with water in case of a  fire.
In winter time, these vats were covered with quilts to prevent the water from freezing.

This shot was taken in the Imperial Gardens. In all four courners of the gardens you will find pavilions that represent each season.

All of the gates to the city are outfitted with doors that have nine rows of nine golden door nails.
As He Gang described it, the number nine is considered the most powerful and important number in China.

Once you leave the Forbidden City through the rear exit, there are a set of royal gardens which I definitely recommend taking a walk through. If you climb to the top of the peak, you get a great view of the whole area. Unfortuantely, the pollution was on the high end of the scale that day, limiting the visibility, but it was still worth a hike up. 

The Forbidden City is definitely worth at least half of a day of your time. Before I visited, I didn't realize how massive the whole place was. You could easily spend your whole day there exploring the different halls, bridges and gardens.

For lunch, I went to Lei Garden in the World Trade Center. They have delicious dim sum!! None of the menu was in English, which prompted lots of communication via Google Translate, but it was worth fighting through the language barrier.

More posts on China to come!

Get the Look: Vest, Rugby Ralph Lauren // Sweatshirt, H&M // Jeans, Lucky Brand // Watch: Michael Kors

The Heart of Kyoto

Today was predicted to be hot, so I stuck with light, airy fabrics and some of my favorite accessories from Pinkyotto. I'm loving their new Fall designs, so definitely check out their new collection!

My first stop of the day was to Kiyomizu-Dera, which is a Buddhist Temple towards the outskirts of Kyoto. I took the City Bus to Gojozaka, and from there it is about a 15 minute uphill trek to the temple. I chose to go up the direction of the cemetery, which is the road less traveled, so to speak. I recommend going that way to start and then going down the main path to pick up a quick snack before your next stop. Once at the top, there were several different buildings, including the bell tower, three storied pagoda, and my favorite, the Kaizan-do Hall.

Deva Gate at the entrance of the temple.

Bell Tower 

Kaizan-do Hall

As I was walking to my next destination, I just quickly looked to the right and manged to capture a glimpse of the Yasaka Pagoda. This brief moment of luck is just a testament to the fact that history is around every corner in Kyoto. When you first arrive, there is the temptation to be discouraged because you are surrounded by modern architecture and neon signs, but once you do a little exploring, Kyoto's rich history starts to slowly reveal itself. 

The Yasaka Shrine, which is a Shinto shrine in the Gion district of Kyoto, was the next stop. This is definitely one of the more popular shrines in the city. The air was full of sounds of the bells ringing after many people paid their respects by making an offering (saisen) to the kami. 

The lanterns over the stage are the names of those who sponsor the festival every New Year.

Tonight is my last night in Kyoto and then it is back to the Conrad Hotel in Tokyo for one final night in Japan before I head off to Seoul.

Gt the Look: Necklace, Pinkyotto // Tank, Forever 21 // Cropped Pants, Pinkyotto // Belt, Pinkyotto // Shoes, Via Spiga

Konnichiwa Tokyo!

First stop on my tour around Asia: Tokyo! Moshi, moshi ah no ne. I honestly can't think of a better way to start the next three months. Customs and immigrations in Tokyo was a breeze. You truly experience the friendliness of the Japanese people the minute you step off of the plane. One of the not so great things about Narita Airport though, is that it is quite far outside of Tokyo, so you need to either take a train to the center of the city, or split a cab with 2 or 3 people. I picked up a Suica N'ex card to go from the airport to central Tokyo. This is a great option (roughly $50 round trip), and you get a Suica card pre-loaded with 2,000 yen, which is the card used for their subway system. I had to transfer at Shinjuku station, which was quite hectic. Luckily, a very nice young man offered to escort me to the Oedo line, in exchange for practicing English with him, which led me to where I will be staying for the next four days. After arriving at my apartment, I was out the door less than an hour later for dinner with two guys who I had met on A Small World. We went to Two Rooms for dinner and drinks. I recommend the Kiwi Mojito to start your night off; super refreshing. To eat, I had the Tsukiji fresh carpaccio of the day and the veal chops, which were both delicious. After being up for 30 hours and having a few cocktails, I headed back to my apartment and slept like a baby. 

When I woke up today, I headed straight to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. This is one of the tallest buildings in Tokyo where you get a 360 view of the city at the top. It definitely puts the size of Tokyo in perspective. This place is huge! 

On the main floor of the TMG, there is a tourist center where you can pick up guides for different portions of the City in English. I picked up a few for Ginza, Roppongi, Shibuya and the Harajuku area. I have a feeling I'll be back for some other areas in a few days. I decided today I would do Harajuku. The self-guided tour has your start at Omotesando station, which is just a quick ride from the TMG. Before trekking through the streets, I grabbed a quick lunch at Hiroba. Hiroba does a lunch buffet for 1,260 yen until 2:30. The organic Japanese buffet includes primarily vegetarian options, but they have meat options as well; descriptions are only in Japanese, but signs for each dish include cute drawings of fish, chickens, or pigs to help you figure out if animal ingredients were used. Everything was super yummy, and I recommend the little quiche squares that they have. So good!

After lunch, I strolled down Omotesando street and browsed in the shops. There is everything from Prada to Laforet, where I managed to pick up some fashionable souvenirs. 

The corner of Omotesando and Meiji-dori

After having a taste of the modern, fashionable world in Tokyo, I decided to switch it up and take in some of the more traditional sites. Just a 5 minute walk from the shops is the entrance to the Meiji-jingu shrine. This particular shrine is a Shinto shrine, which is the ancient original religion in Japan. After walking through the gate it is about a 10 minute walk to the shrine through a nice park. 

Before reaching the shrine, you encounter a few more gates and barrels of sake wrapped in straw. These sake barrels are offered every year to the enshrined deities to show respect. 

Before entering the shrine it is customary to rinse your hands at the temizuya. One of the guides told me the very specific wash instructions: First wash your left hand, then your right hand. Then take a scoop of water and wash your mouth with your left hand. After your mouth has been washed, rinse your left hand again, and finally rinse the water dipper. 

Once inside, it is frowned upon to take pictures of the area where all of the ceremonies are performed, but I managed to take a few shots of the surrounding architecture.

These are special votive tablets for personal prayers of gratitude toward the deities. 
They are hung around a divine tree with your wishes written on one side and then they are offered at Mikesai.

That about wraps up day one. Tomorrow I'm going to be exploring Roppongi and Ginza! More to come, mata atode ne!

Tank: Rag & Bone

Skirt: H&M

Bag: Marc by Marc Jacobs

Sunglesses: Chanel

Sandals: H&M