Day 25 - 23rd of September

9:32am　湯元館
天気：曇り
We are expected to check-out be 10:10, so after having breakfast, I decided to have one last bathing experience. This time I found a really cool apparatus of curved bars placed at different heights. Pushing the button with the cute little music note on it, I let out a yelp as dozens of tiny, concentrated jets of water hit me from all sides. It tickled so much!!! After what has been the most amazing traditional Japanese experience I have ever had, I would highly recommend this place to any foreigner who wants to experience authentic Japanese lifestyle, in the lap of luxury, where the service is fantastic. Now I have to get changed, and rouse Alex from her sleep. Hopefully I get to see everything I wanted today, and get back to the dorm at a reasonable hour, satisfied and refreshed. It's going to be weird getting back. I consider my life here a normality, but getting out of uni and study, even for this short amount of time, has again taken me away from reality. I'm sure I'll get back into it again soon enough. It's kinda weird having a holiday so early in the piece, but it has been well worth it and much appreciated!

6:05pm　快速
I'm pooped! I'm on the train back to Hirakata now. I decided to catch it from 祇園三条 (Gion sanjou), to avoid the need to transfer trains at Tofukuji. I've been on my feet most of the day, otherwise I've been on the bus or train... After checking out, we boarded the courtesy bus and were seen of by a number of staff, waving and wishing as well. By that time, I was feeling smothered by all their generosity. We boarded the train for Kyoto, and soon after arriving, got on the bus hoping to see the zoo. As soon as we saw the entry queue however, we changed our minds. It must've stretched about 500m! So, straight to shopping we went!

We ended up at 三条名店街 (Sanjoumeitenmachi), the same shopping arcade we went down on the Kyoto tour; So many shops!!! I ended up buying a pair of black overalls (Alex white). She also added to her collection of kimono wear, at a really great shop I'll have to go to again to buy myself a kimono. Unfortunately, we spent a little bit too long shopping; Alex was eager to get back to the station by 4. We didn't make it back for the 4:05 kodama shinkansen, but Alex was able to catch another (nozomi) at about 4:30. ~ Japan has three types of shinkansen (bullet train) on the toukai line: kodama - regular (stops at every station), hikari - skips-most-stations, and nozomi - extra-high-speed. ~

So after getting our stuff from the coin lockers (only 300円 to store our items), I sent her on her way, back to Nagoya. By this time I had realised that the music I was hearing in the station was live. I ran up the stairs to the upper floors, where there were a number of school bands playing, including Kansai Gaidai's!!! I recognised the cheer squad in the front; the same group whom I had watched practicing colour guard. I watched them for a while, then browsed the shops a bit more. Tired, and over it, I got on the bus to Gion, walked the block to the train station and got on. We're just stopping at Kuzuha now; I want to come here to shop. Hirakata is the next station. Can't wait to get home...