20 Oct 2007
07.20 pm
Hongkong.
Going from Japan to Hongkong is like tasting a cold dish (not a very tasty one) after a good full dine in a breezing autumn night. No offence to all HK people. I’ve been so spoiled in Japan like a Barbie doll in a Barbie world. The toilet seats were warm.. Oh boy I love toilet time there. Here in HK, the toilet seats froze my butts. Oh well it’s just the first day here, I’m not supposed to make an early judgement.
I had fun here when I arrived at the airport though. See I didn’t feel so well since last night (I diagnosed myself feeling heavy to leave Japan so I reverted it to my body). This morning it’s a five-hour-flight from Narita to HK, I took simple medication (Panadol for flu) before leaving.
And... when I walked to the gate 77, there’s a lady in an alcohol duty-free store who gave away samples. It’s just like 2 or 3cc of liquids in a plastic cup, and I took it. My face was hot all day and became redder (adding a special effect to my already reddish face).
Just before I got in the HK immigration, a lady stopped me and asked me to go to medical post there because I had a high fever. I didn’t feel that high, but the thermometer read 38.4oC. Oh wow...
The tour leader was afraid that I’d be taken to quarantine. How cool would that be if that really happened? Hahaa. Then she asked me if I had alcohol before and I said, “oh yes, a bit of Suntory whiskey!” So she spoke to the medical ladies in Cantonese (I didn’t understand a word), she sounded as though I was a bad teenager, hahaa.. but I know that’s just to get me out of troubles. She told me in Indonesian that if they asked, just tell them that I had a lot of hard liquor. I didn’t think the med team would buy that but they didn’t ask anyway.
The doctor came and checked my breathing sound and my tonsil. I believe he’d know I had a sore throat. And my heart’s a bit palpitated, not because I was nervous though. I was very calm that time, not scared nor worried because I thought that that would’ve been another experience I’d remember by.
Don’t tell the tour leader and the rest of the tour members including my family. I guess they were a bit burdened by that; I delayed their schedule for about fifteen minutes. When I was finished from that, they asked if the doctor gave me any prescriptions. Hahaa no way, he just checked if I had avian flu..
19 Oct 2007
09.57 pm
Tokyo.
Near Narita.
Hmmm.. the last night in Japan. I’m feeling a bit heavy to leave this country. I know the food is not my kind of type at all, but starving me out means I’ll be able to go on a diet, doesn’t it? I love this country, the people are so full of spirits (the ones I met). Even though you don’t know their language, and they don’t know yours nor English, they keep speaking their own Japanese warmly. You don’t understand the words? Big deal? What’s important is that you’ve got the point.
Going to Tokyo Disney Resort, or Osaka Universal Studio Japan (USJ), I realize (well, I got sure) that these people really love and mind the details. They follow the theme to build theme parks’ rides, etc. Even the cracks of the stone walls, the fonts they use on rubbish bins, or the design of the restaurants there. They all fit the theme. Awesome! They built those things for the beauty of it, not just the functions. Artful. They really compliment the perfectionists’ eyes. I don’t mind going here again someday.
Tomorrow we’ll
leave this country and head for Hongkong. I’d trade two days of Hongkong
(including a day of HK Disneyland tour) for one more day in Japan. This
hotel is not far away from our departure port and I’m going to miss the ramen
(noodle) I made myself at a DIY restaurant with a little education from a cute
waiter beforehand.
Well before arriving here, my targets were:
1. SAKE!!
I wondered what kind of beverage that Jenson claimed as his favourite drink. And it’s not bad!! Got it at a BBQ place in Nagoya!
2. Get a latest edition of One Piece the original version!
Got #47 ONE PIECE at Fukuya Book Store, Ginza.
3. Meet ASIMO (Honda robot)…
Okay this one’s too imaginational. Actually I wanted to find some Asimo accessories like keychain or the little robot. It’s cute!!
But I don’t get a chance to go near this target.
4. Of course, the traditional things of Japan.
Checked:
- meet Fuji-san and take pictures
- Onsen! At Fuji-view Hotel. Nice!
- Takoyaki. Tasted it just now at Jusco Plaza Narita. Not bad but I couldn’t stand the octopus’ heavy smell.
- Udon. Don’t smell so good...
- Steamboat. Not my kind of food, but the soup wasn’t that aweful.
- Ramen :)
- Japanese manga setting, with the rivers, classic houses, even the graveyard inside the city.
- Checked out Japanese guys, ;P I can’t remember the face of the guy who served at Spiderman’s counter at USJ but I do remember that his smile was gorgeous :)
- Yukata (usually there’s a pair of them in every hotel room as pjamas).
- I don’t know if this is traditional or not: the hosts (male, young male hosts) of night clubs / bars who were standing outside their bars in the small road at night time to invite guests. Cool.. I thought it was just in mangas...
18 Oct 2007
07.10 pm
Tokyo.
Yesterday we went to see Mount Fuji (I like to use the name “Fuji-san” – Mr. Fuji). The cold was almost unbearable! It’s so great. I love going to see popular places and this one wasn’t an exception. It’s worth the hours to get there. As special as Fuji-san was, he (it) also had a common thing like other mountains: there’re horses there, rented for the tourists if they want to be horsing around.. Oh boy, how huge were those horses! It’s surely bigger than the ones I used to see. I touched one after getting an excuse from the owner (I spoke sign languages with that charismatic old man). The horse wasn’t clean but it sure was warm.. :)
So we left Fuji-san and headed to Tokyo. Woohoo big city! Awesome! We went to Venus Fort Shopping place but actually there wasn’t much time to shop around. We just ate lunch at a nice restaurant with European foods there. At last, a meal that suit me taste buds. Oh so nice..
There’s Toyota City showcase near that place. Hmm.. The tour leader said, no such thing as Honda City showcase there. So.. Well I was shot with a silver Lexus there ;P
After that, it’s to the Ginza road. I couldn’t afford a real shopping there, but I found what I was looking for since I was in Medan: a latest edition of original One Piece comic..!!
At the night, we
arrived at the famous Asakusa temple. Not much to see there.. The sky was
brilliant red, though. But..! My cellie was sleeping (low battery) since noon
so there’re no recollections..
08.52 pm
Tokyo.
Tokyo Disney Resort is great! Everything’s perfect! Nice! I only played four or five rides but there’re no regrets. I prefer taking pictures around and feeling the cheerful fantasy theme.
The first ride
we tried was the one and only Pirates of the Caribbean.
Wow wow… the details were astounding! Captain Jack was (or were, he appeared
three times) so so Johnny Depp, good looking! Even the voice was identical with
the real one.
Later on, just before we decided to go back to our bus, I heard some guy gasped, “Jack Sparrow!” Realising what it meant, I threw my vision to follow his. It’s indeed Captain Jack! He’s circled by a bunch of Japanese girls, all wanted to take pictures with him. They didn’t even stand in line to queue like what they normally did every time there’re photo spots (I was in the line for the handsome Peter Pan). Well I guess that’s Captain Jack’s charm (even though we all knew he’s just a random man playing a character).
“Captain Jack, I love you!” I shouted from his behind. He noticed that and turned around, then with his typical Jack style and Jack’s voice, he said, “Aah, thank you!”
17 Oct 2007
08.30 am
Hakone to Mount Fuji (Fuji-san!)
Yesterday after lunch, it’s a short going around the Lake Ashi with a quite big ship. Awesome, I think it’s the first time I went sailing (although, this one might not be counted as sailing, hahaa). Also, having lived in a tropical country for all my life and never experienced winter, the moment I walked into the harbour was the first time I’ve ever felt that cold.
The wind was swifty and most of all freezing. I didn’t dress for that. My lower legs were exposed, I only had a white jeans jacket without gloves. Nice…
Fingers and palms were unnerved from the cold but I had to take pictures, hadn’t i? On the ship, I spent all the time (not very long, though, the destination wasn’t far, it’s not a large lake,) on the upper deck and dealt with cameras. Frozen hands? Who cares, blood vessels could dilate later but the view wouldn’t stay, no?
We arrived at a place where there’s the big orange gate. Then we went to Premium Factory Outlet, nice place to walk.
The night came, our stay was at Fuji-View Hotel. Onsen! (hot water spring!) Apparently we had to be really (and I mean really) naked to take part in the bath. It’s only provided a really (and I mean really) small towel like 30cm X 50cm piece of white cloth. You can’t cover your body in that thing. Most the people in our tour team didn’t have the guts to be naked in that public bathroom (separated by gender, though), but I didn’t come here just to be shy. This might be my only chance for onsen so let’s just go.
The hot tubs wasn’t big but there’s one which was outdoor, it’s so cool (whereas the water was hot, they said it’s like 37oC). When I got in the onsen, there were two or three old women in the indoor tub. So it’s just me out there.
What a great experience, swimming naked in an outdoor (but completely safe) hot tub. That was like a temporary escape from your daily life in the hectic world.
16 Oct 2007
07.45 pm
Hakone, Fuji-View Hotel.
Today, hmm..
8 a.m. we began our five-hour-journey to Hakone from Nagoya. It’s up to the mountain (not Fuji, though). Around 1 p.m. we arrived at a Japanese restaurant where udons were awaiting with some other local foods. Luckily there’s karaage (fried chicken nugget) so my lunch was saved. The udon (noodle) wasn’t bad, the certain specific smell of it was a bit too strong for me, though. I ate almost half of the dishes to be fair.
15 Oct 2007
11.04 am
Todaiji temple, Nara.
Quite fun, actually. There were deer all the way from entrance gate to the temple. The view was good, the people in the temple were nice. We asked a beautiful lady in kimono to take photos with us. I’m undoubtedly a Christian so I went there (and some other temples we’re going right now) just for fun. It’s really traditional and really Japanese to wash hands with that big spoon thing before giving 10 yen and lighted an incense (just for the experience, I didn’t pray, of course!).
Then in the temple… Nothing really interesting except there’s one silly game. There’s a small hole that went through a big wooden trunk inside the temple (it might be one of the foundation), and they believed that if your body got through it, it’s good luck. Wow what a discrimination to the big-sized people. I was sceptical at first but it looked like a fun game so I played it too (indeed it’s fun, no special obstacles going through the hole. Oh well I was a lucky person in the first place so it just proved me right, hahaa).
The little road
that we used to go to that place was beautiful, very original and typical small
town of Japan
like you see in the comic books. It seems so peaceful.
02.30 pm
Kyoto.
Finally, the first actual Japanese meal. Nabé. I didn’t touch the sashimi (raw fish meat, thank you), I put too many furikake wasabi in the rice, I only taste a teeny tiny bite of the already small so-called-chicken meat, practically what I ate was only udon and rice (unfinished though). But hey, this is not me complaining. I love the place. I found it amusing to sit on a flat pillow and ate out of a very low table. I’ve not been a fan of Japanese food at all so I had prepared for this diet. Lack of food, not a problem. As long as I get to go places.
The road to
Kyoto from Nara had me seeing the typical setting of most mangas like the
bridge and the sewage lake, with people riding bicycles near it. And the trees
I’ve heard like ginko and of course, sakura. It’s autumn so no chance to see the
flower let alone the blooms. After lunch, it’s to another temple, Heian
something. We didn’t go inside though, not enough time. They bought dorayaki
(as in Doraemon’s favourite food) and I tasted a bite.
04.15 pm
Kiyomizudera, Kyoto.
What a happy place :)
The street looked cheerful and overcrowded. The top of the hill or the end of the street was a temple (I don’t know what the name is). Today there’s so so many students in the whole place. We got the chance to ask some to take picture with them. A bunch of high-school boys indeed ;D
There’s something called “Love Stones”, now this one sounds a lot more pleasant than any other stones like kidney stones, gallstones, etc. The rule was to walk with eyes closed from start to finish (about 4 metres long), it’s marked by two stones. You’re allowed to receive guidance for your steps as long as eyes stayed closed. If you could reach the finish stone in 25 steps max, you’d find your soulmate or you’d be successful etc. of course I’d played that too! Not that I’m that superstitious. Usually when I’m predicted bad things, I don’t believe it. If it’s a good thing, I still don’t believe it but I’ll feel good :)
I walked like a just-born-Bambi without vision but at least I got there in 25 steps exactly! Fun :)
06.49 pm
Nagoya.
Shinkansen is cool..! The feeling of a very speedy thing went
pass through you in a very cold autumn night without any sweater on because you
tucked it into your baggage last night...
08.40 pm
Nagoya.
Great! (and I mean it!)
There were a lot lot lot of “love hotel”s here in Nagoya, as seen on..well, Japanese hentai (porn), hahaa. Not that I’ve seen one, mind you. Well, softcore manga isn’t a new thing.. Lol :D
Then we had dinner in a barbeque restaurant. I didn’t touch the grill, only fruits and.. *clapping hands vigorously* SAKE..!! Bravo! It’s been my first priority of coming here (if not mentioned before). My dad didn’t allow my second wineglass, his excuse was that it’s quite heavy but I thought he just wanted to finish it alone. I’m not a fan of beers or stuffs but this sake has a good aftertaste. I only drank a tiny glass but my dad didn’t know that I poured some on my fruits plate (to make my own fruit cocktail, Japanese style!) so now my face is still hot and my mood a bit elated. Sugoi desu! :)
14 Oct 2007
08.50 am Japanese time
Standing in line.
For breakfast.
08.20 pm
Osaka.
Osaka guys are indeed pretty cool
(including the girls, the moms and the dads – even after they’re married and
have kids, they dress nicely and quite funky).
I’m writing today’s activities and what new things
(that-is-so-Japanese-stuff) I’ve been through:
Morning: showering
The shower’s position is lower than regular, it’s designed to suit Asian size. I like it better than the oh-so-high ones.
But the special item in the bathroom is…I don’t know what exactly the name is, it’s like a small rounded edgeless little ceramic chair that we often see the manga/anime characters use when they’re taking a bath. They sit on it than begin cleaning their body. I don’t see why it’s necessary to use that but I sat on it anyway because it’s just fun :)
Check#1: the ‘chair’
While we’re on the subject, I want to confess my love with the toilets here. The seat is warm, water also warm, it cleans both your private areas, and it has a sound effect of flushing water so you wouldn’t be embarrassed by the ‘kerplunk’ sound when you’re “having a sh*t” (pardon me, I could find other saying that’s not so rude but this was the one appeared first in my mind because I heard Kimi said that phrase and played it on youtube so many times).
Check#2: the fancy futuristic toilet
Breakfast
The obstacle of this country for me is the food so I was a bit cautious when walking into the food bar. Luckily they also served international food (not much, though) like spaghetti and some fried potato nuggets. But I spooned out some porridge just for wanting to taste the “shoyu” (Japanese soy sauce). Bien, c’est pas mal! Not bad.
Check#3: “shoyu”
Speaking Japanese (and listening to lots of it!)
I don’t understand Japanese, but I know some of the words (thanks to years of reading manga-Japanese comics and sometimes watching the anime and dorama. My sister is studying the language too – still a rookie, though).
Being fellow Asians, we’re always recognized as Japanese people (except the hotel staff who know where we’re from).
A pretty lady was going to take a picture of her husband and their daughter at the hotel lobby when she realized she’s blocking my position to take a shot of my sister. She said, “sumimashen” (sorry / excuse me) a couple of times and some other words. It’s okay really, she didn’t have to apologize or feel guilty for such an easy meaningless not-a-mistake thing, but maybe Japanese people are really polite.
So “daijoubu,” I said. Didn’t really know if it fits the situation (from what I learned, foreign languages could be tricky what with the feminine-masculine, ethics&norms, prefix-suffix things, etc). Then you started to get a bit courage to communicate even if you’re duck and they’re chicken (both avian but speak different language).
Check#4: overconfidently speaking Japanese
We went to Osaka Universal City’s Underwater World (Kaiyukan). Man it’s crowded there. Especially the sections of dolphins, mega-shark whale (or whatever the name was), penguins, ferrets, seals… But oh boy, were they adorable! And speaking of cute, kids are cute here! Very! Kawaii!! When I was standing in the crowd watching penguins, a little girl (maybe aged 3-4) asked her mom about one penguin. I heard they said about “namae” or “name”. I guess the conversation went on like this:
The little girl asked what the penguin’s name was. Her mom replied something like that penguins don’t have names. Her daughter insisted he had a name, and his name was “Minami-kun”. How cute!!! Her mom was laughing hard.
Check#5: the suffix “-kun” after a Japanese name.
Later on we went to Universal Studio’s theme park. Wow, my idol, Elmo, is surely famous here! There were so many people (girls, particularly,) wearing the accessories like all kind of hats, hair bands, Elmo-shaped bags, even just carrying (hugging) Elmo doll everywhere.
The people (especially youngsters) are really cool here. Not just their styles, I admire how they really cherish “kawaii” or cute adorable things like wearing not just Elmo but also T-rex doll as a hat (seriously, a full body T-rex!), painting their faces, carrying cute stuff animals in their arms then go hang out, etc.
Not all of the girl’s faces are very beautiful but they dress very stylishly and their haircuts are great, not to mention the make-ups. You could rarely find youngsters in natural black hair here in Osaka. And you could rarely find those who weren’t in pairs. Osaka guys weren’t all handsome either but the same thing applied as the girls; they’re all very cool and stylish.
Check#6: the Japanese style
Moment of the day:
Speaking English to a cute guy from “Spiderman’s pick up photo” stand, while he spoke Japanese, but we made it as though a warm normal conversation. Hahaa. Fun.
I kept speaking English (I actually could just say simple things like hello thanks, etc in Japanese but I didn’t want him to think I knew his language to avoid further misunderstandings), yet he also kept speaking Japanese (and I’m sure he knew the words ‘hi’ or ‘thanks’ or ‘yes’ but maybe he has the same thinking as mine too, hahaa).
So it’s like two languages but also two way communications that amused me, although it might be a boring story to other people. I was just picking up photo anyway.
Oh and I met Captain Jack Sparrow*. Took a picture myself (no one’s around – I was actually looking for my family that were separated from the tour group, but I found Capt Jack instead and you just couldn’t miss taking a pic with him).
Well the pic didn’t went well (I couldn’t even locate the angle of my own camera –N73- when the lens were facing myself). So there’s a security or someone who worked there -- a cheerful skinny middle-aged man, offered help. He spoke Japanese all the time (even when taking pic), while I spoke English, and the clowns (Jack & his crew) spoke sign-language. Perfect!
*in a costume / dummy, not real cosplay (costume play). I later met the original one in Tokyo Disneyland not far from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.
13 Oct 2007
5.40 am Sing time
Leaving Singapore. On the bus again to the airport..
6.20 am
Sitting on Terminal 1.
The good thing of having a tour guide is that she arranges most of the things like check-ins so we’ll just have to wait. What’s in front is a seven hours flight to Osaka via Hongkong. I’ve prepared myself with a fancy F1 Racing magazine that costs 3x normal price in Indonesia (where the mag is already quite an elite one comparing to other mags there). Oh well I’ve always want to know what the English (original) version is like. There’s a Kimi article too. Sweet :) that’s the one I’ll be reading two hours from now. My mood is a bit bright after managing to buy some books, at the same time a bit gloomy after failing to buy a bit more.
3.12 pm Taiwan time
What the…?
We thought Taiwan wasn’t in the schedule. Hahaa. It turns out the flight from Singapore to Osaka via Hongkong including flight from Hongkong to Osaka via Taiwan. But we don’t have to go immigration again, only security check and travel pass for looking around the airport because in about half an hour it’s hello economy-class-seat again. I cannot complain because I love going places I’ve not ever seen :)
Taiwan airport sure is crowdy…
8.12 pm Japan time
Finally here!
Osaka/Kansai. From my recollections, Osaka guys speaks Kansai accent and it’s sexy (according to them Japanese ladies) but of course I can’t separate the difference, hahaa. Now it’s one and a half hour drive to Nikko hotel, I’d like to stop writing first and enjoy the night view. The impression of Japan this far: nice toilets…
12 Oct 2007
5.33 am Malaysian time
A bit wasted.
Checked-in at about 1am this morning and we had to get up at around 4. In those three hours spare time, a half an hour was for adjusting and I took a shower (can’t resist the warm water), another half for a late night meal (or an early breakfast, whatever that was). Oh and before going to sleep I spent a quality time filling the hotel feedback questionnaire (I do have some supporting ideas for them).
So now heading for a flight to Johor Bahru, then an as-promised-20mins-drive to Singapore. Btw, I find the new airport regulation a bit ridiculous. No liquids allowed. My blood type is B and I’m fairly phlegmatic, which means I get thirsty easy.
4.00 pm Singaporean time
Watching TV5Monde
I’m quite bored right now. These couple of days have been exhausting, seemed like our main course is being tossed around airports, immigrations, customs, and waiting for hotels check-ins.
We haven’t got enough meals, but that’s okay with me (I tend to forget about food when I’, travelling). It’s just we’re all pretty tired these two days. The schedule has been involving transits from Indonesia to Malaysia to Singapore, waking up haemorrhagingly early in the morning (4 am’s) with little or no breakfasts, spending all the time queuing, lifting our stuffs… Tomorrow it’ll be the same. The flight to Japan via Hongkong. I’m going to miss being able to speak English.
11 Oct 2007
06.55 pm
Polonia airport.
Got delayed for 70 minutes. What a nice start, eh. Hahaa. Well luckily I’ve got some good songs in my cellie (still can’t afford an ipod, huh). Ben, c’est pas mal. It’ll be a lot better if there aren’t some whining kids around, though. Wow I thought I liked children, hahaa.
Half an hour to go, everything’s alright except I don’t bring any blank papers or notebooks (the one with pages of papers, not electronics). I’ve got a pen, though, it’s mightier than sword, right? ;) well, not without papers. I always prefer conventional way but as long as I have my leukki with me, I won’t complain more. This cellie will be my paper-independent sword. Well I also can’t wait to meet new objects and introduce them with this CarlZeiss lens.
Seems like when I’m bored, the only thing to play is my N73. No wonder I keep praising this Finnish product. But if I’m allowed to have a second Nokia phone, I’d prefer a communicator, it won’t have to be a fancy one like the Eseries, a 9300 would be nice. I’m interested in typing words whenever and wherever I like with those mini keyboards.. Nseries provide writing/”words” service too if you install some applications but it’s not really ‘wordsy’. The screen type of communicators series is very complimenting for a writer-wannabe, if I’m allowed to say so :)
Okay this has been so out of topic (like I have a clear one from the beginning), hahaa. I’m writing this on “Notes” app, don’t know if it’s transferable from here to PC. I guess I’ll be typing this all over again if I want this appear in my voxblog. <what a lucky guess! -–the now me>
Oh well, it’s desperate to talk about these unimportant things then blog it. But no more frustrating than sitting doing nothing in the departure lounge. Cheers.
