Paradise City - Happy Birthday Jacob!
This weekend marks the first weekend in my new place and also the last weekend before I start my new job. Since parting with my new friends last week, we all agreed to get back together this weekend for Jacob's birthday in Kyoto. I've always heard great things about Kyoto so was pretty excited I would be able to go there before starting work!
During the day on Friday I took the day pretty chill. I stayed home most of the afternoon and made a lunch of sauteed veggies and tofu. It was yum :) Around 4pm I headed to the train station to head North for the hour train ride to Kyoto. I hadn't been on a train in a week and hadn't really city hopped ever so I was really hoping I wouldn't get lost. Luckily for me, from my station to Kyoto I stay on basically one track. One thing I did notice about the trains was that there are the Local trains, Express trains, and like a super Express. I was riding the Local Kyoto train and didn't notice till a particular stop that there was an Express Kyoto across the platform. Pondering about it, I texted Jacob and found out that Local trains are the slower moving trains because they make a stop at every stop instead of the Express trains that only stop at bigger train stations. O! Feeling a little silly being on the Local train, I eventually brushed it off since I would get to my destination eventually...just not as quick. Well, next time I'll know better!
Stopping at Kyoto station it was huge! Kyoto is a very popular city with many people living, working and vacationing or sight seeing there. Once reuniting with Jacob, Becka and Joseph it was like training all over again but without the work!! It was great getting to see familiar faces and I was ready to see what Kyoto had in store. I even got a greeting gift from Jacob of a small jar of sake! I typically don't like sake but because it was a gift from the birthday boy AND it was SO cold in Kyoto, I figured this might help warm me up.
We first started off with some food. Walking around for a bit, we stopped at a Takoyaki stand for a "Snack-o-yaki"(term recently adopted by Becka and Jocab ^.^). Afterwards the group was determined to have Okonomiyaki for dinner. Okonomiyaki is a savoury Japanese pancake that has a bunch of different stuff in it and then is cooked on a grill. I had never had it before so was excited and hungry!
Dinner was nice even though we were the only people in the place. Getting to flip the Okonomiyaki was fun as well as the beer and conversations.
After dinner, Jacob was super keen to revisit a bar he had gone to two years ago in Kyoto, ING Bar. This bar was small but had lots of character with old records behind the bar, posters of legendary rocks stars, and tracks that would take you back years. The four of us got a round of beers and started the drinking night singing to familiar tunes and yelling "kampai!" (Japanese term equivalent to "cheers") every so often. Some time after being there, a Japanese man wanted to join our table. His conversation choice was interesting to say the least. But it is always fun to talk to different people, especially while traveling. Sometimes you meet the most weird or strange people but then sometimes you run into the most awesomest people! This guy was definitely strange though, but it was entertaining.
Half way through the night, some of us got hungry so decided to venture out to find some food. The area of Kyoto we were in had many bars and food places near by. It was great being able to find sit down food at 1am. After refueling, I was pooped!! I don't know if its the stresses of a new country or if I'm just getting too old for this, but I was ready to cuddle in my bed and pass out. It could also be the fact that it was freezing outside!! This Texas girl isn't use to such cold weather! But we continued to party on and took the adventure to a karaoke bar.
Karaoke bars are great in Asia because you always get your private room. We really picked a karaoke bar because it would be fun but also because it gave us space to take a nap if we wanted. If you're wondering why we didn't just go home, well it's because the trains stop running at midnight and all of us lived far from Kyoto, so we couldn't head home until at least 5am, when the trains would start running up again. So it was about 2am or so when we went to karaoke.
I'm a pretty horrible singer but having a private room to sing and sound as horrible as you want makes it much easier to grab the mic. This place was also awesome because they had free drinks (as in coffee, soda, juice or tea)!! So the four of us loaded up on free coffees and got our second win. We spent hours singing old songs just sounding horrible but having a great time.
By 5 am, we were all ready to catch our trains. I can't believe the sun was coming up and I hadn't slept! I hadn't stayed up till sunrise since my trip to Hong Kong! But it was for a good reason and it wasn't like this would be happening all the time, so I fully enjoyed the evening. The trek home was a mission though. I always see people sleeping on the train and think I would never do that. Well, I did that. I could catch my head bobbing as I patiently waited for my train stop.
Coming home, I showered, and got into bed at a time I usually would be getting out. The night was long but it was great to be able to spend it with awesome people. Happy birthday Jacob!! Now with only a few days left before work, I really have to bolt down and get my stuff together!
xxx
During the day on Friday I took the day pretty chill. I stayed home most of the afternoon and made a lunch of sauteed veggies and tofu. It was yum :) Around 4pm I headed to the train station to head North for the hour train ride to Kyoto. I hadn't been on a train in a week and hadn't really city hopped ever so I was really hoping I wouldn't get lost. Luckily for me, from my station to Kyoto I stay on basically one track. One thing I did notice about the trains was that there are the Local trains, Express trains, and like a super Express. I was riding the Local Kyoto train and didn't notice till a particular stop that there was an Express Kyoto across the platform. Pondering about it, I texted Jacob and found out that Local trains are the slower moving trains because they make a stop at every stop instead of the Express trains that only stop at bigger train stations. O! Feeling a little silly being on the Local train, I eventually brushed it off since I would get to my destination eventually...just not as quick. Well, next time I'll know better!
Stopping at Kyoto station it was huge! Kyoto is a very popular city with many people living, working and vacationing or sight seeing there. Once reuniting with Jacob, Becka and Joseph it was like training all over again but without the work!! It was great getting to see familiar faces and I was ready to see what Kyoto had in store. I even got a greeting gift from Jacob of a small jar of sake! I typically don't like sake but because it was a gift from the birthday boy AND it was SO cold in Kyoto, I figured this might help warm me up.
We first started off with some food. Walking around for a bit, we stopped at a Takoyaki stand for a "Snack-o-yaki"(term recently adopted by Becka and Jocab ^.^). Afterwards the group was determined to have Okonomiyaki for dinner. Okonomiyaki is a savoury Japanese pancake that has a bunch of different stuff in it and then is cooked on a grill. I had never had it before so was excited and hungry!
Dinner was nice even though we were the only people in the place. Getting to flip the Okonomiyaki was fun as well as the beer and conversations.
After dinner, Jacob was super keen to revisit a bar he had gone to two years ago in Kyoto, ING Bar. This bar was small but had lots of character with old records behind the bar, posters of legendary rocks stars, and tracks that would take you back years. The four of us got a round of beers and started the drinking night singing to familiar tunes and yelling "kampai!" (Japanese term equivalent to "cheers") every so often. Some time after being there, a Japanese man wanted to join our table. His conversation choice was interesting to say the least. But it is always fun to talk to different people, especially while traveling. Sometimes you meet the most weird or strange people but then sometimes you run into the most awesomest people! This guy was definitely strange though, but it was entertaining.
Half way through the night, some of us got hungry so decided to venture out to find some food. The area of Kyoto we were in had many bars and food places near by. It was great being able to find sit down food at 1am. After refueling, I was pooped!! I don't know if its the stresses of a new country or if I'm just getting too old for this, but I was ready to cuddle in my bed and pass out. It could also be the fact that it was freezing outside!! This Texas girl isn't use to such cold weather! But we continued to party on and took the adventure to a karaoke bar.
Karaoke bars are great in Asia because you always get your private room. We really picked a karaoke bar because it would be fun but also because it gave us space to take a nap if we wanted. If you're wondering why we didn't just go home, well it's because the trains stop running at midnight and all of us lived far from Kyoto, so we couldn't head home until at least 5am, when the trains would start running up again. So it was about 2am or so when we went to karaoke.
I'm a pretty horrible singer but having a private room to sing and sound as horrible as you want makes it much easier to grab the mic. This place was also awesome because they had free drinks (as in coffee, soda, juice or tea)!! So the four of us loaded up on free coffees and got our second win. We spent hours singing old songs just sounding horrible but having a great time.
By 5 am, we were all ready to catch our trains. I can't believe the sun was coming up and I hadn't slept! I hadn't stayed up till sunrise since my trip to Hong Kong! But it was for a good reason and it wasn't like this would be happening all the time, so I fully enjoyed the evening. The trek home was a mission though. I always see people sleeping on the train and think I would never do that. Well, I did that. I could catch my head bobbing as I patiently waited for my train stop.
Coming home, I showered, and got into bed at a time I usually would be getting out. The night was long but it was great to be able to spend it with awesome people. Happy birthday Jacob!! Now with only a few days left before work, I really have to bolt down and get my stuff together!
xxx
In Italy we have regional trains and high speed trains too. The regional ones makes a lot more stops when the high-speeds just travel to main cities.
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