Kyoto - 11 October 2009 and Hajimete Karaoke

Today was another Kyoto outing with Daryn and in the evening, we went for karaoke with 9 other people (Amy, Ashley, Ann, Yui, Hiroshi, Yugo, Ryo, Robbie, Becca). Actually, Ashley's friends wanted to come too, but they had part-time job today, so, yep, it was the 11 of us.

Stopped at Sanjo Station because I remembered that stopping at Demachiyanagi Station would be more expensive. Don't remember how much more though and neither of us thought to check at our respective stations (basically because we were both rushing for our trains). So, from Sanjo to Demachiyanagi, it's a straight walk along Kawataba-dori till we came to a cross junction at Imadegawa-dori.

We had to walk the entire stretch of Imadegawa-dori to get to Ginkaku-ji.




















This is a poster we saw along the way to Ginkaku-ji. A little creepy, but rather manga-ish.

We found a charming second hand bookstore, and I got a japanese children's book for 105yen. It's hardcover too! :) What a bargain! The original price was 900yen (excluding tax). Daryn got some yaoi comics. Haha, she was totally freaking out about the yaoi comics that they have here, cos they dont have those titles in the US. Also remember, it's a 2nd hand bookstore, so the prices are wayyyy cheaper than in bookstores! =)

Eventually reached Ginkaku-ji. But, Ginkaku-ji required (obviously, and I was stupid to think otherwise) admission fee of 500yen (expensive :(). Daryn's waiting for her mom to wire her money. I'm just plain stingy (actually, we both are, which is why it's great to hang out with her). I refused to spend that money till late november, when the leaves are red, orange and yellow, and pretty.

I took a picture at the maze outside the entrance though!




















If you're thinking, "What a waste, to walk all the way to Ginkaku-ji and not go in?!" But no, we didn't waste time! Because, we walked down the Path of Philosophy. It was a disappointment at first. A total disappointment. Both sides of the walk along the river was framed by houses. I didn't like it at all. Hmm, but it was cute! haha, we found a lot of bears along the path [are bears philosophers?]















Two bears placed there. The big bear is fishing :) I actually went over and touched the bear, thinking it would be made of ceramics or something. It is a soft-fur teddy bear! <3 :) So is the smaller teddy bear. Who would leave it out like that. What if it rains? Maybe they bring the bears in when there's rain.




















A huge, fat bear sitting outside a shop. I saw a bag that I liked in this shop for 1050yen but didn't buy it because I don't really really need a new bag. There were many more interesting things in that shop though. We also saw a few cafes (apple cinnamon cake! yum yum :)). If both of us had money, I think, I'd have convinced Daryn to sit down and enjoy something. Haha.

Just a little off the path is Honen-in ji. It was a great temple. Firstly, because you don't have to pay. Secondly because it's situated off the Philosopher's path, and few people actually venture up there. I wouldn't have except Prof Kenney told us to go there to visit it. Thirdly, as usual, there was a cemetary there. And I do so love the cemetaries in Japan. Spent a little bit of our time in Honen-in ji. =)




















The path that leads to the caretaker's house. My philosophy: If it's not closed, we can go in. So, we actually went in, but later I realised I was actually stepping into someone's house. Not that they scolded me. In fact, they let me do what I want... Maybe used to gai-jins doing such stupid things, like invading someone's house...



































This has only ONE red leaf. the rest are all green :) hehe, neat huh?







































I thought this was pretty cute. haha.







































First few leaves turning red :) Pretty ne?

When we finally walked out of Honen-in ji, we just continued along the Philosopher's Pathway. There were fewer and fewer houses. So, Daryn and I sat on one of the stone benches at the Philosopher's Pathway and ate our sandwiches for lunch :) It was so peaceful, so quiet, and so very very nice. I like this kinda atmosphere, and the fact that someone was there to share it with me. I know, many posts before, I was complaining about having to compromise. But then, today, I felt so happy that someone was here to share a part of my Japan trip.

We had to get back to Gotenyama station by 4pm, so that we could walk to Hirakata-shi station by 5pm to meet the rest for karaoke. So, after the Philosopher's Path, we started walking back to Sanjo station. But, as we walked, we needed to find a restroom, and so turned off path to Nanzenji. I don't regret walking in there because it was such a majestic place. And we found our restroom! haha. Didn't have enough time to fully explore the place because it is so huge. But, we're leaving it on our List of Places to Visit Again. :)


































We found many artists sitting near these structures painting. I wanted to get a picture of this guy's painting, but couldn't do so, cos it's rude. Of course, I could ask him, but then.. :x haha. me shy!















Some dragon thingie perched on the roof. Haha, took a picture of it cos it was so cute! :P

Almost got lost trying to get to Sanjo station though. We had to walk from Keage Station (subway) to Sanjo Station (Keihan line). On the map, it looked like a pretty short distance. But when we actually walked, it was WAYYY longer than I thought. But, we got there just fine. Instead of stopping at Gotenyama though, I decided that we should stop at Hirakatashi. Because, the walk from Gotenyama to Hirakatashi is 1 hour (yes, it's that long, even though it's only 1 stop) but that's only because we walk through school to get to Hirakata-shi. I'm sure there is a much faster way to get to school. Anyways, not only that, we were saving 20yen, in order to get to the next station!!! 1 hour vs 20yen! I'd rather pay 20yen!

Luckily, things worked out just fine, and we reached earlier than expected. Robbie had just come back from SpaWorld with his friends, Yugo and Ryo, so he was earlier than we were. The few of us stood in the cold, waiting for Amy, Ashley, Ann and Yui. They were late by half an hour! It was so bloody bloody cold. Even Daryn felt cold. I'd borrowed her Slytherin jacket, but later she needed it back because it was just too cold. :x

Yugo and Ryo taught me a new phrase: 風（かぜ）をひきました。 It means, I caught a cold. :)

Anyways, Ring cost 1200yen for 3 hours. Next time I go though, it will be 1000yen for 3 hours, cos 200yen today was for membership. No alcoholic drinks are served, but hot and cold drinks are available free flow. There is a manga section, two pingpong tables, about 10 karaoke rooms and... POOL TABLES. 1000yen for 3 hours isn't that bad! SGD13.07 for 3 hours leh. Considering 1 hour at the pool table in Singapore is about 8 bucks. :x of course, you can always play pool at PSD for free. HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Karaoke was pretty fun. :) I sang... Jay Chou's 枫 (which no one could understand, cos it's in Mandarin. Even Robbie couldn't understand), Reflections with Daryn, Eyes on me with Ann and just sang along with the rest whatever they were singing. Haha, I'm BAD at Japanese songs, trip over my words and all that so am just contented to listen to other people sing :)

Unfortunately for me, people are allowed to smoke in Ring. Worse still, at Karaoke, I was sitting just next to the loudspeakers. AND, I drank hot chocolate and hot milk tea (caffeine). The combination gave me a HUGE headache. By 1.5 hours, I was practically dying. So, I left the karaoke room for the pool table. It was SO DIFFICULT to get pool table. Cos Robbie's and Becca's song was next so, I couldn't get Robbie to go with me to ask for a pool table. Daryn was sitting quite far from me. In the end, I had to ask for my own pool table. Come to think of it, it was quite funny. I regretted the moment I opened my mouth to ask for my own pool table.

I started with: ビラドします (play billards). She gave me a weird stare. So I tried, "英語しゃベル?" [do you speak english?] Another blank stare. Then, she asked me, "友達は?" [where are ur friends?]. "9番" [Room number 9] There was a moment of silence. So I offered, "友達はカラオケ。私は一人でプルします。" [friends are doing karaoke. I want to play pool alone.] If anyone well-versed in Japanese heard that, they would totally cringe. It's ungrammatical. :x BUT BUT BUT. She got it. Because I said, "一人で" [alone]. So, she handed me the balls and off I went.

For the 1st 5 minutes, I DID NOT POCKET ANY BALLS. For someone who hasn't played pool for only 2 months, my pool skills dipped drastically! If Max saw how badly I played, I think it'd be quite a disappointment. Haha. Later on, Yugo came out of the karaoke room. Seeing that I was playing pool, and maybe bored with karaoke, he decided to join me. Haha, HE IS EQUALLY 下手くそ[bad] at pool. haha. Even worse I think.. His bridge reminded me of my own when I first started out. Shaky and unsure. But then, at least someone was willing to come play pool with me :) Some of my shots went through but they were either by luck or short-ranged shots.

Later, Ryo came out too, and joined us for a while. And then Hiroshi and Ann. Hiroshi is pretty good at pool, though nowhere as good as my shifu, Max, or Jonathan! :) haha. By the time we eventually finished (we didn't even manage to finish a game, because we were so bad at it!) it was already 9pm.

By then, I had a pounding headache, a slight gastric, dry and white lips and felt giddy. Towards the end of the game, I actually felt so sick that I didn't even manage to focus properly to take a proper shot. Yugo and I had teamed up against Hiroshi and Ann. So, Yugo exclaimed when I missed a simple shot, "なにやてんる？" [what are you doing?!!!] Haha, can see that I wasn't in a fantastic state of mind...Daryn kept asking me, "大丈夫?"[are u okay?] Initially, I'd say I was okay. But later, when they wanted to go and take neoprints, I had to confess cos it was getting wayyy bad and I wanted to go home and rest...

A huge part of the weakness was due to the fact that I hadn't had dinner yet. So, when I eventually had my dinner and my shower, I felt 70% better. Another huge part was due to the smoke. Although I'm not like Alex, allergic to smoke, smoke does makes my throat scratchy and uncomfortable... So, part of the headache is gone too :) So, now I'm more or less okay, except for the scratchy throat. *Thank Goodness*

Although I'd like to go play pool again, I think I'll lay off Ring for a while. The smoke so does not do anything good for my body... :(

So, it's off to bed for me, and hopefully get better tomorrow! =)