Japan 2008 Part (i) - how do you organize happiness?

Hello!

I figured if I dont start now, I wont ever start, like what I did for my Israel trip. So whilst I can I am gonna start now!

First up, what greeted me was the shocking efficiency of the Japanese. This is the busstand for the Limo Bus, they are punctual up to the minute, I kid you not. Whilst we are used to buses coming at ten minute intervals (and being late in that event), the buses here come at times like 16:23, 16:27, 17:01 and so forth.

And everybody's moves are like synchronized as they scurry around moving your luggages into the bus and issue you tickets to collect your luggage and they holler the arrival of buses to various destinations (okay i am assuming the hollering bit, I dont understand what they are hollering in Japanese... hahah.. but must be right!)

And this is amongst the first picture I took of myself in Japan, on the limo bus. I was real happy to be in Japan because for once I can wear my clothes in ALL the combinations I think they look nice in, and WONT look out of place, or all over the top, because everyone is dressed so well / elaborately!


I am glad to say that many thought I was Japanese! (That's a compliment. I think Japanese men and women are hawt! The men are like SOOOOOO well dressed and the women, I mean, I wonder if their husbands recognize them without make up... )

Actually i think the comments on Japanese dressing deserves a separate paragraph by itself and I shouldnt squeeze it in brackets! What I mean to say, is that ALL the girls are like SOOO WELL DRESSED, regardless of whether they work at Ginza (a la Raffles place in Singapore) or whether they do sales in the malls, it's like.. wahh! And they stick like both upper and lower lids with fake lashes, the individual strands kind? It's madness larh. I wonder what time they get up every day to get ready.

As for the men, I mean EVERYONE is in a suit! I was super impressed until I realize that the salesmen also wear suits, it's like default attire. But be that as it may, it's hard to look wrong if you are guy and you are wearing a black suit. I mean, if you are good looking, you look better. If you are not look goodlooking, at the very least you look sharp! And all the Jap men who carry bags all carry nice GUY-BAGS.. leather or otherwise, and you dont see any of the laptop bags that Singapore guys are so like to carry around. Heh.

It's farnee, I met ALH for lunch that day and was recounting the above to him.


ALH: Cant be everyone is so good looking right?

Me: Really larh. EVERYBODY looks super good larh.

ALH: What about the old people?

Me: Urm, the women in their 40s all are like well preserved larh. The men also. Actually you know what, I didnt see any old people in Tokyo. Unless we are talking about the REALLY old ones like 80 plus. I think old and ugly people dont exist in Tokyo.

ALH: HAHAHAAAA.

Really what. He laughed as if i was really biased and just obliterated the old people from memory. But really what. I really never see any like gross people in Tokyo. Except for the really gross ones.

So back to my pictures. The other thing that pleasantly surprised me was the DRUG STORES in Tokyo. (Drug stores my XXX lorh) These places are like DECKED with cosmetics larh. And it goes on for like floors! It is probably like 80% cosmetics (I promise I am not exaggerating) then the rest is like your normal WATSON stuff like plasters and biscuits.

I mean seriously, have you ever had such a choice of hairspray in your life? For girls?

Look!



Many had forewarned me about this sight. And many had predicted that I would go mad in Japan in these shops. But I didnt.

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Because I dont read Japanese. And everything is in Japanese. O well. Heh.

The other thing, which I already blogged about, is the vending machine food stall thingy. The picture wasnt clear in the previous post so I put it up again. What I wanted to eat is in the picture on the right side.

I actually lost weight when I was in Japan - primarily because all the food was SO HEALTHY and in SUCH SMALL PORTIONS.. no wonder Japanese women are so "tall". I was seeing everyone eye to eye and I was in flats and they in heels. But back to the issue of weight loss, and i WALKED SO MUCH... but i put the weight all back on when I reached home - blame it on the local food craving ( you know, curry, char kway tiao and the likes of those things)



So this is the first of these vending machine stalls that I ate at. The girl was nice. I dragged her out and pointed at what i want and she told me the number that I should press on the vending machine.

Actually most people in central Tokyo understand simple English, they just dont speak it.



This, is a love hotel. Just outside mine. Check out the hourly rates. Apparently such hotels are the norm in Japan - flats are so small that couples use these for a little bit of privacy. Well, if you ask me, all these tourbooks are written by angmohs. The place isnt so small what - it's like in Singapore. And I think the space in HK is much more limited in any event.


Another interesting thing is that Japan is pretty much handicap-travel-friendly. The traffic lights are highly populated areas (like the place I stayed at) play music when the green man is on. Different song for different areas. I took this picture because I thought it's farnee that the sign says it's for the use for the visually-impaired, like they can see the sign right. Hahaa.


Speaking of my hotel, I like it. There was this nice good looking guy at the front desk who remembered my name and room number so I didnt have to ask for my room keys whenever I returned... hahaha.. but seriously, it was VERY CHEAP, clean, and in a good location. Ikebukuro and along the Yamanote line which runs in central Tokyo, I will recommend it to anyone who wants a no frills kinda stay. Not to mention the very nice (and attractive) guy at the front desk who was so very nice. =PPP

This is the games thingy that they have all over Japan.. Pachinko they call them...



I also went to Shibuya, which was a little bit of a disappointment really. i expected the shopping be really good, this place i headed to is REALLY famous. but it is really like a high class Chatuchak - or Far east.. But it was nice, street fashion, except that i wasnt in the mood to buy street fashion clothes.. I did buy some SUPER BLINK accessories - which if I have the time I will blog about.

But i like this picture, because it is like in fairytales when the trees part from the clearing and you see the castle?? And excitement fills your heart cuz you are going into the fairytale castle?

I did feel somewhat like that. heh.

When I was there, I met two very kind Japanese. One of them is Yuki, Jean's friend who became my friend. Yuki was VERY hospitable, she even offered to let me stay at her room when i was looking for a hotel one of the nights. She brought me clubbing and shopping with her very dear son here, Ryugen. He looks Japanese, except for his dark skin and head of curly hair. He is very cute he is... i bought him this tshirt that says, "Cool Hunk". Indeed he is.

Of course, we had to go to take neoprints. Here I was just snapping pictures before I got caught.
heh.


I dont know why they dont let the men in. heh.



The neo-print area was filled with school girls, and pretty Japanese girls. But no surprise larh, with lighting like this in the neoprint machines, everyone will look good!

Just to illustrate how big and bright the lights are, here is Yuki inside the machine rummaging for change to take pictures. Yuki is real hospitable - she refused to let me pay for my meals. but lucky i move fast. =)

I cant find a scanner so I cant take a picture of the neoprints we took, suffice that it was very cute. Ryugen got really excited when we put him on the floor, he was just running around into other machines. And interrupting other girls taking pictures, but not that i think they mind. It's not everyday you get a cute little boy running into your room.


I also visited Mount Fuji on like the third day of my trip. I was very fortunate, because apparently you dont always get to see Mount Fuji. The weather keeps changing. I almost didnt see it because it was filled with clouds. This is the sakura at the base station of Mt. Fuji. Good larh, I also got to see sakura, which is also supposed to be super lucky cuz it was so late into spring already, all the flowers had withered. But at Fuji still cold so still have sakura.



so nice horh.

Again.
And up at the fourth station (which was the highest we could go in the weather) got this uncle selling sotong. hahaha. i like.



Okay this is me sitting near the snow. This might be the first time i saw snow actually. Quite anti-climatic actually.

And we have Fuji!


And again!

This is Hakone, which is near Mount Fuji.. and it was soooooooooooooo cold and nice and windy there. That day i happened to be wearing fake lashes.. wah i tell you, so windy one of my eyes the fake lashes nearly got blown off lorh!
Ducky cute. =)




So nice. It was probably the best place i went to in Japan. =)

Many Many SAKURA!!

Okay this is a picture with nice scenery. Then this random stranger ah ma's daughter, i asked her to take for me. Then the Ah ma thought i want to take with her (and why would i want to, since we are all random strangers. but since we are all tourists and I have a digital camera.. i thought i would pretend and let her take with me lorh. Afterall can take again right.. )
This picture so nice! Even ALH said so. =) heh. It was taken on the bullet train btw. =)

After Fuji I went to this high rise building at Ikebukuro to reward myself with fine dining. The view is good horh.
I dont know about you, but sometimes when I am faced with great beauty (which is prone to hit me when I am in a high place, or facing a wide expanse of nature - be it fields or mountains but especially large surfaces of water), but when i am facing with great beauty, i usually feel so very lonely. It's like wah so nice, then you want to turn around and tell someone - it's like the expression of beauty completes your appreciation of it. You know, like taking it in. AND if there is nobody to express that to, meaningfully.. the awareness and consciousness of that beauty just swirls around on the inside of you and leaves you feeling, empty.

You know what I mean?


So anyhows the restaurant that i went to was super nice, service very good, food very nice, waiters very cute and price very cheap. i even got a free bottle of wine. Hahaa.

So I shall end this post with my post card pictures of Japan. To illustrate the point about the expression of beauty completing our appreciation of it.

This one is the only pink sakura that I saw. Not bad lorh, even the very yim jeem P said I can use it on his online mag. Which btw has changed their name and you can take a look by clicking here.

This is another very lovely shot of Fuji.
I am going to try and blog about the rest of my trip (haunted hotel - YES! one of my hotels was haunted lorh).. but it's hard to upload so many pictures and etc. I am lazy, but I have to share my joy and stories with so many of the ppl I love, who have not seen the pictures!

Japan was so good.. possibly the best thing I ever did for myself!

I am rambling, but I am really grateful for the sms-es and the emails and the msn conversations and the blog comments, that i had when i was away - and all the little things that were done by very many people, that reminded me that i am very much loved and thought about whilst i was away. It was little but i was v touched. (Yuarh somebody commented before that i very easily touched. what to do, tender heart what.. lol). But yes, thanks peeps!

Japan was good for my heart.

Indeed. =)

Wah.

So we are in e car on e way to JB and QT wuz saying if we need charger for our phones can get from him. I wuz abt to tease and ask if he brought 10 chargers for our array of phones when he pulled this out. You really can charge ANYTHING lar. Cool. So guy.

I'm in JITPOON!

Yes! Thanks to ur prayers, i'm safe in my hotel room blogging from e bed, mask on my face. I nearly got lost just now! The people here REALLY dont speak english AT ALL! And e maps are SO misleading. And japanese guys are SO CUTE! The young men are all really stylish or swanky in their suits. I never saw so many men milling in one area other than in court and Japanese men look better than e lawyers lor! I'm glad to report tt i pass off as local without a doubt, i jus need to step up e makeup, which is quite easily solved! I'm so glad i bought e trench boat and boots! Perfect for weather here. Anyhow, e shopping here is pretty good, i've only been to e sama sama malls near my hotel and e stuff so nice! Can you imagine when i go harajuku and shibuya tmw? Ha! O. The picture above is of some ticketing machine for food. There are various orders and you must put in right amt and press right buttons. The ticket wif ur order comes out and you bring it to e staff who will prepare it. I really wanted to eat e thingy in e picture but at tt point in time not enough loose change and dunno which button to press so bopian. I know i'm rambling but forgive me. One sad thing abt travelling alone is no one to take pictures for you! I'll try to blog again!

Tell them what to do

I think the man is hiding magnets somewhere. But anyhow, it is cool to be able to tell fish where to swim!

Recently, some guy commented (yet again) that I was too directive. Which brings me to a conversation I had with Mal C a long time ago. When we were in JC maybe.

He was telling me how most local guys like the xiao niao yi ren type of girls. (read: 小鸟依人) But yours truly is the da niao chi ren type (read: 大鸟吃人).

Wah. I nearly died laughing lorh. I had forgotten how farnee Mal C is.

=)

zhng it!

Hello!

In preparation of my upcoming trip to Japan - I went today to do this to my lashes!

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Drama enough anot?

I dont wanna have to bother bringing eyeliner and mascara and what not when I am travelling so now I really dont need to have ANY make up on leh. SHIOK!

But I think it isnt drama enough, will probably go zhng it somemore just before my trip.

Now I know what to pray if i ever have kids - God please give them long and thick lashes!!! (i think a woman's appearance is dramatically improved with minimal effort with lashes lorh)

On a separate note, I FINALLY got down to uploading my Israel pictures to my computer - and I so feel like I should be blogging about it! (which was what i intended to do eons ago) .. we'll see how it goes.. I didnt think much of it then, but looking back, I really like some of the pictures.. here are 2 of my favourites..

At one of the natural springs in Israel that existed since biblical times (the name i forgot. hey i actually wrote down each day where i visited okay - so is i lazy to find, not just a nameless place in the whirlwind of the tour)



The lighting overseas - at least in Israel, is great! I didnt have to zhng the picture AT ALL lorh..

I took this picture of the Israeli flag in the old city - which is like the old and preserved part of Jerusalem. The rest of Jerusalem looks like any modern city.

We'll see how it goes. Maybe I shall blog about Israel if there is popular demand, or I get struck by a sudden streak of efficient inspiration!

Men who can laugh at themselves are good company

I love it when people can laugh at themselves.

Check this one out.




Initially I thought that the objective of the game was whoever could make their own face uglier. But maybe not!

Why the pizza not round.

DCK is so funny.

We all had to work late yesterday so the boys ordered pizza. I went to join them (funny, because I realized my dinner kaki all not from my dept.)

ANYHOW, DCK made an exclamation about HOW they could serve us pizzas there were not round.

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The pizza was oval shaped.

I was very amused. You'd realized most pizzas are round - though I do think I have seen square shaped ones before. I think we were all very stressed because I was very amused by the pizza that was not round. Hahaaa.

Poor DCK. He is super swamped at work, and his wife is pregnant with first baby and anytime going to POP and he is moving house and renovation not complete (as is usually the case i heard), all at the same time!

Poor boy. I am not strong else I can volunteer to help him move house. But I already volunteered to help him and his wife clean the house.

=)

so nice I am. hur hur hur..

Look at what ALH gave me.

ALH is moving to his new room. He gave me this!

Somehow, I dont think what he gave me (read the print on the bottle if i have to say it so clearly!) is a statement of my femininity. Hiaks.

The Lonely-Planet Japan was volunteered to me when I told CBC that I going to Japan alone! So kind of him to lend me his copy. Wonder what I should get him from Japan. Speaking of which, I am totally enjoying planning for the solo trip. Living it out my alternative career path as an events planner! Hahaa.

I think I am going to totally enjoy me solo trip. Only thing is that nobody can take picture for me, and we ALL know how much I like to take picture!

Anyhow, back to the picture above. We should all be gracious and kind to the people in our office as much as possible. Especially when you spend so much of your waking hours there. So much of your life there, if I may more accurately say so. And by gracious and kind I mean in the altruistic sense. Not solely fueled by selfish motives that kind. I mean, for those who are honest, our motives are often, at best, mixed. So how about moving it towards altruism?

Preached it. Now do it.

My mother cut her hair.

Today is Sunday and I brought my mother to do her hair. Then I told her, you should be different like me, how about looking COMPLETELY different from when you step into the salon?

So after much persuasion and pressure (from me) on my very not willing to try new things mother.. she decided to CUT HER HAIR! i know. you would have thought it was something more dramatic but the only time my mom has had long hair after she passed puberty was like ONE other time.. so yeah. you get the drift..

and i think she looks like my sister larh!!



I think it looks very nice.

Then after that, I brought my parents to this Jap restaurant at Bugis. Speaking of which, I CONFIRM that i AM going to japan! Just booked my tickets, so happy my heart come out already. So happy i cant sleep. Ya know Ya know?

Anyhow, too bad my little brother the yandao couldnt join us for dinner.

My little brother, when he was actually little, now he is like he-man-i-so-strong-i-can-crush-you-like-powder, had asthma (which miraculously disappeared when he started swimming). So I remember the incident when he was like super tiny and i was slightly less tiny (no stupid jokes here okay!), my mother gave me a piece of chocolate and told me NOT to give it to him because he was coughing. Well, I remember i PURPOSELY went up to him and pranced the chocolate infront of him before popping it in my mouth.

Wah. He was very upset. Hiaks.

Well, I lurve my little brother alot alot. And I am super proud of him. He used to really look up to me when he was little. I mean, more than just literally - but maybe the figurative thingy also stopped when he stopped having to look up at me literally, I dont know. Hahaa.

ANYHOW.

This video is super cute. Big brother is very concerned.

My little brother is bleeding and it's NOT FARNEE!!!!






Kill me now!!! SOOOOOOOOOOO farnee! Brotherly love man. Brotherly love.

Charlie bit my finger!!!

SO CUTE SO CUTE SO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


the big boy abit SM. check out how his facial expression changes.

And Charlie? Well, Charlie's sense of humour abit dark dont you think? *wink*

No more weekend getaway

Was supposed to go on a weekend getaway with HM some time this month, not anymore! Spent the money that was supposed to be for the weekend getaway on this!

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I met the BF for dinner earlier and we HAPPENED (for real) to walk around the shops. None of us had ANY intention of getting anything. Then we saw it. And she convinced me (granted that it was easy to convince me) that I would be dying for one when I am in Japan. And since (a) I dont have a pair of boots, and (b) I dont want to be green with envy at all the young babes in Japan wearing nice boots and I dont, and (c) this pair of boots flat and easy to walk in...

there you have it, my first pair of boots, and no weekend getaway for yours truly.

And i JUST heard that i will be going on one leg of the Japan trip by myself! *gasp*

I know!! So exciting and so scary! This gonna be my first time travelling alone out of Singapore. Apart from the usual oh be careful getting around etc, I was up for 2 hours just, looking for accommodation.

Wah, one person staying in Japan, not cheap leh. Jialats.

Natas fair not so crowded what.

To start, my usual random and unrelated rambling: Corrine came in this really pretty yellow dress. and she had this red flower with her, so we thought she would make great poster girl for sunshine girl!!but yes, her grin is not quite characteristic of a sunshine girl. i can do a better example. heh.

anyhow, things are getting... better, I guess. But the one conclusion I can safely draw is that I NEED A BREAK! So missy here is going to japan... was supposed to go shopping with fiz but i realized i wasnt in the mood to shop (how is that possible, but it's true) so fiz was saying, let's go NATAS fair!

Because missy is going japan!!!!

So here's me on the train with fizzy (and with my fake eyelashes which you cant see) on the way to NATAS fair..


Well, on the way to the NATAS fair at the expo, we, or more accurately, i saw this!

I mean, come on, i just HAD TO go and take a look right.. shoes and bags leh.. warehouse sale all at 90%????? but turns out it was a hoax.. the items were pathetic..

pls lorh. check out the boxers that were on sale. what a disappointment. should sue them for misrep.

anyhows, we finally made our way to the NATAS fair. I've heard all these horror stories about how packed it is, and how people have to wait to queue to go in. but it really wasnt all that bad at all.

Here's Fiz looking at the maps..
and i was just assailed by all the ads! I mean, granted this is my first NATAS fair... but all the booths were plastered with just air fares and package prices. i finally found out WHO would use coloured paper - I always wondered, i thought everyone in the world would use white paper only. at my work place, at most we use 2 other colours... but now I KNOW why they have so many types of coloured paper!!!




it was a little bit of a let down, i mean, it was just walking around askin for rates (which i realized actually can just call via newspapers ads) and then this lady was SOOOOOOOOO slow that whilst she was still staring at her computer to get the answer to whatever we were asking, i actually FORGOT what my question was..

then there was this other salesman speaking to a group of young people who wanted to go to london. i couldnt help overhearing his sales pitch as i was waiting for my turn to be served (by someone else thank goodness) he was talking about how he couldnt guarantee a ticket (at some soccer match) because "i dont own the stadium".

???

So not logical. Just because you dont own the stadium doesnt mean you cant guarantee a ticket. for that matter, even if you own the stadium, you may not be able to guarantee a ticket????

anyhows, it was just painful, in light of everything else he was saying.

o well, so.. that was the NATAS fair.

i supposed i might go again, next time. if say i knew for sure i wanted to go on a trip and knew for sure when i could go, then i just have to pay and book there and then.. so many booths, sure can find some super wuuuhua deals.

the day ended with dinner with parents.. my treat, as usual.


i am all set to go for japan now. as in, i am all decided. the plan is to go hokkaido and tokyo. so if you guys have lobangs or know where is good to visit, drop me a note or buzz.. you know how to reach me!

ps: i am looking at going out for a weekend getaway too, soon. I know. I am so in the mood to just get OUT. o well, at least these are things to look forward to!!