Nothing bad happens to me...unless its ironic!

I have seen shrines and temples here in Kyoto built to appease gods of fire, water and lightning. Yet I have seen none trying to appease the gods of irony. I think I may well build the first one...

I had a lovely day hiking, I really did. I began at Nanzen-ji temple, which was yet another slightly too expensive for a rather touristy sight type thing. Despite being known as one of the top 5 zen temples, it felt distinctively un-zenny. However, lonely planet recommended a sub-temple higher in the mountains, which barely anyone visits, so I went to check it out. I figured that being published in lonely planet would mean its secludedness would have all but vanished, but I was shocked to find a completely abandoned shrine complex. Every romantic image of trekking around suddenly came true...I was praying at a shrine in a moss covered forest, I was inside a dark cave cut into the side of a mountain, I was napping on the top of a cliff with the warm sun on my face.

I then walked through the mountains, past yet more graveyards (photos of all this will come soon), eventualyl finding my one on the other side. Monks popped out just in time for me to listen to their chanting while I walked around what really was a lovely, secluded zen temple, and the sound of the bell rang throughout the entire garden. I took a walk to the bus-stop via the "Philosophy Road", a quite path made famous as the walking route of a well-known philosopher. And philosophical it is indeed.

But, the ironic part of the night lurks in the distance, the reason I can only use this computer for a very limited amount of time. You see, after dinner (some strange chicken, rice, raw egg combination), I pay and walk toward the McDonalds. Not very cultural I know, but I'm trying to live on a budget, and a $1 snack (cheeseburgers and McChicken burgers, as well as fries and stuff, are $1 here) to make up for a rather small dinner seemed like the smart thing to do. When I reached the McDonalds 10 minutes later however, I couldnt find my wallet to pay for my delicious snack. I started looking in my bag for it, and thought to myself:

"Its alright, I can't have lost it...I never lose anything important".

As soon as I thought it, I realized with horror what I had done. The gods of irony descended on me quick as a flash, destroying whatever chance I had of not having lost my wallet. It wouldnt matter now if my wallet was in my back pocket, irony alone would now ensure it was forever lost. I retrace my steps twice, but cannot find it anywhere. Oh, ye mighty gods of irony!

A little annoying, but not a disaster. I had $70 cash in my wallet, and my drivers licence. But my ATM cards, my passport and so forth, were all in my money belt thing, which I still have. I put them there because I always knew I would lose my wallet at some stage, and now that preparation has paid off. Still, losing $70 is annoying, especially when I just spent $20 on a bus ticket for the rest of the week. I'll check the police tommorow, but until then I have 0 yen, just a smile and a pocketful of dreams. Therefore I had to borrow 100 yen to use the computer, in order to tell you that I don't have 100 yen. Ah, the joys of travel!