Despite initially planning the final two weeks of my Asiatic world tour in the Philippines, I felt a strong calling to return to Japan. It was monsoon season in the Philippines and it is a huge country, so all things considered, I'll be back another time.
I hopped on Kiwi and booked the next one-way flight from Kota Kinabalu to Tokyo Narita for only $100. Score. I woke up early the next morning for check-out, downed a pre-Japan riceball from Orange (a Malaysian convenience store), and jumped in a taxi. I had a 4-hour layover in Fukuoka, Japan, which gave me time to go out and wander the city eventually stumbling upon one of the most awesome sunset-rainbow combos I've ever seen. Seriously, look at this.
I was absolutely thrilled. So much so that I spent the next hour skipping down the city streets with my camera, looking for more rainbows. I downed another riceball, this time from Lawson Konbini, and headed back to the airport.
At the gate, I pulled out my computer and, for once this trip, decided to plan something. I couldn't just sit in Tokyo all week. I settled on getting the JR Tohoku-wide regional pass as it was in my budget and would allow me to really appreciate a smaller part of Japan. Okay, that was productive. Done.
I eagerly searched for the ticket booth upon our arrival in Narita(NRT) before realizing it was 1 a.m., everything was closed, and I was an hour from the city. I spent longer than I should have walking around the airport: looking for places to sleep away from prying eyes and trying to figure out why Tokyo was so far away. I realized I had flown into NRT which is about one hour away from central Tokyo as opposed to HND, my goal, which is a mere twenty minutes and surrounded by affordable hotels. Ah well, don't buy plane tickets late at night, lesson learned. I bought some soba noodles from the 24-hour 7-11 in the basement of Terminal One. Forgetting they were cold, I blew on them, added a little wasabi and shoyu, then proceeded to drop the entire thing(that had been balancing on my palm) onto my lap. I recovered as much as I could and then set up camp for the night in T1, reflecting on how insane my summer had been.
I awoke on some plastic chairs to harsh light and sounds of the morning rush. I apparently moved from my bench in the middle of the night to the lobby and by some miracle also packed up my bag. Myself and the other overnighters trudged into line to get our boarding passes, a very unwelcome ohayo (おはよう).
At around 7 am or so, I went to the ticket office and bought my ticket-to-ride for the next 5 days. The first train to Tokyo was an hour later leaving me a little time to write about this fantastic journey back to Japan.
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