Road to RSR10 in EZO → Sunrise Day 4

My stay in Shizuoka was way too short, because it was pretty much time to head back to Tokyo as soon as we got up. We headed towards Shizuoka City, and I bought a ticket for the Shinkansen. We had a little bit of time to kill, so we decided to go visit the giant Gundam statue that I had seen last year in Tokyo with the moped kids, which was now located in Shizuoka. Kengo hadn't seen it before, but when we finally found it and stood in line to see it up close, I was running dangerously short on time before my train left. So we raced back to the station and I just barely made it in time. This visit was way too short... Kengo is one of my closest friends, and I love hanging out in Shizuoka, but with Miwako in the picture, I had to sacrifice Honshuu time for Hokkaido. If I hadn't completely forgotten that a brand new airport had opened in Shizuoka last year, I could have flown directly to Sapporo instead of having to go back to Tokyo, but I guess that's what happens when you spend very little time planning out your travels.



The Shinkansen was disappointing because (a) I didn't get a window seat, and (b) the guy by the window was asleep with the shade drawn the whole time. Oh well, I still got a pretty neat view of Mr. Fuji racing by. In tokyo, I made my way across the city to Haneda Airport, where I remembered that the monorail gives some pretty spectacular views of the city only after I had already sat down in an inconvenient place.



Originally when I was (sort of) planning this trip, I was going to stay in Tokyo for another day or two, but Miwako convinced me to come to Sapporo on Saturday. Then she found out that she had to go to Tokyo for some sort of work training on Friday. Her flight back to Sapporo was about 40 minutes after mine, and it was only like 3 gates over. It was a weird feeling knowing that she was probably in the same building as me, but we both decided that meeting up in Tokyo at the airport just wouldn't feel right. Also, she was with a coworker and we thought it would be awkward to meet for the first time in 6 months in front of her. So I boarded my plane and flew to Hokkaido. I could see at least 10 different fireworks shows going on in various parts of Tokyo and beyond, which was pretty badass since I'd never seen that before. Then I made it to Sapporo and waited for Miwa to show up and then she did and then I introduced her to my good friend Cheburashka. THE END.



2010.08.07