Day 2 - Adventure through Japan "Kyoto"

Part I - Getting to Kyoto: Our day started out at 5:20 a.m., however with the huge time difference (now 13 hours ahead of EDT) I am unable to sleep a minute past 3 a.m. and end up watching Japanese television for a few hours before getting up.  Though I caught this very interesting program about re-growing body parts that was in English, subtitled in Japanese (maybe more about that another day), the early morning was not welcomed after the extremely long day that came before it.  With 6 hours or so of sleep, I am awake, completely awake.  The day officially started once Matt woke up, we had just a few minutes to take some of the scenery in before having to head down to the lobby for check-out and catching a taxi to Tokyo Station.  The picture here and the one in this blog's header came from those all-too-short minutes of what turned out to be the only sunrise we would catch during our stay.

Once joined back up with everyone in the lobby, we split up to take two separate taxi's (myself and Matt in one and the other three of our group in the second one) to the station.  The entire process was seemingly way too easy; check-out was quick and painless, the taxi's were waiting for us, the bill wasn't nearly as bad as I had thought it would be for the ride (see prices below).  Things were going smoooooothly.  We arrive at the station, quickly locating the platform and exact place (car) we needed to be in and proceeded to take a seat inside on of their heated waited areas on the platform, which was niiiice compared to anything we have in the States.  Did I mention?  The weather there was cold!  Somewhere around 35F at this point, though luckily not raining.... yet.  After a short wait, the Shinkansen arrives exactly on time and we board, bound for Kyoto.  I am once again surprised by the level of service received, it was sort of like an airplane where a "waitress" type person would walk up and down the aisles trying to sell you drinks, snacks, o-miyage (souvenirs), ect., which was helpful when you really needed a drink or were starting to starve to death (I don't think the Japanese believe in breakfast, so you'll see a pattern here).  The ride was incredibly smooth, even though were were travling something like 186mph, it didn't make me sick at all.  Along the way there wasn't a lot too see, upon observing there was just a LOT of farmland, mountains and a few "ABC" places (no, not like the ones back home), class apparently wasn't making up names!  They had an ABC store and even an ABC pachinko!  Though I didn't see an ABC Foods sadly enough...  More importantly we did get some great passes/views of Mt. Fuji, covered with snow at the top.

Part II - Arrival/Apartment:  Arriving at Kyoto Station right on time, we quickly locate the taxi noriba (taxi stand) and once again hop in two separate taxi's to head to the apartment named Ojizoya that we were going to be staying at for the next 4 days.  Without any major issues, we arrive at the apartment, quickly dropping our bags inside and having a peek around (it was small, but more on that later) before departing for Kyoto Station once more, this time by foot.  The ease of navigating the city seemed so much simpler then in the States, we were able to walk to Kyoto Station within 20 minutes by simply heading toward Kyoto Tower (which was located in front of the station).

Part III - Kyoto Station:  It really looks more like a mall then a station.  We immediately head up to the 11th floor to locate a tofu restaurant marked in my book.  We finally locate it after pacing the huge floor filled with restaurants, bakeries and some department-like stores.  Once inside we quickly learn that there are no English menu's and pictures are limited, this is much more difficult without a translator! (Sirena played the part of translator the night before)  With some struggling, we manage to order three of the specials and some other "set" (combo) they had on display within the Japanese menu and we finally end up with lunch.  By this time we are starving since there was no time for breakfast, not to mention any place to really eat breakfast at!  It was an interesting meal with tofu takes on traditional Japanese food of all sorts.  I quickly pick out the tofu yuba as being my favorite thing.  It was like a dumpling with egg, but more gooey and smooth with a better texture (from being tofu, not dumpling) and a rich taste, it was delicious!  Paying the bill in Japan is also much simpler, all you do is take the amount your food costs, no tip, no tax, no nothing else, it's already in the price!  After our stomachs were finally full we head out to the next stop.

Part IV - Kyoto Tower:  Luckily this stop was right across the street.  A few of the group were still missing the coffee/breakfast that was skipped earlier in the day, so we first head to the Starbucks located slightly down the street at the base of the tower.  Once that need was filled (it was almost exactly like an American Starbucks with better service), it was on to buying tickets and getting to the top of the tower, which from what we could figure was the 11th floor.  The view itself was cool, but nothing really stands out in my mind, it was a bit of a cloudy day so we couldn't see as far as a clear day would have provided.  After a bit of observing (and some picture taking), we start heading back down.  Picking up a souvenier "penny" (which is just copper automatically flattened in front of you with the image) for ¥100, it's back down to the entrance floor where the first of much shopping was to be had.  There was your "typical" Japanese department store here, with tons of o-miyage and many traditional and "cliché" goods located amonst many different "stalls" within the store (each seemingly run by a different person).  I wasn't too impressed with what the shops had to offer, however Matt did locate one shop selling tea and sake cups that were rather cool and unique looking.  We pick up one set of each, with the total being a bit cheaper then I think it should have been, a discount maybe?  Lucky!

Part V - Manga Museum:  After some debate on how to get there, we decide the subway is best.  This is going to be new!  It takes some time and assistance, but we do locate the station we need to get to, how to get there and fare.  One problem, getting a ticket out of the machine.  The machines had English intructions, but for some reason the ticket would not come out!  The situation became more complicated by the fact that the first machine I tried was actually out of order (the sign was not as obvious as one in the States would be), so when I try to help Donnie get one from the working machine, I miss hitting the lit-up red fare price (3rd step), so we ended up stuck.  Everyone decides to head to the nearest information counter, where nobody speaks English!  This one younger man (maybe 25 or so?) that was there for some reason, as a customer I guess, turns around and offers to help in English.  Yay!  Once back at the machine, he simply hits the red button once lit up and the ticket spits out.  Boy, did we all feel stupid!  Off to the platform...  While waiting for the green line to come, we once again see the man on the red line departing, he waves and gestures to make sure we aren't missing our train (the one he's on), probably thinking "stupid Americans".  Donnie thought he was cute, so I told her to hop on that train after him, but she wouldn't listen! 

Arrival!  Wow, just wow.  Unfortunately there aren't any pictures allowed inside of the museum, so I won't be able to share just how amazing the place was.  This is a picture from outside though, where you could grab manga from inside and go sit out on the artificial lawn to read.  The entire museum was basically one HUGE library with some exhibits and great information (most of the info was in four languages, which was also helpful).  After being educated by the information provided there, we learn there are more then 40,000 Japanese language manga books here.  They used to be part of an old rental store, which went out of business in 2002.  The owner and his wife (which put all of the dust covers on by hand) donated the stores entire collection at that time.  I was surprised by the condition of all the books here, these were all rented out at one point!  Some of the manga dated back to the 1960's, yet all of it (except for the magazines) were still available to be plucked off the shelf and read by museum customers on location for a small price of the ¥500 admission (less for children, with memberships available).  I was surprised by the lack of foreigners here (I only recall seeing one other younger couple), but this turned out to be a trend.  It seemed a lot of locals came here and used it as a library to pass the time or read manga for cheap, it was overall very busy with a few hundred people scattered through only three floors.  It didn't take us too long (maybe 45 minutes) to browse the entire collection, all of which was in Japanese except for 4 bookshelves with American, French, Italian and a few other translated books on them along with the History of Manga and a few other exhibits, of which we could actually read.  I tried to keep in mind that this was a new place, only being open since 2006, so I'm sure their collection will grow.  I would say even more impressive then the bookshelves filled with 40,000+ Japanese manga books were the magazines.  Phonebook magazines as far as the eye could see were stacked along the top of the bookshelves (standing on end with the covers facing out) to the ceiling.  There must of been an equal number to the books, if not more.  20 or so high at some points and what I could only imagine 10 or more deep, it was very impressive to see.  Some of them dated back to the beginning of phonebook printing (40+ years) and they had a few noteworthy issues, such as CLAMP's debut in a special case on display.  Again I wish we could have taken pictures here.  While in the "History of Manga" exhibit I was finally able to locate Yuu Watase's manga, it was actually under defining manga of their respective years (Fushigi Yuugi under 1991 and Ayashi no Ceres under 1996), good for her!  I thought that was very cool.  As a final highlight, Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix, a full color sculpture that "hovered" on the wall as you walked from floor two to floor three was very impressive and noteworthy. After browsing the store (and not finding anything to buy) we head out.

Part VI - Walking:  After some debate (again) and a local's advice that the street we need to return to is only a 20 minute walk (back to the apartment), we end up walking instead of riding back.  Ugh, it was over an hour of walking!  Stopping at the kombini and getting Donnie a sweater at the Nike store (so she could keep warm) were our only breaks.  We just walked and walked and walked.  Passing by a few interesting places, like a shopping arcade, GION district, some memorable Engrish signs and seeing our first Geisha (she was walking into a place from the street), there wasn't much to note during this time.  We finally get back and are D.O.A.!

Part VII - Wrap-up:  After resting for a bit at the apartment and trying to get up with the owner, we finally decide to just call him.  At this point we have given up on figuring out the heating system and it is cold!  At about 40F outside, we are all tired and getting to a breaking point.  By the time the owner gets there (everyone except myself retreating upstairs to the small space heater), Matt figures out how to turn on the wall unit.  As it flip on downstairs (by remote) I start to laugh kinda loudly, since I thought it was on a timer or something.  Wouldn't you know it?  The owner just arrived outside at this point.  Must have thought I was a crazy woman as he could hear everything through the paper thin walls.  Thoroughly embarrassed, he walks us through using things in the apartment and introduces me to a noodle shop owner on the corner of our street before leaving (which will be dinner for us the next night).  We decide to take the easy way out and head to a McDonalds a few blocks away for dinner.  I wanted a Teriyaki burger darnit....  it was good!  I was surprised once again, though it was McDonald's, the food was actually good and the service was better then it ever is in the States.  We head back after hitting the kombini up for breakfast foods, Frosted Flakes anyone?

Prices:

• ¥2,300 for both taxi's (to Tokyo Station, from Kyoto Station)
• ¥2,000 per plate for lunch
• ¥2,000 small food items, ect.
• ¥2,800 admission fee's
• ¥2,600 tea and sake cups
• ¥1,260 fast food dinner (total)
• ¥2,000 breakfast foods for three days

Lesson's learned (replacing 1st's)

• Taxi's are a huge conveience, worth some extra money.
• Look for plastic display food and/or romanji/English menu's before stopping somewhere for food.
• Compare prices, even in the same market!  Goods ranged up to ¥500 difference for the same thing, depending on the stall.
• Try everything yourself, especially when using a machine, before getting help.
• Look for signs (i.e. "out of order").
• Don't be loud (like crazy laughing), even when tired and out of your mind.
• Don't believe time estimates given by the locals, they really don't know.
• Take breaks often, unless it's impossible to do so.
• When showering in a Japanese bath, start filling tub 15 minutes beforehand, they are huge and it takes forever, plus this will warm the small cold bathroom up a little.  Turn on hot water from shower before going into the room to warm the floor.  Shower, then soak in tub.