(Kyle) Time to wake up!! It’s Monday morning in Japan and were are going to Kyoto today. Looks like our lazy asses slept in a little too long today. Checkout is at 10am and we woke up right around…10. Crap time to rush and get out. Luckily they gave us an extra 30 minutes to check out of our room. We are really starting to get our system down now. Showered changed, makeup, brush teeth, pack bags, drink some tea, and out in about 25 minutes. Almost professionals.
So now we are going to make our way to the bus terminal, but we can’t go quite yet. Angy is cranky because she is hungry. So we were able to find a Mcdonalds. The food didn’t taste that much different to me. The only differences that I found were that there was no ketchup, mustard, salt, or pepper to found at the condiment stations. Just lemon, creamer, and sugar. Also at the trash station they have a funnel shaped hole for you to pour your remaining ice and drinks into before you throw away your cup. Very smart.
I must say that I am really starting to like all the little cars they have out here. Easy to park, good gas mileage, and who really needs a big ass car anyways. I can guess that not too many people need it.
Nothing too exciting after that. Hopped on the train, and off to Mama’s (what Jun called our guesthouse in Kyoto. (Angy) Mama doesn’t speak any English but when we got there she mimed to us that we had had a phone call. Jun had called to make sure we got there ok, and to invite us to dinner, Kibune! This is a special type of dining that is done on a platform over the river. Kaiseki is they type of food that is served and usually a Japanese person needs to take the foreigner to a dinner such as this. Kyle and I could not have just taken a taxi there and expect to have dinner. A Japanese person is kind of like your pass to Kibune. The dinner was very exciting, you can see all the pictures Kyle took! They say a lot! I was so full and satisfied I feel asleep in the car on the way back to Mama’s. When we were almost there Jun stopped at a store, ran in and brought us out a care package for breakfast in the morning! Back at the guesthouse we mimed to Mama that we would like her to put it in the fridge. We had been getting better at this since having to explain to her that we wanted to help with our laundry, which she ended up washing and hanging it all up to dry! I still don’t know if she charged us for it, but she called Jun and he took care of it. When we asked him about this he just said “I pushed Japanese on her, it is all taken care of” We left her 1000 Yen ($10) and a note that said “Laundry, thank you” in Kyle’s best Japanese!
In the morning Jun called to invite us on the river boat trip, but we just wanted to be alone, so we politely told him no, but thanked him for everything. We told him if he ever comes to visit us we would pay for everything, and he could stay with us, but he explained that he could not come to the US because he had gotten in trouble for Amphetamines!
The river boat trip was very fun. As we arrived, I asked Kyle if he had enough Yen, a little too late! We didn’t have enough. They told us that back at the train station they had an ATM. Kyle is much faster than I am so he went back to the station to get $. Over 40 mins later he finally comes back, no luck. He had run all over town looking for an ATM that would take foreign cards, he even tried to exchange money at a bank, but didn’t have his passport on him (I keep all the important docs on me, he has tendency to loose things). He ran back got his passport and ran back to the bank, all the while I sat filing my nails and people watching, I have it rough!
Finally on the boat trip, and we don’t understand a thing, but we enjoy ourselves anyway, and I thank Kyle profusely for making it happen! (See Mom, I am being good to him!)
After the boat trip we were off to Kyoto station, then Tokyo and then finally Narita, since this was our last night in Japan, and our flight for Seoul was at 9am the next morning! We really hadn’t had much sushi since being in Japan, so once we hit Tokyo we ran off to a famous sushi restaurant right by Tsukiji fish market, called Sushi Zanmai. Definatly the freshest sushi we have ever had, but still not as wonderful as our dinner with Mikey in San Diego. Ok, so here is where the typical Angy and Kyle kick in, we knew we needed to get back to Tokyo station by 8pm in order to catch the last train to Narita, but we decided we should have another glass of sake before heading back. After stuffing our faces we ran out to try and navigate the subway, we only had a half an hour! We ended up hopping in a cab back to Tokyo station. Under $10, so not too bad! Once we got there we only had 10 mins to find the lockers with our bags and find the right train to Narita. This was so chaotic! It was just like a movie where the characters look in all directions and nothing looks familiar! Finally after running in circles we found our bags. This was where I became very miserable, I was so full of fish and sake, and then I had to carry my bag and run through a crowded rail station. Kyle was running a head of me, and I was doing my best to keep up. It didn’t even make sense where we were going be just kept running up and down all these different stairs and escalators. Finally we found what we thought was the right train! We were both dripping with sweat! It was totally like a scene from the Amazing Race! Now I know I could make it on that show, all that was at stake for us missing the train was a very expensive cab ride, not a million dollars. So I know I can handle the running and the pressure of the Amazing Race! Once on the train, we sat down in these really comfy plush seats, only to realize that the car we were in was reserved, so we headed to the next car, only to find the typical subway car, barely enough room to stand let alone put our bags anywhere or cool down after our run! Over an hour later we finally arrived in Narita only to wait for another bus, get on and have to suffer with the strong cologne of all the sweaty business men on the bus! I had a splitting headache and had to pee! No surprise! Finally we made it to the Narita View Hotel, to figure our how to call internationally and wish Ma Buff a happy birthday, only to find out that our dates were wrong and we were a day early, well I guess it is better than being late! Off to bed then off to Korea!!!! I can’t wait!
