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Off to Japan! – Day 1

JAPAN I AM IN YOU! My God as soon as I stepped foot off the Narita Express at Shibuya it all hit me at once. The neon lights, the endless chatter, the hustle and bustle, the smell of noodles and curry and all sorts of food and desserts of every flavor everywhere…it was like coming back home. I didn’t realize how much I missed it all until just now!

My flight out of Bangkok left at 8am so I had to wake up at 4am to leave at 5am. I forced myself to stay awake during the flight, so by the time we landed in Japan at 4pm I was starving. For some reason an American coming to Japan from Thailand alarmed the customs person (HA!) so I got pulled off to the side to check my backpack, but of course there is nothing bad in there and her asking questions led to me telling her about my trip around the world. She asked if I had been to Japan before, and I told her I used to live here in college and used to be able to speak Japanese conversationally fluent but not so much anymore, so then she switched to Japanese and let me practice for a bit (it wasn’t busy at customs today).

I figured once I got here I’d remember things fast, but I didn’t expect just HOW fast. It’s all coming back to me, like riding a bicycle. Before the end of the night I was at a shoe store talking with the older staff who didn’t know English, since I needed to replace my non-waterproof walking shoes that I threw away in Paris. At first they didn’t seem sure if they should help me, but then I called them over and started asking questions and stuff in Japanese and I think the main guy helping me was surprised at first and then seemed happy and ready to assist. Then again I was buying his stuff so, eh, may be unrelated. The point is I got some decent, inexpensive waterproof walking shoes for the next 24 days and didn’t need to use a word of English nor any charade games to get them.

Prior to that I went to Ichiran for some ramen, but after getting my shoes, walking around Shibuya at the crossing, and saying hello to my old buddy Hachiko my stomach decided it was still hungry. I stopped and got a small udon serving…but although my stomach was now full, my eyes and mouth were still hungry so I got some sushi and an onigiri from 7-11. I had to remind myself that I was going to be here a while and didn’t need to eat everything RIGHT NOW. It was past 9pm at that point, so I hiked back to the hotel to start booking activity tickets for the Tokyo area. This is going to be awesome!

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Thailand – Day 10 (Patong, Phuket)

I woke up to the sound of waves crashing on shore and pulled back the curtains to a gorgeous sunny day. Finally! After coffee and breakfast I spent most of the day bouncing between the beach, the pool, and my balcony. My fingers were pretty much prunes the whole day. Since it wasn’t raining, I actually got to see a sunset here which was pretty nice. Then I walked over to the nighttime clubbing district, Bangla Walking Street, and was overwhelmed by the crowd and bars and lights and people advertising “ping pong shows” (no, thanks) and various types of drink specials and gambling. It was all a bit overwhelming, kinda like the Vegas strip, so I continued on to the big mall right down the street from there and watched their water fountain show while eating ice cream. I touched on it a bit before yesterday, but I can’t help but notice that blackouts seem pretty common here. Although with the way their electrical wiring is here I’m surprised the entire island hasn’t caught fire every time there’s a firm gust of wind. I made my way back to the hotel to pack up for my trip to Bangkok tomorrow, but tonight is the Patong full moon music festival which they have every month during tourist season starting in November so it’s SUPER noisy outside even at this late hour. I’m not going to say I don’t like Patong, I just wish I had come here about 15 years ago…10 years ago even, when I actually enjoyed clubbing and partying and stuff. Now, it’s just kind of annoying. I prefer Krabi, by far, at this age.

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Thailand – Day 8 (off to Phuket!)

The weather finally decided to turn rainy so I slept in and watched Red vs. Blue on Netflix for a while before getting up during a break in the rain to slowly trudge over to Starbucks down the street for some caffeine. I repacked my bags and got ready for my trip to Phuket, then read my book until the taxi arrived. The driver seemed nice enough, but he brought his wife with him and I think they were having an argument because they didn’t say more than 10 words to each other the entire drive and she would glare at him and he adjusted the rear-view mirror so he couldn’t see me and I couldn’t see him. It was weird, and I wondered if it was because I was a solo female traveler, but whatever…his aggressive driving got me to Phuket half an hour early. I checked in to my hotel in Patong, which happens to be directly across the street from the Jet Ski rental place. I need to find someone to go with me, I’m paranoid about it breaking down and drifting out to sea or something but I want to go so bad! I sat on my big balcony at the hotel watching the storms roll in and out for a while, then started walking looking for food. Right around the corner I ran into a Hooters, and to be honest they really do have good wings so I stopped and got a pina colada drink and wings. Then I ran into the first Irish pub I’ve seen since Paris and stopped in for a pint of Magners, which is really the worst of all the ciders but still better than beer. It’s kinda racist, but the people they had outside trying to lure people in were dressed up as leprechauns. I laughed, because that shit’s funny, and they seemed to be having a really fun time harassing the tourists. It was raining pretty heavily by the time I finished my drink, so I threw on a poncho and walked back to the hotel. I have nothing scheduled for tomorrow, perhaps another “do nothing” day is in order?