Trip to Kyoto

My friend, a fellow CR practitioner helped me a lot on my Japan trip by giving me detailed explanations on how to get to places. I would print these and follow them. My mobile phone was not working in Tokyo, but I didn't get lost. His instructions where complicated, like scientific writing.

Here is a paraphrasing of instructions, headed in the direction of Kyoto:

Take the Yamanote line from Shinjuku to Shibuja. Get on one of the first 2 cars. Go down the stairs into the platform closest to the head of the train. ...out of the ticket gate, go right, down a short passage (to)... the Toyoko line. ...catch either a Tokkyu (Special Express- orange letter) or Kyuko (Express-red letters). Get off at Kikuna. Go up the stairs... cross the station area. Go down the stairs (and) through the ticket gate at the bottom. Bear left and up the stairs to the Yokohama line platform. Take the train on the left side of the platform one stop to Sinyokohama. Go up the stairs, and again down the stairs inside the station. Bear right and then left to the ticket gate. ...where you will find the bullet train stations.

In one of those station breaks, I took a picture of the landscape. The force was with me, since there was yoga!

We weighed our CR lunch. The first one was my plate, the next one his. His was more green.

The buildings near the station where we had lunch.

My business class hotel. I was getting into these compartment bathrooms, with everything you would need in one tight space. It would be nice to have one in a home.

Then it was time to go into Kyoto station to find a tourist help center so at to plan my stay in the city. I should have arrived in 10 minutes from my hotel, but got lost in the trains, going north-south, then east west in various subway lines. In Kyoto the announcements rarely included English. I learned to look very closely at the metro maps.

In general, it was not difficult to ask for and obtain directions while in Japan. Most everyone who I talked to could understand me and help me, even if they spoke back to me in Japanese. The Japanese have a high level of English education. I had to remember their difficulty in pronounciation, though. This came to light when I was asking how to buy a ticket to a certain station. I was told to use the "buruki take". I repeated back, "you want me to use the "buruki take"? "Yes." I walked in the direction I was pointed to and saw the blue ticket machine, then remembered the difficulty of pronouncing the "L" and laughed. I used the buriki (blue) take (ticket) machine to buy the ticket. This may point out to why Chinese colleagues have trouble communicating in English with the Japanese; they might not recognize accents. However, they have the advantage of being able to read the characters.