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Letter 28
Sunday 08.09.13 91,71 km
It's a heavy breakfast one can put together in such a fashionable hotel, it's
a buffet. In the background a feeble spanish guitar. There are two kinds
of fish - no bones. Bacon and small sausages. The sausages have entered
the japanese culture as well as coffee. There's no "nato" here, maybe it's
more for peasants?
After I've ended the japanese part, there's fresh yogurt and fruit. And after
that croissant and coffee. Then I'm up to my ears.
I didn't use the kimono this time
Sad to say but the wheather forecast seems to be right: yet another day with
rain. From my window in the 7th floor this morning I looked out to the flat
roofs of Hanamaki with cloudy mountains in the background mist. Tjaa... that's
Japan this year.
The guitar has been replaced with a genderless grand piano. It's neither
Beethoven, Schubert or Carl Nielsen, that I can tell.,
Yesterday I forgot to put the memory card back into the camera. And not until
I exposed the 9th photo the camera denied to work. First I believed to have lost
all the photos of the day, but I could still see them in the camera. So, there
had to be an internal memory. At the internet I found a manual for a Nikon
Coolpix S-6000, but though I found the instructions to transfer to the memory
card, I didn't succeed. I didn't find that the symbols matched fully. THAT would
be a task for the guy in the reception! And when he's realized what it was all
about, he succeeded - even it took a while.
With a sigh I set off in the pissing (excuse my words) rain. I didn't get
far. The front brake doesn't work, neither when I turn the adjustment - strange.
When I examine it closely I see that a brake shoe has come loose and moved.
That's an easy thing to do and I find a shelter and have it fixed. But it tells
about all those blows and bumps the bike is exposed to. At every crossing or
every exit from a house you have to go down 25-30 cm as that's how high the
cycle lane is above the road. And that's seldom done properly. Without my front
suspension it would have been sheer hell. The suspension is worth gold. I
turn it on and off all the time according to where I drive and the condition of
the road. Especially on the downhills it's important, I wouldn't go 50 km/h
without it.
This will be a main road day, it's Route 4 I'm following, and the topics of
the main road are fx. the jananese's passion for games, I don't know if it's
bigger than in Europe, but you see these Pachinko & Slot centers everywhere...
Also the market for used cars belong to the main road. Today I saw a Saab.
Besides it's all japanese cars both the used ones and the new ones, except if we
consider prestige. BMW, Mercedes and Audi. If you want to show off, you'll need
a german car.
VW, Volvo, Peugeot are seen scarcely, today I saw a Porsche and an Alfa Romeo.
There must be hundreds of types of japanese cars from: Toyota, Nissan, Mazda,
Daihatsu, Honda, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Subaru... Not to forget Toyotas (or is it
Mazda) top model: The Lexus. Many types we don't find in Europe. Who's heard of
Toyota Cresta, Toyota Harrier or Nissan Otti? Or Subaru's mini: Stella.
Toyota Harrier - with special logo
Toyota Cresta - the ultimate show off if it's got to be japanese
The rain has come and gone this morning. Now I stop to buy two of those triangel
rice packages. Maybe I should even spend a soda? I suddenly have an unstoppable
urge for a Coke, which I rarely drink. Ahhh.... and the packages were EXACTLY
those I hoped for. I only had the pictures to choose from - and there are a lot
of different...
A lot of young men are hanging around the shop eating and talking. Then on a
given signal they all get into their cars and take off. High school students?
That all have cars?
From time to time the road cross over fingers from the pine grown ridge we
have followed for so long. And after 60 km there are valleys in the fingers and
we stay up in the green for the next 10 km. At last on the way down comes a
parking lot, which, without being named Road Station, has all one' can ask for:
toilets, food, water.
Tsukidate is a town in my map, so it should be of some size. There seems to
be no station, but I turn towards what looks like the center and find a hotel,
european style. They don't have wi-fi, but cable, and then we have the usual
trouble - the thing doesn't work.
I go for some dinner and then I set off searching for a computer shop. There
must be some young men
that speaks some english and know about networks.... I found it - the shop. I
ask the first young man, if he speaks a little english? No - so, sorry. But
maybe others do? - and I move my hand all over the shop. No, he doesn't think
so? And I gave up.