I requested some time of off work and I wanted to go somewhere and do something different; so I called up my old friend from school that is from and lives in
Aomori. She had come to stay with me a few times over the last 2 years, so she owed me a favor. Besides, she always said that she wanted me to go up and see her sometime.
Within 2 weeks I was at Tokyo station getting on the Touhoku Shinkansen on my way to Aomori. It cost me an arm and a leg though, around 300,000 yen (US$275) for a round trip ticket to Aomori station. Plus, I had to change from the shinkansen at Morioka station to an express train on the Main Touhoku Line to get there. I wished I would have gone by airplane, but my friend’s grandmother insisted I go by train because flights get postponed and cancelled very often because of bad weather. (You should always follow an old person’s and/or local’s advice ‘cause they know a lot better than you)
The weather and view from the train was nice on the way to Aomori. Lots of snow covered mountains and fields. Nothing but white landscape. A big change from Kanto. But it took 7 hours to get there! My rear hurt so much from sitting most of the time!
I ended up spending 3 nights and 4 days in Aomori all the while drinking and eating too much. Just the perfect thing I needed to get away from my average salaryman life, but come to think of it, I can and do those things every day in Tokyo though. But truthfully I had a really good time in Aomori because I met old friends and got to eat good food. I hope to go back in the summer, maybe in time for the Nebuta Festival in Hirosaki.