Brian's Japan Adventure

December 28th, 2007

Return From Kyoto

It was an easy decision to come home today, since it was pouring down rain when I woke up and the forecast looked like it was going to continue all day. So I checked out early and left Kyoto at 8:04. Nothing eventful happened on the way back, I simply retraced my steps city by city that took on the way there. It took longer this time due to the train schedules, but not too much longer than expected.  I ended up getting back to Okayama around 1:00 and then had to walk home from the station. I actually got to the apartment at 1:15. It had let up raining while I walked home, but it was still wet, and would rain again before too much longer.

When I left for Kyoto, I emptied my wallet of anything I wouldn’t need on the trip. You just never know what you might lose on a trip like that, so I prefer to carry as little as possible with me. When I got back today, I put my library card, bus card, and bookstore gift card back in and set off for the library.  When I got to the bus stop the bus wouldn’t accept my brand-new bus card. I ended up having to pay for the bus ride in change. I was halfway to the library before I noticed that it was my Hiroshima bus card; I’d left the card for Okayama back on my desk. They look almost identical!  No big problem, but it was confusing for a bit.

I posted all my pre-written blog reports and more than 350 photos from Kyoto. I think some of these pictures are fantastic! I should have some spare time toward the end of my stay here in March, so I may go back and do some more exploring. Kyoto ought to be called “Temple City” of something; I could go somewhere different every day for a month.  I really had wanted to see the Imperial Palace, but it was closed for the Holidays; in March, it should be open.

Ya Gotta Love Youtube

Since I was there anyway, I also watched the Doctor Who Christmas Special on Youtube.  The next real season of who doesn’t start until late spring, so this is the only new show for a very long time. I walked back to the Tenmaya bus station in the rain but at least I had the forethought to take my umbrella this time. When I got to the station, I noticed that the buses to the Hokaiin part of town stop running at 5pm. It appears that the buses are now on holiday hours, from TONIGHT until January 3rd. I looked at my watch: 5:05. ARGH!

I hop on another bus to the train station. I would normally walk, but in the rain, after all the walking I’ve already done, I just wasn’t going to bother tonight. I picked up some “food” at the French bakery inside the station. I got a slice of some very garlic-y pizza, a very spicy hot dg with some kind of pepper sauce, a “tortilla sandwich” (aka a “wrap”) that turned out to be a little fishy, and a chocolate donut. 935Y wouldn’t be bad, but the portions were small it really felt more like a snack than dinner.  Maybe I was just super-hungry, but even the “fish burrito” was pretty good.  I ate it on the train platform, waiting for my train to arrive at 5:47. It showed up as always, and I was at the station to pick up my very wet bicycle before 6:00, and home by 6:05.
With nothing special to do, I turned on the TV for a little while, and watched an hour or so of some karaoke show. It was not the same thing that was on the other night. This is a different karaoke show.  One is never enough.

Closed for New Years

So what’s the agenda for tomorrow? I have no idea. Everywhere I go, I see signs that say “blah blah blah 12/29-1/3.”   I think there are going to be a LOT of places closed tomorrow an the rest of the week. I know the library is. I can do the Internet at Megalo, but since I was just at the library tonight, I probably won’t go tomorrow. Sunday or Monday though seems likely. I certainly am going to have to stock up on groceries before New Year’s Eve. EVERYTHING is closed for New Years.

Marc left me a note aying he’d be back on Thursday or Friday, so I am going to have a quiet week, if nothing else. He’s meeting his friend in Tokyo, and left either this morning or yesterday. The next five days or so are going to see me sitting at home a lot due to the holiday.

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This entry was posted on Friday, December 28th, 2007 at 10:52 pm and is filed under Japan, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.