Hello folks, I am back on the road again and this time I am back in Japan....surprise surprise. I had an unexpected opportunity I just could not pass up. It is the Golden Week holiday here which is one of the more active travel holidays for many Japanese folks. Yasu and I have made plans to visit Hokkaido, a place neither of us have visited before. From the recent forcasts I discovered taht there is still snow falling in areas close to where I think we will be visiting. I wish I had packed a bit differently now. When I was looking at the local forcasts I was expecting to dress for a warmer than usual spring. I guess we will just have to seek out a few more hot springs to sit our frost bitten butts in.
Let me back up a little and get you to where I am. I left Boston friday morning. The trip to the airport was nothing special otehr than to say it was an early morning. I had hopes of landing what I thought would be a better seat assignment that I had made on line when booking my flight initially. Well...no such luck. The fact that i was flying two different airlines complicated matters. The United flight was fine. What I wanted to make the change in was the ANA segment from DC to Tokyo...a mere 14 hour trip. I had hopes of landing an emergency row seat for the extended leg room. NOPE....Next I tried for an isle seat...NOPE. OK, I was ready to bite the bullet and cash in a large number of my frequest flier miles...NOPE. Hmmm, what was left...I tried all the tricks but then listened more closely to what the gate agent told me my seat assignment was. I expected to be almost in the very back of the plane, instead I had a much lower seat number. Could I actually have been switched to a business class seat...NOPE. But, I did land what was called and economy plus seat. Well, I was more than pleased to be seated in a location taht provided significantly more leg room that I had expected, a much more comfortable seat and to make it even more enjoyable, I did not have to pay any more for the location. I am not really sure what the difference is between a business class seat and the one I was in...maybe real china???
BRB, need to deal with dinner plans,,,I have to run out to the store....the fridge is too small to keep much food in. Cooking will be another matter....you will hear about it all.
The days are passing by faster than I can keep up with, Yasu is now consumed with the health issues caused by pigs coughing in peoples faces....not to make lite of the situation but how does it pass from animal to human. On well. The japanese population are no strangers to wearing masks but I have noticed many more in the recent days. Spreading germs here is taken very seriously.
I have been moving arounf town visiting old haunts and finding new ones. Of course I can never go long without making a sushi run here. I found a great place at the Tsukiji fish market and I have been twice already and I have not been here a week yet. The sushi chef I got to know two years ago is still there and he and a number of the staff still recognized me. Not many Black guys eat sushi for a few hours first thing in t he morning I guess.. The fish is as fresh and innovatively prepared as it has always been. And this is also one of the cheapest ways to get it. You cant beat having one of the worlds biggest fish markets two blocks away. I actually got Yasu to make it here for the first time ever and he is from Japan.
Last night before Yasu had to work his 24 hour shift, we went to Metropolotian Government Building, a skyscraper that is suppoesed to have great views of the city at night. After getting there I realized taht I had been there many many years ago. This time however, the promised views did not meet the level of expectation presented in many media outlets. The major problem was that amount of commercial establishments in the observatory itseld. They generated so much light that the reflection on the windows required you to hold your face to the window, after deftly wiping the saliva, and God knows whatelse from the surface, and still you got a reflection of people and STUFF for sale in your view. Pictures are even more of a challenge. We tried. I might be able to salvage one or two.
After 30 minutes we gave and and went in search of a quick light meal. We ended up in Shinjuku, just across from the train staion to an area that was filled with options. The problem was making the choice. We ended up in a small izakaiya. We had six different small dishes and a few drinks and that filled us up. I headed home, Yasu to work.
When I made my way back to his apartment, I mean room, hmm, maybe space is the best word. It is a little tight to say the least. I decided to take a nice hot bath, ther is a nice deep soaking tub in his bathing aera. I ran the water, took a shower to clean off and then popped into the tub. Well, I fit myself intot eh tub. It is deep, yes, but a bit narrow. I was able to get in and the steaming hot water felt great. It was a tight fit though. Getting in was not so bad, getting out was anotehr story. Suffice it to say I stayed in the tub a good five minutes longer than initially planned. But it was more than worth it. I slept like a baby.
Today I have no plans yet. I am thinking about the options. We leave in two days to head up north to Hokkaido. I may just wander around a neighborhood I have not been in yet. Then come back and cook something for dinner. You will soon find out what I opted to do. Until the next time, I hope youa re all doing well.
Stay healthy
Craig ~ your ever viligent traveler
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