Nov. 21 - Goodbye To The Big Animal

It was another moist experience at the bar last night, as Lau from Singapore and some Swiss biker hung out there too. Not good, because I had to get up as early as possible to meet the interviewer from yesterday, in a park somewhere in Yokohama. I make it just an hour late, and just like Mother nature-san said a nice goodbye to me some days ago, these kilometres on the Greater Tokyo/Yokohama toll road network is a decent final ride: The sun is shining from a clear blue sky, traffic congestion is to be found only on the other side of the centre dividers, long stretches go under other roads, through tunnels and across very tall bridges, and once again I have this feeling of riding inside the body of some absurdly large monster – following the veins while looking out or down on its intestines of traffic, houses, steaming or smoking industries, shipping ports where thousands of cars are lined up, and all this in the constant roars from large trucks overtaking me. Or the roars from the few I manage to overtake, tons of luggage on the Nimbus notwithstanding.

First a ¾ hour of lunch with Riku – way too little time – in a waterfront park, then back to find the warehouse where I have to assemble the crate, just about half an hour later. The shipping agent is jumping up and down and helps me tighten up the hundred or so nuts and bolts, because he has to be somewhere else before too long. The crate is assembled in record time, papers are signed, then on to find a banking machine to get the rest of the money out for him. But the thing refuses to give me more money, 39,000 yen being today’s allocation. Too bad, then I have to take a train out to his place tomorrow, assuming my account isn’t empty….

I terrorize Tourist Information back in town for half an hour, because there are some (indoors) things I really want to see during the next few days of rain. Then back up to the hotel, skirting around the many homeless sleeping under their dirty blankets, and a tray of cheap sushi for dinner. I have grown fond of this type of food, available from every little convenience store. Too bad it can never be made for this price back home.