2010.07.19 Back to Kyoto, Checking out Gion

Had no set plans for today but my friend Kanae, who lives in Kyoto said she had the day off so I figured it'd be a good opportunity to see some places I hadn't before. Went to get my JR Pass so I could catch the Shinkansen there and back, or so I thought. Apparently, my idea of two weeks had been quite different than the people at JR so I had the pass re-issued from the 20th. Bought Thunderbird tickets but they never came so I wasted money.

Once I got to Shijo Station, the game of text tag began. Since train stations are usually quite big, depending on which exit one leaves from could have them quite far away from where they intended to go. Sometimes, I wonder if it even makes sense to walk like 600 meters to another adjoining station only to ride the train for one stop since it might only be another 1000 meters away.

After half an hour and 20 texts back and forth, Kanae found me.

Then it was off to look around the Gion district.


Hawaiian-themed shirts in Japan are always amusing.

Having passed by the restaurants with their wooden decks overlooking the river, I kind of wanted to go to one but the costs seemed prohibitive. Kanae took me to the only 'cheap' one. Somehow Starbucks had managed to open a store with a traditional Japanese style patio!




Champagne taste on a beer budget for sure.


This sign is important since the reading of the kanji is quite unusual. More info to come later. Sorry.





Apparently, there's a story about this tree but I forgot it. I'll look it up and edit this later. Sorry.