Fitful sleep last night caused by a lugubrious German and his oriental wife. His snores were enough to wake the dead so you can imagine what effect they had on us. Shikata ga nai. Our plan today was fourfold:
1. Get some travellers cheques changed;
2. Contact Daniel Lee;
3. Go to Osaka Aquarium;
4. Phone Charlotte and wish her a happy birthday.
Well, 50% ain't bad. No joy on the travellers cheques mainly because of our impatience, couldn't get hold of Dan, but we did go to the Aquarium and we did sing happy birthday down 6,000 miles of phone line to Charlotte.
First the Aquarium. All I can say is "Wow!" What a fantastic place. It's not cheap to get in at 2,000¥ each but worth every ryu. The glass keeping the water back is actually acrylic 30cm thick, and the Aquarium uses more than is produced worldwide in a year (which kind of makes you wonder how long it took to build the place being as how I don't remember there being a worldwide acrylic famine any time recently). They've got some fantastic fish (including a whale shark and numerous different rays all in one huge tank the acrylic windows for which weighed 10.1 tons alone), but they also had marine mammals like dolphins, otters and... um... sloths. Okay, I know sloths aren't marine (or even mobile most of the time) but they did have some, honest.
Anyway, after we'd wandered slack-jawed through the fishies, it was about the right time to call the birthday girl. The O'Connor household Mk.II was in its usual disorganised state and I don't think Charlotte really appreciated the technological tour de force behind our telephone call, but it was early there and Charlotte still had maths homework to do.
We got back into Kyoto at about five and tried to get some money. Not as easy as you'd think considering the sheer quantity of ATMs in Britain's streets and the paucity of them on Japan's (not to mention the fact that most of those that are available tend to close at about 8pm!). However by seven we had both cash and very sore feet. We found a cheap restaurant recommended in the Rough Guide, and I acquitted myself well in the face of a total lack of english - that's to say that we got what we thought we asked for and the waitress actually looked pleased with our rudimentary phrasebook compliments.
Ooh, before I go we also did a bit of exploring Kyoto train station in the morning. Like German railway stations, there are plenty of shops and eateries on the concourse, but there's also a hyuuuge department store called Isetan spread over 11 floors. You can take the escalator all the way to the top up the inside wall of the station giving you fantastic views of the concourse and ending on a flat roof-piazza called, appropriately enough, the SkyGarden. Not only can you see fantastic views of the city from there, there's even a helipad!
1. Get some travellers cheques changed;
2. Contact Daniel Lee;
3. Go to Osaka Aquarium;
4. Phone Charlotte and wish her a happy birthday.
Well, 50% ain't bad. No joy on the travellers cheques mainly because of our impatience, couldn't get hold of Dan, but we did go to the Aquarium and we did sing happy birthday down 6,000 miles of phone line to Charlotte.
First the Aquarium. All I can say is "Wow!" What a fantastic place. It's not cheap to get in at 2,000¥ each but worth every ryu. The glass keeping the water back is actually acrylic 30cm thick, and the Aquarium uses more than is produced worldwide in a year (which kind of makes you wonder how long it took to build the place being as how I don't remember there being a worldwide acrylic famine any time recently). They've got some fantastic fish (including a whale shark and numerous different rays all in one huge tank the acrylic windows for which weighed 10.1 tons alone), but they also had marine mammals like dolphins, otters and... um... sloths. Okay, I know sloths aren't marine (or even mobile most of the time) but they did have some, honest.
Anyway, after we'd wandered slack-jawed through the fishies, it was about the right time to call the birthday girl. The O'Connor household Mk.II was in its usual disorganised state and I don't think Charlotte really appreciated the technological tour de force behind our telephone call, but it was early there and Charlotte still had maths homework to do.
We got back into Kyoto at about five and tried to get some money. Not as easy as you'd think considering the sheer quantity of ATMs in Britain's streets and the paucity of them on Japan's (not to mention the fact that most of those that are available tend to close at about 8pm!). However by seven we had both cash and very sore feet. We found a cheap restaurant recommended in the Rough Guide, and I acquitted myself well in the face of a total lack of english - that's to say that we got what we thought we asked for and the waitress actually looked pleased with our rudimentary phrasebook compliments.
Ooh, before I go we also did a bit of exploring Kyoto train station in the morning. Like German railway stations, there are plenty of shops and eateries on the concourse, but there's also a hyuuuge department store called Isetan spread over 11 floors. You can take the escalator all the way to the top up the inside wall of the station giving you fantastic views of the concourse and ending on a flat roof-piazza called, appropriately enough, the SkyGarden. Not only can you see fantastic views of the city from there, there's even a helipad!
Onto: 991005 - Himeiji
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