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Day 9 ~ December 29, 2008

The reality of the 10 hours train journey from Sapporo to Yokohama did not hit us hard today. The comfortable trains were clean and the train arrived and departed on time at major interchanges. Starting early in the morning and after 4 transfers, it was night-time by the time we reached Yokohama Station. Earlier today, it was an emotional goodbye for M as he tried to hold back his tears when seeing us off @ Sapporo Station.


8.37pm ~ We met up with Y and R sans at the Kita (North) gate of the sprawling Yokohama station after experiencing some difficulties figuring our way through the correct gates.


Lugging our heavy luggage to R's place, this was going to be our final 3 nights before we returned home to Singapore in 2009. R's place was cozy with her 2 kittens, "Mia Chan" and "GiGi" which we soon made friends with. After a whole day of sandwiches and rice rolls on board the shinkansen, we could finally sit down and enjoy a piping hot shabu shabu dinner courtesy of R and Y.


Bed-time. The small living room was converted into our private bedroom as we opened up our "futon" mattresses for a well deserved rest. Exhausted, the 10 hour train journey today had certainly taken a toll on our bodies.


2008 was a memorable year for me in terms of work, personal life and travels. Certainly, I was looking forward to saying goodbye to the good old year and welcoming the brand new year with greater travel opportunities.

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