Japan...finally!

May 10/11, 2009

I was supposed to leave for Japan on Friday, but I had to push back my trip since I got sick and Japan is being super cautious because of the swine flu scare. During the (super long!) flight, we had to fill out a form and note if we had had any flu-like symptoms (fever, cough, runny nose, etc.) in the past 10 days… Before we could get off the plane, they actually had the quarantine crew come on board and individually check every person’s temperature. I wanted to take a picture of the quarantine crew, but they specifically announced “no pictures”. I got a bright yellow paper saying I passed their test. In the airport, it was easy to distinguish the Japanese people from the foreigners because they were all wearing masks.

I was supposed to meet Tamas at the Kyoto station at 6pm, but because of the quarantine inspection and my poor choice in transportation from the Osaka airport to Kyoto, I didn’t arrive until 8pm. I dropped my stuff off at my hostel and we went to eat ramen at this super tiny restaurant.

A few observations:

- Kyoto (at least this area) seems super safe and I don’t mind wandering the streets at night alone

- There are vending machines literally everywhere, selling all sorts of drinks and cigarettes, but I haven’t actually seen any food

- I love how all the restaurants have plastic displays of their food! Makes me hungry every time I pass one…

- I think people expect me to speak/understand Japanese, because they’ll start talking to me in Japanese. I wish I remembered more from high school…

By now it was late, Tamas left to go to Kobe, and I was ready to crash at the hostel. I had only had two hours of sleep before leaving Baltimore and for some reason I couldn’t sleep on the entire plane ride. For anyone who ever travels to Kyoto in the future, K’s Hostel is amazing. It’s by far the cleanest hostel I’ve ever stayed in, super cheap, amazingly comfortable sheets, and did I mention heated toilet seats??