Kyoto

We got up and organised. This would be my last day in Fukusaki. My final meal in Fukusaki was yet another hot hot ramen. Since it was during the day, the restaurant was pretty busy and it's normal that anytime a customer would enter or leave, all the staff would give a big hello or goodbye and since it was loud, they had to shout. By the end of it I was shouting noises whenever they would. The hot hot ramen was an excellent last impression of Fukusaki. We got a local train to Himeji and then the train to Kyoto.

Our first stop, like any good tourist, was to McDonalds. After going to the toilets, Eric informed me there was a Japanese toilet in there. I was so happy but when I walked in, it wasn't even a western toilet but a squatting toilet. I rejoined the guys broken hearted while Eric greeted me with his excited high pitch giggle. We then went to our hostel. We were too early for checking so just hoped to leave our bags but our room was ready which was great. We left the hostel and went to the Imperial Palace. Philip told us that if you go too close to the wall, an alarm will go off and a voice will tell you to move away.  We approached the wall and stood in the way of what looked like censors but the alarm didn't go off. We walked around the corner and decided we would try again and sure enough a very loud startling alarm went off and a woman's voice sternly told us something in Japanese. I thought it was funny but I was advised it wouldn't be smart to do it again. We could walk around the grounds but people can't go into the palace unless they book a tour in advance and "get permission" to enter.

We then walked to Kyoto Castle only to find out it was closed for the Christmas season. I had still yet to see a Japanese Castle and it wasn't looking like I'd see one. After going back to the hostel to reorganise and have a little nap, we went for dinner in a restaurant called Manzo Hearts. It was a great dinner and the owner of the place was very welcoming. After dinner we went to one of the Geisha areas to walk around and see could we see any of the traditional Geisha. Apparently they are out on the street from 6pm-8pm and unfortunately it was just after 8pm. Walking around trying to spot them reminded me of being on safari trying to spot lions. We went for dinner. All the restaurants had the traditional lanterns outside which looked impressive all lined up on the streets. While walking around, we saw a big black car pull up to an entrance to a building of bars. 3 huge Japanese men in suits with ear pieces got out and one opened the car door and out popped an old Geisha in full gear and an old Japanese man in a suit. One of the security men looked exactly like a large Gavin Henson (Welsh rugby player).

We stopped in for a beer in a Yakitori bar. Myself and Philip had a few beers and Eric ate a chicken leg which cost a lot more than he expected. We then found a very small bar. There were only 2 more customers in there and one of them left letting us know he wasn't comfortable with foreigners there. After a few drinks there we went back to the hostel.