Rail pass, Osaka, Kyoto

Yesterday I left Hiroshima after a quick walk-through one last time. The weather was perfect, unlike the previous two days so I had to get a couple photos for proof that the sun does come out in Hiroshima.

After that, I hopped onto the bullet train again. I LOVE the rail pass. Basically I just flash it, the ticket people nod, and I am on my way. There seems to be a bullet train that I can catch every 30 minutes or so. I also had no idea how extensive the train system here in Japan is. The bullet trains are just one small component. THere are trains that seem to go EVERYWHERE. If you can`t get to it via train, then you must be going somewhere pretty isolated. Well on Honshu at least. I do not think Hokkaido and Kyushu have as many train lines. Best 250 bucks I have spent on this trip by far.

So the train I hopped onto went as far as Osaka. I was thinking I would stop in Kobe and check it out, but then I got an urge to return to Osaka, which was where I first saw Japan. I got off there, and took the subway into Namba, which is pretty central, and a big shopping area. I strolled around, reminising and remembering my previous visit there. Namba is a massive station with tons of exits. The first time I was there, I was looking for exit 10 to find the Korean consulate and I couldn`t seem to do it for the life of me. I became super nervous and worried I wouldnt find the consulate in time and my trip would be a failure. Thankfully I found it in time.

This time, I found the consulate in like 2 minutes. Of course it helped that I already knew where it was. Looks like they have changed the set-up a bit though. I went into the basement, but now it looks as though you go through the main entry-way for visa services. The holiday inn across the street is no longer there either.

Anyway, I continued on down and ended up at this shopping mall on top of the rail station. Apparently it was the grand opening of the place. Yesterday was literally the first day it was open. I didnt know this until i saw some signs saying as much. Before that, I was really puzzled why so many people were at the mall mid-day on a week-day. Well, that explained it.

After having my fun in Osaka, I hopped onto a train to Kyoto. An illustration of how awesome the train system is here- I missed the first one but caught one 5 minutes later and there were a couple soon after the one I took.

When I got to Kyoto 30 minutes later, I took a bus. Nothing like riding a bus at rush hour. Fun times. Managed to get off in the right place (unlike today when I was returning from sight seeing) and found my hotel- a ryokan off a main street. It really is pretty cool, although a bit rustic. Dimly lit, hard-wood floors. Pretty sweet set-up though. French receptionist was a bit of a dick though. He pronounced my name `seen.` yeah, what a tool.

As for kyoto? Well yes, it has lots of temples. It has lots of cool small alleys. Lots of tourists. Lots of japanese people in stores speaking english. Well besides the woman in the post office. I am very familiar with post offices now. I have gone to one every day since i have been here, either to mail something or to get money. FYI, the Japanese postal service has the highest amount of bank deposits in the world of any financial institute. Or it did, not sure if it is still number 1.

I'm adios

5 hours from now I will be boarding a plane to take me to Tokyo. Hard to believe the day has finally arrived. I'm a little edgy right now. A friend asked me this morning if I was excited. At this moment, not really. It comes and goes.
For instance, yesterday I went to get my rail pass over in San Francisco. When I stepped into the travel agency and saw all these brochures on Japan, the excitement came. When I held the rail pass "exchange order" I got a nice little adrenaline rush. It also helped that Jordan, who was accompanying me, was pumped up. When I was browsing a brochure and came across a map of the Tokyo JR system, that really got her going. I was like yup, that's where I'll be in about 24 hours.

Got my haircut yesterday (as illustrated in the pic to the right). Told the woman to do it really short because I wouldn't be there for awhile. "What, you don't like coming to us?" she said. Well yeah, but obviously I couldn't tell her that. And plus, "No, I'm not going to be around for awhile so I need it that way."
"oh, well, I guess that's ok then." Better be.