JAPAN 2016 | DAY 5 | NAGOYA
The day started off with Brian and I leaving Kyoto to see our long time friend, Youngtak in Nagoya. Youngtak was one of the first Japanese exchange students to come to UCLA and I haven’t seen him since 2010 so I was very excited to see our old friend. Youngtak was a huge part of our community at UCLA because he was one of the most outgoing, witty and lovable guys to ever come to our school. He even joined our UCLA Korean Culture Night for one year!
We arrived at Nagoya station and Brian and I were waiting for Youngtak in the waiting room. A random man walked into the room and started to wave at us. I had no idea who this stranger was until I looked closely. It was Youngtak.
For those of you who knew Youngtak, you would remember him to have long, orange hair. He would only wear XXL shirts and baggy jeans. To see him with short hair and wearing work clothes completely threw me off. It was so hilarious but it was so good to see him. He wanted to drive us to his favorite ramyun spot so we headed out to eat lunch. Man, it was so good to see him. The ramyun was probably the best one I’ve had yet. It was made with pork broth and everything about it was perfection. .
After lunch, we went to a local supermarket to grab some beer. On the way there, we saw a hoard of little kids walking out of school. Their uniforms was the cutest thing ever. I almost felt like a pedophile while taking pictures of them. We ended up bombarding Youngtak’s house and we chilled for a good hour or so. We were reminiscing and reflecting upon UCLA days. At that moment, I felt super thankful for friends like Youngtak and Brian. It’s such a wonderful thing how you can meet someone from someplace else and still be able to connect with them after so many years. That’s why I value time so much. The amount of time you spend with someone now can be very precious in the future. I was able to experience that not only in Nagoya, but in Japan as a whole. It doesn’t matter if you know someone for a short period amount of time. If you make the effort to make good times with one another, those moments can really last forever.
After hanging out at his place, Youngtak took us to a fashion street that was popular in Nagoya. I really admire fashion (especially Japanese) so it was nice to see the different types of stores the street offered.
After walking around, we ended up taking a quick break under a bridge. It was nice to catch some fresh air. Before Brian and I headed back to Tokyo, Youngtak took us to a famous, hole-in-the-wall bar next to his house.
Nagoya was awesome. It was so good to see our friend Youngtak. It was pretty sad to only hang out with him for a day, but it was such a delight to travel to Nagoya to see him. Although Youngtak started to work in the professional world, it was comforting to see that he was still the same Youngtak from 5-6 years ago. I’m glad he remained the same. Until next time, Youngtak!
It was my last night in Japan. So when we arrived in Tokyo, Kiku and Oka wanted to grab a drink with us. We met at Ginza area and shared my last night together.
