KANSAI

Sorry I haven't been updating lately
I finally fixed my computer last Wednesday, right before leaving for Kyoto.

We took the Shinkansen to get down there, and it only took 2.5 hours. However, once we got there, we were disappointed. Not only was it raining, but nothing was open. It was a mess! We then tried finding a Manga Cafe to stay overnight, and with the help from the police, we did.

I'm normally not one to rough it without showering, but we pulled it off and it was alright. The following day, On Thursday, my friends decided to rent bicycles. Now, keep in mind, I don't know how to ride a bike, so I was left to sit behind Tommy, who was rather reckless at first. Over time, I got used to it. That day, we went to Kiyumizu and other places, which were AWESOME. To end the day, we went to Ginkakuji, but found out it was closed.

On our way back to the Manga Kissa, I found some lodging. Me and my friends went to the place, but it was full. However, we found a public bath and got cleaned up among a bunch of dongs. Whatever, I'm not afraid to be naked in public - you know what they say about the Japanese. That night, we then went to Karaoke in Shijo, which was like the Shibuya of Kyoto. Once that was done, we decided to find a Manga Kissa around there. Nice - it was FULL. So we returned back to Gojo where our first was at and then retired there. That night, I was looking into lodging at Osaka, to make sure we wouldn't be living at Manga Kissas. Everything was full - so I called Mr. Schwartzman... Nathan Schwartzman who now lives in Osaka.

On Friday, we saw Kinkakuji and then went to Ginkakuji again. This time, we found out that Ginkakuji was actually closed for renovations. Oh well. That night, we went straight to Osaka. Once we got there, we went to a SpaWorld to get clean among a bunch of dongs. It was much fancier than the Kyoto public bath, but the surrounding area of SpaWorld was really sketchy. Later that night, we walked into a "ROYAL BUSINESS HOTEL AND SPA". Turns out, it was acutally a Gay Love hotel. We each got our own rooms and had to pay extra, but that was still alright.

On Saturday, we went to Osaka-jo, ruined some tours, and then later that day, met Mr. Schwartzman and his wife, Junko. We went to a Mexican restaurant where they had a practically all-day happy hour (11:30AM-5PM), got some burritos, coronas, and margaritas, and then headed to Hineno. We then spent the night at the Ikeda-Schwartzman household and it was all good.

The last day, on Sunday, we headed back to Kyoto and split up. We all ended up in the same place - Nijo-Jo. It was a nice place, but I got lost easily. Once that was over, I headed back to the station to do Souvenir shopping in the mall.