Days 613- 619 <{ }> Sunday-Saturday, November 22-28, 2009 (First isit to Kyoto / Getting a New Car)
Days 613- 619
Sunday-Saturday, November 22-28, 2009
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Day 613 {To Kyoto} - Sunday, November 22, 2009
Woke up at 4:00 am this morning to catch the very first train to go to Kurashiki. I then took a bus from Kurashiki to Kyoto which was an old capital of Japan before Tokyo. All together that trip took about 5 hrs and 30 mins. A slept most of the way though..
When I got to Kyoto, the first thing on the agenda was to find a locker to put my stuff. My friend was lucky to find an empty one when someone was just leaving the area. Kyoto was filled with people and everyone was searching for a locker to put their stuff in...
In Kyoto, because it was an old capital, there are many many many temples. The most popular of which is called KINKAKUJI which means golden pavillion.... The original structure was built in 1397. But since then it has been burnt down twice. So the structure now is really a remake of what it was... you can read about it here - > Kinkaku-ji. Me and my friend eventually went there which also had a whole lot of people. We wanted to see another temple but the maps we had were a bit confusing. We eventually met up with 3 other friends and we went to a popular area in Kyoto name Arashiyama.... It started raining a bit in Arashiyama but we still moved forward.
the 5 of us went to a monkey park there which I recommended from a list of other places to go. I had no idea that we would have to walk up a mountain in the very cold rain for about 30 mins. We eventually got to the top and saw many many monkeys. The guys were kind of enthused but I wasn't so excited because I was a bit scared... There were three main warnings
1) Don't stare at the monkeys in the eye
2) Don't feed the monkeys
3) Try your best not to scare them or do anything stupid or even touch them
While we were there, a baby monkey started climbing my friend's leg then the mother monkey quickly came, grabbed it off and ran away. Then suddenly all the other monkeys started making a funny sound... I quickly went into the nearby log house and stayed for a while...
After the time with the monkeys we had to go down the long mountain in the cold rain.....
We then met up with my cousin from New York who I learned was visiting Japan with her husband. I knew this last week when she called me from Tokyo..... We met up in downtown Kyoto at a place called Pontocho ....
The last time I remember seeing this cousin was in year 2000 my first time to New York and my first time to the USA. A part from me and my cousin, I only saw 1 other black person for the entire time in Kyoto. So the 7 of us met up at a restaurant and had a good good time...
Day 614 { Kyoto Day 2 } Monday, November 23, 2009
Today is another holiday in Japan, so while in Kyoto, I did some shopping. But this time we weren't lucky enough to find a coin locker so we struggled around with our bags... ... While looking for a locker along with 70% of the persons in Kyoto, we saw 2 guys fighting for a locker... It was a playful struggle but they both were struggling to get the locker, they were pushing and shoving each other for a good 30 seconds... They were both smiling afterwards so it wasn't any big fight... If this was Jamaica, somebody would be hurt or even worse.
The guy who lost the struggle smiled and went away with who seemed to be his wife or girlfriend... I stood there watching them and was laughing because it was quite funny...
We eventually saw some Italian guys doing a performance thingy...
Day 615 { Getting a New Car } Tuesday, November 24, 209
Went to the car shop with my Japanese friend to do my car inspection. The bill would come to somewhere around US $900. The good thing is that they also would give me a loaner car to drive during the time of the car inspection.... When I saw the loaner vehicle I said to myself "hey I actually like this vehicle" .. which was a Pajero mini.. So I asked them for the price and when the car inspection is due.... They said it would cost only US $1200 and I would have 1 year until the next inspection.
The owner guy said I could take it for a drive and if I liked it, I can buy it... So I took it for a 5 minutes drive and I did like it so I am planning to buy it this Thursday.
Day 616 { Post Cards/Californication } Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Went to work in some thick fog. At work, most of the time while not teaching, I was preparing some Christmas cards to send to Jamaica... I then posted them after work. I started watching this series name Californication that my friends from university have been talking about recently... It is interesting but not for the faint hearted.
Day 617 { Face Mask all day } Thursday, November 26, 2009
Had to be wearing a mask all day at work because the H1N1 virus is quite prevalent in this area that I teach at today... At least 4 of the students that I teach caught it and of course had to be at home or at the hospital... That is in addition to siblings of students that I teach in this area. The students who have siblings with the H1N1 virus also had to stay home from school.
I went to the car shop again with my friend but the car shop owner said I have to wait until tomorrow because They have to do some transferring thing as well as sort out my car insurance.
Day 618 { New Car/After Concert Dinner } Friday, November 27, 2009
Again I had to be wearing a face mask for the entire day at work. I then went home, then got my new car, then went to karate. The new car is a 1997 Pajero mini... I guess this is the closest I will get for now to owning a normal pajero.
After karate, the teacher in charge of the English conversation class, met with me and we went to a little "after September 11 concert dinner". It was held at the house of the lady who was in charge of coordinating the September 11 concert.. She has a nice big house.
The persons at the dinner recorded a looong conversation that I was having , the guy who I did my dub poems with at the September 11 concert. I also mentioned to him that my cousin who I met in Kyoto, she was actually in the building when the second plane hit.... She told us while we were in Kyoto that, she actually heard the plane heading for the building and she also heard the loud impact.... She said that, at the time though, she thought it was some sort of construction thing going on, because New York city is always full of construction sites and loud noises.
Anyway, I was telling the guy about Jamaica, both the good and the bad... About the nice popular tourist resorts in Mobay and Negril and about the dangerous areas, especially near to Down Town, Kingston and the Spanish Town areas.
Day 619 { } Saturday, November 28, 2009
Stayed in all day, just briefly went out to get some stuff for my apartment.
Sunday-Saturday, November 22-28, 2009
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Day 613 {To Kyoto} - Sunday, November 22, 2009
Woke up at 4:00 am this morning to catch the very first train to go to Kurashiki. I then took a bus from Kurashiki to Kyoto which was an old capital of Japan before Tokyo. All together that trip took about 5 hrs and 30 mins. A slept most of the way though..
When I got to Kyoto, the first thing on the agenda was to find a locker to put my stuff. My friend was lucky to find an empty one when someone was just leaving the area. Kyoto was filled with people and everyone was searching for a locker to put their stuff in...
In Kyoto, because it was an old capital, there are many many many temples. The most popular of which is called KINKAKUJI which means golden pavillion.... The original structure was built in 1397. But since then it has been burnt down twice. So the structure now is really a remake of what it was... you can read about it here - > Kinkaku-ji. Me and my friend eventually went there which also had a whole lot of people. We wanted to see another temple but the maps we had were a bit confusing. We eventually met up with 3 other friends and we went to a popular area in Kyoto name Arashiyama.... It started raining a bit in Arashiyama but we still moved forward.
the 5 of us went to a monkey park there which I recommended from a list of other places to go. I had no idea that we would have to walk up a mountain in the very cold rain for about 30 mins. We eventually got to the top and saw many many monkeys. The guys were kind of enthused but I wasn't so excited because I was a bit scared... There were three main warnings
1) Don't stare at the monkeys in the eye
2) Don't feed the monkeys
3) Try your best not to scare them or do anything stupid or even touch them
While we were there, a baby monkey started climbing my friend's leg then the mother monkey quickly came, grabbed it off and ran away. Then suddenly all the other monkeys started making a funny sound... I quickly went into the nearby log house and stayed for a while...
After the time with the monkeys we had to go down the long mountain in the cold rain.....
We then met up with my cousin from New York who I learned was visiting Japan with her husband. I knew this last week when she called me from Tokyo..... We met up in downtown Kyoto at a place called Pontocho ....
The last time I remember seeing this cousin was in year 2000 my first time to New York and my first time to the USA. A part from me and my cousin, I only saw 1 other black person for the entire time in Kyoto. So the 7 of us met up at a restaurant and had a good good time...
Day 614 { Kyoto Day 2 } Monday, November 23, 2009
Today is another holiday in Japan, so while in Kyoto, I did some shopping. But this time we weren't lucky enough to find a coin locker so we struggled around with our bags... ... While looking for a locker along with 70% of the persons in Kyoto, we saw 2 guys fighting for a locker... It was a playful struggle but they both were struggling to get the locker, they were pushing and shoving each other for a good 30 seconds... They were both smiling afterwards so it wasn't any big fight... If this was Jamaica, somebody would be hurt or even worse.
The guy who lost the struggle smiled and went away with who seemed to be his wife or girlfriend... I stood there watching them and was laughing because it was quite funny...
We eventually saw some Italian guys doing a performance thingy...
Day 615 { Getting a New Car } Tuesday, November 24, 209
Went to the car shop with my Japanese friend to do my car inspection. The bill would come to somewhere around US $900. The good thing is that they also would give me a loaner car to drive during the time of the car inspection.... When I saw the loaner vehicle I said to myself "hey I actually like this vehicle" .. which was a Pajero mini.. So I asked them for the price and when the car inspection is due.... They said it would cost only US $1200 and I would have 1 year until the next inspection.
The owner guy said I could take it for a drive and if I liked it, I can buy it... So I took it for a 5 minutes drive and I did like it so I am planning to buy it this Thursday.
Day 616 { Post Cards/Californication } Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Went to work in some thick fog. At work, most of the time while not teaching, I was preparing some Christmas cards to send to Jamaica... I then posted them after work. I started watching this series name Californication that my friends from university have been talking about recently... It is interesting but not for the faint hearted.
Day 617 { Face Mask all day } Thursday, November 26, 2009
Had to be wearing a mask all day at work because the H1N1 virus is quite prevalent in this area that I teach at today... At least 4 of the students that I teach caught it and of course had to be at home or at the hospital... That is in addition to siblings of students that I teach in this area. The students who have siblings with the H1N1 virus also had to stay home from school.
I went to the car shop again with my friend but the car shop owner said I have to wait until tomorrow because They have to do some transferring thing as well as sort out my car insurance.
Day 618 { New Car/After Concert Dinner } Friday, November 27, 2009
Again I had to be wearing a face mask for the entire day at work. I then went home, then got my new car, then went to karate. The new car is a 1997 Pajero mini... I guess this is the closest I will get for now to owning a normal pajero.
After karate, the teacher in charge of the English conversation class, met with me and we went to a little "after September 11 concert dinner". It was held at the house of the lady who was in charge of coordinating the September 11 concert.. She has a nice big house.
The persons at the dinner recorded a looong conversation that I was having , the guy who I did my dub poems with at the September 11 concert. I also mentioned to him that my cousin who I met in Kyoto, she was actually in the building when the second plane hit.... She told us while we were in Kyoto that, she actually heard the plane heading for the building and she also heard the loud impact.... She said that, at the time though, she thought it was some sort of construction thing going on, because New York city is always full of construction sites and loud noises.
Anyway, I was telling the guy about Jamaica, both the good and the bad... About the nice popular tourist resorts in Mobay and Negril and about the dangerous areas, especially near to Down Town, Kingston and the Spanish Town areas.
Day 619 { } Saturday, November 28, 2009
Stayed in all day, just briefly went out to get some stuff for my apartment.
Comments
So what u do with ur other vehicle?
That Oprah video was one of the main reasons why I was afraid of the monkeys... I saw the video a week before going to the park... It was on my mind all the time while being at the monkey park
I bought the car because for the past 8 months... the people at this mechanic shop has been very kind and honest with me... If there is a problem with anything, they normally tell me b4 hand... The only problem with the vehicle so far is it takes a while to change from say gear 3-4 or is it 4-5 while in D... Also it burns a lot of gas...