He had this kind face, and I didn't feel uncomfortable that I was seated with a stranger. His first words to me were [looking at the plastic on the back of the seat]: "Ay para sa suka?" Then I asked, "Filipino?" Then he nodded. He said when he saw my name he knew I was from the same country. We were on the same page: first time travelling in Japan, travelling solo too. It's apparently easy, we agreed, especially the train once you get the hang of it. We didn't talk much throughout the trip, just respecting each other's space.

Back at that time, it was awkward for me to interact with a male species—maybe that's why this moment was special. I didn't know where to place myself. Unfortunately, I pushed away some kindness he showed to me. 😅 I'm just glad I kept a connection with him, because I guess that is already enough for me, and I have proved to myself that I can do the first move. I think he was way way younger than me—I judged it mainly because of his interests (anime, One Piece?). Haha but I'm so happy he didn't use 'po' or 'opo' with me lol. Later would I discover (through his posts) that he is in the medical field, based abroad.

When we saw the snow at the first bus stop, we smiled like silly children—apparently it was both our first time experiencing snow. Although Mt. Fuji would not be visible for this, he completed my own sentence, that this is more preferable because it's more of an immersive experience.

He offered to take my picture, which I was so grateful for, hehe. Of course I offered to take a video of him too. 

Actually it felt like we were friends for a long time, but the setup then was a bit tricky. Do I need to wait for him? But we ended up looking out for each other. When walking on the snow, I was walking so slowly because I was really cautious because of my bad knees, but he walked alongside me to match m y pace. Upon arriving at the steps of the shrine, I wasn't able to say I'll go ahead—lol, he was busy taking selfies I think. I had a mission to do so I didn't want anything to distract me. I told myself that the 400+ steps up to the shrine were my form of sacrifice to offer as gratitude for everything that the Universe has given to me at this point, and that even though I have bad knees, I will do it. And so I constantly climbed up, never stopping for photos or whatnot, paying my respects at the shrine. When it was finally time to go down, I kinda felt bad because I could have taken photos of him at that great spot in front of the pagoda.

I was last to arrive at the bus (uh, I knew I was minutes late but I didn't want to rush walking because of the snow). And he was waiting for me. I think the tour guide asked him where I was LOL. 

I'm always awkward when someone takes photos of me. He offered, which is really cool, but haha I'm just awkward with posing, so I just told him I'll walk around the park to continue some self-reflection.

When we parted ways at the bus stop, it was so cold, the wind was blowing so hard I couldn't think straight. All I knew was that all the words I rehearsed in my mind to say as our parting words he had already said himself, so actually I wasn't able to say anything and just nodded and patted his shoulder to say thank you too. And then he went into that building. I wasn't able to say a proper goodbye as the ramen place I was planning to go to was in the opposite direction.

It was a brief encounter but it's nice to meet people with the same mindset, and for sure if it was a different setup, we would get along well. I guess my takeaway from this experience is that it is indeed possible to find someone you'll like. I just need to expand my horizon. 😅

I just want to state: don't fall in love with the moment and think you're in love with someone, just like the 1975 song says. Like those math love stories, we were perpendicular lines, meant to intersect at one dot, then go our own ways forever. Thanks to you. And yup, cherry blossoms and the snow will remind me of you. 🌸❄️

~o~

This entry was written and drafted in 2019. 💖