Day Nine: The Pink Bunny Cake

I've never really thought of myself as a heavy packer. 

In fact, when I managed to fit all my clothes, electronics, gifts, and toiletries for the next five days in just my backpack and Tinkerbelle bag, I was really proud of myself.

That is, until I saw that Otosan and Okasan had only one tiny suitcase between the two of them. How they managed this I will probably never know. It made what I’d packed look like a lot, which kind of just made me feel sad about myself. But hey, maybe that suitcase is space/time pocket. I shouldn't just automatically assume that I’m a heavy packer.

When we got in the car, Otosan passed me a bag with this little horse in it. He said it was my mascot, because this is the year of the horse. I named my mascot Tomo, which I find a little funny because one of my favorite books (that I’m currently reading) has a main character named Tomohiro, and one of my favorite animes (that I’m also currently watching) has a main character named Tomoe. What are the chances of that?

We drove for a while before coming to a park where we were going to eat lunch, but it was really crowded and there was a long line just to get in. So Okasan passed out some food and we continued on our way. She also gave me this little cake decorated to look like a pink bunny. I wasn't hungry enough yet to eat it, so I just sat there holding it in my hand.

Eventually, we stopped at the airport. We got out to just have a look around inside and find somewhere to eat. I brought the bunny cake with me because I was worried sitting in the car would melt the icing. So there I was walking through an airport as a Canadian (the word “foreigner” may as well have been stamped on my forehead) carrying a pink bunny cake in my hand. When we stopped to eat, I half-expected the waitress to say that I couldn't bring the bunny in, but she just looked at it, made a face, and led us to our seats. I set the bunny on the table beside me and no one said a word about it, although I caught more than one customer staring at me and it.

After lunch, we took off to Tokyo station- a massive old-fashioned looking building. While there, we wandered through the hotel. Now this was quite simply the fanciest hotel I have ever seen in my entire life. It’s actually kind of difficult to describe what exactly was so fancy about it, but I’ll give it a shot. The walls and floor were all marble, and there were artistically arranged mirrors everywhere. The dining area had water running around the outer wall in a smooth stream, and everyone I saw was wearing some form of fancier-than-average dress.

It was beautiful, and also a little intimidating; kind of like if you had even a speck of dirt on you, you’d get kicked out. It was that clean.

As we were leaving Tokyo station, we passed through a small Disney store playing the song “Let It Go” (in English) on a large T.V. on an apparently endless loop. I’m not sure why I suddenly regressed back to four years old at the sight of this, but I squealed hyperactively and started pointing frantically at the screen, attempting to convey the amazing-ness of the movie through gestures and high-pitched noises alone. Otosan had wandered off, and Okasan just looked kind of confused. After a couple minutes of flapping gestures and breathing like a dying fish, I forced myself into calm mode and gestured nonchalantly at the screen.

“So, have you seen it?” I asked like I hadn't just nearly passed out from insufficient oxygen intake.

“No,” She replied uncertainly.

“Oh. Well, it’s a really good movie. It’s an awesome movie.” I nodded, took a deep breath, and drifted off to look at the Frozen merchandise.

After that, we went to the hotel where we were going to spend the night. We dropped off our stuff, and then went for a walk. On the way, we saw a film crew filming a scene for some movie/show/commercial. It was all very dramatic:

Two girls stand on the edge of the boardwalk facing the water. Slowly, the girl on the right draws back her arm and throws a tiny bottle out into the sea. There is a long pause as both girls watch the bottle bob gently with the waves. The second girl glances at the girl on the right, but the girl on the right is too busy staring dramatically off into the distance. Perhaps things will be better now. For everyone.

The day involved a lot of driving. And a lot of the days following today will involve a lot of driving too. Such is the way of the world. For when shadows fall and darkness rules remember, life is but a journey, and there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

Unless it’s night.