Hello Japan (Installment 1)

Our trip from Bangkok to Kyoto was uneventful and relatively short. Normally short is good, but it was an overnight flight and so more time would have been nice. We arrived exhausted after only a couple hours of fitful sleep. We collected our luggage, exchanged our money and headed for the train station that would take us from the airport to Kyoto. We decided to buy the four day Japan Rail Pass, which was a much better deal than buying individual train tickets, and then started the long journey to our new digs.
The airport express took us from Kansai International Airport to Kyoto in about an hour. From there, we had to change to the metro and then walk about 15 minutes to our furnished apartment. Since we were planning on staying in Kyoto for ten days, we decided to stay at a furnished apartment rather than a hotel or hostel. We thought that would offer us some privacy and a chance to save some money by cooking some of our own meals. We had no trouble finding the place, and the owner was there waiting to show us the space.
It was a traditional Japanese style apartment. There was a small kitchen, a bathroom, and a living room area. The loving area was covered in the traditional tatami matt style, and there were two fold out beds for sleeping on. There was a small coffee table for eating and working, and floor pillows to sit on. It’s a good thing we got used to sitting on the floor so much in India!
Once we had thrown down our backpacks it was time to head out for some food, but first we needed some cash. No problem, the apartment owner assured us that there were ATMs on every corner. Unfortunately in Japan, they use a different ATM network than any other country in the world, and most ATMs do not accept non-Japanese cards. Two hours and seven banks later, we finally had some cash. By then our serious lack of sleep had caught up with us, so we bought some ramen noodles from the local 7-11 and slurped them down before crashing on the floor.