Day Thirteen: Death Machines and Tanks of Evil

I’m sure that most of you have noticed by now, but my blogs aren't exactly posted on the day they happen. They are actually detailing things from one to two days ago. This is mainly because I've had a few lazy or exhausted days where I just couldn't put forth the effort to write a blog that didn't totally suck. Hence the lateness. Maybe I’ll eventually catch up, but chances are that if I do, I’ll reward myself with a lazy day and we’ll be back where we started. Anyway, I just figured I may as well let people know.

Today, it was back to Chigasaki. Of course, we didn't just drive straight there, we made a few stops along the way. If we hadn't this blog wouldn't exist because there’d be nothing to talk about.

The first stop was the flower garden. It was beautiful, with so many colorful flowers all in full bloom. Unfortunately, the whole thing couldn't be butterflies and rainbows. There were also these giant bees with black butts that were completely terrifying- I have never seen a bee so large in my life. And there were hundreds of them! They were evil personified; their eyes were stare-y, their legs were long, their stingers looked like freaking needles.  It was horrible and I had a genuine fear that if one stung my finger, the appendage would swell up so huge it would fall right off. But hey, what was dodging a few flying death machines when looking at pretty flowers?

Here is a lovely photo I took with its beauty marred by the black hole of doom that is the bee:

Towards the end of our visit, a nice Australian man gave me a turtle he’d rescued from being stepped on. It wasn't very large, probably about the size of that indent in the middle of your palm, and it was determined to go somewhere. I don’t know where exactly, but the silly little creature wouldn't stop walking forward with a determination I admired. I’m also pretty positive he bit my hand a few times on the way to the pond, but it’s hard to say for sure because he wasn't nearly as good at biting as he was at walking.

When I put him in the pond and he dropped like a stone, I panicked, caught him again, and we instead left him with a woman who worked there. I wanted to take him home to be my pet instead of a cat or bat, but it didn't feel right to make him exchange his life of long walks for a small tank.

Our next stop was a man-made island off the coast. It was really neat- and also very windy. In fact, I’m sure that the wind was completely intent on completing one of two things: It was either trying to make the entire population bald, or it was trying to show humans what it’s like to fly without being safely encased in a metal death-shell. (Not to be confused with the death machine). I only know this because we walked out onto a balcony-type area, and that was where the wind was the strongest.

After we’d gone back inside, we found an arcade. An arcade with more of those stupid claw machine games. You know, the claw game that is freaking impossible and just eats all of your money while making you really angry and even more determined to beat the bloody thing? Okay, well that may or may not be the basic description of just about every arcade game ever, but just to clarify, it’s the one where you attempt to rescue an adorable stuffed animal from the tank of evil. People around me kept winning, so I figured I could do it too!

This was a mistake. Goodbye remaining change. Even Otosan lost all his change to the tank of evil.

After the humiliating defeat, I had to pee. And pee badly. I think peeing is your body’s way of showing how hurt you are when crying just isn't enough. After all, pee is ghastly yellow, smells like toxic waste, and after its passed, you feel better. I bet romance novels would lose their edge if the guy had to cradle the sobbing girl while she peed all over him.

Anyway, we wound up wandering almost completely in a circle before I found the bathroom. Otosan had dropped off somewhere along the walk, and I’d out-walked Okasan in my haste to the toilets, so when I walked out of the bathroom feeling much better, they’d both disappeared. I probably should start feeling a little more concerned when this kind of things happens to me, because I have a tendency to wander off a lot. But I never do feel concerned. And instead, I just wander some more until I locate them, pulling off another stunning ghost act when they turn around and there I am. I’m never really sure how to announce my presence, so I just stand next to them until they notice me. This should probably stop, but I kind of like feeling like a ninja. Besides, the important part is that the toilet didn't swallow me whole, right?

On a side note, I’m going on a nine-day trip and internet access will probably be kind of spotty. So if there are no blogs for a few days, then a flood of, like, five, don’t be alarmed.

I'm sure some of you would like pictures of the flowers, so here they are. Please allow dear Tomo to introduce his favorites to you first: