Sonya's Grumpy Morning
I woke up at 10 today. Sonya was still asleep, so I took a shower and edited TikToks and other videos while I waited. She finally woke up around 11.
I woke up to the alarm in her room, so I hadn't slept very well. It's probably giardia or an upset stomach. Her skin looked rough and her spots stood out, which made me really sad.
When Sonya woke up she said she wanted me to knock on the door to wake her. She's an INFJ, so I thought maybe she gets moody when plans get messed up.
But I left her be because I thought sleep was important since she was tired. I actually wanted her to say "Thank you for letting me sleep without getting mad." But she got moody, so I felt a little sad.
Metronidazole and Polisorb
We got ready and went out right away. We decided to buy metronidazole and POLISORB at a nearby pharmacy. Sonya recommended them; apparently they adsorb viruses, bacteria, dust, and such and help expel them.
When I asked if they had metronidazole they handed it over right away. This one was 250 mg. In Southeast Asia it's 500 mg, so I thought Southeast Asia must be stronger.
Sonya was very grumpy even while buying the medicine. She frowned and said, "Huh?" and I wondered why she was so angry. I don't usually show my emotions, so this kind of thing doesn't happen often.
Maybe she has it ingrained that showing emotion is losing. No matter how tired she is, it doesn't show on her face. If someone treats me like that, I get affected and become bewildered. Sure enough, I became a bit afraid to talk to her.
I worried she might reject me. I walked along in a daze.
Aidarhal and Borscht
We took the metro to the walking start point. I was hungry, so we ate breakfast/lunch at a nearby restaurant. I ordered Aidarhal, which was potatoes with rosemary, and borscht.
Sonya had beef tongue with cheese and rice. It was funny—like eating in Japan. The food was so-so and there was no one else there. Uzbekistan has a lot of run-down or abandoned shops; I wondered if the economy wasn't doing so well.
We got hot water and Sonya made the Polisorb. She dissolved two spoonfuls of a powder that looked like some kind of stimulant and drank it.
It looked obviously awful, but she said in Russia they always drink this when their stomachs act up. I think it's silicon dioxide?
Pilaf at Besh Quzon, Caring Russians
We went to a park with a fountain and saw a large statue, then headed to a pilaf place called Besh Quzon. I had pilaf with olive oil. Sonya just had warm tea and water.
There she was told to drink Polisorb too. As expected of Russians, or rather she's such a caring friend. Russian women really look after others' health, they prepare food and take a lot of care when someone catches a cold.
They do it almost insistently, and I really like that about them.
On a River Bench, Travel Values
We walked a bit to the Political Museum. There was a river and someone fishing. Sonya sat on a bench and smoked a cigarette. When she smokes, I think she looks kind of cool—because it's a contrast with her personality.
When she said she needed to use the restroom, we stopped by a nearby cafe where she bought a coffee and the owner showed us to the toilet. It was her small kindness.
She said sarcastically, "You're always traveling alone—doesn't it get annoying to have me around?" I replied, "No, not at all!"
When I travel with friends, I'm more interested in conversations with them than places or food; I want to get to know who they are, make lots of memories with them, and deepen our bond.
I shared that mindset—that it's okay if we can't visit tourist spots or plans go awry. She seemed a little happy when she heard that.
The Blue Mosque
Uzbekistan was defined by its blue mosques. We visited several mosques; they were truly sacred, beautiful, so quiet they left me speechless, and majestic.
We ate samsa on a bench and then went inside. I had nothing to say except that it was truly beautiful.
A Park that Reminded Me of Peterhof, Russia's 16% Interest Rate
While walking, there was a huge park that reminded me of Peterhof in Saint Petersburg.
Here too the trees were dyed in many colors—yellows, greens, oranges—as if all four seasons were present, and it was really beautiful.
We talked about interest rates at Russian banks. Apparently they're 16%. You can get 16% in one year. It was unbelievable. When I said Japan is around 0.05%, she was really surprised.
We discussed how, because of that, when you take out a mortgage to buy a house you'll end up paying more in interest than the purchase price by the time you finish repaying. That's insane.
Tasting Tvorog at the Bazaar
We took a taxi to the bazaar. Since it was around 5 PM most stalls were closed. We found tvorog and were allowed to sample it.
They gave us a pinch of each cheese. They put tvorog from the knife onto the back of my hand. Some had a sour taste and some were sweet.
We decided to buy the sweet one. Adventures like this are fun. There were huge amounts of beef, poultry, and pork for sale—truly wild.
1 kg of strawberries for ¥2,300 — "They're thieves!"
There were fruits outside too. Since Sonya said, "Let's buy something while we're here," we decided to buy something. I thought maybe bananas or strawberries.
We ended up buying strawberries. When I asked the price it was 1,800,000 soum per kg. Unbelievable—about ¥2,300. I couldn't believe they'd sell them so expensively at a market.
I asked a woman elsewhere and she said 1,800,000 soum too. I thought it was a total scam.
I said beside her, "Are you really going to give that woman money? You can just reject her." But she said she wanted the strawberries, so she bought about 300 grams and paid 900 yen. I couldn't believe it. I thought it might be more expensive than in Japan.
Sonya was also a bit angry and said in Japanese, "Dorobō da yo" ("They're thieves"), haha. She joked that if they turned out to be not tasty she'd be furious, haha. It's another funny memory.
The Blue Mosque, Unwashed Strawberries
We left the market and walked toward the mosque. On the way I felt a bit of insecurity in the area. The smog was awful—maybe it was related to air pollution.
Maybe because we were near the market, the atmosphere felt heavy. There was a chill too—the kind of bad winter cold.
We arrived at the mosque. The so-called Blue Mosque was truly beautiful. It was like a theme park—so pretty—and since it was night it was lit up. There weren't many people. We saw someone enter a mosque to pray. It felt very sacred.
I bit into a strawberry and had a photo taken in front of the mosque. When I asked Sonya, "Aren't you going to eat one?" she said, "They're not washed."
She should've told me that before I ate it, haha. Maybe because I've traveled long in Southeast Asia I don't worry about that anymore. Back in Japan I always wash them.
Sonya took lots of photos and videos. The Blue Mosque with its blue dome—we enjoyed a nighttime walk feeling Uzbekistan.
Before going to the mosque we passed a restaurant selling samsa with a long line of locals.
It looked popular, so we got in line and bought the potato one and the lamb one and ate them in front of the mosque. They were delicious.
The Smetana Debate and a Kefir Night
Before going home we decided to stop at a nearby supermarket to buy wine and dinner to eat at the house. We bought bread, smetana, cheese, salami, butter, and water—typical Soviet/Russian things.
When I tried to buy smetana she started judging me, haha. I said I like to spread smetana on dark bread, and she said that's impossible, haha. There was no wine or beer, so we decided to do that another day. We took a taxi back to the apartment.
Sonya immediately took a shower, and then I did. While I was showering she prepared dinner.
The table had bread, salami, and cheese laid out and it felt kind of like family. I felt relaxed because I don't have to worry much about her and can just spend time.
We had dinner together. She filmed me spreading smetana. When she finally tried the smetana-topped bread, she didn't like it after all, haha.
It's been two years but it's not awkward
After that I did some work and wrote in my journal. Sonya studied university math, and we spent time together. We had a lot of quiet moments, but we really didn't have to be careful about anything or feel like we had to talk.
We hadn't seen each other in two years, yet it felt like we'd met recently and it wasn't awkward at all. I thought that was a good thing. I'm glad to be blessed with good friends and good people.
Later, before going to bed and after the laundry finished, we drank kefir.
I think it's the kind of adventure you can only do when you're young. I met her on HelloTalk, then we met in Japan, kept talking, and before we knew it we became close and ended up traveling to Uzbekistan together.
We spent ten days together. Thinking about it again, that's amazing—spending ten days with someone you haven't seen in two years. I feel like there's some special bond.
While we were having dinner we watched Muay Thai, aikido, and Naoya Inoue boxing videos. I thought it was funny to watch those together after dinner. She recently started Muay Thai and seems really into this stuff. Again, the contrast amazes me.
Her personality is very calm, yet she's wild. She's so independent and I really feel her INFJ-ness. Because she's the kind of person who doesn't open up easily, the fact that she travels with me like this makes me feel she's really opening her heart. That makes me very happy.
Tomorrow is Samarkand. Let's enjoy tomorrow too! These are precious times that will never come back. Adventures together that we can only do when we're young. Let's enjoy them to the fullest.
