Once we got to where I was to transfer, my friend told me where to go, and to have a safe trip. Somehow it might have been her reassurance, or even my good luck from catching the last train a few nights ago while in Tokyo, but I didn't bother to look at my watch, so I didn't know what time it was. But when I did get to where I was to catch my train, I discovered that the last train had left the station. Ugh. I wasn't sure how to get home, and Japanese taxis are notoriously expensive after midnight. (One interpretation might be that they are opportunistically taking advantage of stupid people like me who were too drunk to catch the last train. I asked the station agent as best I could what direction I should walk in order to get to where I wanted. He reminded me that it was a far walk, but pointed in a general direction. I figured that I could just follow the train tracks, which were above ground, and as long as I went the right way, I would get to my hotel. So I started the walk.
The first thing that surprised me outside the train station was that many girls were coming up to me and uttering something I couldn't understand. I figure that they were prostitutes. Perhaps if I were more sober and in my right mind, I would have accepted their propositions, but I had a long walk ahead of me, so I decided against it.
After walking for about twenty minutes, I had already lost the train tracks, and had no idea where I was, or what direction I was heading. I didn't really feel like doing this anymore, so I hailed a taxi, and he took me to my hotel. I asked him what price he thought it would be, and it seemed reasonable enough. Taking a taxi instead of walking was probably the right choice from the beginning, anyway.
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