Gifu, me loves you...

I spent the long weekend in Gifu and I have to say, just getting there was an adventurous task.  Earlier in the week, I booked my ticket, which took a few tries because I couldn't find the special confirmation number to pay for it at the コンビニ (convenience store).

After a freakishly busy week, and with a wallet full of cash, I was off to the airport on Friday to fly to Osaka.  I felt pretty technologically advanced because I could pull up the bar code for my boarding pass on my phone.  You scan the bar code and out pops your boarding pass like a receipt.  Next was a grueling flight.  At long last (which means one hour), the plane landed in Osaka.  Never before have I had to take a bus to an airport terminal.  It was quite something.  I then scuttled on over to get my train ticket, and proceeded to the platform for a ridiculous 2-hour train ride.  By the time I met up with my friend (who's from Victoria), it was about 11:30pm and I was dead tired.  However, I had to stay awake enough to communicate (or simply listen) to my talkative friend for the half an hour drive to her apartment.

We planned to go to Kyoto on Saturday, but I woke up late and we didn't get there till mid-afternoon, time enough to walk, see a temple, take the subway, and walk some more.  The temples and museums close at around 6pm, unfortunately, so we were left to walking, buying overpriced pizza, and visiting a craft store that sold various trinkets and other accessories.  My friend spent a long while admiring the expensive fans, while I browsed everything and then waited "patiently" for her to finish.  That was all we got to do in Kyoto, and we had an hour-long ordeal getting her car out of a closed parking lot back in Gifu.  Fun, fun.

Sunday was a temple-carrying festival, which mostly consisted of standing around, socializing, and drinking.  Despite how utterly pointless the festival seemed with all the standing around we did, it was a really good time.  About half the men there were drunk or close to being drunk by the end of it (our group leader was hammered half an hour into the two-hour festival).  I could tell this by how the shrines were carried in a zigzagged, wobbly fashion instead of a straight line.  The Japanese sure like their liquor.

Afterwards, we had an enkai (social party) with nomihodai (all you can drink) and appetizers.  It was a good opportunity for me to try using my (broken) Japanese.  Honestly, I enjoyed the festival much more than I enjoyed going to Kyoto.