Seishun 18 Kippu, the end of the Gion Matsuri, and AIR CANADA
The next day in my backlog of Stuff To Post About was Gion Matsuri's Yoiyoiyama (that is, the 2nd day of festivities before the big parade...the other days are called Yoiyama and Yoiyoiyoiyama)...heralded by the trumpet of heavy rain and rolling thunder. Hooray! I put on my yukata anyway (Marisa wasn't feeling great, and decided to pass) and we set out the moment the rain settled enough to make umbrellas useful again. By the time we got to Kyoto it had stopped entirely, and the streets were very quickly filling up with people. Really we had only come to eat festival food; we'd seen some of the floats already over the weekend, and Tanabata was a much more relaxed atmosphere for a matsuri. We had yakisoba, fried cheese balls, grape Fanta and crushed ice with like 5 different flavours (it was mix-it-yourself). Eventually we walked all the way to Kyoto Station knowing it (well, at least the half of the station connected to the Tezuka Theatre and a swank hotel) promised clean bathrooms. As opposed to the JR side, the tragic tragic JR side bathroom which only promises tears that cost 100 yen per pack of tissues to dry. Moving on. I then went to the Midori-no-Madoguchi in JR Kyoto to reserve Moonlight Nagara seats for a month from Yoiyoiyama, but unsurprisingly they were sold out. It was 8 PM and the reservations had gone on sale at 10 AM. That train (which surely seats HUNDREDS) is quite popular as you can get from Ogaki (neighbouring Kyoto) all the way to Tokyo on it in 9 hours, which essentially means that if you pay your own way to the first after-midnight station past Ogaki, you are getting from there to Tokyo on a single stamp of your Seishun 18 ticket. I think I explained it before; the Seishun 18 is a ticket that can be stamped up to 5 times, basically it functions as 5 all-day passes on Japan Railway lines. The cost of the Seishun 18 is just over $100, so you're basically paying $20 per day when you use it. It can be shared, so if Cassius and I use it on the same day, they'll just stamp it twice.
Thus, riding the Moonlight Nagara (which departs Ogaki just after 10 PM and drops you off at like 6 AM), you can get to Tokyo for a mere $20. Which is the only reason I'm going to Tokyo again, lol. Cassie does want to ride the Shinkansen, so we were going to take that on our way home, especially as I'd be working the next day.
I had already bought the Seishun 18 ticket, so with August 15th sold out the only option was to take daytime local trains instead of the Nagara (which definitely sounds like something I might have done by myself, but probably not with a visitor) or take an extra day off work and return to Osaka on Wednesday instead of Tuesday. I decided on the latter and we headed home.
The next day I had to work again and did more research to discover that a second Moonlight Nagara (called the Moonlight Nagara #92) runs during the peak school holiday periods. This is because the Seishun 18 (translation, "Youth 18"), which is only available for use during January, March and August (in other words, during school holidays) was initially put out for university students wanting to return home cheaply for the holidays. Since there's no age restriction, though, anyone can buy it. And the busist time is August, because when everyone is going to their family homes for Obon, even the shinkansen is sold out. No kidding, right?
So, the Seishun 18 is the cheapest way to travel and the Moonlight trains are the only night trains available for use with it. On top of that, the route the Moonlight Nagara runs - that is, what's usually known as the Tokaido line - is from the ever-popular Tokyo/Yokohama to Nagoya and Kansai. Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Nara, Hyogo, Wakayama, Mie, Shiga. Most of the top tourist destinations for both Japanese travellers and foreigners. >.>; Particularly Kyoto; who wouldn't want to get to Kyoto for $20?? Hell, -I- pay $10 just to get to Kyoto and back from where I live! Usually weekly...so yeah, as you might guess, during peak time the Moonlight Nagara sells out, not just hours but sometimes WITHIN MINUTES of going on sale. Given that of the six hotels I checked out, most of them had no rooms available on the 16th (a Saturday), I could only conclude the something similar had happened. Luckily, you can book a Nagara seat even if you haven't got a Seishun 18 ticket (or if you plan to get one but don't have one yet). Unluckily I already had mine, so I knew we had to go. >.> Thus, the next day after dropped off my ex-modem to the post office on my lunch break, I headed over and inquired at the Keihan Info Station as to the closest Midori-no-Madoguchi. Background: A Midori-no-Madoguchi is literally "a green window" and it is the name of the Japan Railways ticketing counter. Usually found in JR stations, but apparantly there was one in a travel agency downstairs. Lucky! I decided to try my luck with the "sold out" day just for a second opinion. The guy there said, "sold out" so I asked if the Nagara #92 was running that week, seeing how it was OBON and all. He went into his computer for a bit, and a moment later returned with good news! There were seats left on the #92, but not many; the only sets of 2 setas were divided by the aisle. No windows left. Oh well, I thought, can't be helped! Better an aisle seat than to go a day late. I booked the seats, picked up some splendid futomaki sushi rolls from the department store next door and returned to school in an excellent mood. Toukyou ni shippatsu!
Later that evening I headed to Kyoto (yes, again) with Marisa to drop her off to her train. We were seriously stretching it having her stay until the day before I left for Canada, but we had a really great time and I'm glad we were able to go to Gion Matsuri even just for a while. She had bought unreserved tickets, so she could leave on any train she wanted, anytime; didn't even have to be on a certain day. I LOVE the Japanese train system! Thus, after she'd finished packing and we'd gone over the process for getting to her host family's place from Tokyo Station, we set out for Kyoto via the JR lines. Remind me not to do that again, as it's really troublesome and time-consuming. The extra 200 yen is worth it to take the Kintetsu line and get there 30 minutes quicker and without STAIRS. Luckily Marisa only had two medium suitcases (it would have been a disaster for me to drag the stuff I carried to Kansai Airport through Tofukuji Station) and we got there in a timely manner; it was still bright as anything out. We both bought omiyage in the Shinkansen area of the station - I'd wanted to bring home Tokyo Banana (this really particular type of Tokyo omiyage; sometimes they sell specialized omiyage at the destination station in case you don't have the extra hands on the train) but settled for custard-filled kaitenyaki (they're like taiyaki, but round) and hard candy instead. Then we waited on the platform for a train, and I saw Marisa off on the first Nozomi to arrive. We put her suitcases away at a window seat (on the left!! because you can see Mount Fuji on the left en route to Tokyo; I am just THAT good) and then I got off the train and she stood in the doorway and we chatted until the stationmaster told me to back the hell up so the train could start moving. XD I probably caused the Shinkansen to be 8 seconds late. Oops! The doors closed and she was whisked away; I resisted the urge to run after it Gone With the Wind-style in fear of bowling someone over onto the tracks.
With Marisa on her way, me in Kyoto and my suitcase sitting empty in my apartment 40 minutes away, I felt now was the perfect time to go back to the store we'd been at in Kyoto on the weekend and get my own yellow sundress that Marisa had bought for herself and let me try on. It was only 1200 yen ($11-ish) and I had spent my own money that day choosing cute hairpins to suit my new hairstyle, to the point where I had seen the dress purchase but not given it much of a second glance until Marisa wore it the next day. It looked so cute I really wanted one. ^^; So - forgetting that it was now Yoiyoiyoiyama, and the Gion Matsuri had been mostly rained out the day before - I set off for Kawaramachi, thinking the detour would only take a few minutes, 30 at most. I took the subway for the third time ever and got off at an innocuous stop called "Shijo" which turned out to be the exact station in the exit of which we'd eaten yakisoba just the previous night. It took, however, quite a bit of time to fight my way past the literal TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE traversing the streets of Kyoto. Obviously, traffic was shut down. Not really helpful. At length I did manage to get from the Shijo subway exit to Teramachi, where the store had been, stopping to get a snack of custard-dipped strawberry and kiwi from a festival vendor on the way. I made my purchase and escaped to Keihan Shijo, then went home to frantically pack. My apartment was pretty much trashed (not your fault Marisa, so don't try :P) and I didn't want to leave anything that could become dangerous over a month without me in it. I didn't have time to beat the futons or mop, but I did vacuum the floors and pick up anything on them, dust the game systems and clean the bathrooms, throw out all the food that was going to spoil over a month and then pack as much as I could before turning in for the night.
The next day I taught 1st and 2nd period - both sannensei and was, understandably, restless, lol. As we hung up the keys the JTE I'd just worked with said, "Go on home, get ready to go to the airport. Nobody will mind if you leave early." I protested for a bit, but then I bent; I finished marking my ichinensei papers, tidied my desk, and left. Good thing too, because as ever I was running late. I'd gotten my cheque that morning, so I paid my bills and my rent, left about $200 for when I got back, then emptied my bank account. I packed the remaining stuff I had into a carryon and my purse, shut down the computer, unplugged all the appliances except the fridge, put out the garbage (a day early - sorry landlady!!) and dragged my stuff downstairs. My suitcase weighed 49 pounds according to WiiFit (and taking WiiFit home would have pushed it over the edge, lol) and the carryons were enough to give me serious shoulder cramps after 2 minutes, but I had to go. I strapped the lot of it to the front of my suitcase and dragged it to the station and across the tracks and up the wheelchair ramp just in time for an orange train. Then I was off to the airport bus at Moriguchi City.
I'd been aiming for the 1:30 bus but got there just after 2 (a nice stationmaster got my suitcase after observing me bang it down half a flight of stairs), so bought a ticket, checked my luggage, and went to the conbini for my last bottle of milk tea for a month. There was a coconut variety at the Family Mart there, which I bought. (And it was awesome.) The bus left at 2:30 and I spent the hour's ride sending emails from my phone wishing people well. I could see the Japanese Language Institute in Rinku Town just as we went over the bridge to the airport. :) I really wanted to do the language seminar again, but it's the last week of July...oh well, if the timing is better, I'll go next year.
At the airport I checked in and hung out in Uniqlo for a bit before going through security. My gate was actually in a separate building, but there was a Yurikamome-esque shuttle going there every two minutes. On the other side, I bought a bottle of tea for the journey, made a last bathroom break, and soon enough after, boarded the plane. I sat next to a nice Japanese woman whose name I forgot to ask. She was thirtysomething and worked with a high-end clothing label, I don't remember which one. As she was practically asleep when I boarded, we didn't speak until a few hours in, when I vaulted out of my seat so as not to wake her on my way to the bathroom, but then had to wake her to get back into it. ^^;; She seemed surprised that I spoke Japanese; turned out she spoke English and had lived in Vancouver for fifteen years. Funny that. So we chatted a bit before both going for a nap, then chatted again over dinner and, later, breakfast. We had a choice of western or Japanese style, and let me tell you, I only could have gotten a better Japanese breakfast in a ryokan. Roasted fish, rice with umeboshi, blanched vegetables, iced oolong tea. There was jam, butter and a roll as well. <3 All in all the flight to Vancouver was not bad. We got pillows and blankets for free, good in-flight entertainment on the seatback screens, and the staff all seemed to speak Japanese and English, or French and English. Mostly Japanese. The announcements were given in all three. I said goodbye to my seatmate at Vancouver Airport, to be told that my flight to Toronto had been cancelled due to maintenance. Oops! They put me on another (I asked about direct flights - there were none; only from Calgary) which left an hour later. Another lady beside me spoke little English and the clerk rescheduling her had no Japanese so I got recruited to translate; later, this same woman would be on my flight to Toronto, and would borrow my laptop at the gate waiting area to send her friend a message saying she'd be delayed. XD
My tea was confiscated at the Vancouver security check. >.< I was pretty tired, but fascinated in all the stores. Too tired for Tim Horton's (yes, that actually happens to me; my appetite usually plunges when I haven't slept) but I got some water from the shop inside security and ended up in a conversation with the clerk about manga after I had to empty my purse looking for my Canadian cash. At the gate, I pleaded with the guy to change me to a window seat. I'm not sure who got screwed as a result of this change, but there's a good chance they didn't have ANOTHER connection like I did, so I didn't feel too bad. We boarded shortly after, and I managed to get some sleep on this one. Some.
In Toronto, at least I didn't have to recheck baggage. I did, however, have like 3 hours to kill. I browsed the shops, drank a well-deserved coffee and, at length, paid $6 for an hour of internet usage which I used mostly to chat on IRC and type up the entry immediately previous to this. The gate was changed without warning, but another passenger kindly let me know. Then the plane was delayed after boarding the rearmost passengers (myself not included) due to mechanical failure. Nice! We got off the ground some 30 minutes after schedule. I spent nearly all of the ride reading the letters from my ninensei and writing replies to all of them. I had promised them this. XD
Got in at quarter to four in the morning, had some cake with my mother and oldest-younger-brother, then went to bed as the sun rose. Madness.
Thus ends my first year in Japan!
Thus, riding the Moonlight Nagara (which departs Ogaki just after 10 PM and drops you off at like 6 AM), you can get to Tokyo for a mere $20. Which is the only reason I'm going to Tokyo again, lol. Cassie does want to ride the Shinkansen, so we were going to take that on our way home, especially as I'd be working the next day.
I had already bought the Seishun 18 ticket, so with August 15th sold out the only option was to take daytime local trains instead of the Nagara (which definitely sounds like something I might have done by myself, but probably not with a visitor) or take an extra day off work and return to Osaka on Wednesday instead of Tuesday. I decided on the latter and we headed home.
The next day I had to work again and did more research to discover that a second Moonlight Nagara (called the Moonlight Nagara #92) runs during the peak school holiday periods. This is because the Seishun 18 (translation, "Youth 18"), which is only available for use during January, March and August (in other words, during school holidays) was initially put out for university students wanting to return home cheaply for the holidays. Since there's no age restriction, though, anyone can buy it. And the busist time is August, because when everyone is going to their family homes for Obon, even the shinkansen is sold out. No kidding, right?
So, the Seishun 18 is the cheapest way to travel and the Moonlight trains are the only night trains available for use with it. On top of that, the route the Moonlight Nagara runs - that is, what's usually known as the Tokaido line - is from the ever-popular Tokyo/Yokohama to Nagoya and Kansai. Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Nara, Hyogo, Wakayama, Mie, Shiga. Most of the top tourist destinations for both Japanese travellers and foreigners. >.>; Particularly Kyoto; who wouldn't want to get to Kyoto for $20?? Hell, -I- pay $10 just to get to Kyoto and back from where I live! Usually weekly...so yeah, as you might guess, during peak time the Moonlight Nagara sells out, not just hours but sometimes WITHIN MINUTES of going on sale. Given that of the six hotels I checked out, most of them had no rooms available on the 16th (a Saturday), I could only conclude the something similar had happened. Luckily, you can book a Nagara seat even if you haven't got a Seishun 18 ticket (or if you plan to get one but don't have one yet). Unluckily I already had mine, so I knew we had to go. >.> Thus, the next day after dropped off my ex-modem to the post office on my lunch break, I headed over and inquired at the Keihan Info Station as to the closest Midori-no-Madoguchi. Background: A Midori-no-Madoguchi is literally "a green window" and it is the name of the Japan Railways ticketing counter. Usually found in JR stations, but apparantly there was one in a travel agency downstairs. Lucky! I decided to try my luck with the "sold out" day just for a second opinion. The guy there said, "sold out" so I asked if the Nagara #92 was running that week, seeing how it was OBON and all. He went into his computer for a bit, and a moment later returned with good news! There were seats left on the #92, but not many; the only sets of 2 setas were divided by the aisle. No windows left. Oh well, I thought, can't be helped! Better an aisle seat than to go a day late. I booked the seats, picked up some splendid futomaki sushi rolls from the department store next door and returned to school in an excellent mood. Toukyou ni shippatsu!
Later that evening I headed to Kyoto (yes, again) with Marisa to drop her off to her train. We were seriously stretching it having her stay until the day before I left for Canada, but we had a really great time and I'm glad we were able to go to Gion Matsuri even just for a while. She had bought unreserved tickets, so she could leave on any train she wanted, anytime; didn't even have to be on a certain day. I LOVE the Japanese train system! Thus, after she'd finished packing and we'd gone over the process for getting to her host family's place from Tokyo Station, we set out for Kyoto via the JR lines. Remind me not to do that again, as it's really troublesome and time-consuming. The extra 200 yen is worth it to take the Kintetsu line and get there 30 minutes quicker and without STAIRS. Luckily Marisa only had two medium suitcases (it would have been a disaster for me to drag the stuff I carried to Kansai Airport through Tofukuji Station) and we got there in a timely manner; it was still bright as anything out. We both bought omiyage in the Shinkansen area of the station - I'd wanted to bring home Tokyo Banana (this really particular type of Tokyo omiyage; sometimes they sell specialized omiyage at the destination station in case you don't have the extra hands on the train) but settled for custard-filled kaitenyaki (they're like taiyaki, but round) and hard candy instead. Then we waited on the platform for a train, and I saw Marisa off on the first Nozomi to arrive. We put her suitcases away at a window seat (on the left!! because you can see Mount Fuji on the left en route to Tokyo; I am just THAT good) and then I got off the train and she stood in the doorway and we chatted until the stationmaster told me to back the hell up so the train could start moving. XD I probably caused the Shinkansen to be 8 seconds late. Oops! The doors closed and she was whisked away; I resisted the urge to run after it Gone With the Wind-style in fear of bowling someone over onto the tracks.
With Marisa on her way, me in Kyoto and my suitcase sitting empty in my apartment 40 minutes away, I felt now was the perfect time to go back to the store we'd been at in Kyoto on the weekend and get my own yellow sundress that Marisa had bought for herself and let me try on. It was only 1200 yen ($11-ish) and I had spent my own money that day choosing cute hairpins to suit my new hairstyle, to the point where I had seen the dress purchase but not given it much of a second glance until Marisa wore it the next day. It looked so cute I really wanted one. ^^; So - forgetting that it was now Yoiyoiyoiyama, and the Gion Matsuri had been mostly rained out the day before - I set off for Kawaramachi, thinking the detour would only take a few minutes, 30 at most. I took the subway for the third time ever and got off at an innocuous stop called "Shijo" which turned out to be the exact station in the exit of which we'd eaten yakisoba just the previous night. It took, however, quite a bit of time to fight my way past the literal TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE traversing the streets of Kyoto. Obviously, traffic was shut down. Not really helpful. At length I did manage to get from the Shijo subway exit to Teramachi, where the store had been, stopping to get a snack of custard-dipped strawberry and kiwi from a festival vendor on the way. I made my purchase and escaped to Keihan Shijo, then went home to frantically pack. My apartment was pretty much trashed (not your fault Marisa, so don't try :P) and I didn't want to leave anything that could become dangerous over a month without me in it. I didn't have time to beat the futons or mop, but I did vacuum the floors and pick up anything on them, dust the game systems and clean the bathrooms, throw out all the food that was going to spoil over a month and then pack as much as I could before turning in for the night.
The next day I taught 1st and 2nd period - both sannensei and was, understandably, restless, lol. As we hung up the keys the JTE I'd just worked with said, "Go on home, get ready to go to the airport. Nobody will mind if you leave early." I protested for a bit, but then I bent; I finished marking my ichinensei papers, tidied my desk, and left. Good thing too, because as ever I was running late. I'd gotten my cheque that morning, so I paid my bills and my rent, left about $200 for when I got back, then emptied my bank account. I packed the remaining stuff I had into a carryon and my purse, shut down the computer, unplugged all the appliances except the fridge, put out the garbage (a day early - sorry landlady!!) and dragged my stuff downstairs. My suitcase weighed 49 pounds according to WiiFit (and taking WiiFit home would have pushed it over the edge, lol) and the carryons were enough to give me serious shoulder cramps after 2 minutes, but I had to go. I strapped the lot of it to the front of my suitcase and dragged it to the station and across the tracks and up the wheelchair ramp just in time for an orange train. Then I was off to the airport bus at Moriguchi City.
I'd been aiming for the 1:30 bus but got there just after 2 (a nice stationmaster got my suitcase after observing me bang it down half a flight of stairs), so bought a ticket, checked my luggage, and went to the conbini for my last bottle of milk tea for a month. There was a coconut variety at the Family Mart there, which I bought. (And it was awesome.) The bus left at 2:30 and I spent the hour's ride sending emails from my phone wishing people well. I could see the Japanese Language Institute in Rinku Town just as we went over the bridge to the airport. :) I really wanted to do the language seminar again, but it's the last week of July...oh well, if the timing is better, I'll go next year.
At the airport I checked in and hung out in Uniqlo for a bit before going through security. My gate was actually in a separate building, but there was a Yurikamome-esque shuttle going there every two minutes. On the other side, I bought a bottle of tea for the journey, made a last bathroom break, and soon enough after, boarded the plane. I sat next to a nice Japanese woman whose name I forgot to ask. She was thirtysomething and worked with a high-end clothing label, I don't remember which one. As she was practically asleep when I boarded, we didn't speak until a few hours in, when I vaulted out of my seat so as not to wake her on my way to the bathroom, but then had to wake her to get back into it. ^^;; She seemed surprised that I spoke Japanese; turned out she spoke English and had lived in Vancouver for fifteen years. Funny that. So we chatted a bit before both going for a nap, then chatted again over dinner and, later, breakfast. We had a choice of western or Japanese style, and let me tell you, I only could have gotten a better Japanese breakfast in a ryokan. Roasted fish, rice with umeboshi, blanched vegetables, iced oolong tea. There was jam, butter and a roll as well. <3 All in all the flight to Vancouver was not bad. We got pillows and blankets for free, good in-flight entertainment on the seatback screens, and the staff all seemed to speak Japanese and English, or French and English. Mostly Japanese. The announcements were given in all three. I said goodbye to my seatmate at Vancouver Airport, to be told that my flight to Toronto had been cancelled due to maintenance. Oops! They put me on another (I asked about direct flights - there were none; only from Calgary) which left an hour later. Another lady beside me spoke little English and the clerk rescheduling her had no Japanese so I got recruited to translate; later, this same woman would be on my flight to Toronto, and would borrow my laptop at the gate waiting area to send her friend a message saying she'd be delayed. XD
My tea was confiscated at the Vancouver security check. >.< I was pretty tired, but fascinated in all the stores. Too tired for Tim Horton's (yes, that actually happens to me; my appetite usually plunges when I haven't slept) but I got some water from the shop inside security and ended up in a conversation with the clerk about manga after I had to empty my purse looking for my Canadian cash. At the gate, I pleaded with the guy to change me to a window seat. I'm not sure who got screwed as a result of this change, but there's a good chance they didn't have ANOTHER connection like I did, so I didn't feel too bad. We boarded shortly after, and I managed to get some sleep on this one. Some.
In Toronto, at least I didn't have to recheck baggage. I did, however, have like 3 hours to kill. I browsed the shops, drank a well-deserved coffee and, at length, paid $6 for an hour of internet usage which I used mostly to chat on IRC and type up the entry immediately previous to this. The gate was changed without warning, but another passenger kindly let me know. Then the plane was delayed after boarding the rearmost passengers (myself not included) due to mechanical failure. Nice! We got off the ground some 30 minutes after schedule. I spent nearly all of the ride reading the letters from my ninensei and writing replies to all of them. I had promised them this. XD
Got in at quarter to four in the morning, had some cake with my mother and oldest-younger-brother, then went to bed as the sun rose. Madness.
Thus ends my first year in Japan!