#201 Back in Japan!

Transcript

So, the roaming holiday podcast is finally going back to Japan. See, this podcast started because I visited Japan in 2019 and had such a great time and then got stuck during lockdown back in Canada, and I was just champion at the bit. I can't wait till I can go back to Japan. I'm going to do a whole podcast about it. And boy, did I have podcasts like almost every single day that I was there. But then, since I was already in that part of the world, I went to South Korea. And then I went to Taiwan. And that was interesting in a different way. I can't speak for a listener exactly, but even for me myself. It's like, okay, this is a little different. I'm learning about new stuff, but I didn't know ahead of time. Like, what do I think about this? You know, Japan, I went in knowing. All right, I'm going to have a good time here. Traveling to different places is a whole different experience. You know, I got off on the wrong foot in Seoul. Then things started picking up in Busan and Jeju, and then by the time I got to Taiwan, having a great old time.

A quick ramp back up hill. But it's obvious even just looking online. You know, there's just so much more information, so much more interest in Japan. You know, you just don't see as many vloggers and travel stuff about South Korea and Taiwan. And yeah, even with this very podcast, it was Japan. Japan was the reason that I did this podcast. So now that I'm going back to Japan, I'm assuming there may be some returning listeners, some people who maybe this is all a little too abstract. It's like, okay, maybe someday if I go to South Korea or I go to Taiwan, I'll go catch up on some episodes, learn some minutia. But Japan is the money melon, right? And I'm glad to say, there is now going to be two Japan trips back to back. So last time I went to Tokyo and then flew to Fukuoka. This time, I'm learning how the trains work and I'm just going everywhere in between. I went to so many places. I have a hard time remembering the names sometimes. I'm like, what was that city call? So if you're down for Japan podcasting, have I got you covered? It's going to be a good run.

And then after that, perhaps I will go back to Taiwan and South Korea. Perhaps I'm in Taiwan right now as I record this. Who can say? But that'll be in the future.

But now that we're back on the Japan track, I just wanted to mention a couple of things. So this podcast to mainly gets downloaded as audio through podcast platforms. And I never used to take very many pictures. I would actually literally only take one picture a day for an episode image and that was it. I was like, that's fine. I had that thought of like, I don't need pictures. The pictures will be in my in my brain. The pictures will be in my memory. But I did start realizing while I was in South Korea in Taiwan, like it really is easy to take pictures in this modern world. I mean, we all got smartphones, right? Just whip her out, take a picture. So I started ramping up the pictures more and more and more. So if you're ever curious about stuff that I'm talking about, if you would like to see a visual representation of it, I think there's a certain charm to just imagining the theater of the mind. But a picture is worth a thousand words also, you know? So if you want to see those, I also upload this podcast to YouTube. And it is YouTube's so strange, YouTube is like the lottery. I literally have YouTube videos with, I mean, I have an Iron Mouse video I made that has half a million views, my Patriso Neal video has half a million views. I did a little compilation of the channel only plays just predicting dialogue in the game for spoken has three million views. You know, YouTube can be crazy. But when the algorithm doesn't catch you say, for instance, the roaming holiday podcast, it's a very elite group who watch on YouTube so much so that I feel like I've probably personally talked to most people who check out this podcast on YouTube. However, YouTube is the easiest way to add the pictures. I just add the pictures as a slideshow. So yeah, the old Japan episodes never had that. They just had one just an image also probably a reason why this show, you know, didn't blow up on YouTube.

But it is just a podcast on YouTube. But now these upcoming episodes, they just have so many pictures, tons and tons of pictures. So if you're curious to check out the YouTube version. Yeah, the YouTube channels just called roaming holiday might be a little tough to search for because it's such a tiny little channel. But that is worth checking out if you'd like to see some pictures. Even if you just want to scrub through, take a quick gander at the pictures for a given area because I sure did take a lot of them.

And another cool thing, one of the people who watches on YouTube, eat underscore chocolate. 5:00 Officially my favorite of the YouTube viewers, I appreciate you all, of course. But eat chocolate made a transcription website for this podcast. And it's so cool because you can search the transcripts and it'll search through every single episode. You know, you can search through YouTube transcripts and stuff for a specific episode. But if you want to find something throughout the run of the whole show, it's right there. Like just as a little test, I did weird stuff like, how many times did I mention Sega? How many times did I mention my friend Brad, who was learning Japanese in Fukuoka in 2019 and got me to go to Japan in the first place? Just, you know, whatever. But you could search like beach. That's like, I'm like, what if I search hand soap? How many times do I complain about missing hand soap in Japan and congratulate South Korea and Taiwan for having hand soap? Probably too many times. This podcast gets very granular sometimes. But it also has funny stuff on the about page, like how many...

What episode has the most times I said fuck? And what's the average per episode? It's too many. It's too many. It's like double what I would have guessed. It is too many. Too late now. Too late now. I already recorded all these episodes that are upcoming. So why bother trying to curb my behavior at this point?

But yeah, I'll put the URL to the transcript site in the description of this episode of the podcast and it'll always be in the description of the YouTube version. Just go to any recent episode on YouTube if you want the link and it'll be there. But it's remarkable. It is such a cool thing to have because that is one... I'm always a little unsure about this podcast. I mean, it is what it is. I'm just going to keep going with it as it is. But it is like inaccessible because it's such ambient information. Like I think it's so cool in theory that I have just all these little odds and ends of info about all these little strange neighborhoods and little parts of these different countries. But they can be hard to find, you know? Being able to search the transcripts is just remarkable. So 10 thumbs up to each chocolate. That's crazy. That's so awesome. And it's so cool too, just having a small podcast, you know? Just getting some confirmation that people listen. Similar with I wrote a non-fiction book about the video game The Last of Us and I was putting those episodes out as audiobook chapters. But again, not exactly a project that took fire. I mean, the first episode has like a thousand views. But then I kept going down and down. And I got distracted doing this instead. So I just haven't put up any lately. And all it took was just one comment. Somebody commented like, hey man, where's the next one? Come on, dude. I always listen to these at work. He gave me the great compliment of I tried reading the book, but I just I don't want to read the book. It's better when you read the book. And I was like, all right, right on. And there you go. I put out another one of them just because all it takes is one person to give a shit. And you can extrapolate from there. Other people give a shit that are just, you know, silently giving a shit. But it really is nice to have a little confirmation. So thank you, we chocolate. That transcript site is the coolest thing that's happened to this podcast since the inception of this podcast. But all right, there's my preamble. We got a transcript site now and this podcast now features pictures on the YouTube version. Oh, yeah. And of course, I suppose that if you have any trouble tracking down the YouTube page, if you just go to Keith courage dot com. Keith courage dot com is my website with the aforementioned last of us book. And yeah, just scroll down to roaming holiday and all the links to all the stuff is there. I just realized I should add the transcription site to that website. I will do that. That will be there as well. So Keith courage dot com for all your link needs.

But all right, without further ado, last episode, I was in the very underwhelming Taipei airport. Next stop, Tokyo.

All right, I made it through again. I mean, I didn't expect that I wouldn't or I wouldn't have flown to Japan. But you know, still all the stuff like I didn't book anything more than a couple of weeks out just in case, you know, in that middle zone of like I was pretty sure I could come back. But, you know, don't need dad, just presume. 10:00 And I just told the guy straight up, hey, I'm coming back, you know. I came here about almost exactly a year ago. It was October 26th last time. And it's October 24th this time. But that means I've only been out of the country for nine months. And I just kind of think honesty is the best policy in all things in life. Okay, I'm in terminal three. I was wondering where I was, but I recognize this walkway between the terminals. Headed to terminal two, because then I think from there I can get to the subway. But yeah, just gave him the skinny. The guy really didn't say anything to me. He just looked through my stuff. I had to do the little fingerprints. And he took the worst picture of me that's ever been taken. So if I die unexpectedly, please ask Narita Airport for that photo, put it on my obituary, because it's the worst. And yeah, got through. All right, good enough. Man, I also came in at the exact same time as a plane full of Australians. And I mean, I met plenty of Australians in my time, delightful people. But I've never been in a giant room with nothing but Australians before. And like, you can really tell, man. I mean, I've been on these islands this whole time. I mean, in its, in its white way, Australia is similar. You can tell that's an island nation, man. You look at all these people. And I mean, maybe the accent was needed to tip me off. But once they knew, it's like, ah, geez, are you kidding? Look at all these bogans. I know if it's Australia. Again, I'm from fucking Eastern Canada. We're from the same stock. I didn't look any different than these people. But just mullets and weird Karen haircuts and bad t-shirts, lack of fashion sense in general. Lumpy physics, just the biggest bunch of dirt bags. And again, I'm from Eastern Canada. I wear the same. Wear the same. But yeah, I've never seen so many Australians at once. And like, they, the opposite of like, oh, let's get, let's get fancied up to travel. Let's make sure we look our Sunday best. No, no, no. I've never seen a shrubbier bunch of people in my life. Australia.

But super friendly and nice and outgoing. And just even over here in their conversations is delightful. Nice, open, friendly, exuberant people who definitely need some genetic diversity. No fucking question.

But yeah, I got through which is nice because again, just, it's just anxiety inducing. Nothing I can do about it. I just feel anxious about it. So getting through is very good. But then I realized, too, I did not fish my sweeper card out ahead of time. Just should have done. It was packed away in my luggage that I then had to go get from baggage check. Got my luggage back. But then I went to get the sweeper card. And I went to my little thing where all of my cards are and they were all there. There's South Korea, Toronto, Vancouver, Amsterdam, added Taiwan to the mix.

No Suika Card. And I was like, oh, what the fuck? I'm pretty sure I heard somewhere that you can buy Suika cards now. I believe the shortage is over. But luckily I didn't have to find out because I did dig through all my stuff. There's this, uh, in the deepest, darkest bottom of my bag. There's this little, like, hardcover booklet that I never opened because it has my birth certificate in it because that was a big thing when I lost my passport in 2019. I had to get a birth certificate to get a new one in Yadiyada. So I always have my birth certificate with me now. And, uh, I never opened that thing. Never. You know, that is, that's Fort Knox. That's the vault. I don't remember for the life of me putting my Suika card in there. Why would I? Oh, my, uh, COVID papers were in there, too, just in case I needed them, but I never ended up needing those. Taking a year off of travel after COVID was probably a good idea. Let everybody else deal with that bureaucracy. It was completely over for me. Didn't have to worry about it. But yeah, somewhere at some point, my stupid past self thought that was a good idea to put the Suika card because I guess it's the precious one. It's the one I'm going to need. But man, what a bad idea. Like, when you're traveling, consistency and predictability with your luggage is paramount. It's the number one best thing you could ever do. Moving that card to a different place like, huh, thank Christ. It was in there. Like, what if it wasn't then what? Then what? I'm just already in the fucking airport tearing apart everything that I own. Shit. What a dumb move. What a super dumb move. Well, luckily I found it. And then I kind of just ended up back in the same scenario I was in last time wandering around not knowing where I was just hoping I could find an ATM, which I eventually found a 7-Eleven ATM took out 300 bucks. Now I'm just looking for 15:00 somewhere to fill up this week a card. But now that I realize I was in terminal three, now I'm in terminal two.

This looks a lot more familiar. Now I'll just wander around till I find the entrance to the subway. The recharging the Suika machine should be there somewhere. I message Norahiko to tell him I'm on my way and everything is alright. This really is too. Now this begins the gluttony phase of this trip. I mean, staying six months in South Korea was certainly gluttonous. An extra trip to Taipei, not not gluttonous. But at least that was like exploring new stuff. I didn't know what was going to happen. It was valuable just to do it for the first time. Where is this? Because these podcasts come out staggered behind the real trip. In the podcast, I'm just finishing up in West Tokyo. I've discovered the Ome Hiking Trail. I'm about to go to Yokohama. I'm already starting to feel the end of the trip, starting to lament. Like, ah, so great to come back to Japan, but it's almost over. How bittersweet. I didn't really think I was going to come back necessarily. I kind of like, ah, maybe, maybe not. But here I fucking am. Here I fucking am. Even while I'm reliving my past little travel memories. Ah, Japan. What a nice memory. Remember when we went back to Japan? Now I'm physically back in Japan, while I'm reliving my memories of the previous trip to Japan. This is out of control. This is where after this, when I go back to Canada, like, this is where I just need to fuck off for two or three years and not go anywhere. Let all my visas reset and actually bask in the after glow of the nostalgia. Hey, I'm not complaining, dude. And I remember when I got to the airport last time. One of the stupid things that makes sense when you know me, if there's my obsession with washrooms, but the first time I really hit me that I was back in Japan was, ah, just something about the washroom, just the vibe of it. The, I don't want to say smell because it's not a smell. It's, but there is something about it. And now that I've been to these other countries and, ah, they, like, set up fans in the bathrooms and, like, make sure the air flow is going all the time. I think that's what it is. I think it's just a slight humidity, a slight humidness that builds up in the washrooms in Japan. But it doesn't smell bad. It's nice. It's Japanese. It just feels like you're in Japan.

So yeah, that seems like an appropriate homecoming again. But all right, there's the down to the train. I wonder if I go down there. In my memory, there was a suite of places up here somewhere. But whatever, I'll wander around. I'll wander around and I'll eventually find it. And it'll all work out fine. But anyway, yeah, back in. I can't give you any advice about coming back in because, like I said, the guy really didn't say anything to me. He just let me through. So I guess I can just let you know that you totally can come back nine months later if you're, if you have a passport and good stead and everything's cool. If somebody out there doesn't get to come back in, I deny all responsibility, but I got in. So hey, that's all I can tell you.

They have these like information kiosks, but I typed a week. And they didn't. Nothing came up. Maybe I should type I see card recharge, get a little more generic with it.

The 711 bank machine I was at does the the I see card recharge except it does not take cash. So I couldn't do it. I needed other methods that I did not have.

Search. I see card. Well, wait, there's the thing that came up. So we could welcome card. That'll be fine. Take me to there because I remember. The spot with the welcome cards had a machine for normal cards as well. The key word you entered is not found. Yes, the other people must have searched that. Just fucking info touch this thing sucks. Doesn't help at all. Anyway, anyway, I'm back in.

And yeah, now round two. Round two of Japan can begin on this trip. The gluttony. The gluttony round.

All right, I found a little sweet machine by the entrance to the train. No problem. Put a hundred bucks on that bad boy.

I'm on the subway platform now. Wait a second. Yeah, I think I'm on the right side. Ah, whatever. Whatever. I'll just get on this train or something will happen.

I'm pretty sure that stuff just goes through Chiba Station from here, but if not, it's Chiba Station. It's easy enough to get to all figured out. Immediately though, yeah, the trains are certainly more complicated in Japan than they are in South Korea or Taiwan or Vancouver or Toronto.

New York, I don't know. They're probably easier than New York if I could speak Japanese. They're probably comparable because I can't. New York always fucked me up pretty good. Yeah, man, just just a good feeling where before I got here, you know, there's again the anxiety of getting back in and just like I was saying, the gluttony of it is like, I really don't need to go back for a second time and how South Korea and Jeju and Taipei, you know, they spread out my understanding of Asia.

The train, now South Korea, will soon arrive at the platform when South Korea becomes a yellow one.

This legit might be the wrong train, but I guess it doesn't matter. I'll just, uh, oh no, okay. Yes. Wait, what? I don't know. I don't fucking know. It doesn't matter.

Anyway, it's exciting to be back. That's all. It's exciting to be back. I'm very glad to be back.

This train is not for Tokyo.

So is there a train for Tokyo coming here? I guess I'll see. If everybody gets on this bad boy, then I'm in the wrong platform. But if they don't, then I think I just gotta wait for a different train.

Classic. I'm all fucked up already, but I mean, hey, this has always been the way. The trains are so much easier out in West Tokyo. The central trains always fucked me up and always will.

Look at this fucking vending machine. There's Tully's creamy cocoa. Never seen that before. A hot cocoa drink from Tully's. You know, this is going to put me back on my pathetic search for the Gassada. If that even exists anymore, I should just get it out of my head. But, uh, look at all this vending machine stuff. The classic Japanese stuff. Oh my god, it's so good.

Anyway, I'm just rambling. The point is, now that I'm here, back in Japan, I'm very glad to be back in Japan. This is, uh, unquestionably the right thing to do. The one more bite at the apple.

That's what I was trying to say is, yeah, even though South Korea and Taiwan kind of, uh, they took some of the pressure off Japan. Like, knowing that there's other places I can go that are similar-ish in this part of the world that I also enjoy. It's like, yeah, you know, Japan's not to be all-end-all. But, man, Japan. Japan is just fucking Japan.

So it turns out it had to be a little bit careful going to Chiba. Going to Chiba is a great plan because even though I got to the airport at 5pm, it's already 8pm now that I'm here at Chiba Station. You know, everything just takes longer than you expect, like I was saying in the morning, getting to the airport. And yeah, stopping in Chiba, like I'd never had done this before. I did it in the reverse way. The reason I stayed at Norikos place in Chiba is because I was coming from West Tokyo. And I didn't want to go all the way from West Tokyo to Nareta Airport in one day. I wanted to stop halfway. But it's great for arriving in Japan, too. I mean, also because I've been there now, and I know the guy. But yeah, that extra hour to get into Tokyo and figure out what I'm doing, probably like 90 more minutes to figure out where an Airbnb is or whatever. Fuck that. As it gets late, as it gets dark, you're tired from traveling, staying in Chiba. Definitely a good plan if you've got, especially if you've got the time to spare. And you're not some kind of huge hurry to get straight into Tokyo.

Yeah, I just stopped at a Lawson's by Chiba Station and man, Japan is the king of convenience stores. 25:00 So fucking good. I mean, I liked the convenience stores a lot in Taiwan, but they were very uniform. Like, I really fell into a habit of like, alright, these are the couple of sandwiches that I like. Here's the rice balls that I like. Here's the little lemon dessert thing that I like. It's a little different at 7.11 than it is at Family Mart, but it's essentially the same things. Here's the bread that I like. Here's the tea that I like. Yogurt green tea. Where I didn't do a ton of exploring. Although, I guess I could have if I... I think if I hit up the microwave more, there was a lot more options in Taiwan I didn't really get into. But it was just like, whatever. These are fine. I like these and we're good. But yeah, just being in Japan, holy fuck, there's so much stuff in that Lawson's. Like, this is bringing me back to reminding me of experimenting. You know, just trying something different each time. Going to the aisle with the quote unquote weird stuff and just trying something new and strange. Gonna get back into that. Like, the convenience store life in Japan, man. I know people who live in Japan are like, ah, you got to branch out the convenience stores. They ain't all that. But to me, they still are. We'll see. We'll see if I'm finally sick of the convenience stores, but I fucking doubt it. Man, though it kind of sucks being the guy who goes into the convenience store. And amongst your other purchases, I got the biggest vitamin C drink I could find, which was still small, but I got the big one. And I got four packs of black halls because my, ah, my ricola things, they almost ran out. Like, three quarters of the way through the flight, I had to stop putting them in my mouth because I had to make sure I had some left for the airport. Just so I wouldn't have any signs of being sick while talking to customs people.

And I mean, I'm feeling pretty good. I have a feeling this is gonna be the kind of thing that's gonna pass in a couple of days. I really, I hope so. But you can't have too many packs of halls. Even when I'm not sick, I just like having them. Or if you're on a train or somewhere crowded, any kind of social situation, and you can just pop on in and it'll just make sure that you're not the coughing guy. Not, ah, not optional. I think that's a necessary part of the travelers arsenal. But yeah, just be in that guy, though. It's very obvious. Like, ah, fuck. I'm dealing with a guy who's possibly got a cold. And now I gotta go say hi to Norahiko and just like, I don't know. Is he gonna wanna hang out and chat tonight? You know, now I gotta not pass on my cold to him. But it is just a world of colds, man. Sorry, I guess there's only so much you can do. But yeah, I don't know. I was in and out. Again, just paying for stuff with the old soyca card. So good. I am reasonably confident. I didn't give anybody this sickness. But how the fuck do I know? Man, and yeah, we're back in the land of vending machines. There's a vending machine on this corner. Half way down the block, there's another one.

Is it just normal drinks? Yeah, it's just normal drinks. They look different from an angle. Because everyone's in a while, you get a really weird one. And man, yeah, back in the land of vending machines also. So fucking good. A little overcast, a little rainy, but it's not actually raining. Oh, man, so nice. So fucking nice. And yeah, man, my eyes bugged out of my head when I went into that loss and said, fuck. After six months of struggling with the South Korean convenience stores. And then three months of good but same in Taiwan. Yeah, that loss, that thing was a fucking magical wonderland. I really, I mean, I don't know that you could do it. I don't know how it would ever work. Importing the stuff or making it on a small scale or something. But it would be so fucking rad. If like Toronto had one seven eleven. That was the, I mean, I've heard that North American seven eleven isn't doing so hot. And that they're planning on trying to pattern it a little more after the Japanese version. I don't know what that means, but I assume it's going to be a very small difference. But man, if you could go to one of those stores and it was like the Japan version of seven eleven. That would be so fucking cool.

But I presume financially irresponsible. Toronto's not actually that big. It probably could not actually maintain such a thing. It would have to be, I guess, a small chain. If there was like six or eight of them, then maybe enough to make it worthwhile. But anyway, I sort of kind of know where I'm going and sort of kind of recognize stuff. Yeah, there's the overpass thing, the, uh, the monorail, the above ground, Chiba train.

I'm gonna, I'm gonna try to walk to Norahiko's place without the little blue dot on my phone. I'm gonna give it a shot. It's only eight o'clock. I'm pretty much right on time when I told them I would be arriving. But at the first hint of me getting lost and not knowing what's going on, fuck it. I don't need to let my kind benefactor wait for me. If I'm gonna turn this fucking bad boy off, 30:00 I'm gonna go check in. Back to Chiba, back to Japan. Hey, there's another Lawson's, I read across the street. Hey, there's a drink machine. What do you know? What do you fucking know? Oh, man, fucking awesome.

Alright, I'm all checked in. Just walking by a park, a little park, a little kids playground near Norahiko's place. And it's like, yeah, it's the parks at night. There is an eerie-ness to Japan, because again, the street lights are so mega bright in Taiwan. And I didn't really notice one way or the other in South Korea, so I assume they were pretty bright there as well. Not in Japan. Japan at night is so dark. So dark. So dark. So dark. So dark. So dark. So dark. So dark. So dark. So dark. So dark. So dark. So dark. So dark. So dark. So dark. So dark. So dark.

And I'm really pretty, but cool. Very cool. I almost made it to Norahiko's without my phone. I was only like a block and a half away, but it really gets confusing and twisty right by his house so I had to break out the phone and then that was my first anecdote, when he opened the door. I was like, Hey, buddy, like I still am pantomiming him like pointing at my head. I almost made it by memory. Almost. had to use the phone at the end and poor old Nora Hiko, I mean it's not like he's been that long but he definitely hasn't had too many English visitors lately because he's just like oh man my English like it hasn't gotten better it's like don't worry it's all right man kind of for the best anyway because like I was saying I just just don't want to risk it don't want to risk passing on this cold hopefully this single just passed by quickly it's the 24th today we're not going to go do the izakaya hangout till the 30th should be all good by then but yeah not a bad thing we did a little chitchatten but not too much but man one thing that's very nice about coming back to a place where I know the guy this is where I wonder too like not only is he not at English visitors lately who knows like I don't know how tourism works in Japan I always just assumed summertime was the time like I came here before this exact time of year because I thought it would be less touristy and I mean I never really could determine I guess because I'm just kind of wander and off to my own weird west Tokyo nonsense or whatever it's not like I'm really doing tourist stuff so much but now that I've felt the heat the pain of the heat I don't know I mean the flight prices were worse in the summer but I don't know maybe there is fewer people in the summer this is unquestionably better right now than it would be in the summer still very nice still very temperate I'm still in a t-shirt but late October not not fucking death but yeah the way Noriko's place is set up is there's one place that's like a bunks like a little dorm that's where I stayed last time and there's room for four people but it was just me last time I was only there for a few days but also he's got it all set up as like one Airbnb place so I think that makes it a little you know you can book it for three or four people but if one person books it it shows it as booked and then he he can squeeze other people in but you have to message him directly I think a lot of people just don't you know the listing just doesn't show up but it's still like a little a little more expensive than what I aim for I mean I was loving in Taiwan and South Korea paying like 20 bucks or less a day for places fucking great that's not really a thing in Japan but I'm still aiming hopefully for like 30 but then when I get to like Fukuoka those were 40 some and it was just whatever and I kind of think this time I'm not sure how far ahead I'm gonna book because I'm not totally sure what my plans are so I've kind of accepted that maybe this is gonna cost a little more this time for accommodations and I mean whatever I don't spend money on anything else I don't buy anything else so fucking but yeah Noriko's place is a little more because it's like 40 bucks for that dorm room and then he has the private room that's like was it double was it 80 bucks a night maybe but again just the way things were lined up for his stuff I had to book the expensive room for like tomorrow and the next day the rest of the day is where the 35:00 cheaper room so I'm just like whatever I just want to stay in Chiba I want to stay at his place for this first week I'll just pay whatever I got to pay who cares but this is the nice thing about being in the good graces of the host is tonight he didn't have anybody in the expensive room so even though I didn't pay for the expensive room tonight he's like go ahead it's yours and then you've got a book for the next two days but then in the coming week so far that room is free so he said I could just stay in that room and if somebody else books it then you know then I'll be shunted over to the to the dorm style bunk beds but as it stands basically I got the expensive room all week even though I only paid for it for two days just because it's free and because I'm in the good graces of Norahiko pretty fucking cool man I'll take it hey look at this I didn't even know this was here there's a laundromat right around the corner from his place that could be handy although this is like one of the dumbest nostalgia runs of all time but I was thinking like oh yeah that little the little laundromat I went to before is like uh never eat shredded wheat west of here I'd have to find it again but I had I had a little laundromat that I went to and I was in this neighborhood and I was like oh I can go back there but if I don't feel like traveling to do laundry fuck yeah that thing's right around the corner how do I miss that but yeah I'll settle back in nice nice nice nice and now that I know I'm back in Japan now I do need to start setting up I mean maybe I'll wait till tomorrow but now I do need to start setting stuff up I mean I could just set up a chain of air being bees all the way down the coast my plan is to try to go all the way down the coast to Osaka I mean I've got from Yokohama I mean I got three months right but if I book everything ahead of time it'll be cheaper but a lot less flexible and I just presume I can just take local trains that whole way but I don't actually know for totally for sure I don't know I'm not quite sure but I'll at least book some stuff but basically second verse same as the first if you liked my first one of episodes about Japan I'm already getting excited about a new laundromat that I found I'm already singing the praises of convenience stores here's a seven eleven I didn't know was here either this whole street apparently I never walked down before not really hungry this evening I'm good but man it's nice to see that sign guy look how big it is too look at the size of it like the convenience stores were so little in south korea like I said when I was there much more new york bowdega feeling and then the Taipei ones were mostly pretty small too like half this size this thing is fucking enormous it's just so nice to see that sign see the well I haven't seen a family mart sign yet but a seven eleven sign or a loss in sign to see it in the distance and just to be like yes the siren song because I distinctly remember that on jayju is when it really hit me was walking around jayju circumnavigating a lot of the stretches of that walk were quite free of convenience stores because I was on the coast and I remember one day it was all rainy and stuff and I saw the seven eleven in the distance and it's like dude if this was Japan I'd be jizzing my jorts right now but because it's fucking south korea I don't give a fuck I didn't even go in so it's nice just so anyway that's all I'm saying is that this is presumably what these episodes would be about to laundry seven elevens I spent some time looking over all the gacha machines at the airport but not only were they not anime that I watch or anything they weren't anime at all they were like all just just junk just like beetles and frying pans gacha machines are not all they're cracked up to be but hard offs and stuff can start going back to those if anything new and revolutionary does happen on this run it won't be till I get further away to some new areas but for this first bit while I'm in Chiba probably head into Tokyo a bit while I'm here then down to Yokohama where I'm also staying at the exact same awesome little place that I loved oh that's a thing I guess it's like funny that I have such good memories because that's where I had food poisoning and I can barely move for two days but I still have very fun memories of that place and I managed to book the exact same place similar thing here I just went to use the washroom before I went out for one last little stroll this evening and I was confused for a second I walked into the shower room at Noriko's place and I was like where's the toilet it's like oh right right the toilet is across the hall in its own separate room how could I forget 40:00 that again not that long ago only a handful of months ago I was in that fucking bathroom for like two fucking I probably wasn't two hours it was at least on hour that I was just hating my life and throwing up how would I ever forget where that washroom is so I don't know maybe that's a sign like this feels like oh wow I'm back in Japan already seems a little soon I kind of thought I would you know build up the legend again go home and build up the longing but maybe nine months is plenty it feels pretty fucking spicy right now feels pretty good feel I feel the energy in the air I've already forgotten stuff well I guess I learned that right about Mount Takau where I put out that episode nine months after I went I had a miserable time I'm at Takau but in my memory I was like I think that day was pretty fun right and then I listened to the episode and I was like oh fuck no apparently I had a miserable day that day but nine months scrubbed all that away made me forget all the bad stuff and I was like oh shit and that was a rare bad day that I had in Japan it really didn't happen often and it still scrubbed it you know my memory scrubbed it clean so for all this other stuff that wasn't even bad I'm more than ready this stuff is polished up like crazy the food poisoning and the uh throwing up from drinking pretty much the only truly bad things that happened to me in Japan everything else was motherfucking delightful and I'm ready for that fucking delight to return I'm ready to feel the delight again oh dude oh whoever you are out there I hope you get to visit Japan someday it's fucking good stuff man it is good fucking stuff and again I think being a shallow traveler is just fine like I think I've still picked up a fair amount of little like ambient information I feel like I do know a lot more about the world than I did when I started this trip but I'm still I'm just always gonna be shallow like I'm just like drink machine drink machine drink machine drink machine I can see four of them right now and that's just the best man that's the best there were hardly any drink machines in South Korea they're mostly only in the subway stations rarely up above ground you'd find one Japan is just a unique fucking beast man they're just there's just stuff that's it's and again it's always it's also just the uh even I'm just walking past these like fancy pants places that I will never go in I just don't belong there but uh if you ever read the manga or there's a couple of anime series of it too bartender I only learned about it fairly recently because I I'm relatively new anime series ever came out and then I started reading the manga because I just I just like manga better but it's just about a bartender and he just brings that like insane level of Japanese dedication to making the perfect drink you know he tries to read his customer and like what does this customer need what's perfect to drink can I make them and then talk to them and I'll be I'll be like their therapist all sort of untie whatever knot is going on in their mind with my incredible bartender skills and even just walking past these places now it just makes me think of that makes me think of that fucking anime like that is the double secret sauce of Japan it's just like hidden underneath well I guess it just ties in to be in shallow like I was saying all of my connection to Japan is from video games and anime and manga and it still is there's a grown-ass man it's still fucking is but it gives everything a nice little extra zing a nice cool little feeling that I enjoy and that is cool all right all right well now I'm just walking around the neighborhood for no reason just wanted to wrap up this episode but since I'm in the room now that Anna from Columbia and her brother were in last time I was here I am Facebook friends with them still in the rare event that I use Facebook I still get a little like from Anna she's still out there so maybe I'll take a picture and just like look at me like me I'm in your old room I'm back I'm back that's something too I still have because she had pinned on google maps all of the places her and her brother went and it was a fuckload of places like all across Japan and I've still got her list saved in my google maps I'm not sure especially if I go down by the southern coast I don't know for sure if she went down there I'll take a gander I'll take a gander it's still nice to just 45:00 have those in the back pocket of stuff I could do all right well back in Japan back in my mother fucking Japan awesome feels so awesome it's just like a little random neighborhood shrine with a local cat inside their cat that's a good test I guess when I start getting blasé about shrines happened last time you know halfway through my trip when I was in Fukuoka but right now I'm back back at full capacity to just think everything is awesome it's like a little shrine fuck yeah keep that on the bingo card though once I start complaining about shrines that's when you know I've started to take things for granted but not yet not yet okay join me next time probably for some chibad ventures I got some ideas I got some ideas for things around here that I can do and I lost track already I here we go that's why there's two parks this is not the park by Norikos this is the other park I'll figure it out I'll get this down all right well thank you for listening see you next time