________Raindrops + Sunshowers

After all the hard work during new year's holiday, I think I deserve a break or perhaps a vacation...So I used up my 2 compersation days and went to Kyoto.

Kyoto was formerly the imperial capital of Japan until the transfer of the goverment to Tokyo in 1868. Kyoto is considered the cultural center of Japan...You can say it's the Japanese version of Malacca. The Kyoto area has some of the most famous temples, shrines, palaces and gardens in Japan.
I took the bullet train 'Hikari' service from Tokyo station and the 512km trip to Kyoto took 163 minutes.

TOKYOTO!!!

I would like to verify some info regarding the bullet train or the japs call it 'Shinkansen' to you non-Japanese out there who usually have these kind of misunderstanding:

People in Japan don't take the bullet train to work unless on business trips and long distance travel.
The fares for taking the bullet train is not as cheap as the normal commuter trains but as equivalent to the air ticket fare. Most people prefer taking the bullet train because the bullet train stations usually located very near to the city...or for people who has flying phobia.
Unlike the Express Rakyat, the bullet train is extremely punctual.In 2003, Japanese Railways reported that the bullet train's average arrival time was within 0.1 minutes or 6 seconds of the scheduled time. This includes all natural and human accidents and errors and is calculated from all of about 160,000 trips the bullet train made. The previous record was from 1997 and was 0.3 minutes or 18 seconds. So if my trip to Kyoto will take 163 minutes, I will arrive in Kyoto Station 163 minutes right after I departed from Tokyo Station.
There is no such thing as this bullet train is physically faster that bullet train. For example, there are 3 bullet train services running on the route to Kyoto. The services are 'Nozomi' means 'hope', 'Hikari' means 'light' and 'Kodama' means 'echo'. Taking the 'Nozomi' service is the fastest way to get to your destination because it stops only on 2 out of 16 stations between Tokyo and Kyoto. In the other hand, taking the 'Kodama' service is the slowest way because it stop at all stations. Presently, there are 2 types of bullet train running on the route to Kyoto; the 300 Series and the 700 Series. Although the 700 Series bullet train visually quite striking and look more like a supersonic plane than a conventional high speed train, 700 Series bullet trains also run the 'Kodama' service which is the 'slowest'.

300 Series and 700 Series bullet train

Enough about the bullet train, My 1 night trip to Kyoto was great. I met with my long college friend Kahoru who presently lives in Kyoto. She introduced me to Naoko who's from Tokyo and the 3 of us went sightseeing and shopping. It was fortunate for us because there was this Winter Bargain in Kyoto but it was rather unfortunate for me because I was with 2 Japanese girls who were crazy on sale shopping spree.