February 20 - Hakuba to Tokyo

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We wake up to snow. Lots of snow is on the ground. Lots of snow is falling. It is a crazy storm! The ski hills are currently closed as there is lightning and thunder with this snow storm. I've only seen a snow storm once with lightning. Brad says that it doesn't happen often here, but once in a while it does. He also said that this was supposed to be rain and the snow does turn to rain later in the day. The weather is just wild here.



We get packed up and eat breakfast. We have a couple of hours before the bus comes. The old man at the hotel tells us that we can get on the bus at the station beside the hotel and that will save us from having to go up to the Happo Bus Station. I found this curtain with mountains on it that I really wanted and was saving to buy it when we left. Darren and I decide to try to get to the bus station to buy it, but we will leave our luggage here. It saves us from having to pack things around. Unfortunately, we can't seem to find a bus that can take us to the bus station. We can walk there, but the snow is almost rain and we will get soaked and my back is sore - I don't want to walk. We can take a taxi, but it doesn't seem worth it. I might be able to find this somewhere else and if not, it's only an object, so I can live without it. We walk through a few gift shops by the train station, but there isn't anything good. We want to buy everyone candy from Japan, but will wait until Tokyo to go on a candy shopping spree. Darren isn't in the best mode, I think he is sad that we are leaving. I'm sad too. We aren't ready to leave.



We eat lunch at the hotel before we leave. We finally made tuna (chicken of the sea) sandwiches. We were happy when we opened the can and it was actually tuna. As Darren is leaving, he runs into Jimmy and Jimmy asks him if everything was okay at the hotel. I'm glad he asked him and not me. How do you tell someone that their place is a piece of crap and not worth the money that we just spent?



We head to the bus station by our hotel and get on the bus. It is full on raining outside now and everything just gets soaked. Hopefully it is nice in Tokyo, but I kind of doubt it. The bus makes a few stops at stations and we search for unique things to try and eat. There are these round dumpling-looking things that we see everywhere. We try those. They have the red bean paste in them and they are so sweet. I don't like them and only take a couple of bites.



We get into Tokyo and we have to find our way around again, with snowboard luggage, a sore back and in the pouring rain. Darren asks what train we need to take to get to our airbnb, but was told that we should just walk. It is good exercise, that's for sure. We maneuvour through the street of Tokyo with big snowboarding bags and taking a break every so often to switch hands. We finally find our airbnb and we are soaking wet. We booked an apartment and then were given a series of instructions on how to get into the building. First we are told to go to the mailbox to retrieve the key. The mailbox has a combination code on it and we try the combination, but no luck. However, we are able to reach through the mailbox slot and get the keys out. Then we are given a pass code for the door and we think this is the front door. We try it a few times, but no luck. Then we notice a lock at the base of the door. We try the key on this lock and it opens the door. We only have to do to the second floor, but there is an elevator. The hallway and stairs remind me of a prison. It is cement and lacks any sort of decor. We get to our door to the room and punch in the code - it works!! We are in. The apartment is very unique. It is one long straight area. We have a tiny entrance, then the next room is the shower, the next room is the toilet. We then come to the kitchen, which has the washing machine in it. Everything is super compact. We continue down the hallway and come to the livingroom/bedroom. We have everything we need here in this tiny space, although most things are minature, except the television. There is a funky smell and we figure that it is coming from the pipes. Other than that, this place is great. A little peak into the life of a single Japanese person (at least I hope only one person lives in here) - two the most.



We get cleaned up and decide to hit the town. We are staying close to the red light district and didn't get to see it last time because we were too jet legged. We stroll down the street in the pouring rain (likely the airbnb had plenty of umbrellas that we could borrow) and find a temple. We see some blossoms on trees, maybe these are plum trees because they are supposed to be blossoming right now. We then head over to the red light district. Darren finds the golden gai, which is an area of the red light district that shows old Tokyo. The streets are tiny, the shops are tiny, the restaurants are tiny. We are basically in miniature land with tall buildings beside us. Most places here we have to pay a sitting fee just to enter, so we just look. A group of guys follow behind us and are talking about getting sexual favours. This is one area where they can find that and the pink doors are supposed to be an indicator of such services. We then find a long sidewalk away from the chaos. It has tree planted along the side and it feels like we are walking in a nature park, but in the city.



We are on a mad hunt for food, since it's already late. We find a noodle house and decide to stop here. It looks like a high end restaurant, but the prices aren't bad. We are certainly under dressed and the only ones not dressed in business attire. I'm wearing a pair of jeans that I've worn almost every day for the past 2 weeks and they haven't been washed... and I have spilled a lot of things on these jeans. Both Darren and I are running out of clean clothes and are looking forward to doing laundry. We sit down and are handed a device that we use to alert the waitress when we are ready to order - this is a fantastic idea. This takes out any wonder by the waitress and we aren't bothered any more than we need to be. I get a beef ramen and Darren gets seafood ramen. We spoil ourselves with some wine and whiskey. As we wait for our food, we listen in on the expressive conversations surrounding us. We are sure these people are talking business or work-related conversations. Both meals were absolutely fantastic.



We head deeper into the red light district. We are told to watch our belongings a bit more while in this area. Black guys try persuading us to go to their club, their event. Darren said to not even engage them. A lot of times, the clubs here are ridiculously priced with an entry fee being $200. We aren't much for going to a nightclub, so we take in the sights by walking around. We see the cinema building and a giant godzilla on top. We see lights and people everywhere. It's a busy place. We window shop and joke about going to the robot show - maybe tomorrow.



It is now time to go to bed. We head back to our tiny apartment. We have one more day in Tokyo and we will make the most of it.

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