We left Tokyo in the morning and boarded the bullet train to Kyoto. We boarded the Nozumi, which was the fastest direct line. I really thought it would be more exciting than it actually was. It ended up being not much different than a ride on BART (the bay area rapid transit system). It took us almost 2 hours to reach Kyoto and we had the day free. We got to know our new hotel, the city, and decided to get lost on the train system again to "get to know the area".
We got hungry in the city and were looking for a good restaurant. Unfortunately, we could only seem to find 2 restaurants. There had to be more. As we walked down the blocks we passed various subway entrances with a big sign that read "Porta". We thought that was the name of the subway so we kept going. Finally, we noticed that the sign for "Porta" included pictures of food. My dad said he'd go down into the subway and investigate. Maybe there was a hidden underground mall here too.
My dad emerged with a great big smile on his face. He said we wouldn't believe it but there was so much hustle and bustle down there that it was more alive than on the actual streets. And there were plenty of foods and shops. We all laughed at ourselves. The Japanese had duped us again!
Note: this is the end of my japan journal. I got too caught up in China and didn't write any entries :)
Here are some China photos though:
