 Welcome to Blue Ocean Studios  Around the World
Tom and Jax had another somewhat uncomfortable sleep, although better than the night before. They were again considering either going back up to Tokyo with us, or perhaps switching to another hotel in Kyoto with real beds. After some more discussion at our street-side "internet cafe", they decided they would stick it out one more night at the guesthouse. I should mention, the sun was out and shining down for the first time in the last 3 weeks - amazing! It was a beautiful day in Kyoto. Back at the guesthouse, we got another reminder of just how friendly the people are here when Hirota, the guesthouse owner, chatted with us for another 20 minutes. She is such a friendly and helpful person, its hard to consider leaving for another hotel after that!
We walked back across the river and to our guesthouse where we relaxed for the last hour before our train back to Tokyo. T&J walked the several blocks with us to the Kyoto subway where we said our goodbyes and our tour group was split in 2. Tom and Jax will have one more night and most of tomorrow in Kyoto before they will fly on to Australia for a short rest on the beaches near Cairns, Australia. Then it is back home to Florida for them. We boarded the subway and rode the short 3 stops to the Kyoto JR train station to catch our 5pm Shinkansen bullet train back to Tokyo and onto Narita. We're traveling all the way to right next to the Narita airport so that we will have plenty of time to catch our noon flight back to the US tomorrow! It's so hard to believe that 4 1/2 months have already flown by and we will be returning to the states tomorrow. It's certainly been an adventure of a lifetime so far, and we have more to come when we resume our travels on May 23rd. For all of the avid readers out there - we'll be taking the next week off from journaling while we recoup in Philly and enjoy Brendan and Danielle's wedding. Then we'll be off again to Sweden, Russia and Eastern Europe! Expect the postings to start back up on the 24th or 25th :) Final thoughts on Japan:
Beer of Choice: Asahi (but we also sampled Sapporo, Kirin and Suntori). We all shared one small bottle of Sake too, which can be served either cold or warm - we prefer the cold.
People: The Japanese people play by all the rules, and life is quite orderly and polite around here. More than once, we've felt like "bad" Americans trying to break even the slightest rules (i.e. Moving up a few rows when seats aren't taken in the theater and sports arena, crossing the street without waiting for the walk signal). People here even wait in a single file line to board the buses and trains! Most people we've interacted with have been very warm and inviting, even if we can't understand a word of each others' languages.
Economy: Japan has suffered from an economic recession that has lasted from 1990 and has just recently pulled out of it. In fact, the Tokyo stock market lost 48% of its value between Jan and Oct 1990! The Japanese, now with one of the leading economies in the world, certainly has its eye on China as one of its future competitors.
Exchange Rate: 1 US dollar = 114 Yen Safety Rating: Recommendation to friends: You probably need to spend at least a month to explore and appreciate Japan. Here are our thoughts on Tokyo and Kyoto: 8 out of 10 for Tokyo - It's probable that everyone who comes to Japan eventually visits Tokyo. There aren't actually as many "tourist" sights to see, but we enjoyed ourselves just walking around the different districts. Its especially stunning at night when all the neon signs are alive with color and the rice paper sliding doors are romantically shaded with lanterns within. Here, you can get a taste for Japan's many cuisines, join in on the local gambling favorite of Pachinko, or just watch the people in their dark suits all dressed up for a hard day's work. 9 out of 10 for Kyoto - Definitely a must see, Kyoto showed us the softer side of Japan. The people were incredibly welcoming, especially if you stay in a Japanese style guesthouse. With so many Japanese and Zen gardens and temples, you could easily spend a week (or month :) in Kyoto. Day 138 - Kyoto < | Index | Photo Galleries | > Day 149 - Stockholm © 2007 Blue Ocean Studios, LTD. All rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Services | About | Contact Prints | Return Policy | View Cart World Travel Galleries | World Travel Blog | Links |
Today was our final day of touring in Japan and also our final full day of this long around the world journey. We woke up around 8am to try to get out into the town early enough to see a few sights today. We first stopped to have breakfast at the same bakery as yesterday. All 4 of us had the french toast this time, although I can't completely agree on it being almost as good as Jack's Cafe (Mario insists it was better yesterday) :) We walked another block up the street towards an Internet Cafe, but when we got there, we found it was closed. Strange, since the hours on the door said it should be open. We decided to try using the computer on the street with the wireless, and we got lucky with a strong signal coming from somewhere else! Tom and Jax were amused to get to witness the street-side website uploads and email checks :) It only took a few minutes to upload the content to our website, check emails, and book our hotel room at the Hilton Narita for tonight. All this from the sidewalk as bikes and cars were whizzing by :) 
We moved our stuff into T&J's room and set out to enjoy the sun and sights of Kyoto. We walked down to one of the main streets and caught the #59 bus ($2pp) to take us to the Kinkaku-ji Temple in the northwest of town. While waiting for the bus, we were intrigued by the bus stop sign that listed all of the buses that stopped there and had empty circle cutouts next to each one. Tom said he thought he saw another person looking at the circles, and that they might have moved when the bus came and went. We literaly couldn't believe it. We soon saw that as the buses approached, the circles would pop up with a yellow picture of a bus. This would move along the lines on the sign until the bus got to our stop - (using wireless communications from the buses). Amazing! The buses, subways and trains are all so high tech here!
We arrived at Kinkaku-ji and were painfully not alone with the many crowds from tour groups and more school kids. The main attraction at the Rokuon-ji Temple complex is the Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion, set in the middle of a serene lake, with gold leaf covering the outside of the second and third floors. It was a very beautiful sight, especially with all of the purple water irises that were in bloom around the lake edge. The temple is one of the most recognizable temples in all of Japan. We spent some time admiring the pavilion and then took the short path around the temple grounds passing by a small waterfall, some shrines, a stone pagoda and a teahouse. Tom made friends with a Chinese economy professor who was completing a 4 month stay in Japan, and we all took turns chatting with him. After saying our goodbyes, we saw the #59 bus go by and had to wait another 10 minutes or so at the bus stop (this one not so high tech). We boarded the bus back and strategically exited so that we'd be closest to our next destination - the Handicrafts Center. Hirota had pointed us there, as Mario had asked her where he might buy a Samurai sword. We walked down the road and stopped in at a little restaurant where we all had some pasta dishes. It was hard not to eat more sushi while we're in Japan, but this place was convenient and popular. The food was very tasty, although we had to wait an especially long time for some of the meals. 
Back on the streets, we walked a few more blocks until we got to the Handicrafts center. We had expected this to be more of an open market style as we've found in most countries, but it was like a large department store (7 stories tall), selling only Japanese souveniers. Probably not the cheapest place to go, but they did have Samurai swords, so we were happy! Mario ended up choosing one for around $100, although some of them cost as much as $1000! Now we have another item to check onto the plane tomorrow - good thing this is the end of the line for us! Jax bought a T-shirt with "Lucky Cats" pictured on it - popular ceramic cats who wave their arms or tails, seen all over the place here. 
Food: As expected, Japan's many cuisines turned out to be some of our favorites. We will not soon forget the exciting adventures of Robatayaki, Yakatori, Udon/Soba noodles, and of course the sushi (including sushi train). We also tried out the Korean BBQ, which seems to be another popular choice here. Not to mention, trying to order using a Japanese-only menu - an interesting, slow, and sometimes frustrating experience (but hey - for food this good - it's worth it!) :) 
Memories: Narita Express and Shinkansen bullet trains using our JR pass, negotiating the intricate subways in Tokyo, beginners luck and winning big at Pachinko, our upgraded executive suites at the Conrad Tokyo, Conrad lounge breakfasts and happy hours, high tech toilets, the glass breaking incident, business men and women in their suits even on their days off!, 3 visits to the Russian Embassy, Yodobashi camera store - one of the world's largest, electronics markets, robatayaki dinner, afternoon of Sumo wrestling, experiencing the Japanese guesthouse (Ryokan), Kyoto rain, beautiful Japanese gardens, watching the Geisha dance, our "amazing race" with Tom and Jackie, dodging the bicyclists that tend to ride only on the sidewalks in Kyoto, high tech bus stop, difficult to find garbage cans although the streets are spotless (?).
Climate (May): Still warming up - Spring time weather can be a little unpredictable here. Be prepared for some rain, and hope for some sunny days mixed in. Temps were pleasant, usually in the high 60's to mid 70's. 