おでやす。 (Part 1 of Arrival)
Has it only been 22 days since I've come to Japan? Already I feel like it's been a couple months and while it's expensive, I'M LOVING IT HERE. Since I totally missed blogging for a bit (whoops, too busy having fun ;D), here's an update:
The first plane ride turned out to be okay. Ivy and I said our farewells (well, I was just alone aside from Aldric driving me there) to Canada and because I felt so sick, I bought some Nyquil past the customs check. Drank the entire dosage, got on the plane, passed out right after take-out. Lesson learned: medicine is way more effective in the air. I woke up just as they were serving the first meal and unfortunately could not finish it, only because I couldn't taste a thing and I was dying to go back to sleep :( Too bad, I guess I'll have to look forward to the meal on the flight home!
Once we reached Narita Airport, we wandered around a bit waiting for our connecting flight. The second flight was only an hour long, but some lady stole my seat! I guess since she had a huge camera and I happened to have the window seat (which she was seated in when I boarded the flight), I let her have it so she could snap her air-to-coast pictures. Sadly enough, half the plane was empty, so.. why my seat!? :( The descent down was the most painful I ever had since both my ears were blocked and refused to unblock T__T Supremely painful!!
We got to Kansai International Airport and I managed to make it through customs because luckily, my fever had broken so I didn't register anything on their H1N1 station (WHEW). We found our airport taxi/bus easily enough (they had a VIP sign just for Ivy... waiting at their counter XD). Instead of charging us for our extra bags, they decided to count them all as free and as a result, we got to save 1000 yen. Yay!!!
The inside of Kansai International Airport.
It costs 3500 yen to go from KIX to Kyoto, with an additional charge of 1000 yen per extra bag (1 bag is free).
The ride itself was around 2 hours to Kyoto (Kansai International Airport is in Osaka), and while there wasn't much to see, it was interesting pondering some of the features of the Japanese highway. They had concrete barriers all around the highway sides on the bridges (suicide prevention?) and we also passed one of Osaka's ferris wheels. As for the bus itself, the driver tried his hardest with English and I accidentally ended up pretending to be Ivy. Long story short, he was shocked to find out by the end of the trip we both understood Japanese and could speak it too.
Hotel Chrysantheme itself was a very small, but cozy inn. Our bathroom was about the size of my closet back in Canada, and the front clerk also did his best with English until I finally got cranky and told him to say everything in Japanese since we understood perfectly. Curiously enough, there was an Adult Video pamphlet included in our room information guides, which was very very NSFW. Ohhh how I regret flipping through it...
For those who need "extra" comfort while alone in their rooms. You needed to go to a machine to buy a special TV card for this to plug into your TV before you could pick... these options.
Due to jet lag, we were exhuasted and went to bed by 12, but also due to jet lag neither of us slept for very long and we eventually gave up at 4am and got up to play UNO. By 6am, we were out the door and ready to explore our new surroundings. We first went to the Hirano Shrine, wandered around lost for a while and somehow made it to Ritsumeikan University, and eventually ended up at our breakfast spot, Harbor Cafe.
Hirano Shrine at around 6am. It's one of the most famous Hanami (Cherry Blossing viewing) spots in Kyoto.
Breakfast at Harbor Cafe, 630 yen. Ham & Cheese croissant with small sides and a glass of orange juice.
After that, Ivy went off to sign her papers for her apartment and I moved into my dorm.
TL;DR? Summary: I made it safely, had some fun, moved into my dorm.
The first plane ride turned out to be okay. Ivy and I said our farewells (well, I was just alone aside from Aldric driving me there) to Canada and because I felt so sick, I bought some Nyquil past the customs check. Drank the entire dosage, got on the plane, passed out right after take-out. Lesson learned: medicine is way more effective in the air. I woke up just as they were serving the first meal and unfortunately could not finish it, only because I couldn't taste a thing and I was dying to go back to sleep :( Too bad, I guess I'll have to look forward to the meal on the flight home!
Once we reached Narita Airport, we wandered around a bit waiting for our connecting flight. The second flight was only an hour long, but some lady stole my seat! I guess since she had a huge camera and I happened to have the window seat (which she was seated in when I boarded the flight), I let her have it so she could snap her air-to-coast pictures. Sadly enough, half the plane was empty, so.. why my seat!? :( The descent down was the most painful I ever had since both my ears were blocked and refused to unblock T__T Supremely painful!!
We got to Kansai International Airport and I managed to make it through customs because luckily, my fever had broken so I didn't register anything on their H1N1 station (WHEW). We found our airport taxi/bus easily enough (they had a VIP sign just for Ivy... waiting at their counter XD). Instead of charging us for our extra bags, they decided to count them all as free and as a result, we got to save 1000 yen. Yay!!!
The inside of Kansai International Airport.
It costs 3500 yen to go from KIX to Kyoto, with an additional charge of 1000 yen per extra bag (1 bag is free).
The ride itself was around 2 hours to Kyoto (Kansai International Airport is in Osaka), and while there wasn't much to see, it was interesting pondering some of the features of the Japanese highway. They had concrete barriers all around the highway sides on the bridges (suicide prevention?) and we also passed one of Osaka's ferris wheels. As for the bus itself, the driver tried his hardest with English and I accidentally ended up pretending to be Ivy. Long story short, he was shocked to find out by the end of the trip we both understood Japanese and could speak it too.
Hotel Chrysantheme itself was a very small, but cozy inn. Our bathroom was about the size of my closet back in Canada, and the front clerk also did his best with English until I finally got cranky and told him to say everything in Japanese since we understood perfectly. Curiously enough, there was an Adult Video pamphlet included in our room information guides, which was very very NSFW. Ohhh how I regret flipping through it...
For those who need "extra" comfort while alone in their rooms. You needed to go to a machine to buy a special TV card for this to plug into your TV before you could pick... these options.
Due to jet lag, we were exhuasted and went to bed by 12, but also due to jet lag neither of us slept for very long and we eventually gave up at 4am and got up to play UNO. By 6am, we were out the door and ready to explore our new surroundings. We first went to the Hirano Shrine, wandered around lost for a while and somehow made it to Ritsumeikan University, and eventually ended up at our breakfast spot, Harbor Cafe.
Hirano Shrine at around 6am. It's one of the most famous Hanami (Cherry Blossing viewing) spots in Kyoto.
Breakfast at Harbor Cafe, 630 yen. Ham & Cheese croissant with small sides and a glass of orange juice.
After that, Ivy went off to sign her papers for her apartment and I moved into my dorm.
TL;DR? Summary: I made it safely, had some fun, moved into my dorm.