It has been too long since I updated, but in defense I have been pretty busy at work. Where were we? Oh yes, day 3. We packed up, made a last trip to Akiba, got on the train and went home. Well, more things happened, like my trip to the gashapon toy shop for more otaku-memories (m4a1s for all my Gundams!), and as a souvenier a ticket stub from Akihabara Station.
Exhausted, we decided to nix the Nagasaki trip in favour of a more chill day downtown in Fukuoka, and the next day we were off to Beppu. Onsens galore, including the tourist trap "The Nine Hells" or whatever. De rigeur, but it was really a chance to walk around a small town. What better way to relax? Why an onsen of course! We found a pretty nice, large onsen and partook. I forget the name, but it featured this awesome "waterfall" bath, more a wading pool with several pipes high up on a wall hurling water down at you. If it sounds corny, it isn't. Let me tell you, this was one of the most relaxing experiences I have ever had. Like some sort of masseuse, kneading away at all the tension built up from the Shinkansen ride home. A note on the bullet train...never again! Next time I go to Tokyo, its airplane or bust.
Our trip home was eventful. We walked around for some 40 minutes or so, getting ourselves lost before we flagged down a taxi (AFAIK not normally done, but I'll attribute our ease to the presence of my friend) and headed back to the local station. Our longish trip back as interrupted a few stops away from home by some sort of Event at Hakata Station (notice the capital "E"). To this day I do not know what happened, but whatever it was, it caused our train to ride delay getting into Kokura (Kitakyushu City JR hub) by an hour, then an at least as long stop at Akama Station. Well enough of this shit, we decided. Jumping on a cab, we arrived home 2 hours and 20 minutes late and about $40 poorer. Oh well, at least we were home.
The next day, Ian was off to Kyoto and environs, which gave me some time to do some much needed housework. Ian returned 2 days later, and one last night in Fukuoka, with our last meal as an all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ, we capped off a very successful spring break.
Oh, last minute shenanigans. Ian almost missed his flight! My fault, as I underestimated how busy check in would be. Ian was through the security gate with some 5 minutes to spare :P
OK, so reflections? On Tokyo, I need to stop visiting and revisiting Akiba. But it's just so much damned fun, and it rekindled my interest in drawing. Beppu? Hmm, ok, onsens = really bad eczema. I had a month of hell after that, so no more for me.
Guess that wraps that up. As always, my photos.
