The TAIHEIYO Adventure
Ok. So since my last entry a few things have occurred. I woke up the next day and did basically nothing at all. At around 5:30pm I thought I should probably go and get something for dinner. I hired the bicycle from the hotel and headed to a fast food place called Mos Burger. Amazing burgers by the way. I would go there all the time if they were in Australia. After gorging myself I started riding back and went past a field with children having baseball training. I sat and watched them for about half an hour. I was shocked at how good they were. So very quick and could hit the ball within a metre from where they would say it would go. When their training ended they bowed to their coach and went home.
I started riding the bike back to the hotel. I ‘m not sure if it was me, the bike or both but as I came around a corner the chain on the bike fell off. I didn’t know what happened and tried to over correct myself and the front wheel turned and i flew off and dived onto the road. I stood up and saw a lot of people looking at me. I picked up the bike and walked it to a quiet area and put the chain back on and straightened the handle bars and the basket on the front. I then saw that I had ripped my waterproof pants! The only pair I brought with me. It was only until I got back to the hotel that I was bleeding on my knees, hand, and elbow and hurt my wrist.
I cleaned myself up and went to bed thinking of how good it would have been if I got it on video for you all to watch.
The next morning I woke up at around 8am. It looked really cold outside and did not want to leave so I called down to reception and asked for a late check-out. Luckily I did because I wasn’t ready to leave until 12pm anyway.
I left the hotel and headed to the Taiheiyo ferry terminal. It was around 5km and had hours to get there so I took my time. I stopped off at 7-11 and bought two oranges for 3 dollars Australian. Even though it is expensive I thought I should get some as I had not eaten fruit since I arrived.
I got to the terminal super early. So I sat and waited until 5:30pm until I had to board. I tore open an orange and realised it was not an orange after all, but a very large mandarin. I had a couple pieces but had to throw it away. It was so bitter that I could not eat anymore. I gave my other one to a cleaning lady who worked there. I then bumped into the man I met here the other day who hitch hiked from Okinawa.
We hung out for a few hours. Most of the time it was in silence but I pulled out an old business card I had in my wallet and showed him a few magic tricks. Nothing amazing, I showed him how to make the card disappear and things like that. He then showed me a trick to do with your fingers and chin which makes a loud popping sound. I could never get it to work but I will keep trying. It was soon time to board but before I left he told me that he was not just travelling around Japan for an adventure. He unfortunately lost his home in Okinawa some how and was now going from city to city looking for work and somewhere to sleep, he had no family left or any friends to rely on. The reason I saw him there again was because he had been sleeping in the terminal so he would not freeze during the cold nights. I gave him a cereal bar and we said our goodbyes.
I boarded the ferry. I had booked a private room for the overnight trip. I went in and discovered that it was not a private room but just a private bed among ten others. I did not mind too much as it was better than the other rooms I saw. A couple of rooms were just a mattress on the floor with twenty other people sleeping next to you. There were two other westerners on board, tourist like me. They did not seem to want to speak to me and wanted to keep to themselves. Or maybe it was because I looked like a bum with dirty ripped pants, long hair and bruises on my arms and legs.
My private bed on the ferry to Sendai.
Once the ship left they had a live show in the theatre. They were amazing. I could not understand what they were singing or talking about but it did not matter. I was in another world just sitting there watching them play. I went up to them after the show to tell them that I thought they were really good. They tried to sell me their CD but I passed on it. After that in the theatre they played a Jackie Chan movie called Chinese Zodiac. It is about a man who searches for ancient artifacts of animal heads. It was Chinese but had Japanese subtitles. So I picked up the story line from when they occasionally spoke English. It was typical Jackie Chan slapstick action comedy so you can’t go wrong. I also read that he broke the Guinness World Record for his name in the credits 15 times including starring and directing. What a Champ! As you may have already gathered yes I am a cinephile.
I got off the ferry in Sendai at 10am. As I was about to begin my walk to the city a man came over and bought me a can of something. Whatever it was I was genuinely surprised at the fact that everywhere I go everyone is willing to go out of their way to help. I opened it and took a sip. It was iced coffee. Very strong iced coffee I might add. As I don’t drink coffee much I was buzzing the whole walk to the city and before I knew it I was there at 3pm and got accommodation. I was going to camp in a park but with Sendai having a population on over 1 million and great tourist spots to look at I thought I would make the most of it and spend tomorrow seeing the sights. They have bikes to hire at this hotel too so I am hoping I don’t have a re-enactment of the last time. I will make sure to film everything just in case.
Cheers!
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ROBB SAUNDERS 