EPTI went to Japan on a three week holiday recently. It was my first time travelling alone so I was pretty nervous before my trip but everything turned out perfectly. I met heaps of great people (one in particular but we'll get to that), saw heaps of cool stuff and did heaps of cool things. I'm by no means a budget traveller but because I was travelling alone, I decided to stay in guesthouses (Japanese hostels) and hire spare rooms from locals using airbnb. This was the best decision I made because it allowed me to interact with other travellers and also the locals. Anyway, enough about Japan in general, this blog is about one particular girl I met during my holiday.
It was my first night in Tokyo. I waited patiently at Nippori station for my first airbnb host to pick me up. I looked around, fascinated by the streets and the people nearby until I made eye contact with a petite Japanese girl. She didn't break eye contact and kept walking towards me. She was wearing a skirt, an oversized red hoodie and was carrying a clear umbrella. She introduced herself to me as the airbnb host and started making small talk. I immediately thought 'holy shit, her English is actually fluent. AND she's a cutie'. Needless to say, it was a great start to my Japan trip. We shared some snacks and beers once we got back to the apartment, I met her roommate and we all got to know each other a bit. Just the usual stuff, age, occupation, hobbies etc.
I stayed the next 5 nights at her place and during that time we really got to know each other better. She had a busy work schedule while I ventured out exploring and doing my own thing during the day but at night, we'd have a few drinks and talk, probably like 3-4 hours a night. I didn't get much sleep at all but that didn't matter. Turns out, she actually grew up very underprivileged and had a very tough child hood. I won't go into the details but it involves religion, overbearing parents and societal alienation. But the amazing thing to me was, she was genuinely one of the most positive people I have met in my life. She was young, ambitious and very open minded. She never talked about her past with anger or sadness but used it as a reference to appreciate the life she had now. Anyway, as I got to know her, I started to really adore her and respect her. I wasn't infatuated though. The feeling was similar to watching a movie and rooting for the protagonist to achieve their dream because you feel like they deserve it. One night while we were having pizza and beers, they handed me a plate but started eating their own slices off tupperware and I asked them what happened to their other plates. She told me she broke their only other one so they've only got one plate in their apartment now. I think my heart broke a little hearing that.
A few days later, while I was shopping around Tokyo with some friends we went into Daiso. Daiso is like a $1 store in Japan where you can get everyday household items and food for 100 yen. I decided I'd spend 1000 yen and buy them stuff they really needed. I ended up buying them some plates, some spoons and two wine glasses (we drank wine out of plastic mugs previously lol). When I got back to the apartment that night and gave her the stuff, I could tell she was holding back tears. I think she was really touched that I would go through all that trouble but I told her it was nothing and that she shouldn't be living like that (referring to the tupperware here). On my last day at her apartment, I was meant to leave in the morning and catch a train to Hakone but it happened to be her day off and she asked if I wanted to hang. I decided I'd have breakfast with her and we'd watch a movie on my tablet. We watched Lost in Translation by the way. How very appropriate. During the movie, she leaned her head on my shoulder and that kind of shocked me but I just let it slide. I even asked if she was feeling comfortable haha. To which she replied "yes, very much so" and smiled. After the movie, I left but we added each other on facebook so we could chat while I was on my trip and I could also contact her if I needed any help (my Japanese is horrible). Anyway, during my next 10 days travelling around in Japan we talked almost every night and I realised when I got back to Tokyo, on the last leg of my trip, I wanted to hang out with her again. I ended up cancelling my other accommodation and booked her place again for two nights. She was pleasantly surprised when she found out but also told me I could've stayed for free if I had just asked her instead of trying to surprise her lol. So instead of the free accommodation, I asked her for a free meal instead - a home cooked meal.
When I got back to Tokyo, she picked me up from the station again and we went grocery shopping so she could cook me my free meal. We ended up flirting a LOT that day. I guess talking to her on facebook every night slowly made me fall for her and the whole overseas romance vibe definitely played its part. Anyway, we hung out the whole day and chilled out after dinner and she cuddled next to me while we watched another movie (Top Gun this time cause she had never seen it). At the end of the night, I thought to myself 'fuck it, I'm just going to go for it, no regrets, don't be a fkn wimp'. So, I kissed her. Unfortunately, she didn't reciprocate, she was shocked but still okay and she said goodnight to me and went back to her room. I thought 'oh fuckkkkkkkk, i hope it's not awkward tomorrow morning' but I still managed to fall asleep because I was wrecked from a long commute earlier that day. I didn't get much sleep though. About an hour later, I was woken up by a knock on my door. It was her. She came up to me and asked if she could sleep with me that night. I blinked a few times because I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or not but I managed to say 'of course' and she slipped in bed next to me. We kissed and that was when I realised that I wasn't dreaming
We were in a pseudo-relationship the next three days and I had the time of my life. She knew it was only a temporary thing but she was still happy to spend that time with me. Although, I'm back in Australia and I'll probably never see her again, it's a memory that I don't think I'll ever forget. We still talk on facebook from time to time as well.
TL;DR
Rough period. Holiday to Japan. Met a cute girl. Got laid. Life ain't too bad. Bitches love crockery.
Edit: Also would like to shout-out to MightyAtom, the TL hyung!
