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May 18

To Oita and Beppu

I woke relatively early, got some food from a convenience store, and rode on towards Oita, and then Beppu. The ride was pretty shitty for a couple of reasons. The rode was crappy, and I was forced onto badly paved sidewalks. At times I could feel my knee hurting, so I had to take it slowly. And, I was tired from a fitful night's sleep, because of the cold.

At one point I was forced off of the main sidewalk by some construction signs, and then the construction workers' boss actually started to get angry at me (well, as angry as I've seen Japanese get), and told me to go back the way I came. I started talking back at him and vented my frustrations, saying that "the sidewalk ended, where do you want me to go!?" Eventually after we talked a little, he led me to a crosswalk to the other side of the street and I went on my way.

Later, when I replayed this episode in my head, I was actually happy about the whole thing. I think a few weeks earlier, I would've just turned around, not knowing how to deal with the situation, especially without control of the language. Instead, I was actually able to talk back. Hurrah!

The shitty riding didn't end, though. The road from the city of Oita, to neighboring Beppu, was relatively short but very bad in a big way. It was heavy traffic, I had to ride against the flow of traffic on a very narrow sidewalk - at times too narrow to ride, and the air was smoggy. One of my least favorite times during the trip, so far.

When I got to Beppu I hit City Hall for information, then the central train station which has a tourist info booth. My advice to you: always go to the biggest train station of any Japanese city for information; anywhere else is probably a waste of time.

The workers at the info booth were really cool and informative, and they even had a little free internet console (10 minute limit). I found out about the local foods, and hot baths (Beppu is famous for its onsens).

I went to the local YH to drop off my luggage, since it was around noon, and then went looking around, stopping at Tampopo cafe. The idea of this place was to combine video games with cafe - although all the video games are of the trivia type (no Ms. Pacman here). The business was almost non-existent, and the only other customers that came in, didn't play any games. Hmmm. I stayed for atleast 2 hours, however, writing letters and talking with Takako, the lady who runs the joint.

Then went next door for some Toriten, tempura chicken, a local food. I wasn't impressed with its flavor - the chicken was crappy, and I think deep-fried is a better compliment for chicken, then tempura-ized.

One thing about Beppu: there are a lot of people with some very serious walking problems here. I kid you not. I saw an unusual ammount of people walking with bow-legs, or in wheelchairs, or with other issues. I have no idea why, but if anyone knows, please do tell.