Karaoke Time
Do you know what 5 hours of karaoke feels like? Me, Natalie and 2 other friends hit up the karaoke joint the night before I leave. Take my word for it.....it is funner than it may sound. We leave somewhat sober with our voices missing after hours of everything from "Baby got back" to "A magic carpet ride". Great times.
Goodbyes
The next day, Natalie is off. No work. We both wake up mad late. By 4pm we go get some food at a sushi train restaurant. Delicious....what's new. We reminisce about the times we spent together. We both realize we are going to miss each other a lot more than we thought.
The sun is 1 hour away from setting at this point...but I still decide to head out. Natalie brings me nearby at the entrance of a highway...and that's that. My time in Fujinomiya is over. We say our goodbyes, both with slightly teary eyes. As Natalie drives off waving her hand out the window of her car, I let my tears fall. There I am, foreign guy, weeping alone in the middle of a parking for no apparent reason. No wonder people stare at me here. But you know....I did have a reason for all that. Natalie, and even Mount Fuji and Fujinomiya, have become a part of me. I'll never forget the town where I came closest to death, nor the stranger who brought me into her home, nor the great mountain that silently watched the entire story unfold. I can only hope we cross paths again, in this vast world of places and people. Goodbye....and thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Hitchhiking
The tears dry up, I toughen back up, and then I really understand my situation. Alone again. This time with no jitensha either! I managed to leave Natalie one last headache before leaving. She will ship my bike to Tokyo when I get back there on my way home.
The sun disappears. I try several different places and spots, different smiles, different positions, different attitudes. I have with me a sign that says "To Nagoya Please". My thumb is up, and my hopes are high.
After only an hour, I get picked up by a kind man named Tetsuya. We chat for the entire length of the ride. He drops me off in nearby Shizuoka, my destination for the day.
Warp-Speed, to Nagoya!
I am in a rest-stop, but I don't decide to stop. My extremely new and somewhat preppy clothes did the trick! I try it again hoping to get to Nagoya. I wait and wait. Nothing. 1 hour later, I am just about ready to leave and look for a hotel when a trucker tells me to hop on.
Suzuki is his name. Kind middle aged skinny man. He is transporting car parts and tells me he will drop me off at a rest stop.
Just like that...what should have taken me a week, I do in 2 hours. This adventure is a whole other beast. No more camping for me as I can't carry the wheight of my tent. No more cycling either. Instead, a strange combination of the slowest means of transportation (walking) and the fastest (driving).
The Working City
I get dropped off and after a bit of walking, I reach downtown Nagoya. I find a ramen shop and devour what had to be one of the best ramen bowls I have had yet! Then, off to my first internet cafè. Here in Japan, these places are often used for sleeping as they come with individual rooms with a "bed". So...here I am. Blogging in my little room as the strange gamey music fills the air. It is relaxing and calm and low...but I feel like I am trapped inside some strange videogame dimension. Alright. Time to hit the sack. Tomorrow I am going to.........that's right, I'm back on the road. I don't know what I am doing tomorrow. Nite.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4
No comments:
Post a Comment