17th Dec – Day 41, Temple 28 (Dainichiji)

I was glad no one banged on the door to ask for the toilet! It was already bright when I woke up. I was quicker in my preparation this morning and started moving around 7:40am. I was glad I bought my dessert cake yesterday. They were just wonderful!! It was a happy day and I already whistling early in the morning. Probably I was going to meet Ronald McDonald again later!

The sun already came out at 8:30pm today! I thanked my sister very much for praying to have great weather for me. Nevertheless, the fingers were always freezing in the morning. My water bottle kept falling off a few times, until I tied it up nicely again. I was too lazy to do it earlier.

It was a long 20km plus walk to Temple 28. Around mid morning, “Ah Wing” threw temper and offended my shoulders! For the first time, my knees were tired instead and seemed to give way on a few occasions when I was walking a bit too fast. I dared not go too quick after that. And my toes still hurt especially if I had thick socks on. But all these were gone, the moment I thought of the big M sign!

On the way, I saw an interesting van parked at the side of a road entrance. Guillaume told me he watched a Japanese TV program before where the contestants were tested on parking at some places where it was almost impossible for non-residents there!

I walked and walked and walked. And finally I was just 1km away from my craving lunch outlet! I pressed on and eventually reached around 1:15pm! Too bad the Texas burger didn’t wait for me. Instead, Big Mac was only 200yen from today onwards until Boxing day! I saw some interesting key straps and decided to get one too. And so I ordered the large set, but the young lady told me there wasn’t any large size for hot drink, but only medium size. I said it was ok to have medium instead. But, when I asked for my key strap, there was some misunderstanding and the station manager came over to deal with me! I couldn’t express myself well in Japanese, to tell them what I wanted! Thankfully, the guy waiting patiently behind me in the queue, could speak English and helped me out! It seemed that I could only have LARGE cold drink in order to have the key strap!! What a stupid McDonald rule! But, I still had the guts to ask the not-so-patient-anymore station manager, if I could choose the key strap I like! After the Big Mac and a large fries, I was still not contented and had another McPork! It was something different and tasted good and only cost an amazing 100yen!!

I left around 2pm and got very thirsty after the junk meal! The slow 45minites walk eventually brought me to Temple 28. I was already used to “No” answer and had a contingency plan in mind, but when I asked the staff, they really had a place to sleep there!! It was a nice and clean room, but no blankets. The staff even served green tea with a boiler! I was more interested that I could have hot water!! I asked if there was a bath house around and the staff mentioned an onsen at a hotel some half an hour away. She offered to drive me there at 5pm, but I said I was ok to walk.

Reached a huge Marunaka supermarket with even a 100yen store! Went in and very happily got my stainless steel cup and spoon and a box of plaster for 105yen each!! Was trying so hard to look for internet access along my way and found a couple of spots but no proper seats available, but took note of them, just in case I really wanted to go online so desperately. In the end, I had the perfect spot at the onsen!!! After my bath, I stayed at the rest area enjoying my internet access, while having my feast of tidbits and breathtaking bottles of milk!! I had not had such great taste since my early uni days in Melbourne! I could still remember very clearly my first taste of milk at a hostel near my university. I almost wanted to throw up because I could not get used to the taste yet! Any fresher, you probably have to milk it yourself!! But 10 years later when I returned to Melbourne, the taste was sadly never the same anymore!

Around 8pm, I was so happy that I was allowed to come back to the onsen after my dinner!! I planned to go back to a restaurant I checked out at the supermarket with rice meals at reasonable price. But when I was there, they had already stopped accepting new customers although they closed at 9pm!

Dejected, I walked out and saw a place pretty local-like and thought the price should not be too expensive. I went in. The owners and patrons were looking at me like I was an Alien! Well, I was indeed an alien from another country to them! But shortly, a warm-looking lady welcomed me to my seat and asked what I like to drink. I said water will do, but she looked surprised and wondered if I don’t drink beer. I said I was on a walking pilgrimage and didn’t want to get a headache. She brought me one anyway and said it was ok to have just one! And they like to say “present” for a treat! I thanked the boss and tried to order my okunomiyaki, but they suggested a Saboyaki (fried noodle) instead because the Japanese pancake would took a long time to be ready. They knew I was very hungry!! The place was very lively, and reminded me of the small restaurant I went, near the Genpei-no-sato Michi-no-eki. The patrons were chatting and laughing together with the owners. It was more like a party than a restaurant! They were all very amazed where I came from and why I was walking the pilgrimage! I introduced myself and cheered with them as well!! The guy next sitting next to me then ordered a whole plate of sashimi for me as “o-settai”!! That was the first time I had so much sashimi at once in my life!!! But it was really very fresh and delicious!! Kochi was famous for its sashimi too, and I was very fortunate to taste it tonight. Then, he brought his glass of beer and said “Henpai” to me (instead of “Kanpai to mean cheers). The boss explained that only people from Kochi-ken did this. When someone “Henpai” with you, they would first down their glass and then poured for you to drink it all off as well! Basically, it meant “bottoms up” to us!! =] When I wanted to pay for my Saboyaki, the patrons sitting at the back offered it as “o-settai”!! I thanked them all and gave 6 name slips out!! The owner also gave me another golden name slip of a guy who did his 278th pilgrimage at the aged of 85years!!!! He said it was to be hung at the entrance of the house for protection! I was so grateful to meet this group of nice people and thanked them again before I went back to the onsen!

As I was trying to turn on my laptop, I realized my list of free lodging paper, slipped inside my guide book, was missing. I wouldn’t mind so much of the list actually because I had another copy in my laptop, but unfortunately, the contacts of the two Americans o-henro-san whom I met were written on that piece of paper! I believed I dropped it at the restaurant and walked very quickly back while leaving my things behind! Sadly, it wasn’t there as well. At this time, there was an old friend of the boss sitting there and I was introduced. He seemed very interested in me and wanted me to join him with a drink. I tried to “Siam” (meaning “avoid” in Hokkien dialect), but could not refuse him and the beer was already on the table! I went back quickly to the onsen again to collect my things and came back to join the old man. It started off with some usual plain chatting, but soon, he got into very deep conversations. Asking me about my objectives in life, what I wanted to do in life, and it took me a long while to realize he was actually a non-believer or not supportive of this pilgrimage at all. He kept saying a same phrase, repeated over and over again, that I couldn’t understand. Only managed to catch “Kokoro (heart)” and something like “Nancha”, “Shin” and “Zetai”!! When I was trying to pass him a name slip as courteous of the beer, he actually snubbed it fiercely! Glad the repetitive “Kokoro” and “Nancha” last for less than an hour, because the restaurant was closing at 11pm. The lady boss was trying to hint and chase him away, when he wanted to go “Kokoro” again!! I thanked both the owners very much once again for their hospitality and walked back to the temple in the dark! Still had some name slips to prepare, I hurriedly got it done and slept at 12am feeling pretty blur after just 2 glasses of beer!

Today, I walked the remaining 24.7km to Temple 28.