Geishas, stations, manga and more!

O What a day today was! First of all, I'm straight up tired right now. But I got to e faithful and blog while it is still fresh in my mind! 

Today we woke up at 5 in the morning because we just didnt sleep that much but felt rested. We didnt properly get up Til about 7 and got breakfast, which was really good! After eating, we went back to our room and I watched Japanese TV for the first Time! Gotta say, it's really awesome and although I didn't get everything that was said, I got a lot out of it! It's very dramatic compared to English news! After that, we left the hotel and headed to the Main Street. 

We walked around the Main Street (四条通り) and everything was pretty much closed (it was around 10 ish and stores open at 11 or 12), but there was an manga store that was open and so we checked it out. Man, it was different!

Obviously, I had to take pictures and I shot a video as well, which ill post on Facebook. It was just amazing here and noone was in the store besides us 2 and the staff. After that, we looked around some more around the area known as Teramachi, 寺町, but the stores were still closed. Instead of waiting there, we want back to the hotel, hoping our luggage would be there soon. And has God would have it, the receptionist was talking about me on the phone. We got back around 11:30 ish and about 30 minutes later, our bags arrived ! We were so happy! We thanked the receptionist many times! 

Once the luggage came, we showered and changed and went to Kyoto station. And then we for the first time, experienced the Japanese underground system. Here are some pictures. 

We got to use our e cards that have money on them and can be used for a variety of uses, but we will stick with transport, which is cheap in Japan. It was a bit confusing at first, with so much to look at, but eventually we looked at a map and found the platform. 

Once we got to Kyoto station, 京都駅, we saw the building we wanted to go for lunch and when we got in, it was just like whoa! First, here is the entrance of the building and now what we saw:

Once we got where we wanted to go, we gonna that no where did the food we wanted, so we ended up going back to where we went on the first day we got here, a food place around the corner from our hotel. 

After that was done, we headed for the tour. Now this is where it gets good. We learned about the area called Gion, 祇園,where we were, and how it is the most prestigious place in Japan pretty much for geisha, 芸者, known as geiko, 芸子,in Kyoto, and their way of life. So much info was given and now, me and Naomi are experts pretty much in identifying them haha. We even got to see them at the last part of our tour! We had to wait a bit, but was definitely worth it! 

After the tour, we got a selfie with the tour leader Mie, who also will help me find out how I can play the shamisen, as it is harder to get hold of to do then I thought. 

After that, we got some ice cream and as we were walking back, there was a shrine that was open, so we went in and took pictures and I took a video. 

Now we are back and Naomi is out cold. I don't blame her. We are seriously tired and walked out! But such a good day! It pays to explore and then chronicle it! :)