Tokyo -> Auckland
But the food was banging and the art was immaculate
Top of mind
Leaving Japan was tough. It’s like, the end of a trip I typically want to either stay longer or be home in my apartment immediately. And in this case it was neither. Also I was there for a while too which made it weirder leaving, and it’s also sooo far away and there was sooo much to sit with and appreciate.
Currently in desperate need of a shower.
10/13
Took my last good shower of Japan. Quick laundry run and Muji breakfast round II. Oh I bought a camera which I thought was a great deal (Ricoh GR II 2021) until realizing it was a completely different camera (Ricoh DIGITAL GR II 2007) for an average price. Should hopefully still be fun to fart around with.
It was National Sports Day in Japan so everyone had the day off and businesses were TBD open. I walked through a little flea market sporting my Aberdeen Football Jersey in honor of the holiday (kidding) and met up with Chris for tonkatsu* and a leisurely art walk through this old historic building**, which had some really amazing pieces and wit hit almost every gallery. My personal fav was this gallery filled with acryllic painted frogs.
Then I proceeded to get overwhelmed again at the train station to the airport, missing my initial train followed by getting off at the wrong station. Narita airport is kinda like JFK in that it’s far away and involves lots of walking and escalators. It is interesting how familiar and universally stressful airports can be across the globe.
They have showers at Narita which is so epic. Took a speed run shower since I was late (re: train) but it ended up being alright in the end.
On the flight I proceeded to be the absolute worst person to sit next to, spilling wine all over my Japanese seat neighbors and bumping into both of them en route to the bathroom/toire/washroom. Live action Lilo and Stitch has yet to fail in getting me to fall asleep, albeit this time I was only able to get 2 ish runs through it on the flight****.
What I ate
Muji full spread breakfast featuring butter chicken udon noodles among the usual suspects. Cousin introduced me to some banging pork katsu with curry and an entire bowl of cabbage salad which I ate completely (brag).
At the airport I had some ramen*** from a local franchise that did live up to the hype. Washed it down with some melon soda and a short can of sake.
You already know there was a 7-Eleven at the airport so I stocked the hell up with goods. Lemon Hi-Chew with like pop-rock-ish substances inside. Beef jerky bites and dried scallop strips, both which were forbidden entering NZ and the latter of which was conveniently disgusting which made it easier to dispose of before entering the country. Also ate custard bread and stocked up on matcha candies and soda hard chews.
And juuuust before I got to my gate I had a highball and a vanilla matcha soft serve swirl cone.
What’s next
I am currently running on about 2 hours of sleep from the flight to Auckland. About to meet my roommate (!!!) for the next few days, I think he is German and I do not think he is expecting me.
It’s currently …. 4 hours? ahead of Japan. I would like to rest a bit before this evening. There’s apparently a Hobbit experience here which would’ve been so fun to do but I do not have the stamina. Oh and it’s also cold and rainy here.
Appendix
*Imikatsu Ginza
** Okuno Building
*** Ippudo
**** flight was 10 hours but wasn’t that deep