Konnichiwa

Day 1- Singapore-Tokyo-Kyoto

Long overnight budget flights are tedious, but given that the price was three hundred less than a direct non-budget flight, suffering a little was okay. 

Transited at Taipei before arriving at Narita Airport. Took a 4 hour journey to Kyoto via the JR pass. I think train rides are very therapeutic. The last time I did this was in Europe! And boy, I had fun. Lots of alone time reflecting and just enjoying their culture. Nice!

I love the countryside. So much greenery. All the patches of green plots. It must have rained.

A thought: Would I live closer to the city but in close proximity with my neighbor or further in the outskirts having massive amount of space for myself ? In Singapore we don't even have the option.

Day 2: Kyoto-Osaka

Arrived at my capsule accommodation in Osaka after many train transfers just cuz I wanted to use the JR pass and not need to pay any cash for the subways. Checked into the capsule hotel and i think there are only three gals in the female section. Looking forward to use the bath and sauna tonight. artificial onsen experience. 

The boys are so pretty and the girls can look quite andro. I think I might be mistaken for a guy since I do not put on dresses,skirts and make up. In fact, quite a few guys look more like gals (andro) than me. Lol. Okay. Exaggerating.

It poured! And I was in the rain 80% of today. Thank god for cheap umbrellas from Daiso. I only paid 120yen ( $1.50) for it. Got lost quite a bit and taxi driver did not want to take me to Hard Rock Cafe which is a blessing in disguise because a kind-hearted man showed me the subway and saved me at least 500yen.

The number of girls on the gals' side increased to 5, one of them is Taiwanese and has a tattoo band around her arm. Maybe not straight, I don't know. She's femme. I know she's Taiwanese because she asked me some questions in halting English and when I asked if she was Japanese, she said she's Taiwanese and I felt like I had a friend then. Technically, she's the only person I had spoken a complete sentence to today, and got a response. And some interaction (she asked me whether I was going out and if not, if she could borrow my umbrella). Makes me appreciate Singapore's educational system and its culture that I know how to speak English, Mandarin and Cantonese. Yay!

More about the capsule hotel. Cosy! My luggage had to be placed in their locker and fortunately it fits (only fits cabin carry on sized luggage). If not, I have to pay for extra storage space (which is located at the reception). How strange is that! How inconvenient it will be if I needed to take things from my luggage. 

So.. Because there are so few  gals here, I could walk around naked the entire hour to enjoy the spa, shower (the shower heads are in front of the spa and sauna and no curtains!), blow my hair and lotioned myself. Nice!

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