Gail and Ginger go walkabout

This morning we said a sad goodbye to our little guesthouse in Shinagawa (Taka asked if we now had fond memories in our hearts) and walked down to the main Shinagawa station to catch the BULLET TRAIN to Kyoto! Please excuse the use of capital letters but for some reason whenever I talk about the BULLET TRAIN I just have to go deep voice or capitals! It was as awesome as I’d hoped. There’s no dawdling with luggage and you can forget those long Casablanca goodbyes; the train doors open at 10:55 and if you’re not on by 10:59 then you’re a tardy fool and you’ve missed your chance to ride at high speeds across the Japanese countryside.

Arrived in Kyoto having forgotten to print out (or even make a note of) the directions to our hostel. Tourist information were lovely and in the afternoon winter sun we stumbled like drunk turtles down to K’s Hostel, where we’d booked a double room.

K’s Hostel was the best surprise ever. It’s clean, it’s big, it’s modern, it has a flat screen in the room (!) and downstairs it has a very funky zen café where beers are cheap and coffees are even cheaper! We were too early for check-in so we left our bags in the room and headed out to explore. Had lunch at a cool Japanese ‘beef bowl’ café, where, surprisingly enough, we had a big bowl of beef with rice, miso soup and free drinks. Very cheap and crazy tasty!

Found the largest wooden structure IN THE WORLD this afternoon as we walked off our bowls of beef. I’m not exaggerating, it’s officially the biggest wooden building the world, as it was very cool. I’m worried that I’m getting a little used to the temples on every corner. It’s now got to the point where I’m more excited about a Starbucks or a dog wearing a jumper. Must try to remember how few thousand year-old temples there are back in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

After a bit of searching we also found my highlight of the day (apart from all the temples, of course): the national Manga museum! A converted school filled with the biggest manga comic library in existence, original comic artwork from around the world and screens showing all sorts of random cartoons. My favourite was in a room where you have to take your shoes off and everyone was either reading or asleep in couches. Claire and I fell asleep watching a cartoon about a drunk man in a Japanese forrest who invited a bear, a fox and squirrel into his house before shooting them all for their pelts. I won’t spoil it in case you ever watch it but let’s just say that drunk man got some very serious payback. Lesson learned.

Right now we’re chilling in the room. Claire’s having a little sleep and then we’re going to head out for noodles. Kyoto has got a lovely feel to it and we’ve both said how relaxed we feel today. Love to all,

Tom

Just leaving Tokyo ON THE DOT of 11 o'clock. Like clockwork. Well, I'm guessing they use clockwork in some part of this magnificent piece of engineering and that's why it leaves exactly on time.

Arriving in Kyoto