Yopparai naa.....
So, day 1 of Kyoto kinda sucked... we walked up and down the streets FOREVER with our luggage, because while some streets are named in Japan, most addresses are done according to when the building was established, so our inn was not very easy to find. In fact, the person at the station before we left for Kyoto told us the wrong station, so after walking BACK to the station we were supposed to get off on, we asked someone there where our inn was. They sent us down some streets, where we inevitably got lost again, and asked a traffic guard lady with one – yes, one – very sharp tooth where to go. Hahaha, silly foreigners. She lied to us. So, sensing that something was amiss, we saw a group of school kids. Taylor walks up to them, greets them in Japanese, and then immediately asks them if they speak English. After frantically pointing at one member of the group, they flee. -.- So next we see a woman in a yukata, and even though she appears to be in a hurry, I ask her where to go, and she points us in the general direction. Long story short, we walked past the place and had to go back soon after.
The innkeeper was kind of... odd. He was very nice, and tried to give us a bit of info in English, none of which I really understood, before performing some magic tricks. O.o
The rooms had tatami mats and futons, a TV, shower, hairdryer ( YES!!! Since mine would fry Japanese circuits, I have looked kinda scruffy lately... ), and an AC that required you to put coins in and collect them from the bin inside, in order to trick the machine into thinking that you were actually paying...
Exhausted and grumpy, we decided to head to the historic entertainment district of Gion. Gion is famous for teahouses and geisha, and while most of the buildings had been refurbished because of fire hazards, the traditional architectural design still existed. We wanted to see the maiko and geisha perform, but it was too expensive, sadly. We toured the area for a bit, gawking in awe at the prices, and constently scolding Taylor when a rare geisha or maiko would walk by unphotographed.
In one dark alley, as we made our way past some teahouses, we saw a pair of businessmen in suits, obviously coming from a teahouse. The older of the two stumbles, and eyes wide in shock, says “Yopparai naa....” Wes started to laugh when they were out of earshot, so we asked him what the guy said....
Apparently, yopparai naa means “I am soooooo drunk right now....” Taylor spent the remainder of the evening doing the Mugley laugh and muttering yopparai naa....
We also made our way to downtown, and hung out in an arcade, where we were followed by a herd of happy English-studying schoolgirls.
We eventually took a taxi back to the inn, where we fled from the innkeeper and proceeded to do the sleep thing.
Taylor got a video of a geisha walking down the street, so I will try to post it on youtube.
