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Nothing super interesting in the blog entry today. No attacking monkeys. No overcrowded trains or even navigation dilemmas. We originally intended today to be a rest day after the crowded craziness of the preceding 2 days. Instead we started the day by walking almost clear across Kyoto.
Started off the day with a walk with Angela and Charlotte, while Veronica grabbed some extra sleep. An hour later we returned to find out that Veronica had woken up 15 minutes after we left, and had packed the futon beds away and cleaned the hotel room out of boredom.
We decided to walk and find a coffee and somewhere to get breakfast. Unfortunately on the route we took mean't we didn't come across a coffee shop for over 30 minutes of walking. Eventually we stopped for a coffee and continued on to find somewhere for breakfast.
I typically like my coffee fairly strong. I have learn't that when you order an ice coffee in many Japan cafes, you given a class of iced supercharged rocket fuel with 10 standard shots of coffee, mixed with ice and a dash of water. My first iced coffee for the day was, quite frankly, pretty horrible. I'm sure it was nice coffee, but the dosage I received would have satisfactorily caffeinated an adult elephant. No human needs as much caffeine as that drink contained.
On to the shopping, starting with breakfast at a bakery on Shijo Street (the unofficial "Main Street" of Kyoto) followed by sojourns through the Teramachi and Shin Kyogoku Shopping Arcades. That's when the 100 yen shopping started. For those not in the know, 100 yen stores are generally large stores where everything inside is sold for 105 yen (including 5 yen tax) which is roughly equivalent to $1. Needless to say there are quite a few bargains to be found, mixed in with a whole lot of cheap rubbish. Sadly, my 3 girls enjoyed looking through the cheap rubbish in order to find the 100 yen treasures, so considering the places that I've dragged them over the last few days, I had to grin and bear it. Gladly, hunger interrupted the shopping eventually, and we decided to look for lunch. I had a hunch that our favourite curry restaurant, Coco Curry Ichibanya, was just around the corner, so following this hunch we went looking in the general direction, and I was correct.
Into the curry restaurant, to the top floor, and another venue with heater overcompensation. The temperature outside was a comfortable 8 degrees, which many Japanese seem to think is cold, so the heating in many places such as buses, trains and restaurants is wound up to thermo-nuclear. Removing our coats and any all other clothing we could without the risk of being arrested, we sat and flicked through the menu, but we already knew what we were going to order.
Veronica ordered the standard heat chicken schnitzel curry. I ordered a level 10 curry. The hottest they make. The girl first asked me "level 10???", then made me confirm by holding up 10 fingers. Then she turned to Veronica to confirm that I knew what I was requesting. After confirming that I wasn't crazy, and that I actually wanted what I was asking for, she left, and returned not long after with our meals.
Hot. Really, really hot. Veronica thought that my tears were funny. I didn't. I wasn't going to let it beat me though. The girl returned twice to make sure I was still alive and conscious, and that I was actually eating the meal that was slowly etching itself into the plate.
I got another iced coffee with this meal because it was a "set special" and was included with the curry for only 100 yen. Again, rocket fuel. Luckily, it was cold, wet, and since my tastebuds were numb it did the job nicely.
After lunch and a casual stroll through the remaining shops, we headed back to the bus stop. A fairly painless bus trip back to Kyoto station, and across the road to the Yodobashi camera store complex. The girls wanted an ice-cream for desert, so we grabbed some baskin robbins. Some of the weird ice-cream flavours included haunted cola, love potion #31, dainagon azuki, popping shower, cupid heard, tea & apple pie, Italian cannoli and musk melon. We stayed with safe flavours, although haunted cola (purple and brown ice cream) intrigues me.
Into Yodobashi camera store for the last bit of shopping for the day, as the tolerance fuse of all 3 females had just about run out. New compact motorised zoom lens for the Panasonic GF3? Around $100 higher than I expected it would be. Lens cap on a string for the existing Panasonic lens? Nowhere to be found. We grabbed an iPhone case for Veronica's phone, and left.
This brings me to an interesting note about phones in Japan. Apple iPhones seem to be rare. Android handsets, in particular Samsung handsets such as the SGS2 seem to be everywhere. The aisles of camera accessories reflected this. Big aisles dedicated to many different makes of android and even windows 7 phone handsets. One single aisle only a few metres long dedicated to iPhone accessories. That doesn't sound so bad, except that this is a dedicated electronics store covering several city blocks, and 7 stories in height.
Back to the hotel, showered and in bed, ready for an early start tomorrow. We're heading for Yokohama on the shinkansen to briefly dump the bags, then onto Odaiba (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odaiba) for a look around, and hopefully some night shots of Tokyo and the rainbow bridge before heading back to the hotel thoroughly exhausted.
Started off the day with a walk with Angela and Charlotte, while Veronica grabbed some extra sleep. An hour later we returned to find out that Veronica had woken up 15 minutes after we left, and had packed the futon beds away and cleaned the hotel room out of boredom.
We decided to walk and find a coffee and somewhere to get breakfast. Unfortunately on the route we took mean't we didn't come across a coffee shop for over 30 minutes of walking. Eventually we stopped for a coffee and continued on to find somewhere for breakfast.
I typically like my coffee fairly strong. I have learn't that when you order an ice coffee in many Japan cafes, you given a class of iced supercharged rocket fuel with 10 standard shots of coffee, mixed with ice and a dash of water. My first iced coffee for the day was, quite frankly, pretty horrible. I'm sure it was nice coffee, but the dosage I received would have satisfactorily caffeinated an adult elephant. No human needs as much caffeine as that drink contained.
On to the shopping, starting with breakfast at a bakery on Shijo Street (the unofficial "Main Street" of Kyoto) followed by sojourns through the Teramachi and Shin Kyogoku Shopping Arcades. That's when the 100 yen shopping started. For those not in the know, 100 yen stores are generally large stores where everything inside is sold for 105 yen (including 5 yen tax) which is roughly equivalent to $1. Needless to say there are quite a few bargains to be found, mixed in with a whole lot of cheap rubbish. Sadly, my 3 girls enjoyed looking through the cheap rubbish in order to find the 100 yen treasures, so considering the places that I've dragged them over the last few days, I had to grin and bear it. Gladly, hunger interrupted the shopping eventually, and we decided to look for lunch. I had a hunch that our favourite curry restaurant, Coco Curry Ichibanya, was just around the corner, so following this hunch we went looking in the general direction, and I was correct.
Into the curry restaurant, to the top floor, and another venue with heater overcompensation. The temperature outside was a comfortable 8 degrees, which many Japanese seem to think is cold, so the heating in many places such as buses, trains and restaurants is wound up to thermo-nuclear. Removing our coats and any all other clothing we could without the risk of being arrested, we sat and flicked through the menu, but we already knew what we were going to order.
Veronica ordered the standard heat chicken schnitzel curry. I ordered a level 10 curry. The hottest they make. The girl first asked me "level 10???", then made me confirm by holding up 10 fingers. Then she turned to Veronica to confirm that I knew what I was requesting. After confirming that I wasn't crazy, and that I actually wanted what I was asking for, she left, and returned not long after with our meals.
Hot. Really, really hot. Veronica thought that my tears were funny. I didn't. I wasn't going to let it beat me though. The girl returned twice to make sure I was still alive and conscious, and that I was actually eating the meal that was slowly etching itself into the plate.
I got another iced coffee with this meal because it was a "set special" and was included with the curry for only 100 yen. Again, rocket fuel. Luckily, it was cold, wet, and since my tastebuds were numb it did the job nicely.
After lunch and a casual stroll through the remaining shops, we headed back to the bus stop. A fairly painless bus trip back to Kyoto station, and across the road to the Yodobashi camera store complex. The girls wanted an ice-cream for desert, so we grabbed some baskin robbins. Some of the weird ice-cream flavours included haunted cola, love potion #31, dainagon azuki, popping shower, cupid heard, tea & apple pie, Italian cannoli and musk melon. We stayed with safe flavours, although haunted cola (purple and brown ice cream) intrigues me.
Into Yodobashi camera store for the last bit of shopping for the day, as the tolerance fuse of all 3 females had just about run out. New compact motorised zoom lens for the Panasonic GF3? Around $100 higher than I expected it would be. Lens cap on a string for the existing Panasonic lens? Nowhere to be found. We grabbed an iPhone case for Veronica's phone, and left.
This brings me to an interesting note about phones in Japan. Apple iPhones seem to be rare. Android handsets, in particular Samsung handsets such as the SGS2 seem to be everywhere. The aisles of camera accessories reflected this. Big aisles dedicated to many different makes of android and even windows 7 phone handsets. One single aisle only a few metres long dedicated to iPhone accessories. That doesn't sound so bad, except that this is a dedicated electronics store covering several city blocks, and 7 stories in height.
Back to the hotel, showered and in bed, ready for an early start tomorrow. We're heading for Yokohama on the shinkansen to briefly dump the bags, then onto Odaiba (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odaiba) for a look around, and hopefully some night shots of Tokyo and the rainbow bridge before heading back to the hotel thoroughly exhausted.
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