Assignment: Kyoto - Part 1

A planned trip..

Michelle had made mention about a conference she is attending in Kyoto, Japan.
That was last year and she'll be there as a VIP guest of the NACE EAP chapter.
NACE is the National Association of Corrosion Engineers which is based in Houston, Texas.
And every year, my wife will make her pilgrimage to Houston to attend their annual conference, which is one of the largest gathering of corrosion protection experts from around the world.
Over the years, Michelle had been working very hard to establish herself as one of the top certified experts in Malaysia.

The plan..

My ticket was claimed by frequent-flier mileage. All that was left to pay, was the airport tax.
There weren't much preparation and when the time came for us to depart Kuala Lumpur for the Kansai international airport near Osaka, we boarded our midnight flight and sat through the ride.
I spent some time with the kidz and pat them goodbye. 
By the time the aircraft was cruising across the ocean past the Philippines and Taiwan, we were on our way to the land of the Rising Sun.

Giving the kidz a treat

At KLIA before boarding our flight..

Feeling upbeat..

Touchdown!

We didn't have any issues clearing the Japanese Customs and Immigration and after claiming our baggage, we hopped onto a bus bound for Kyoto. 
Technically-speaking, its a one and a-half hour ride on the highway to one of Japan's historical city. 
Kyoto was the country's old capital which is steeped in history.
We arrived at the outskirts of Kyoto where the city's international convention centre is located.
There, we will stay at the Grand Prince Hotel for six nights.
From the Kyoto central station, we jumped onto the subway and headed towards Kokusaikaikan, the last stop on the line.
Once there, we hauled our gear and was told by the hotel reception that check-in time is around 2pm.

In the subway headed towards Kokusaikaikan

Making our way to the hotel

Having a piece of Onigiri for snack

At the supermarket

The foliage during late fall

With some time to spare, we walked around town.
There was a supermarket around the corner and we scouted the outlet for some bottled water and food. This will be our meal as we had no plans to eat out.
While we were at it, we also found an outdoor retail store. It felt as if I was in Paradise because I found the gear that I was looking for in this outlet.
They sell Snowpeak camping gear and was listed as a stockist.
Later, we had lunch at a Chinese restaurant. 
The bill came up to 1,405 Yen (about RM45) and it wasn't that bad...

The Ramen lunch

Experiencing the cool weather

A beautiful scene at the Takaragaike park in Kyoto

Shorter daytime..

By 4pm, the sky is already getting dark.
We checked-in our luggage and walked down to the supermarket to purchase some food, beers and groceries.
I packed some sushi and ate it in our room. Our tummies were filled to the brim and we called it a night as there's gonna be a long day tomorrow..