Japan Day 7

So yea, I like Kyoto much much better than Tokyo. The people seem to be universally pleasant and kind (for the most part), but the air in Kyoto is much cleaner, the scenery is gorgeous, and the food is good and affordable even in the big shopping centers. We had a free morning to enjoy Tokyo before our departure from the hotel to the train station. From there we waited on our bullet train to take us to Kyoto. I enjoyed it mostly because it was the first time on our trip that I had to take my backpack with me, so I got my fix of monster hunter on the bus and train whereas I've been too sleepy to play at all once we get back to our hotel for the night. Getting from Tokyo to Kyoto took up the majority of our day. Once we got to the hotel, we settled in and headed back out an hour later (6pm) to explore the Kyoto station. It was beautiful. I'd try to explain it, but I'll have to let my pictures and your imaginations do that for me since words alone simply do not do that first experience justice. That was also my first time on a subway ever, so hooray for that! Side note, I've been looking for a musk melon cream soda ever since one of our fellow tourists found one at the rest stop on the way to Mt Fuji. Not a single one since so far... Anyway. After a brief tour we found our places to eat, grouped back up and headed back to the hotel for the night. I had a nice assortment of sashimi for a very reasonable price. And a huge beer for only ¥500. What was interesting about our excursion tonight was, on the way back, our tour guide lost her season pass for the train somewhere and had to buy another ticket. When she finally came back she spoke to an attendant at the gate and there it was. She really didn't seem to be joking when she said crime was so low here. The homogenous cultural mindset may be rigid and unwelcoming to immigrants, but it has definite perks that make being a visitor or citizen very pleasant... Aside from the Tokyo mindset of work yourself stress-silly and eventually die. It was depressing walking the streets when businesses let their workers go home for the night. No wonder anime and manga have so many stories about "breaking the bonds of fate". It's scary thinking about if my whole life was laid out for me from day one without options. But I digress. Kyoto has been great so far and I can feel myself relaxing here. Tomorrow is a more thorough tour so I'll keep you all posted on that. Have a good night everyone, and I'll talk to you tomorrow!