We like to think of ourselves as fairly experienced travellers. Today we felt like novices.

Couldn't figure out the rail ticket vending machines at Kansai airport, so Nigel had to queue for ages to get tickets to Kyoto. But in the same pass, he acquired access to an extensive wifi network, plus subway cards covering Kyoto and Osaka. Mine has Hello Kitty on it:



The trip to Kyoto is fast and smooth. Only two stops. En route you see lots of modern, could-be-anywhere buildings, but also plenty of quintessentially Japanese houses, with roof tiles and roof ridges, bonsai trees, and other potted plants. There were orange trees; vegetable patches; little rice-fields, prickly with the last crop's stubble; and a little graveyard with obelisks. The land is densely developed. The railway threads its way through a highly urban environment.

Having been served our Air Asia breakfast at 2 am (go figure...), we were pretty hungry by now, and bundled our rucksack-encumbered selves into the first station eatery we happened upon. Only to bundle straight back out again because the system requires that you pre-pay and get an order ticket from the vending machine outside.

We pressed the button for our chosen udon noodle soup, and shoved in a 1,000-yen note. Nothing happened. Hmmm. We pressed the button that looked like it would cancel the transaction. And luckily it did. Out popped our note again. But still no access to udon.

OK, we thought, we need to do some observation here. How do the locals work this thing? So we backed off, watched, and sure enough, the trick is to feed the money in first... Then the machine will highlight all the things that amount of money can buy, and you press the dish of your choice.



The soup was actually excellent. Lots of chicken, and plenty of plump noodles. Free iced water. Lots of business people in suits were eating at the narrow shelf that wraps its way around the walls. Good place. We'll go again.

We then tried to exit the station using our subway cards rather than our railway tickets, but a friendly member of staff soon put us right. I successfully applied Hello Kitty to the entrance gate of the underground, and we rode the 10 stops to Kosusaikaikan Station, which is close both to the conference centre that will be my workplace for the weekend and to the Grand Prince Hotel.

The latter is very comfortable. Don't be put off by the faintly North Korean exterior. We have a lovely room; the woods are right outside; and the staff are very helpful.





And of course, our bathroom is equipped with one of those legendary Japanese toilets...



Part of the room's accoutrements is an utterly incomprehensible water boiler. We filled, we boiled. But how do you get the water out? No button seemed to do the trick. So I tackled a couple of the maintenance guys two doors down. They seemed a bit dubious as to why the weird Western woman was apparently inviting them to her bedroom, but they followed cautiously along. "The hot water's inside. How does it come out?" we asked/mimed. "Ah, press this button first, so that button lights up. Then press that button."

Ahaaaa...

After a brief but totally disorienting sleep (these night flights are real killers), we got blearily up, and headed, in the drizzle, for the nearby lake.

Totally awesome. The autumn colours are still here, and they're just gorgeous.







After a lap of the lake, we dropped in at the hotel's Pond Cafe for coffee (OK), beef curry (very good, so Nigel tells me), and walnut roulade (really excellent; texture, temperature, taste -- all good). To say nothing of the quality of the pond itself:





Cocky on account of our newly acquired vending machine skills, we approached the Floor 7 hotel vending paradise with confidence, and successfully acquired a can of Asahi (nice, light) and a plastic bottle of hot "Royal Milk Tea".

I absolutely had to try this, as I vividly remember a conversation with my late office-mate, Keiko, back in my IPC days. "I'm sure the Royal Milk Tea in Britain must be very good?" she begins. "Royal Milk Tea? What's that, Keiko?" I reply. "Royal Milk Tea? You don't know it? It's my favourite tea. I thought it came from Britain." "Errr, I've never heard of it, Keiko..."

This is probably why.

Well, tonight I finally tasted it. And Keiko, you're right, it's great. It's milky, and not too sweet. Ours had a faintly flowery flavour. I'm guessing Earl Grey is one of the ingredients ... Whatever the explanation, Britain doesn't know what it's missing.

Rest in peace, gentle Keiko...