New Year's Eve

Though this is slightly a bit too late, but how did you spend your 2013 New Year's Eve? In fact...

for a start, I went to my favourite Buckwheat Noodles restaurant in Kyoto, Japan on the New Year's Eve of 2013. The name of this restaurant would be 'Honke Owariya'. (In fact, I was eating a rectangular shaped tidbit, also known as 'Soba Ita', which is made from Buckwheat Noodles right now. I was so madly in love with it that I could easily finish a box of it within an hour. By the way, each box contains 50 pieces of 'Soba Ita'.)

'Nishin Soba' This is indeed an infamous Buckwheat Noodles restaurant. The Buckwheat Noodles over here are pretty soft and relatively cheap. And the ingredients are pretty fresh and deliciously good. In fact, after giving this restaurant a try, it have greatly increased my passion for Buckwheat Noodles. However, why did the Japanese have the custom of eating Buckwheat Noodles on New Year's Eve? There's a Japanese saying that states that by eating the Buckwheat Noodles that are pretty thin and long on New Year's Eve symbolises longevity.

After having a delicious meal, I decided to
do a bit of window shopping follow up with...

the task of queueing up outside 'Kodai-Ji' temple. This queue is actually meant for the first 108 people to get a chance to strike the Night-watch bell of the temple on New Year's Eve.

From 11pm onwards, those that were selected one after the other will step forward and strike the Night-watch bell once. Why did they struck the Night-watch bell 108 times? According to Buddhism, 108 symbolises the number of desires that trouble the body and soul of a person. Therefore by striking the bell 108 times symbolise the process of removing all your desires and cleanse your body and soul.

A serious looking me...?

Some other photos that were taken in 'Kodai-Ji'.

After paying a visit to 'Kodai-ji'...to be continued

* Click here to find out more about the Buckwheat Noodles restaurant 'Honke Owariya'.
^ Click here to find out more about 'Kodai-Ji' temple.