Japan - Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka Without Too Many Shrines

Day 6: Kyoto - Shinkansen, Bake Cheese Tarts, Kyoto Tower

• The Shinkansen was fast and smooth and made us sad we didn't have good train infrastructure in the US
  • We tried some "bake cheese tarts" and they were okay
• We stayed in Kyoto Tower Hotel Annex
  • It was nice but much smaller than our previous hotel, which was to be expected
  • Old men would hang out in the lobby to watch the Sumo tournament which was delightful
• We wandered around and found a place to have dinner 
• Visited Kyoto tower at night
  • This was cool because the city lights up the surrounding shrines at night and you can see them from the tower all around you 

10/10 much different city than Tokyo

Day 7: Kyoto - Monkey Park, Kinkakuji, expensive Kobe Beef, shooting fake guns, Purikura 

• Got up to see the Monkey park
  • This was cool but made us feel terrible about the monkeys 
  • You have to hike a little bit to get to the park 
• Kinkakuji
  • Gold shrine that you can't enter 
• Kobe Beef at Yaruki Shijo Kawaramachi
  • Kobe Beef restaurants tend to be fancy, so we did this one because Yakiniku restaurants are casual 
  • Be prepared to spend $500 or more USD on this 
  • It's good 
• Had some drinks with some of the strangers we met in Tokyo at:
  • Rocking Bar ING
  • Shooting Bar「m4」
  • Another bar that 2 women ran that grossed me out because it had one of those fuzzy toilet seat covers

We had to walk back to our hotel that night because we didn't realize they would shut the trains down earlier than in Tokyo 

8/10 would eat Kobe beef again but would not visit the 3rd bar with the fuzzy seats