Nobody is Promised Tomorrow. . .
I can not imagine never seeing Tokyo again. So, I won’t.
At the airport. Waiting. Wandered around some. Getting mentally ready for 15 hours in the air.
Made it to New Jersey. No problems. Thunder and lightning. So, I don’t know if I could have made it all the way to DC. Train might leave at 9:10 tomorrow. Or not. With Amtrak you never know.
So last day. Still blazing hot. Over 10,000 people a week are taken to hospital in Tokyo due to heat-related problems.
Note to self: avoid Tokyo in the summer.
You can not visit Japan without going to a shrine, getting your fortune, and filling out an ema. You can tick off these boxes at any of the major. Shrines or you can make an adventure out of it.
The adventure begins by taking the Subway in rush hour.
As The story goes long long ago, a lord on his way back from falconry was beckoned by a cat at the temple gate and decided to stop by. While spending time at the temple, thunder suddenly rang out and rain began to fall. Having gotten well out of a thundershower with an enjoyable conversation with the temple master, the lord was impressed by this luck that the cat brought. The lord was Naotaka Ii, the lord of Hikone domain. Financially backed up by Naotaka, Gotokuji temple was rebuilt in 1633.
Thus the Maneki Neko began.
On to the ema.
In good time on of the monks collects the ema and they are burned sending the wishes to the gods.
Leaving tomorrow. All checked in. Solid on how to get to the airport. I decided to spend the night in New Jersey and come on home on Saturday on the train.
I went walkabout in the 95° heat. Maybe it wasn’t my smartest move ever. But what do I got to lose? I survived but I did subway back. I must not have looked like I was about to die because nobody offered me a seat. I consider that an accomplishment.
This afternoon I escaped into the underground. There are four layers of underground in this area. It goes on for blocks and blocks. And I can get royally lost. But, it’s air conditioned.
I wandered through an upscale grocery.
Same Western breakfast as I had yesterday. I should try this hotel’s Upscale Japanese breakfast, but I doubt that it would compare favorably to all those fun breakfasts I had at the cheap hotels in Hokkaido.
Once again I tried to visit the Imperial Palace. But, of course the 300 daily tickets were gone.
Nevermind I set out to visit the Emperor for coffee anyway.
It is just a normal Starbucks. I had an Americano over ice.
But there was no getting over the moat. I didn’t expect there to be a way. Unless you had one of the 300 tickets.
Time to head back to A/C.
First things first. Breakfast.
Knives and forks and napkins and salt and pepper. Nothing raw except the cantaloupe. Even the tomato was grilled. No fun here.
By the time I finished breakfast it was over 90°. Next stop was 7-Eleven where I picked up a cheap umbrella. No self-respecting. Japanese woman would be out on a day like today without an umbrella.
Then I started walking to an origami studio I wanted to visit. That didn’t last long. On the Marunouchi Line for a couple of stops then 15 minute walk to the shop/studio.
It was wonderful. The shop has been in the family for 170 years. (William Henry Harrison was president then.) The main business is hand made paper. Origami is a charming sideline. Kazuo Kobayashi is called the Director of the business.
His English is better than Japanese. We talked a great long time. I showed him the wreaths that Absara and I made last year. He gave me a square of paper and he took another and we proceeded to each fold one of those roses. I was surprised that I remembered how to do it and even more surprised that he recognized it from my photograph. And this being Japan we had to take pictures of each other.
By the time I left it was 99°. That’s just too hot for me.
I made it back to the hotel. And didn’t do a heck of a lot for the rest of the day. Until it was time to go find dinner.
Time to get the shinkansen. But first BREAKFAST. What wonders will today bring.
Sure beats carnivorous sea snails.
There is an engine on both ends of the train. I suspect it’s more to streamline the back of the train as anything else.
Walked across the street to the hotel.
In Japan being able to find your hotel is very important. There are better hotels and cheaper hotels but this one, this one I can find.
And for today’s silly sandwich…
I had chicken.
Today was a transit day. It’s 14 hours and 3 trains to Tokyo. So, I decided to do two trains today and one train tomorrow. Getting me into Tokyo at about 2:30 in the afternoon. Rather than getting in after 9:00 tonight.
And a discovery.
These things frequently showed up at breakfast. Always cooked. But I never tried one. Today I discovered they are carnivorous sea snails. I have eaten my share of escargot. But carnivorous sea snails are a stretch.
It’s 65 degrees here and 95 degrees in Tokyo. But, I knew it would be hot in Tokyo in July.
After breakfast I headed out for a little walk. I walk towards the docks.
And, they were having visitors on board. Wonder if they will let me on?
So maybe they will let me on board.
Turns out that Japan does not have a Navy. Or an army. They lost both of those at the end of world war II. They have a Japanese Maritime Self defense Force. Looks like a Navy to me.
There was a couple about my age from the hotel. We faced the ladder challenge together.
Tomorrow, it’s the 0830 train west and south.
Always good to see the sun. The ocean must be very cold, because it has been very cool here. It’s a little like San Francisco weather.
The intrepid little old lady traveler wimped out today. My plan was to join a 9.5 hour bus tour through marsh land to a lake that has algae balls. I am sure I would have enjoyed it. But there were too many stops and on and offs. And 9.5 hours with a bus full of Japanese tourists. Well it just didn’t sound like fun.
So. I went walkabout. Read. Enjoyed the onsen. I love the onsen, unfortunately Tokyo doesn’t have hot springs so no onsens.
Kushiro doesn’t seem to have a whole lot going for it. But you can tell it wants to be a happening place.
On my walk today about all I saw happening was some fishing
The Mickey mouse club. Or how the Black Death wiped out half the population of Europe.
Checked out of the cheap hotel this morning. Got no complaints about the joint. I got two free cans of beer.
Had a couple of hours to kill before the train. I didn’t use my time wisely. I read a trashy novel on my Kindle in the train station. But in good time the one car train showed up.
Lots of farm land and forests today. And stops in places where the station was only a sign.
My usual plan is to stay as near to the station as possible. But the hotel is about 15 walking minutes from the station. Hope I don’t end up regretting staying this far away from transport.
I washed some clothes. Went to the onsen. I have a chicken sandwich in the fridge if I get hungry later. But for now I am just going to watch seagulls out of my window.
Figured out there was only one bus that would take me to Shiretoko NP. And one hour after I got to the park the only bus back to the hotel would leave. And there was a 40 minute walk that I could take. It almost seemed like too much trouble. Old age does this. At least to me. Things that were easy are suddenly difficult.
But, eat a cheap hotel free breakfast.
Figure out how to pay for the bus ride and get on the bus.
Well the bus ride was great. Agricultural land. Forest. Ocean. Mountains.
The park also has stuffed animals. The Japanese seem to have a thing about taxidermy.
They have a walk. The signs indicate it will that 40 minutes. Okay. I have 60 minutes. And the sign says that this walk is wheelchair accessible. Unlike my last stroll in the park.
Shari isn’t a happening place. Population about 12,000 max. But it has $50 a night hotel rooms. And the one car train stops here. If you decide to visit Shiretoko NP, stay in Utoro. There are more bus options for visiting the park from Utoro.
Tomorrow it’s back on the one car train heading for Kushiro population 175,000. Only five more nights in Hokkaido. Then on to Tokyo. Got 5 nights maybe. Then home. But nobody is promised tomorrow. That’s why I went to the park today for just an hour. Because I know,I won’t make it back this ever again.