One never can know what will happen after having been squished against a window seat at high altitudes for an extending period of time, so after arriving at Narita International Airport the first thing I did was to visit a dentist. At the office door I changed into inside slippers and found a full staff busy at work after 7pm or was it closer to 8pm? And sure enough they found cavities. With that clarified I join the dentist, Emi, a friend of mine actually, her sister and her son for my first dinner. Nothing says, "Welcome to Japan" like sushi so went to a traditional Japanese restaurant that served delicious sushi. I ordered soba and was too full to eat the sushi.

Then I traveled to Kawasaki by train with Emi. She probably was surprised that I was only carrying a little bit of luggage. I only had a backpack and two carry-on size pieces. Little did anyone realize I sent the large rolling piece on ahead to Shizuoka by takkyubin. How very clever of me.

And as usual due to jet lag and the change in time I woke up too incredibly early the next morning at 4:30am. I spent those early morning hours trying to figure out the cell phone I rented at the airport. It had an interesting airport scene that would change every time I flipped the case open with a matching colored sky for the actual time. One flip open and there were a few people walking about. Another flip open and there was a large crowd that reminded me of the gate in Detroit that was filled to the brim with high school students from Hokkaido returning back home after visiting New York and Canada. Another flip open and everyone was gone. The cell phone animation showed a flight taking off in the sky. Another flip and you see a few random travelers sitting with a pilot walking by with his rolling carry-on luggage.

With so much time on my hands I regretted not taking the time to purchase postcards at the airport. I could have used my time more wisely in other words.

But I figured I could just buy postcards in Kawasaki that day. Little did I realize that was easier said than done.