Wednesday, August 10th, 2016

Departure from Japan to Cambodia

After double-checking, we took the first steps toward Cambodia. Last visit to Family Mart for some rice balls, then hustling over to the airport through the rail and bus system. A small part of me is worried that stopping in Korea will be a problem for Shimou... since the fine print was somewhat vague about visas, but I'm pretty sure you don't need a visa if you're just transferring. Another is that the tickets I bought don't look legit, but Skyscanner hasn't given me any problems yet. Far from it, it's been the best by far flight resource so far. 

Tuesday, August 9th, 2016

Outside the Airport Bus Station

11th Day in Japan; Osaka

I am glad I packed last night. 

With 6 minutes to spare, they decided it was time to wake me up. The maid arrives at 10 after, hyper apologetically, to announce that it's officially past our time. Quite the Japanese way of kicking us out.

Monday, August 8th, 2016

10th Day in Japan; Osaka

Kick today off with a castle that doubles as an oven. Osaka Castle does both jobs wonderfully. This time I brought my hat, shadow hopping my way between the ramparts. Even the shadows melt. Seems like half the people here are Chinese, a decent chunk are Westerners, and the rest are locals. 

Culture Capacity

We mix in with the shadows, along with our snow cones, until someone found the energy to fight our stationary inertia. It's a nice castle, well built, but I'm nearing my point of being cultured out. See, that's why I chose Cambodia after Japan. I don't actually care about it, but it's supposed to be a nice place to relax. The flights are looking to be a pain from here to there, with a seemingly mandatory layover that's longer than the flight time. Thailand, on the other hand, is less time, cheaper, no layover. Hmm, options. 

Dōtonbori

Sunday, August 7th, 2016

9th Day in Japan; Kyoto–Osaka

Gambling

They seem to really like pachinko here. I've seen at least 4 large buildings advertising it with big, broad letting, including one across the street from our BnB. Sure looks exciting! And I don't even know what pachinko is!

Shimou and I decide to skip going to Nara, the place with the deer. Part of me wants to, but part of me doesn't really care to spend hours getting to, from and around another temple. The rest of the group decide to go anyway. I plan to be back, and can check it out next time if I'm still raw about it. 

Saturday, August 6th, 2016

8th Day in Japan; Kyoto

Best Way to Start the Day

When all the 4 of the girls have finished getting ready. I piece myself together in the 5 minutes it takes. Maximum sleep, least amount of waiting. Some seemed displeased that they had to wait for me at all, but I'm hard pressed to feel bad.

We hop on the bus after buying a day pass, which you swipe when you get off. I wonder what happens if you get on without any means to pay. Aurora misplaced her card somewhere between buying it and getting on the bus, so they just let her ride for free after looking for a minute and holding the bus up. I guess that's what happens.

Friday, August 5th, 2016

7th Day In Japan; Tokyo–Kyoto

Breakfast of
Champions

Start the day with 50 min to get everyone up and packed. Sushi and coffee jelly for breakfast. The jelly was... a mistake, too sweet, and too much gelatin swashing around in my stomach.

It was brought up that "the Japanese eat people," which sparked a debate and, thankfully, concluded that any people who are in desperate enough conditions will run a high risk of eating people. Cooler heads prevailed on a potentially heated topic. While Aurora jokes she'd want to live here, she still seems to believe the propaganda pushed about the Japanese being monsters. Also surprising, the Chinese government had taken down the anti-Japanese link she'd sent me two weeks ago, possibly because the content was too graphic.

Thursday, August 4th, 2016

6th Day In Japan; Tokyo

"Wǒ de tiān" Shimou's cousin says, passing my bedroom and seeing that I'm still sleeping at 9am. That's Chinese for Oh my God. We went to bed at after 3, and somehow they're all up around 8, acting like I'm the weirdo. They just arrived, chomping at the bit to go; I've been vacationing for almost a week, and that's if we ignore the 3 weeks before that. Shimou says this cousin tends to wake up early in general, so this probably seemed like an eternity to wait around. We let them go ahead, giving them directions.

The insects here buzz with ever-increasing intensity, sounding like a futuristic bomb charging up, about to explode. Lots of variation, too, so you never know if a time traveller is hiding in the bushes about to blast your face off. It is Japan, after all. 

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2016

5th Day in Japan; Tokyo

Just some dude eatin' lunch

Run packing protocol, and we're out the door. Near us is a walking street market (an arcade?) where we stop at one of the traditional ramen restaurants. They have machines at the front listing the name and picture of whatever you might want to order, you insert the money and it pops out a little stub. If you want a larger size, pay the "upgrade" price. After you have your ticket, give it to the waitress and grab a seat. I rather like this form of payment because it allows you to get up and go whenever you want, and you don't have to worry about whether you have enough cash or not.

Surprised me

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2016

4th Day in Japan; Tokyo 

Pokémon are everywhere, and I'm going to catch some of them. While Shimou gets ready, I pop over to the bakery and gather some breakfast, including a Totoro bun. I'm an illiterate mute, which the locals seem to assume, luckily. Whenever at a cash register, they say a lot of things before accepting the money. Usually it's "this is X yen, this is X yen, total is blah," which I see on the display and just place the money in their little money tray. It makes sense to do it like that, but took me a while to adjust to always putting the money in the tray and not handing it directly to them. Why is handing money directly to people sometimes considered rude?

After returning, consuming, and leaving, we pass a girl dressed as a maid. She's handing out fliers near the subway, and appears discouraged. I want to check out a maid cafe and hope there's a map on the card, so I ask for one. She was overjoyed that I took it, thanking me both in Japanese and English. 

Monday, August 1st, 2016

Breakfast

3rd Day in Japan; Yokohama - Tokyo

• Wake up
• Pack
• Double Check
• Lock yourself out as you juggle luggage
• Repeat every other day

Shimou and I grabbed lunch at a market near the subway station. We play the game of "Shimou reads the characters and Phil finds the close approximation English word" when reading the sauces that are at our table. This particular example was flench on dressing, leading me to think French dressing. Ranch as a close second.

Sunday, July 31st, 2016

2nd Day in Japan; Yokohama

Watchful Eyes

This could be yours for $65 CAD

I'm paranoid. Standing in a pharmacy near the heart of Yokohama, people keep staring at me. I'm walking around the aisles, looking for what's the same, what's different, and finding these faces out of the corner of my eyes, peering just over the shelves. I give a sidelong glance, awkwardly, to see who it is that's staring at me. It's a cutout. They seem to place them right where a person's face would be. Yeah... they were all just cardboard.

Fashions

Saturday, July 30th, 2016

1st Day in Japan; Yokohama

Sleepless in Tokyo

4am touchdown. It’s been a rough flight because we had an hour of sleep between the two of us.

Off the plane, waiting outside the washrooms, a baggage cart comes around playing the tune of that song, “hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to work we go” as a warning song that it’s coming around. Cute.

From the Bus

Airport Issues