I woke just before sunrise. I probably should have gotten up to look around, but decided that I’d rather sleep a bit more. I had a sneaky suspicion that it was going to be a long day.
I woke again around 7:00, when my alarm went off. Jen sounded like she was still asleep (though she claims she wasn’t), so I opted not to disturb her and went to go see what the area looked like with the rising sun.
I slept a little oddly, considering we’d been up for over 24 hours straight. Woke up once around 3:00 (mostly to go to the bathroom), again at about 5:00, and finally at about 7:50. At that point, it was enough to say I’d probably adjusted to the time zone.
Jen and I proceeded to get on with our morning. For me, showering and shaving (showering when it’s eight degrees in the shower room is a bit of an odd experience), gathering our things from the previous night, laying out Chris and Kaz’s wedding gifts (that they don’t yet know about), and getting breakfast.
I slept like crap.
And it wasn’t because I slept on the couch at Aunt Brenda and Uncle Mike’s last night. I’m certain it’s because of stress. Kind of ironic to have this crop up the night before I leave on vacation, eh?
Fourteen days, and counting.
Two weeks from today, I’m off to Japan. Again. Relax, this isn’t going to turn into a yearly thing. If I’d had a choice, I’d probably be going to Australia this year, maybe New Zealand. But I’ve got a good reason for going back to Japan.
When I finally arrived home from my stint with the CBC so many months ago (see [[Home for a rest]]), I was happy to be back. It will be nice to be home after my trip to Japan, even though it’s sad to leave it so soon.
When I arrived almost two weeks ago, I had no idea what to expect. There were a lot of questions, intrepidation, excitement, and desire. The fear would not last long, and I certainly got a healthy dose of adventure. But there is simply too much to see and do in Japan — you could visit for a year and before you could see enough to be satisfied.
Today was my last full day in Japan. There was so much I still wanted to see and do. I couldn’t do everything … but I darn well tried!
Chris had to work, so would stay behind in Yotsukaido. Kaz, her friend, Ellesen, and myself went into brave the city of Tokyo and what wonders there were yet to find.
Another day, another adventure. Today, though, we would throw in a different nationality.
We all rose at basically the same time and quickly prepared for our departure. We needed to be in Yokohama by about 10:30, which meant we had to leave fairly early. It’s just shy of two hours to Yokohama.
Today was a good day. Not that other days have been bad by any means, but when you can sit back and reflect and feel really good — that’s a particularly good day.
Chris was up early to meet Kaz at Tokyo station. We had loosely planned to hit something interesting in Tokyo today, but Ellesen and I needed to sleep in a bit. (Where Chris finds all the energy he’s got lately, I’ll never understand.)
I think a good rule of thumb for how long you should stay in one place while on vacation is your comfort level. When you become too comfortable, you’ve stayed too long. I’ve become very comfortable with Tokyo.
That’s not to say I’m bored with Tokyo — far from it. This city — this country, in fact — has so much to offer that it is seriously impossible to cover all of it in a mere two weeks. I could spend almost two weeks in Tokyo alone! I wish I didn’t have to go home right away, so I could spend more time seeing the country. Four days remain.