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Satoko-san used to live at my place when she did her Indonesian language degree in Makassar and she has become very close to our family. So it was nice that we could see her again in Kyoto.

Travelling to Kyoto took around 2.5 hours (at a speed of 300 km/h, mind you) and the ride was extremely smooth…so smooth that we kept falling asleep as much as we wanted to see the scenery that flickered past our window. We had purchased bento boxes from the station before we departed and ate it on the train for our lunch.

Kyoto station seemed to be as big as Tokyo station. As soon as we exited the gate, there was a cake shop with a long display of cakes that have been beautifully made. Such a fascinating sight! In fact, the whole walkway was lined with cake shops and bakeries. It was quite tricky finding the taxi company which would take us to the hotel because it was located across the road and not so obvious looking. The hotel itself was not too far from the station, but we thought it was a bit too much if we had to walk and drag our luggages with us. (besides, the taxi fare is covered by the hotel)

This time we stayed at the Hyatt Regency Kyoto hotel. Aah, it’s such a beautiful place! Most hotels give a cold vibe, but not this one. The interior design was a combination of Scandinavian and Japanese zen, which created a warm and homely atmosphere. The staff were also extremely nice. The first person we met at the hotel was the concierge who greeted us at the door. He’s definitely not Japanese….rather an Aussie (he later told us he used to live in Balmain)

After checking in, a female concierge staff led us to our room while pushing the luggage trolley. It turned out she’s not Japanese too! She’s from Shanghai and she was a delightfully chatty person. She really gave me the impression that this hotel has very lovely and friendly staff. Actually I thought she was rather cute and would be perfect for K. Anyway, she opened the door for us and would not walk in until we have entered first. Then she carried (not dragged, but CARRIED) our heavy luggages inside the room. I felt sorry for her (she was petite), so I beckoned to assist but she would not allow me to. Gosh, such hospitality. After “introducing” the room to us, she left with a bow and we unpacked, marvelled at the beautifully designed room, and got ready to explore Kyoto.

We decided to walk back to Kyoto Station because there is a giant shopping center there and we were eager to visit more food basements. On the way, we stopped over at Amazon Cafe for afternoon tea. It’s a delightful little place that has been opened since 1972. We were seated upstairs and ordered coffee with a hamburg sandwich for T and an egg & cucumber sandwich for me. The food was actually quite nice! We felt refreshed and continued walking to Kyoto Station.

We walked up the escalators, which from the bottom looked like a stairway to heaven. The building itself has a modern design and very open. There’s an Isetan department store, several nice restaurants, and lots of smaller shops/restaurants/cafes underneath. In fact, so many that it was always difficult for us to find our way back to the same place. It felt like we went to a totally different and unexplored area everytime we exited a gate or walked around the corner.

So we sussed out Isetan and happily browsed the stationery section. I bought several goodies as gifts and when it was time to pay, the guy at the counter asked me in Japanese whether these were for presents. At first I didn’t understand what he was saying, but after using broken English (and broken Japanese) I told him “yes, it’s for omiyage”. The word omiyage must have set off an alarm bell inside his head because he looked distressed (?) and asked for assistance from his female colleague. She asked what colour paperbag I would like – red or blue. I chose blue. Then she asked what colour ribbon (on gold stickers) I would like – red or blue. I chose blue again. So both of them immediately created a production line, where the guy peeled off the price stickers and placed the items in individual paper bags, while the lady neatly folded the flap and meticulously placed the Isetan sticker/ribbon at the front. While they were doing this, a queue formed at the counter and I felt bad for getting them to do individual packaging. Hang on, not my fault. It was a miscommunication – I actually asked them to place all items in one big bag and provide me with several smaller ones so I can wrap them myself later on, but she thought I wanted each of them wrapped individually on the spot *sigh*.

So again, I felt sorry for them and plainly told them that I could wrap it myself at home. They both immediately gave me a surprised look and the lady said “Nooooo we do it for you!” while waving her hand. Ach, I felt bad and slightly embarassed because they gave such good customer service that ours here in Aussie is like NOTHING compared to theirs. T thought it was funny

After that we headed towards the lower levels and ate noodles for dinner, before walking back to the hotel to call it a day. We took some photos of the hotel lobby, explored the area, took a nice relaxing shower and went back down to the lobby to use the internet. The concierge from Shanghai was there again and she was chatting with some other guests (little chatter box). Then she spotted a person outside who was trying to get a taxi, so she immediately ran outside, did a quick bow, called the taxi over, stood and waited until the taxi left the hotel grounds, and did another 90 degree bow.
Whoa…

Our next stop was the Tokyo International Forum, a massive architectural landmark normally used for exhibitions and concert halls. They also happen to run flea market on that day. It’s quite interesting to see various items on sale even though we found they are rather expensive for second-hand items.

We then walk back to Tokyo station and catch a train to Shinjuku to check out some cosplay. Harajuku station was soo.. busy that we were overwhelmed by the crowds over there. Exiting the station was hard enough since there were so many people but then as we reached the famous Takeshita St, we can’t help but to be astounded by the sheer crowd.

A few metres into Takeshita St, we stopped in front of maccas with fear that we’re going to be trampled by the crowd. Luckily it wasn’t too bad once you’re in with the crowd. T noticed a crepe shop nearby and decided to give it a try. He bought a strawberry crepes and it was REALLY GOOD!!! It was so good that I forgot about my headache and had a full smile on every bite. For me, that was the best strawberry crepes in the world!

We checked out a few shops in the area, drop by at a ¥100 shop and then continue to walk to Shibuya district (yes, we walked all the way).

In the evening we visited Ginza area where all the exclusive (read: expensive) boutiques are located. It’s a very vibrant area and even though we didn’t buy anything there (can anyone guess why?), we took a few snapshots, pay a visit to the Apple Store where T saw the awesome elevator UI on youTube a couple of years back. It stops at every floor and features 100% glass doors (no frame on them!).

We were very excited to be on board the A380 and loved every minute of it. My eyes were hurting because we’d been lacking sleep for several days, so I couldn’t watch the movies for too long. I tried to read the Nikon D80 camera’s manual but found myself falling asleep after a few pages. Luckily the inflight entertainment system also features “educational” stuff, so I decided to learn Japanese language and read information about Japan. T on the other hand made the most out of the in-seat power supply and did some last minute work stuff before switching to “holiday” mode.

We arrived at Changi International Airport – Terminal 3 at around 2pm. We got off the plane and took some photos of the plane from the boarding ramp before entering the terminal. We saw other passengers were taking similar shots. I guess they were impressed too! Changi Terminal 3 is huge and has closer resemblance to a shopping centre than an airport. The ceilings were designed to utilise natural light during the day and yet keep the heat out. Exclusive (read: expensive) stores also at the ready to serve you should you wish to shop for items like Vertu, Chopard, Mont Blanc, etc.

The terminal is so huge that it has its own monorail inside the terminal running every 3 minutes to take you to departure gates located towards the end of the terminal (in our case it can take up to 16 minutes to walk there – by using monorail we got there in 5 minutes)

I loved the koi ponds – HUGE koi fish kept coming up to the surface with their mouth opened wide. They probably thought we were going to feed them because we visited the pond close to their feeding time. You can easily find resting areas, free internet connections, yummy foods, glorious shops…and the toilets…ach, the toilets…some have views to the tarmac area, and there’s one in the centre (for ladies) which features a section that looks like a salon but without the hairdressers and equipments, plus 2 change rooms. Nice!

We had several hours to kill before our next flight to Japan, so we decided to go to the city to meet up with T’s friend. We took the MRT to Orchard Road and ate prawn mee (recommended by H). At first I thought it would be tasteless because it looked bland, but it turned out to be delicious! A small serve was enough for both of us. I can’t imagine how big the large serving is. We sussed out several shops as we waited for T’s friend, then we went to a cafe in Borders (it’s much nicer than the usual Gloria Jeans counters we have in Sydney) for a quick meal before heading back to the airport.

The next flight to Narita was at 11.40pm. We were extremely tired by then and my eyes were sore, so we slept as soon as the plane took off. Mind you, the flight was on the ‘normal’ 737-400 airplane (ie. small sized monitors) so we couldn’t be bothered to watch any movie. I was a bit annoyed as a stewardess woke us up at around 1.30am for “light refreshment”. Breakfast was served around 4 hours later and my stomach was confused.

Photos