the emerald city, SAPPORO!
 


okayama city - my old place - my computer. home? raining outside with mild conviction.

it's over!! my journey to the great north island is complete! wahoo!!
it was all business in hakodate, just a stepping stone really. i did see a pretty intense fish market though - HUGE crabs wriggling on scales and people slurping down bowls of fish eggs on rice. none for me, thanks.

i reached sapporo in the most perfect warm weather just as the flowers were beginning to open for the assembled masses! i did the last of my blue-sheet performances and brought in a couple bucks in the early afternoon. then i met up with lorraine, my friend from akita - it was golden week, so it was just good timing that she was on holiday in sapporo with a friend. we went to the sapporo brewery and beer museum because we had to, didn't we? after that we had something not unlike mexican food - pretty good actually - and i ran off to catch a ferry back to the main island. would you believe that i was on that ferry for 22 hours and nothing worth mentioning even happened - what a tragedy that wild romances don't find me in airports and on passenger ferries like the should..

it was a few busses and one more night in a capsule - when i got back to okayama the world was lush and green! i hadn't seen full-on leaves yet and it really knocked me out - i was riding the bloom, the edge of spring, and okayama was hot - bordering on summer already. i walked along the river to my old place in a t-shirt, if only i could call the place home, i would say that i'm happy to be back. but sadly, i'll be on my way. tomorrow: tokyo, and friday begins a week in thailand~

tour in review:

6 weeks on the road, 31 cities, more than 40 free rides. i brought in about 79,000 yen busking and selling cds (about $690), covering 40% of my expenses. throw in some party crashing for food and drinks and that only put me back about a thousand dollars for 6 weeks of traveling in japan - not too shabby. besides that, i've got a few new friends, a few good stories to tell and i think i saw some truth out there. for the record, i'm glad that i did it, but i'll think twice about doing it again. i'm looking forward to relaxing (and eating) in thailand and even more so for the upcoming tour of australia!