Mayumi met us promptly in the hotel lobby and whisked us off in a taxi to Tokyo Station. She gave us our bullet train tickets, paid for the taxi, and waited with us until it was time to board the train.
She met our friend, Yoshino, the first day we arrived and spoke with him. Now she was curious to know more about him. We spent the time Googling him and looking at the pictures I took of our time with him. We spent a little too much time on this, so we rushed to our train car. She waited in line with us to make sure we got to our seats.
As the train pulled out, there she was waving and bowing until we were out of sight. Talk about excellent service. She earned her tip and was grateful. While we road this super express train to Kyoto, she contacted our new guide, Michiko, with details about what we wanted for lunch and shopping preferences.
Michiko was right there when we exited the train. She is also very nice and 28 years ago, lived in Worcester, MA for four years! She asked what kind of lunch we wanted and took us immediately to her favorite Japanese restaurant in Kyoto Station, where our hotel resides.
While we waited for food, she reviewed the portfolio of information she created for us about the city, shopping and sites to enjoy. Once again, we were treated like royalty by a very friendly, efficient and happy woman. She left us to eat on our own and returned to escort us to our hotel.
Good thing she did too. Kyoto Station is a city in and of itself! She also escorted us to the pickup hotel for our Maiko dinner theater experience tonight and our half-day tour of the city tomorrow. Then she showed us where the ramen noodle "street" was. Yes, there is an indoor street of many little restaurants from every region of Japan that serve ramen.
So many choices; so little time.
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