I departed Okinawa without ceremony, having nothing tying me to the island other than a few good memories out in the jungle alone, unless I want to count my experiences with The Ukrainian beauty locked up in Dubai, Eric the satanic spore accusing Preacher, Wayne the outcast, or Conner the young Canadian rebel. Of course I’ll remember them, but even strong memories can’t change the fact that some places call us far more than others.
At the moment I’m called back to Tokyo, the only major city I’ve ever been to and actually enjoyed, other than perhaps Melbourne Australia, that I’ve ever felt a kinship with on a soul level. That doesn’t mean that I would like to live in either places, I’m very much content living in Pacific Grove, a tiny, formerly protestant town on the edge of the world that’s locked away inside a fog bubble.
Having spent an enormous amount of time and money inside a cramped capsule hotel I finally decided it was time to spend time with other foreign travelers, instead of only Japanese retirees or elder businessmen. Which was a special experience I must admit, but its time to spread wings and soar to other environs. Towards this end I looked up a highly rated guest house and found one, but it was further away from the city center than anyplace I’d been before, this is not hard to do, as Tokyo is 800 miles square, but it’s a trip to think most people explore only a small fraction of city, because to do so would be unpractical.
Getting there was a little hard with my limited GPS, as again, my phone had been degoogled, and thus has limited abilities, but once I got there I understood why it is such a popular place. The front room/lobby has a huge plate glass window to the outside, though its only to an alley it lets in amazing light, and there is a huge table next to it for people to sit and gather, which is always happening. My first day there the owner was playing a cd from a tiny Walkman base station which I was immediately taken with, wanting it so bad I asked him where he got it, he said it was in a store 5 years ago, hasn’t seen one since. An online search for over an hour revealed it was a limited-edition piece and if I wanted one it would cost me dearly.
I gave up on that little dream if only because there was more to do that shop, I hate shopping, I’d rather avoid it and use what I have until it breaks. At least that’s the operating system I’ve been using for a many decades now. The group around the table consisted of mostly French men, which amazingly two of them had actually brought a tandem bike with them from France, and were having mechanical trouble with it, when I told them I worked at a bike shop they were thrilled and asked for my help, which I gave, getting them up and running right away. Their plan was to ride the bike all around Japan and camp along the way. The rest of the group were going to Akihabara for a grand Kanda festival and invited me, so I accepted. After all, why go out of my way for connection if I refuse it right away?
Though we got separated many times it was a fun time. One of the group was an autistic young evangelist from Iowa or someplace back in the states, everything we encountered was somehow tied back to his religion, and since I was a willing conversationalist, he targeted me for the depth and breadth of his admonitions, to the ire of everyone else present.
The food stalls lining the sacred temples were great, and thanks to the army of Frenchmen, many of whom understood Japanese far better than me, I was able to know what could eat with far greater accuracy. We also went to a Warhammer 40k store which blew me away, more than half of the large business floor was dedicated to building, painting and planting figurines on terrain, while another portion was for battling, the rest was for selling the merch. Again, as much as I’d like a $250 three centimeter figurine... Well, you know.
We got back to the guests house and went long into the night discussing religion, government, aliens, history, and more. Most of the group could not stand it, throwing their hands in the air in dismay and excusing themselves from the table, going to bed early clutching their pearls.
I enjoyed being back in Tokyo if only because by now it was the most familiar city in the country for me, as well the vegan options were off the charts, which, lets be honest, travel is at least 50% about the food. Yum yum!