Kyoto - Welcome back!

Kobe, one last tour

Third day in Kobe, I already feel like a local. So it's time to move on. Today I'm heading back to Kyoto, alone this time without my group.

I arrive at the train station, the train just left when I got here, it would have annoyed me elsewhere, but here, it doesn't matter. The next train is coming in 5 minutes anyway.

I get on, hold onto the ceiling bars, and give myself a nice stretch. Feels damn good. There's a German couple sitting in front of me, even without Deuter backpacks, it's obvious that they're German. I've stumbled upon quite a few Germans on this trip.

I go to the electronics store one last time. This time with a specific goal, I'm looking for a shoulder phone holder. It's really annoying to keep taking out my phone when I have both the backpack at the back and the daypack at the front like a pack mule. And it's hard on my nails, they become brittle. In Germany, I would never buy a phone holder like this, but here it's not a problem. Why? Because it's safe enough anyway, no one's going to take away my phone. I pay €14.50 for it, it will be one of the best purchases I've made in a long time. Then it's time to go buy a carabiner. At least to try.

I walk down the streets to the Northface Shop. Suddenly I realize that I haven't seen a single Tesla so far. I see the typical boxy cars here, I've seen a few Fords, BMWs, and even more Porsches.... But not a single Tesla.
I come across one of the construction sites. Even the construction site barricades are something special here.

It's still raining heavily. What a genius I am, I bought a rain cover for my backpack. What an idiot I am, I only think of it when the backpack is already soaked. 🙄

I go into one of the many Gacha stores. I stroll around and look through the aisles, examining everything closely. With some of the vending machines, I think to myself, "Who buys this shit?" In essence, that applies to most of these vending machines. Now I'm standing in front of one, not thinking for long. I buy four of them, for my monkey gang and myself. Greetings to Matze, Yvi, and Nora. 🙊🙉🙈

The Snoopy stores are everywhere here too.

I stop by Starbucks, take a break to orient myself. Again, hardly anyone speaks English here, even though the employee in front of me must be around 23. Well, it's generally difficult to determine the age of Asians. 😅
Here too, I find the omnipresent IKEA boxes, where you can place your things. Ingeniously simple, simply ingenious.

Stopover in Osaka

I take the Limited Express from Kobe to Osaka. Limited Express is comparable to the Rhine-Ruhr Express here. We cover 30 km in 30 minutes towards the center, but I don't even see a city boundary. Left and right, as far as the eye can see, skyscrapers. The minimum is 2 floors. It strongly reminds me of the old dystopian movies, or animes like Akira. Impressive, fascinating, not desirable for me.

Arriving in Osaka, I join the line to pick up my JR Rail Pass. I paid about €200 in advance. What's the point of all this? With it, I can travel for free on long-distance trains for 7 days. I'll make good use of it when I move to Nagano next.

On my way through the behemoth of a train station, I happen to see exactly what I set out to see. One of the few 3D billboards. These screens show ads just like any other, except they are curved and create a 3D effect with compatible clips. Quite impressive. There are much better videos to convey that. Like here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ507VJMAjI

Kyoto - Welcome back!

And off we go, I'm going from Osaka to Kyoto on the Limited Express, only costs a ridiculous €2.80.

It's strange. When I was here last week, there weren't so many foreigners to be seen. Why is that the case now? Because of Easter? Last time, it was a ratio of 1:500 foreigners to locals, now it must be around 1:25. It's amazing how much that changes the atmosphere of a city.

First things first

I arrive at the next accommodation, it's nice here. Not surprising, after seeing the photos, I check the toilet.

I'm curious, there's a option for kids?! 😲 I try it out. Decide that I won't use this option again anytime soon, unless I want to wake up quickly. Instead of 'Kids', they could have called it 'Balls'. Stop!

I try the next option, the 'Express Flight'. I start laughing arbitrarily. If this is an 'Express Flight', then it's a crashing plane with a burning and stuttering turbine. The nozzle is firing in staccato. On. Off. On. Off. Stop!

I've seen the next options on all the controls, but so far I've been hesitant to try them out. But hey, after the kids option, it can't get any worse. I press the women's option. Turns out it's basically the kids or balls option. Just a little further to the right, for whatever reason. Stop!

Okay, then on to the hairdryer. Continue! 😂 Oh, how easily amused men are. Some people might think that now. Yes, that's right. 😁

Finally, the best part. I realize that I've reached the best toilet so far here, after over two weeks. It has two-ply toilet paper!

Cookies! 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

I go shopping and now also stop by KFC. My verdict is devastating. It seems the Japanese are not so crazy about KFC because of the fries. And I never thought I would say something like this: I truly feel sorry for the bird that had to die for this. This feeling was new to me. In this case, I would have preferred not eating anything rather than letting an animal die for such a miserable food...

After this disappointment, I need something decent to eat. On the way to the shrine, I pass by Ben's Cookies. I take a quick look inside, stand in line. At the counter, I choose one cookie after another. After choosing the fourth cookie and wanting to place my order, the friendly staff member holds up one finger and then points to the sign. Apparently, there's a discount starting from the fifth cookie. Cool, I think to myself and choose a fifth cookie. There's plenty of selection. After choosing the coconut cookie, she suddenly holds up two fingers. She can tell from my face that I don't understand. She points to the sign again. I read that when you buy five cookies, you get two for free. Wow, I'm really amazed, I make my choices and have them packed.

So now I have seven new friends:

• Oatmeal with raisins
• Orange and milk chocolate
• Fruit and nut
• Ginger and dark chocolate
• Coconut
• Praline and milk chocolate
• Cranberry and white chocolate

Unfortunately, two of my new friends won't survive this evening. Rest in pieces! ⚰

Next, I head to the shrine. I pass by a beautiful street, illuminated and lined with trees and cherry blossom trees. I'm starting to feel like the best way to see something here is to choose a shrine or temple and just go for it.

On the way back to the hotel, I pass by the Irish pub that the Brit, the Australian, the Scot, and I visited. Good ol' times. 🙂