Why is it that Day 2 of any trip always seems to be the hardest day?

I am writing this on Thursday night after opted to take the night off because I simply had to. I guess it’s the one good thing of having mom’s friend come on the trip. Mom can go out with her friend while I stay behind.

Day 2 is rough and tough. The weather, for one, my gosh, how do people deal with having sticky skin all the time? The people wearing long-sleeves shirts and pants in this heat and humidity, I applaud you because even in short-sleeves and shorts, I feel like I’m being baked alive.

Anyway, we visited the Tokyo National Museum today. Getting there was a challenge and an adventure, as it was. I don’t think I have ever encountered such a complicated public transit system and I don’t know what’s worst – having my mom who’s contradicting my every word or people smiling at you but when you need their help, they can’t help you because you don’t speak their language.

The moment I arrived at Ueno Park, though, I felt about 10 times more relaxed than when I was dealing with the subway system and mom. The trees and greeneries made me feel at peace.

I spent most of the museum visit sitting, catching up on podcasts and blog. I had no interest in seeing any sort of art and it’s not just today. I simply don’t know how to appreciate a good painting. After the museum, the weather turned gnarly. It started with a few drops of rain accompanied with lightning and thunder but that turned into a downpour quick. To my surprise (and I don’t know why), the temperature did not cool down.

We sought shelter in a small ramen restaurant. Oh my goodness! I felt like I was losing my mind. As we ordered the food, I could see the waiter frowning behind his mask. I ended up being the one ordering the food with the little Japanese I could comprehend and hand gestures. Well, I’ll let you imagine how that went.

After a sweaty meal in that tiny restaurant, we headed to Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. I couldn’t believe my ears when mom suggested we walk the almost 2 miles there from Akihabara. Under this pouring rain? And heat? And humidity?

Thankfully, her friend agreed with me and against mom’s wishes, we headed to the subway station. You don’t always get what you want, mom.

Sensoji Temple was in every video when I was researching for the trip. It looked absolutely beautiful in the videos but when I arrived at Kaminarimon, I felt disappointed at the smallness of it compared to the videos.

I had my fortune drawn and surprise, surprise, I drew a bad fortune. I was, however, not surprised at the fortune because it describes exactly what I’m going through right now. So, why did I spent 100-yen finding out something I already knew?