31st Oct – 6th day at farm, holiday!

It was rainy morning. Woke up later than planned. Went to ask Yuhei-san for an umbrella, but realized breakfast was prepared. Had natto for the first time. Heard about how bad it was from a fellow Shikoku 88 temples pilgrim, Don Weiss, on his website. He described the way of making natto as “to feed raw beans to cows, then make them regurgitate the beans after they had passed through the cow's first stomach”. It was pretty bad, but I managed to finish them off in order not to be impolite for not finishing my food. Luckily, there were miso soup and salty anchovy to cover the smell and taste. After that, Yuhei-san asked me how was the Natto. I decided to tell him the truth.

So, I followed Yuhei-san’s direction and got conned by him. He mentioned it would take 20 minutes to walk there, but I checked my Suunto X10 (ahem, not trying to be cocky here) and it said a solid 3.7km (plus a few hundred which were missed out because I started the log on my watch later). You probably need to run or walk very very fast to cover that distance. I took 50 minutes on average speed.

I tried my luck to ask if there was internet café at Ogata. The station staff said no. No problem. Bought my return tickets to Mie town (where I saw the Internet café sign yesterday). Expected the return ticket to be cheaper, but it was just the price of 2 single trip tickets. Got to Mie, but the station staff also mentioned there was no internet café! I still decided to check it out at the place and asked for direction to the Hoyo hotel, which was located near the sign I saw. It was not raining by now, and I realized I had left Yuhei-san’s umbrella at Ogata station! Sigh! Got to get him a new one for replacement. The station staff drew me a map (left), but yet I got lost. Came to a cake shop and asked for direction again. The lady was very helpful and explained in details, but I didn’t give her the confident look. She suggested drawing a map for me and I couldn’t thank her more. It was perfect. I saw all the buildings that she mentioned in the map (left). On the way, I got my umbrella. The shop assistant asked me where I’m from. She said there was no internet café in town although the sign I saw was just 100m away. She also mentioned the nearest would be at Oita city, as Yuhei-san mentioned too. I wasn’t satisfied and finally reached the building with the big sign that says “Internet Café”. I asked the shop assistant at the ground floor and she directed me upstairs. Unfortunately, it was a company office instead. After walking around the building for one last round, I gave up. Wasted my trip here and the time. Had my lunch at Mos Burger nearby. The great meal consoled me!
So, Oita city I went. I was lucky to reach the Mie station just in time for the next train. Oita is bigger. I wonder why Lonely Planet has nothing on Oita, but small town like Beppu. I was holding my iPhone all the time while I walked around to detect free wireless like I was trying to detect a bomb. Even Starbucks here does not have free wifi. Not long later, I found an English café with secure wifi, but I had already bought my Venti latte from Starbucks. So, I tried again and bingo! Found one that worked, but unfortunately there was no seat around. So, I hid inside a stairway and enjoyed my internet access till my laptop went flat.

Then, I continued to walk and look for a place for dinner with a plug and free wifi. Found one, but I would have to eat Mos burger again. So decided to go back to the earlier café. Anyway, I was more than happy there was one where I could sit down comfortably and charge my laptop while using the free internet access! Time flies. Left at 6pm to get some fruits and chocolate before I catch the 7pm train back to Ogata. I think I saw more pretty girls here than I was at Tokyo last year! Saw a couple of young ladies in Halloween costumes and quickly took the opportunity to snap a photo of them. They gave me each a sweet! Reached Ogata at 8pm and guess what!! The umbrella I left behind was still at the exact location!!! I smiled and the guy next to me noticed my disbelief and smiled too. Made a couple of quick calls back to home and to Ah Chung who gave me a call earlier in the afternoon. It was great to go online today and catch up a bit with my friends. I felt much closer to home again. Wish I could do it more often at Shikoku.

After the phone calls, it was 8:20pm already and the tough part began. By now, the blisters on my small toes were getting pretty worse. Sigh. Wrong shoe again! I reached the junction where I need to decide going back the same way that I came from this morning as Yuhei-san suggested; or take a different route which seems to be nearer according to Yuhei-san’s map!! It was very dark but there were still cars moving along the main street. In split seconds, I decided to do a dare-devil and go for the unfamiliar road in the dark. I walked very fast. Still couldn’t see the junction which I need to make a right turn. After 1km, finally I reached and almost regretted. The road in front of me was pitch-dark. No sign of cars at all. I hardly see what was in front!! I was so glad I had my iPhone who lid up a bit for me to walk all the way. It was going uphill. A couple of cars passed by. After that, I was all alone. Both sides of the road were like jungle. At most within an hour, I must see the cake shop in front of the entrance to Yuhei-san place, or else I would be lost! I walked and walked but no signs yet. I started to worry and asked myself “I’m not going to die here killed by wild animals or a serial killer, am I?” If this was the wrong way, I would be doom. Finally, I saw some light in front!! Could this be the cake shop?! I kept praying “Cake shop, please. Cake shop, cake shop….” When I confirmed it was really the cake shop, I was so relieved and a shiver ran through me! My iPhone saved my life! Without it, I wouldn’t even be able to see my hand in front of me! And thanks a lot to Yuhei-san’s perfect map for an act-clever guy like me. It took me 43minutes and I reached home at 9pm. According to my watch, the distance was actually pretty much the same, about 200m difference. Yuhei-san and his wife were still packing up the vegetables for sale. I quickly went for my shower, fixed my blisters and update my new adventure today. At 11pm, Yuhei-san was still working!!! It’s time to work again tomorrow and I went to bed at 11:30pm. What a day it was!!!