The unintentional road

Yesterday was a strange day.

I originally was planning on getting out of the area, to beat the heat and see some place I've never seen before. So I head north on the Tobu line up to Omiya in Saitama. My original aim was to then jump on the Shinkansen and go onward to Nagano.

But at Omiya Station I had this odd feeling, like I should just stop here. So I wandered around the city, which is a bit bigger than I'd expected.

I didn't find a room, so the trip turned into just a day jaunt. But I did get to see a lot of the central area of the city, at least. And I guess Omiya seems nice. It's almost like Shinjuku around the station, with some chunks of big buildings on the one side, and a bit more shitamachi (in a good, but somehow even too sleazy for me kinda way) on the other.

But there's only so much you can do in a city where you have no idea what's around or what's going on, and with no rooms in the area for a reasonable price, I decided to head home and head to a bar I've been going to for ages.

And I find the bartender I know and usually talk to is gone, but I make friends with the new guy and some regular customers I've never seen but have also been going there for ages. Strange.

It was a good day, but a long one, and now I need a break from my (non) vacation.

End of pointless post. You are now allowed to go back to your regular life, as I will mine.