What with the night bus and staying up for the balcony party, my biological clock was slightly screwed up. I almost became a true creature of the night. Which was a pain because Kyoto was a much sleepier place than Tokyo. Still I found a couple of good bars to bounce between. But often I wouldn't go to sleep until after 4AM and then wake between 11 and 12. This didn't leave a lot of time for exploration.
On one evening we were beginning to watch a movie when a head popped around the door to see if there was a seat and seeing there was none, promptly left... For the mini second that I glimpsed the face in I felt a small prang of recognition, enough to warrant further investigation at least. To my absolute astonishment there was Canadian Marc, in Kyoto, at the same time as me, in the same hostel!!! If I had the music for "It's a small world then that would definitely be playing right now... Feel thankful you have been spared.
So from there we hit a few of the bars and revelled in the sheer delightfulness that is coincidence. The next day we did a bit more sight seeing and for some reason that little coincidence thing happened again.
Japanese kindness is largely overlooked but this day we came across 3 incidences of kindness. The first was a gentleman who had lived in New york for a time and his English accent was like a cross between Woody Allen, John Candy (Uncle Buck) and coincidentally (there it is again) a Japanese man! He was in the middle of writing a book on Osaka ken, one of the southernmost prefectures in Japan. He was full of knowledge especially about Kyoto and the surrounding area, and also helped us out with a tricky train situation i.e we didn't know where we were or where we should be going.
The next was during an epic down pour of rain. We took shelter under someones porch as the heavy drops exploded on the ground an elderly women eyed us up as she drove past. 5 minutes later she returned on foot handing us two umbrellas. Of course it is highly likely she just didn't want us loitering around but I still like to think it is due to the unconditional kindness of Japans people.
Finally a problem with buses had us completely lost and another gentleman popped out of his house, took us to a bus stop and even ran to his house and back to fetch his glasses so he could help us read the timetable. It should be known that Kyoto is much more difficult than Tokyo to navigate through using public transport there isn't half as much English and the train lines are confusing as hell. Still much fun was had.
We ended the day by going to an incredibly nice mandarin restaurant and a very cool night club which, even though full of drunk Americans, somehow turned night into day like only the best ones do...
Unfortunately for me that was the cause for my lateness for a trip on a very special train to a very special event (more on that in an upcoming blog). But other fun things in Kyoto included:
- The crazy girls I met by the river. They beckoned me over, asking questions and asking to have pictures taken with me and when I was instructed to take off my sun glasses they whooped (yes that's right whooped) with glee screaming "I love you"... Finally the recognition I deserve!!!
- The cool cats in the bar named 'Jellybean Rockets'. we covered some interesting topics considering I could only speak a little Japanese and they could only speak a little English.
- The ridiculously stupid trek I took half way up a nearby mountain, in a storm when it was beginning to get dark, with an unerving amount of crows flying about and zombified homeless people lying about in various shelters... Actually that wasn't fun. That was a little terrifying.
- The spiritual home of the Tanukis (emblem of this blog) was discovered. I have found my sake swilling, happy go lucky, big balled brethren.
That was Kyoto. It was a nice little end to my holiday season.
Now we can (almost) get back to present day blogging, where far more scarier times are approaching.
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