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Places
Hong Kong, China (pit stop)
August 4, 2010 – August 9, 2010 
My return ticket was back to Hong Kong. I spent several days here to get used to the timezone again (Japan is only one hour ahead). I ended up catching a bothersome cough from the airplane. It only slowed me down a bit as I revisited old stomping grounds, plus a new area or two. With the ascending yen, I also had school supply shopping on my mind. I ended up not buying any gear, and almost lost a piece of gear because of airport security.
Nagoya
August 9, 2010 – August 10, 2010 I was only in Nagoya for one night. My plane arrived in the evening, and I didn’t want to bother the school that late. Instead, I had booked an inexpensive hotel near Nagoya station and crashed there. I did venture out to try some ramen nearby, but my cough proved to be a nuisance. The next morning, I made my way to Okazaki, and the language school.
Okazaki
August 10, 2010 – September 18, 2010 
Hot! Humid! I arrived later than expected at the school, but my contact had stuck around instead of heading out to lunch. I had the first day to myself, and I spent some time getting used to the area, stocking up on essential home items like toilet paper (18 rolls!?) and lamenting the strong yen. Luckily, I had a four-day weekend to get over my cough, which I did. Nothing much interesting happened. I basically studied, kept up with the eating, and tried to get enough sleep. Luckily, I had some motivation, and I made some progress. Somewhere in there, Japan was hit by a typhoon, Po sent me a care package, and I ate nattō again. After walking everywhere for weeks, I finally rented a bike for my last week in Okazaki. Then suddenly, somehow, all my scheduled lessons were complete. Time to move on. But to where?
Nagoya
September 18, 2010 – September 21, 2010
First things, first. I moved over to nearby Nagoya, where I gathered my wits, shifted my gears from sedentary study to travel, did some touristy things, and figured out a rough plan.
I also got out to nearby Ise and Futami as a cool day trip, though getting back to Nagoya was a little dicey.
Tokyo
September 21, 2010 – September 28, 2010
I could have flown to Europe from Nagoya’s airport, but I had to be in Tokyo if I wanted to have a meal at Sukiyabashi Jiro, so up I went via a limited express train. I went on a wild ramen spree, then I was lucky to dine at Sushi Kanesaka again (somehow zapping my camera’s memory card afterwards) and had lunch at Sukiyabashi Jiro.
The circle was complete.
Time for Europe.
