(no subject)
So, as promised - bullet trains:
(Not my picture - but identical - the cheery train man gave me tickets for the one leaving 3 minutes later) So - a ride in a 700 Series Nozomi(super-express) Shinkansen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/700_Series_Shinkansen) with speeds second only to its budget-no-object predecessor the 500 Series. I'll cut right to it - its FAST. It accelerates slowly, and the ride is smooth, so inside it is totally undramatic. You could be building a ship in a bottle in there - save the occasional few degrees of banking in the curves.
After a while you are desensitized to the speed, and other observations strike you. First of all - you kind of expect the city to end and then the train to really hit it in the country side. It doesn't end. There IS NO country-side between Tokyo and Kyoto apparently. At worst its dense suburban. Its flat valleys between mountains, and every inch of it is developed. Another thing, there are a LOT of tunnels. Some take 5 or 6 minutes to pass through. Keep in mind this at 285KPH. Generally its a beautiful view, you can see the Pacific. It takes a scant 2 hours (with stops) to go 214km; compare this to 328km between New York and DC and start asking yourself why we don't have these.
The most striking thing though is the number of actual climates I've traversed today. It was light rain in Tokyo - and here are my pictures from the train IN THE ORDER I TOOK THEM:
So from rain to clear:
Back to overcast and rainy again:
Then clear:
Ah, all clear - a beautiful day:
oh wait.....
Then Kyoto was partly cloudy. Naturally, the station was also absolutely ridiculous:
That huge chain of escalators looked enticing - so I rode it to the top. Low and behold, damn-near highest point in the city - within 10 minutes of arrival.
Not sold on the trappings of Kyoto station? The ride down takes you through a 7 story mall:
Finally I was back to the ground floor. I was looking for the right line in the subway station - and stumbled into - ANOTHER mall:
There were 4 directions of corridors like this. I've never seen an underground mall disappear over the horizon. Note also - art show:
Anyway, worried this mall would somehow lead me back to Tokyo - I found the train and headed up to my hotel. Now for some car intermission:
Heres a Hachi-Roku, and appreciate that none of you care (except maybe Dave and D) but I really like how the picture came out:
Ah - Kyoto
Then to my hotel. Is it weird that my single occupancy 60$/night hotel room is bigger than my apartment? (with comparable amenities). So now - time to go out!
First to Nijojo Castle - one of the most famous in Kyoto and indeed all Japan:
Got to the gate - DENIED - closed at 4. So - thought I would walk to downtown, see the city center and find Kawaramachi Street (the nightlife district).
I was actually having some share of trouble locating it - BUT I was right by the bridge that lead to another nightlife district of sorts...... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gion) Geishas. It's historically Geisha central - and highly, uh...historic. You see the chamber of commerce has very generously preserved the historic brothels in their original form for the intellectual benefit of posterity. Okay, I joke - they are all tea houses now. But still these streets, save the street lights, are seriously Edo period:
(this is an alley, the pictures of the busier traditional street didn't come out as well)
North of that is the main road through Gion, which is now lots and lots of modern trendy shops selling all manner of traditional goods. Like Kamakura, this is an older Japan. So if you want wooden sandals, kimono's and traditional sweets - this is place. Speaking of traditional sweets - walk a block from here and its red lights and canals that evoke Amsterdam. Along with numerous "lounges" and "hotels", there seemed to be plenty of practitioners of the oldest profession about. (Although its hard to tell considering the styles [I can follow these things, I DO live in Shibuya][and no, disappointingly I didn't see any in kimonos or traditional garb]). Note this is all in front of a delightful shrine where you can cleanse yourself of the various misdeeds that you can accomplish 2 blocks away:
So anyway, I worked my way back. My streak of walking pretty much unbroken since I got off the train. I eventually found the nightlife district - more endless streets of similar bright lights and karaoke bars. Apparently the bar bars were over by the canals, although that might get me a little more than I bargained for. So now I just wanted to get home - and I stumbled back assward into another HUGE mall complex:
Ice Cream anyone? In Kyoto they don't play:
This mall just went on.....
and on.............
(Not my picture - but identical - the cheery train man gave me tickets for the one leaving 3 minutes later) So - a ride in a 700 Series Nozomi(super-express) Shinkansen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/700_Series_Shinkansen) with speeds second only to its budget-no-object predecessor the 500 Series. I'll cut right to it - its FAST. It accelerates slowly, and the ride is smooth, so inside it is totally undramatic. You could be building a ship in a bottle in there - save the occasional few degrees of banking in the curves.
After a while you are desensitized to the speed, and other observations strike you. First of all - you kind of expect the city to end and then the train to really hit it in the country side. It doesn't end. There IS NO country-side between Tokyo and Kyoto apparently. At worst its dense suburban. Its flat valleys between mountains, and every inch of it is developed. Another thing, there are a LOT of tunnels. Some take 5 or 6 minutes to pass through. Keep in mind this at 285KPH. Generally its a beautiful view, you can see the Pacific. It takes a scant 2 hours (with stops) to go 214km; compare this to 328km between New York and DC and start asking yourself why we don't have these.
The most striking thing though is the number of actual climates I've traversed today. It was light rain in Tokyo - and here are my pictures from the train IN THE ORDER I TOOK THEM:
So from rain to clear:
Back to overcast and rainy again:
Then clear:
Ah, all clear - a beautiful day:
oh wait.....
Then Kyoto was partly cloudy. Naturally, the station was also absolutely ridiculous:
That huge chain of escalators looked enticing - so I rode it to the top. Low and behold, damn-near highest point in the city - within 10 minutes of arrival.
Not sold on the trappings of Kyoto station? The ride down takes you through a 7 story mall:
Finally I was back to the ground floor. I was looking for the right line in the subway station - and stumbled into - ANOTHER mall:
There were 4 directions of corridors like this. I've never seen an underground mall disappear over the horizon. Note also - art show:
Anyway, worried this mall would somehow lead me back to Tokyo - I found the train and headed up to my hotel. Now for some car intermission:
Heres a Hachi-Roku, and appreciate that none of you care (except maybe Dave and D) but I really like how the picture came out:
Ah - Kyoto
Then to my hotel. Is it weird that my single occupancy 60$/night hotel room is bigger than my apartment? (with comparable amenities). So now - time to go out!
First to Nijojo Castle - one of the most famous in Kyoto and indeed all Japan:
Got to the gate - DENIED - closed at 4. So - thought I would walk to downtown, see the city center and find Kawaramachi Street (the nightlife district).
I was actually having some share of trouble locating it - BUT I was right by the bridge that lead to another nightlife district of sorts...... (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gion) Geishas. It's historically Geisha central - and highly, uh...historic. You see the chamber of commerce has very generously preserved the historic brothels in their original form for the intellectual benefit of posterity. Okay, I joke - they are all tea houses now. But still these streets, save the street lights, are seriously Edo period:
(this is an alley, the pictures of the busier traditional street didn't come out as well)
North of that is the main road through Gion, which is now lots and lots of modern trendy shops selling all manner of traditional goods. Like Kamakura, this is an older Japan. So if you want wooden sandals, kimono's and traditional sweets - this is place. Speaking of traditional sweets - walk a block from here and its red lights and canals that evoke Amsterdam. Along with numerous "lounges" and "hotels", there seemed to be plenty of practitioners of the oldest profession about. (Although its hard to tell considering the styles [I can follow these things, I DO live in Shibuya][and no, disappointingly I didn't see any in kimonos or traditional garb]). Note this is all in front of a delightful shrine where you can cleanse yourself of the various misdeeds that you can accomplish 2 blocks away:
So anyway, I worked my way back. My streak of walking pretty much unbroken since I got off the train. I eventually found the nightlife district - more endless streets of similar bright lights and karaoke bars. Apparently the bar bars were over by the canals, although that might get me a little more than I bargained for. So now I just wanted to get home - and I stumbled back assward into another HUGE mall complex:
Ice Cream anyone? In Kyoto they don't play:
This mall just went on.....
and on.............