Au revoir mon amour...

Day 567:

With the rain falling down our cheeks, it was a challenge to make it to the airport on time.

But we did. And it was soon time to say goodbye.

But not before I got the first copy of my girlfriends new book. I'm so proud of her.

We also needed to slurp one more bowl together. Don't worry, this won't be our last.

With Saori gone, I was already starting to feel lonely. But my little princesses knew how to fix that.

And after some green noodles...

Enter the Dragon!

It's gonna be a tough road ahead.

But what else is new, right?

I never expected anything to be easy.

Did you?

Coincidentally, today was Yayo's last day. Basa is changing, but it's still the same.

ただいま！

Day 514:

Ahhh...日本だ!!

Upon arriving in Shinjuku, I let the girlfriend have first choice over what to eat for lunch. Still on her Thai kick, she chose Thai ramen. I'm down with that.

Khao San ramen!

Then as soon as I got home, there was only one person I wanted to see.

Hi Gramps!! It's been so long he thought I had gone back to cali. I don't blame him.

I think he missed me as much as I missed him. Thanks Gramps!!

Then it was time to continue tradition.

And say whattup to the fellas.

Recognize my replacement?

Ooh...

Ahh... I'm gonna miss this place.

As gifts from our friends in France, we were given some very local beer--Brasserie du Chardon. I drank a couple bottles.

Then immediately passed out...

Au revoir...

Day 504:

Without much sleep and a slight hangover, I made it to Narita with an hour to spare. To my surprise, the airport was considerably less crowded than a few days ago. My supposed route to France would have gone through Helsinki and Geneva, but with the crisis still looming we would be making an unexpected stop in Nagoya for fuel. So now my route looks like this: Narita-->Nagoya-->Helsinki-->Munich-->Geneva-->Grenoble. It's gonna be a long day.

With 30 minutes left before boarding, I needed to fuel up myself. The nearest place I could find was this Asian Cafe BowlBowl.

Narita Miso Ramen. Top notch airport ramen. haha.

This could be my last bowl for awhile.

Boarding time!

It's my first time travelling Finnair. As my girlfriend would say, Finnish sounds like funny Japanese. Okay. So we made it to Nagoya, but still a long, long way to go. PAin Progress?

Penne pasta.

Helsinki!

Whew, that was a long flight. Time to grab a beer and wait for my next one. I asked the bartender what the difference was between Lapin Kulta IV and Lapin Kulta III in which he responded, "IV has more alcohol, III has less." Needless to say I went with IV. He was right. After one glass I was feeling pretty good. Good enough to pass out on my next flight.

No ramen at the airport in Finland, but free kisses everywhere.

On to Munich!

I wasn't hungry, but I ate this anyway.

My stop in Munich was short and I found myself running to catch my next flight. Whew, made it!

I didn't care much for this snack, but I was hungry and I ate it anyway.

Geneva!! I made it. Now off to France!

Bonjour Saori. I vous avez manqué. Total excellium!

By the way, my luggage never made it out of Helsinki.

Godspeed...

Day 500:

There are no tears to be shed. We'll be okay. As you know, my girlfriend (formerly known as the assistant), is heading to France today. I accompanied her to the airport to see her off.

It's hard to say goodbye, but it's all for the better.

Be safe 紗織. And don't worry about us. We'll see you in a few days...

As I sat by myself on the train ride home, I suddenly felt so alone. It started hitting me. Why AM I still in Tokyo?!? So to ease the loneliness for a bit, I stopped by Kururi (麺処くるり 高田馬場店) in Takadanobaba.

It felt good to see a familiar face. Like everyone else in this town, Kurai-san was hard at work.

Kururi is known for their award-winning Miso Ramen.

Thick, viscous, fatty, and hot. Miso ramen at its finest.

Thank you Kurai-san for helping to ease the pain.

I must admit, I briefly started to panic tonight. Not hysterically, but just trying to convince everyone around me how serious I thought the situation was. In the span of an hour, it seemed like everyone was telling me to leave. I was receiving tons of emails and fb posts from all my relatives and friends repeating over and over what I already knew. "The government is lying." "You are crazy for staying!" "If you don't leave now it's gonna be too late." It was driving me crazy.

So we decided to close early...

Kimura-san and I went to grab a quick bite for dinner.

And then a quick drink at the 808 Lounge.

The boss wants us to stay open and continue to ganbare. The boss also lives in Kyushu and doesn't know what it feels like in Tokyo. I think we are pretty much ganbare'd out. We are all gonna get together tomorrow and decide amongst ourselves if we should close, regardless of what boss says. I'm really worried about Shuga's pregnant wife. If anything, she needs to get out of Tokyo the most. I'll keep you posted.