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Picking up from yesterday's “KidZania Visit #3, Part 1” about last Friday's visit to KidZania, Anthony and Gen were waiting to start their stint as dentists....

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1800 — map & image data — nearby photos
“You Go Ahead, You Won Fair and Square”

The worker had talked to them a bit, then they did a quick paper-rock-scissors competition to decide something, and the photo above was when Anthony apparently won. From what happened later, I think it was to decide who would be the doctor, and who would be the assistant.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Suiting Up
even though my dentist here in Kyoto is female, I'm guessing the mask colors are to remind the staff who's playing which role

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Patient Triage

Since Anthony and Gen were a pair, the staff let the little girl perform a procedure by herself while Anthony and Gen waited, so they could work together when it was their turn. Just for context, here's what it looked like from outside, with Anthony and Gen waiting to the right of center...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/4, ISO 5000 — map & image data — nearby photos
View From Outside
all the photos of the inside are though the thick windows

Then it was time for Dr. Anthony to perform his procedure...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/4, ISO 2800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Gen Prepares the Patient

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/200 sec, f/4, ISO 5000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Drilling for Oil

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/200 sec, f/4, ISO 2000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Preparing to Stick.... er.... Something In There

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/200 sec, f/4, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Final Touches

After the dentist experience, they wanted to drive a train, which Anthony did six months ago and Gen had done on his prior trip as well. This involved a 45-minute wait, but they really wanted to do it, so waited. And just like during some down time toward the end of his first day, he took the opportunity to check out his financial situation...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/1.8, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Tidying Up The Wallet

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/40 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Waiting To Start Their Shift

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/100 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Off To Start The Day's Work

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pre-Shift Pep Talk

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
About To Start His Run

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Employing Shisa Kanko
for added safety

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/125 sec, f/4, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Teamwork
three-year-old conductor with microphone in the background

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Best View I Could Get
by stretching way over a railing and holding my arm waaaaay out, snapping the picture blindly

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm, cropped — ¹/50 sec, f/2.5, ISO 720 — map & image data — nearby photos
“Hi”

Meanwhile, Gen was driving a different train, in an even-more-difficult-to-photograph location...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/50 sec, f/2.5, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Checking That The Doors Are Closing

And that was it for their KidZania day. On the way out, Anthony stopped by an ATM to withdraw his money, and the colors were rich...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/1.4, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nom Nom Nom...

On the way home they ate the rice balls they'd cooked/frozen (which had by this time thawed).

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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Flight School at KidZania
Anthony and Gen are first and second from the right

Anthony's school had a day off last Friday, so I took the opportunity of him having a free school day to bring him to his third visit to KidZania (the amazing kid place that I introduced in this post). Anthony's friend Gen joined us, for his second visit.

I had Gen decide which would be the first event, and after considerate consultation with Anthony, flight training won out over what was apparently a close contest with being a police officer. Anthony was excited by both options, though both had done flight training before: Anthony's prior flight-training experience.

This little girl standing with the tall boys in uniform was too cute to pass up:

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/60 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos

A quick reminder about KidZania and these pictures (and all the pictures in posts on my KidZania category): all the kids wear ugly but hygiene hair nets when the job uniform involves headgear. Also, everything is set up for the kids, and parents are left with poor vantage points from which to watch or take pictures. Photographic challenges involve poor lighting, mixed lighting, and vantages often blocked by fingerprinty glass. I didn't want to be weighed down this time, so brought only three lenses (Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 and 50mm f/1.4, and a Voigtländer 125mm).

That being said, the next event was the easiest to photograph...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/200 sec, f/4, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Checking The Gear
freelance photojournalists

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 4500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Pre-Assignment Group Photo

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.2, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
On A Photo Hunt

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.2, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anthony Grabbing the Action

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/1.4, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Gen's Steady Eye

After a few minutes out in the “city”, they come back and pick one photo to print...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/100 sec, f/2.5, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Modern Darkroom

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/160 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Anticipation
waiting in the rent-a-car line for their turn to drive

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Cool Kids
have their driver's license

Anthony got his KidZania driver's license last year, but had yet to put it to use here at the KidZania rent-a-car shop, so he was excited.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Gen's Full Service Fill-Up
at the gas station where Anthony did his first KidZania job last year

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Merging Traffic

Each kid got two turns on the figure-eight street track, passing through the gas station each time but getting a fill-up only once. The cars are not on tracks like at Disneyland so the kids bump into the curbs or each other fairly often, but max speeds are very, very slow. Anthony later said that if he goes again, he wants to do this again, first thing.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Being Silly
while waiting in line

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Making Flash-Frozen Rice Balls

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1800 — map & image data — nearby photos
About To Press Rice In Molds

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Smelling the Sauce

After basting with sauce, the rice balls all went into the oven for several minutes, then while they were piping hot, it was time to flash-freeze them with a blast of dry-ice powder, made more dramatic by special lighting for the event.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — ¹/200 sec, f/1.4, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Flash-Freeze Blast
a split second later, the chamber was a filled by a billowing churning cloud of dry-ice powder

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 @ 50 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/1.4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Thermal Check
comparing a just-frozen rice ball with a just-cooked rice ball

Each kids' two rice balls was placed into a take-home container, which each kid promptly gave to the parent (because the kid didn't want to carry them for the rest of the day). Anthony and Gen ate theirs in the car on the way home, filling the car with appreciative and satisfying sounds of “ummmmm, tasty”.

After cooking the rice balls, the kids took the opportunity to get some banking done...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos
Cashing Their KidZo Traveler's Checks

More about KidZania baking in this earlier post.

Anthony decided that he wanted to deposit his KidZania cash into his account, so immediately stopped by the ATM...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/160 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos

It turns out that this particular ATM doesn't accept deposits (perhaps because it's right next to the bank), so back to the bank for a quick deposit...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/200 sec, f/2.5, ISO 4000 — map & image data — nearby photos

Wandering around looking for something that didn't involve a 45-minute wait, they got lucky to find the dental clinic was about ready to admit the next shift, so they went for that...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/160 sec, f/2.5, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Checking The Employment Details

To be continued....

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Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm cropped — ¹/800 sec, f/2.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Grinding It Out
Running stairs at the Tanukitanisan Fudouin Temple, Kyoto Japan
狸谷山不動院 (京都市)

The guy in the photo above was finishing his 8th trip from the bottom, a round trip that takes about 8 minutes. He told me that he intended to do ten round trips, but said it in a way that implied that he knew he'd never make it.

I was in north-east Kyoto this morning to pick up a cake for Fumie's dad's birthday, at a shop that sells a Japanified green-tea tiramisu. Scouting the location on Google Maps I noticed that the road it was on wound up into the mountains, ending at a temple, so I popped over on my scooter to check it out.

Past some parking lots at the end of the road was the temple...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/6.3, ISO 2500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Tanukitanisan Fudouin Temple
狸谷山不動院

“Tanukitanisan” means “Tanuki valley mountain”, with tanuki being a kind of animal between a raccoon and a dog. Tanuki have an odd place in Japanese culture, about which you can read an earful in the “Tanuki” Wikipedia entry (and slightly less delicately, in this Alice Gordenker “What the Heck is That?” Japan Times column). You can see a lot of ugly tanuki statues — there are no other kind of tanuki statue — around the base of the monument above.

But something told me that this temple was most importantly related to sports. I gathered this from the large group of high-school baseball players milling about in full uniform, and from this set of monuments between the main temple-name monument and the entrance stairs...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/6.3, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Sports Monuments

The big gravestone-looking monument with a tiger engraving commemorates the Hanshin Tigers baseball team's league championship in 2003, while the pillar next to it is a memorial monument for Yoshio Yoshida, one of their famous players in the 50s and 60s, and later a (relatively) successful team manager. Despite the “memorial” nature of the memorial, Mr. Yoshida is still alive and well.

Anyway, I started up the long winding path...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/6.3, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Main Entrance Gate

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/6.3, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looking Back Down
lots of gates and an athlete running stairs

With the row of orange gates I thought it might be a smaller version of the Fushimi Inari Shrine, but the gates covered only a short distance of the entire (long) path. There were a lot of athletes going back and forth, running stairs, who I'm sure wished the entire path were shorter.

But it wasn't short... it kept going. At one point there was a larger-than-life statue of a Buddhist Monk standing for alms...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/80 sec, f/6.3, ISO 6400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Standing in Silent Disinterest
as a monk is trained to do

It's wearing a hat (as seen held by a real monk in this photo) and is covered by little mini-sandal talismans. All the athletes running stairs, along with the footwear nature of the talismans left by individuals for good luck, makes me think this statue is supposed to be good luck for running-related sports, but that's just a guess. The athletes running stairs ran right by without pausing.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Mid-Way Plateau

The path was lined with short stone pillars as prayers for some inscribed wish. Most that I noticed were for household safety, many listing both a husband and wife making the wish...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Prayers For Family Safety

I really liked these, both for the thought, and for their looks (all the more because of the beautiful veneer of lichen).

Eventually the stairs disgorged you at a large courtyard, with a building towering over to the left, and more stairs off in the distance...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/2500 sec, f/1.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Final Flight
Tiny in the distance, guy in white shirt and blue pants takes the final flight of steps

This photo was taken at the base of a bunch of pillars supporting the main temple building far above, at the level of a courtyard where larger events are evidently held.

Here's a photo looking down at the courtyard from above...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/16, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
Courtyard From Above
with remnants of some kind of fire festival staining the dirt

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/16, ISO 2000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Main Temple Building
as two boys race for the final flight

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/16, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Happy To Be Done

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/7.1, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Offering Placards
at the main temple building

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/7.1, ISO 220 — map & image data — nearby photos
Baseball Team Streams Up

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/7.1, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Ailment Placards
specific areas of pain are marked

I'm guessing that these wooden placards will go up in smoke during a rite in the courtyard, along the same lines as seen in my “Intense Burn” post a few years ago.

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos

I didn't have much time before having to pick Anthony up from swimming class, but on the way down I decided to document all the flights of stairs....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Looking Down the Final Flight

Descend those stairs, then cross the courtyard, and you're at the top of...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.2, ISO 280 — map & image data — nearby photos
A Couple More Flights Down To “The Plateau”

Descend those flights, cross the plateau, and you're at the top of...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/125 sec, f/2.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Surprise! More Steps!

Descend the long flight, then a few shallow steps, and you're at another flight overlooking....

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.2, ISO 900 — map & image data — nearby photos
Flight Overlooking the Monk
being attended to by a non-athlete, treating it with respectful devotion

Descend past the monk, then down some more stairs to where the path bends...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.2, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos
Getting Twisty Toward the End

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.2, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos
Past The Area of Gates

.. and finally to the lowest flight:

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24mm f/1.4 @ 24 mm — ¹/100 sec, f/2.2, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
End of the Road
literally, this is where Kyoto's Manjuin Street ends

Looking at the temple's web site (warning: flash, circa 1998) I don't notice anything about athletics. The temple is apparently famous for car dealers, and for people to get talismans for their cars. Odd. But much about Kyoto is. 🙂

NOTE: Images with an icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.

I made the mistake of having something shipped from The States to myself in Japan via Federal Express. FedEx has very un-Japanese (and hence horrible) service in Japan. My package cleared Japanese customs at about noon on Friday, and had I shipped with any other carrier I would have the package in my hands on Saturday. Yet here it is two days later and FedEx's tracking hasn't even updated. I called FedEx Japan, and they're closed!. “Call Back Monday”.

I paid through the nose for the fastest shipment possible, only to find that I chose a lazy, clueless company. Sigh.

I should have known to expect this... this is a company that won't leave packages in the secure package boxes that modern condos have to hold deliveries for residents who aren't home at the time. Every other express delivery service uses them, and I've gotten bitten in the past by FedEx not using them, having to contort my schedule to match theirs. What a hassle.

Never again. FedEx, you are worthless in Japan.

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I had the pleasure on Wednesday to spend the day exploring temples with Stéphane Barbery, who introduced me to an area of Kyoto that I'd never visited: the environs of the Daitokuji Temple, an area with dozens of independent temples, often 400+ years old and related to the violent and tumultuous history of Japanese civil wars in the 1500s that eventually lead to the 250 years of peace that was the Tokugawa Shogunate. It's a sad badge of shame that I've lived in Kyoto for so long but had never been here. My only defense is that the Kyoto area is so rich in history and photogenic delights that one could spend a lifetime here and not take it all in.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/4, ISO 1250 — map & image data — nearby photos
“Barbery Blind Photography”
spinning the wheel of photographic luck at the Oubai'in Temple, Kyoto Japan

These temples have wonderful gardens, but not all of them are open to the public, so when we were walking by the Oubai'in Temple and Stéphane saw it was for some reason open, it was his first opportunity to visit in all the many times he'd come to this area, so he jumped on the chance. (I'd never been to any of them, so I just followed along for the ride). This temple was built in 1562 by powerful general Nobunaga Oda in memory of his father.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 800 — map & image data — nearby photos

It has a small but tasteful entrance garden filled with maples and moss that will certainly be positively stunning when the leaves turn in a few weeks. Photography was prohibited everywhere else in this temple, which was unfortunate because it was quite pretty inside, with beautiful landscaping and very old buildings.

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/2.8, ISO 560 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos

We wandered around a bit, and I came across a flower of some kind whose name I don't know, but it seemed dreamy with the Voigtländer...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 5600 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/2.5, ISO 2200 — map & image data — nearby photos

More wandering meant passing more paths and entrances, which always made for nice shots...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/640 sec, f/2.5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/1000 sec, f/4, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 50 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos

This last one was inside the Souken'in Temple, which is also normally closed to the public. It was founded in 1583 as a memorial to, and burial site of, Nobunaga Oda (who himself was mentioned at the start of this post as founding the first temple we visited) by the vile but powerful Hideyoshi Toyotomi, mentioned a month ago in my “Underwhelmed With Northern Kyoto's Jakkoin Temple” post.

The little roof over the entrance way seen in the picture above was a full biological ecosystem unto itself... here's a closeup of the edge:

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/500 sec, f/8, ISO 500 — map & image data — nearby photos

It was in this same temple that I found the deep well that I posed about the other day.

We wandered around further, including a temple that Stéphane introduced me to that quickly became my favorite in all of Japan. I'll write about that another day (here).

We also came across some extravagant preparations for a funeral that was to be held the next day, for someone high up in one of the main tea-ceremony schools. Dozens of workers scurrying about, setting things up. Passers by were clearly impressed...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 35 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/3.5, ISO 450 — map & image data — nearby photos
Photo Op Outside The Jukouin Temple
in front of the sign announcing the funeral

There were lots of chairs lined up everywhere, and this entire huge wall brought in and lined with live flowers...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 26 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000 — map & image data — nearby photos
Wall of Flowers

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 27 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/6.3, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Reverse Angle

I asked one of the workers why the wall was brought in, and he gestured to a man at a table in front of many small placards...

Nikon D700 + Voigtländer 125mm f/2.5 — ¹/320 sec, f/2.5, ISO 360 — map & image data — nearby photos
Writing Condolence Placards

They were then to be displayed by fitting them into slots on the wall...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 35 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1100 — map & image data — nearby photos

The seating we could see outside was almost certainly spill-over seating for those who couldn't fit inside the temple, and around the corner were more areas of seating shoved in where they could fit...

Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/3.5, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Satellite Seating “C”

Continued here...