Holiday J-Tour...Part 3

I loved Kyoto so much that I spent an extra day there more than planned, doing more sightseeing with Keiko. I got to tour Kyoto in the snow…the first time I’ve seen snow in almost two years! I visited many historical places, including some huge temples and the steps featured in the movie The Last Samurai. We then met Erina for my final lunch in Kyoto before I got on to a bus headed for Nagoya.

Tom Cruise has nuthin’ on me, boy!

Despite a heavy winter storm along the highway, I arrived in downtown Nagoya right on time to meet two more former KGIC students. This time, it was the unforgettable Nanase Mizuno and Masayuki Nakura. Nanase is known for her energy and bubbly personality and Masayuki is known for his multiple facial piercings.

Nanase, Me and Masayuki waiting for a table at Yamachan

They took me to a popular Nagoya restaurant chain called Yamachan, which serves fried chicken wings, a Nagoya specialty. We talked about Toronto and all the students that I’ve seen on the trip and ones whom they’ve lost touch with. Living between Osaka and Tokyo sometimes leaves the people of Nagoya in limbo, as far as people visiting them.

Most of the time, Nanase and Masayuki were mockingly arguing, saying that although they rarely see each other, every time they do get together, they continue from the last “argument” from which they left-off. It was really quite amusing, almost like a comedy routine and it kept me in a permanent smile.

Boxing Day in Nagoya

After we accompanied Nanase back to her train home, Masayuki and I were joined by his hometown friend Hiro for drinks and Japanese lessons at their local bar in the suburbs, before we crashed at Hiro’s house.

The next day, Masayuki, Hiro and I went to lunch at a great traditional Unagi (barbecued eel) restaurant before I got on the train back to Shizuoka, where I took a well needed vacation from my vacation.

NEW YEARS EVE
I spent the majority of New Years Eve day not doing too much of anything, except cleaning my apartment and watching DVDs. I watched the movie Trading Places, just to hear Eddie Murphy say “Merry New Year!” That evening, I headed off to my regular bar, Pot, where I rang in the New Year eating Soba noodles, the traditional New Years Eve fare, and popping hand-crackers.

I pretty much spent the evening as a Stony Curtis watcher and listener of conversations of people who couldn’t speak any English, and then watching them all pass out, one by one. (Paraphrasing the wise words of John Bender from the Breakfast Club: “I guess you could call it social…demented and sad, but social). I got home just in time for another long honoured tradition: watching the first sunrise of the year pop up behind a bevy of clouds before I, myself, passed out.

New Years day was even more unproductive. I woke up at around 3pm and postponed my leaving for Tokyo, where I have my final scheduled meeting of students, until tomorrow… I’m just too lazy to travel today!