Yippee! I'm going to Kyoto

Hiroshi and I decided to take a weekend trip to Kyoto for Christmas weekend. The 23rd is a holiday here, so we can go for three days. I'm so excited because despite living here for almost 7 years, I have never been there yet. I found a really good deal that has combined shinkansen (bullet train) tickets and hotel for two nights for 35,000 yen per person. This is a great deal because the shinkansen tickets alone cost 27,000 yen to and from Kyoto... and we're staying at a 4-star hotel. So that is cool. 8000 yen for two nights in a hotel is cheap by Japanese standards - usually it costs 8000 yen per night for a business hotel. So that is cool.

Getting the package booked took forever though. I figured it would take 15 minutes and that would be it. Well, today was a holiday so the travel office in our station was closed, so we had to go to Shinagawa. Then we had to wait for more than an hour to be served... and then like and hour and a half to book the tour. At least Hiroshi and I went together so we had a chance to talk with each other (been busy lately).

Part of the problem was that I had my heart set on the Westin, but it was booked on the 23rd, so we couldn't stay there. So we are staying at a different hotel - but anyone who knows me, knows I am spaz about hotels. It has to be nice and in a good location for example. And to further complicate things we wanted a non-smoking room and a double bed. For some reason, two twin beds are standard in Japan... I guess couples don't sleep together when they travel. We narrowed the hotels down to two, but neither of them had double beds or non-smoking rooms. Oh well. I wasn't going to pay another 15,000 yen each to try to find a better hotel.

Then we had to decide when to take the shinkansen... only I didn't realize that the tour is so cheap because you have to take the shinkansen during slow hours. This means before 7am, between 11 and 3 or after 8 pm. So, we're leaving at 6:30 am! That is *early*! We can sleep on the train though. Unfortunately, we have seats that are separated - there weren't any other seats available. Again, not worth the extra 15,000 yen - I'm cheap. Also, 30,000 yen will get us an awesome kaiseki dinner while we are there. I've never had it and have always wanted to, so it will be a nice birthday dinner for Hiroshi.

So, the trip is definitely something to look forward to. We haven't been on a trip together for two years... I've been jetsetting by myself recently... so it will be nice to get away. I just hope the weather isn't too cold (despite being 500 km south of Tokyo, Kyoto is in a valley and is therefore colder in winter than Tokyo is) - I want to sit outside and admire zen gardens!