What should I do with you?

What should I do with you? I've known you for so long but you never fail to disappoint. You've given the excuse that you're ill whenever we make plans to go out too frequently that I feel it is just a lie. And you never take responsibility for the words that come out from your mouth. In my opinion, you're calculative, brash and irrational. Should I ignore you from now on? Or should I totally cut you out from my life? Tell me now, what should I do with you?

Ankles

I have been very busy of late and it's none other than work. Nothing much has happened over the week, so I haven't any tales to tell, except that my favourite hamster (from a litter of six) died on Monday, and mum sprained her ankle last night when she stepped into a hole in the road. So, apart from a busy work schedule, I have also taken over most house chores since last night. I just heard from my grandmother tonight that my aunt took a fall and fractured her ankle two nights ago. Sheer coincidence? Or is May the month of foot-related accidents?

Nihon-go

It's been a pretty hectic week and I haven't had the time nor the inspiration to write something decent. I have just started self-studying Nihon-go (the Japanese language) and have been learning how to read and write one of the components of the writing system - hiragana. Next I will need to learn katakana and kanji, although I reckon my kanji will be very limited as I think it will take an eternity for me to learn every single character. It's that bad.

I might be exaggerating about how difficult kanji is, but it might surprise you that I used to study the Chinese language for almost 4 years as an additional subject a long time ago when I was in primary school. But since I did not find any use for it, my parents agreed that I stop lessons. I haven't forgotten everything yet - I think somewhere within the deep recesses of my memory, I still remember the basics of writing Chinese characters - the order and direction of strokes. This will be handy for learning kanji which are Chinese characters used in the Japanese language system. Their pronunciation may differ but the meaning is still the same.

There is a reason why I am learning Nihon-go and you will find out in my next post...

My journey to the Land of the Rising Sun - Day 6

On our final day in Japan, it wasn't much of a day as we had a plane to catch at 11am and we had to be at the airport at least 2 hours prior to departure time. Buffet breakfast at the hotel was nothing fancy and rather bland. I was hoping to savour my last bowl of Japanese curry in Japan.

We left the hotel at around 8.00am and arrived at Narita International Airport shortly. Prior to entering the airport compound, our bus had to pass through a security checkpoint. Our tour guide informed us that this is because land for the airport was built on land forcibly acquired from farmers and that there are still unhappy people out there who wish to blow up the airport.

Inside the terminal, I found a small Uniqlo outlet near the entrance and popped in while waiting for our tour guide to arrange our tickets. After checking-in and clearing security and immigration, we entered the restricted zone. I noticed the bubbly character of the female security officer at the X-ray machine - what a difference compared to Hong Kong and our local security staff at KLIA.

At the gates, our Cathay Pacific aircraft was being loaded. It was an Airbus A330-300 again and we were to be seated at the back of the plane again. The thing with organised tours is that you get pretty sucky seats. It was a rather bumpy flight over the airspace between Japan and Taiwan. Turbulence kept the seat-belt sign lit up most of the time. Lunch was served on board and I chose stir-fried chicken served with rice topped with black sesame seeds, cold soba and strawberry pudding. I chose white wine to go with the meal and to knock myself out to get some rest after last night's packing. Because the flight was so bumpy and I did not want to risk spilling any liquids on my clothes, I finished the salty soba sauce and alcohol quickly. The turbulence got quite bad and they had to suspend the meal service for a while.

We arrived in Hong Kong on time and only had about an hour's worth of transit time, which was ridiculously short given that Hong Kong International Airport can be a shopping destination by itself. Our flight back to Kuala Lumpur was on a Boeing B777-300. It was a relief to have a different aircraft for a change as I was getting pretty tired of the same Airbus A330-300. Although the aircraft looked a bit older on the inside, the seating arrangement was more comfortable, seating 9 abreast in a 3-3-3 configuration. The seats were roomier and even the windows were larger. This time we weren't seated right at the back of the plane, but at the back of the first section of economy class which wasn't too bad. I even got a window seat so I could see all the hustle and bustle on the tarmac.

Only after take-off did I notice that this aircraft had a video camera mounted on the underbelly which fed live visuals to our personal screens. It's a shame I missed out on the take-off process as I only managed to see blue sky and white clouds as we climbed.

Dinner was served on board and this time, it was either penne with tomato and herb sauce or fish cooked in tangy sauce served with coconut rice. I chose the fish option and it was delicious! For desserts, we had sliced fresh fruit and a flan-type cake topped with pineapple. Not wanting to be drunk any more, I chose orange juice this time.

After dinner, it was time for inflight shopping. I think Cathay must have a record of first time passengers on board their airline and invited me to complete a questionnaire. As a reward for my time, they presented me a USD5 voucher to be used for inflight shopping. After browsing through the catalogue, I chose a 1:400 die-cast aircraft model and a set of Ralph Lauren fragrances.

My journey to the Land of the Rising Sun - Day 5

Today, our itinerary was centred around Tokyo. We left Shinjuku for Ueno Park in the morning. We were advised to be prepared for a huge turnout at the park as last weekend saw more than 250,000 people at the park. I felt sick hearing that as I am not fond of crowded areas. I get worked up and feel slightly disoriented. However, once we arrived at the entrance, I gave a huge sigh of relief. The crowd looked manageable and it wasn't like a pack of sardines crammed shoulder to shoulder. The busy streets and large crowd at Shinjuku yesterday looked intimidating compared to this.

Ueno Park is a popular spot for sakura viewing as almost the entire grounds are planted with sakura trees. However, by the time we arrived in Tokyo, the sakura season was nearing an end and the ground was scattered with light pink fallen sakura petals. The sakura flowers still intact up on the branches did not look as nice as the ones we saw in Kyoto and most of them already had fresh green leaves sprouting out. Our tour guide told us that sakura bloom for about 10 days before falling to the ground, and that you only get to see it bloom once a year. The warm weather today was a huge contrast from yesterday's miserable cold and wet weather with clear blue skies and little to no wind. In fact, today felt like the warmest day throughout the duration of my stay and I could get by just wearing a single layer.

After a leisurely stroll in Ueno Park and eating my second sakura flavoured soft serve ice cream, we stopped by at the Asakusa Temple which is connected to Nakamise Street - a very popular souvenir street for tourists. This place felt even more crowded compared to Ueno Park with the constant movement of tourists walking up and down the single street. The tiny shops on both sides of the street sold all kinds of local souvenirs and snacks. We bought some keychains, rice crackers, and some sweets made from rice flour. I saw a T-shirt with the captions "I love Tokyo" and thought of getting one for myself as a memento of my visit to Japan, but that plain white garment cost more than a discounted GAP plaid long sleeve shirt from Gotemba Premium Outlets! Absolutely prepostorous! I don't think it's even worth more than JPY1,400.

At the end of Nakamise Street is the Thunder Gate which has three large lanterns and a pair of what appears to be gigantic woven slippers. We passed under the gate to head for lunch at a nearby restaurant. As Tokyo is the largest city in Japan with the highest population, restaurants are smaller. We had our lunch in a rather cramped restaurant on the first floor. I was getting rather sick of drinking miso soup and eating tempura already and hardly touched them but the salt-grilled salmon and yellow pickles were pretty good.

After lunch, we headed to the grounds outside of the Imperial Palace where their Majesties the Emperor and the Empress reside. You couldn't really see anything except for a moat and some really high walls surrounding the palace. One interesting point to note is that one side of the grounds belongs to the public and we are free to touch the trees and tread on the grass, while another side belongs to the royalty and the general public are not allowed to step beyond the barricade. I was tempted to touch a blade of grass growing on the forbidden area but noticed the royal guards standing watch in the watch towers.

After this was my long-awaited shopping trip at Ginza - THE shopping district of Tokyo! We were given only 2 hours to shop before departing for Narita. Armed with only JPY10,000, I was reading for a shopping spree. With such a short time frame and so many things to see, I only managed to visit Matsuzakaya, Isetan, Uniqlo, Abercrombie & Fitch, Adidas and H&M. It's such a pity that almost everything seems overpriced here in Ginza except for a select few luxury labels. Needless to say, I returned to the bus with the same JPY10,000 still intact and untouched.

We left Ginza at 5.30pm and headed to Narita for dinner. From the bridge, it was a most beautiful Tokyo skyline at sunset. Tonight, dinner was at an all-you-can-eat BBQ restaurant. 2 days earlier, we pre-ordered Kobe beef to be air-flown all the way to Narita. One piece of 150g steak costs JPY10,000. To confirm its authenticity, it even came with a certificate. It was lightly pan-seared without any seasoning so that we could taste the full flavour and enjoy the texture of the meat. Kobe beef is so tender that it melts in your mouth. This is because the fat of Kobe beef has a lower melting point than other types of beef. Now I understand why my colleagues who have eaten Kobe beef say that they have been spoiled and do not fancy eating normal beef any more.

We spent our final night in Japan at the Narita Port Hotel, which is situated about 15 minutes away from Narita International Airport - our departure point. It was a busy night of packing and stuffing things into the suitcase. An interesting event occurred at about 11.52pm on that night just as I was about to shut my eyes. After getting into bed and switching off the lights, I felt my bed sway from side to side for a couple of seconds. Immediately I shot right out of bed and switched the lights on. My brother felt it too and he thought he heard the floor lamp rattling against the window, but he dismissed it as feeling dizzy from all the flying. Remembering that it's a common occurrence in this part of Japan, we went back to bed. When we got home (and with internet connection), we learnt that there was a 5.6 magnitude earthquake with epicentre about 200km off the east coast of Honshu.

My journey to the Land of the Rising Sun - Day 4

Today's post has got to be the shortest of all my posts about my holiday in Japan. After a relaxing night at the Kasugai View Hotel, we awoke to a gloomy morning in Yamanachi. Mount Fuji could only be partly seen as it was shrouded in low-lying clouds.

Today was by far the coldest day, thanks to the wind and light showers. I felt the wind pound me whenever it blew. Our first stop for the day was at the Oshino-Hakkai Village, which boasts of a set of 8 ponds filled with water from melted ice and snow from Mount Fuji. Melting snow from the slopes penetrates through porous layers of rock, which filter the water, rendering it crystal clear. The dreary weather did not make for good picture-taking opportunities today. Even the surface of the water was much too rippled by the wind to see clearly all the way to the bottom.

I experienced my first encounter with mainland Chinese tourists at a souvenir shop in Oshino-Hakkai. I wonder whether these people were ever taught such things as manners? They come in like a hurricane - loud, crude, uncouth and pushing their way through and swallowing everything in their path. I despise such lowly, pathetic creatures! Before the hordes of chinky mainlanders arrived, I was fortunate to have tried some free samples of the local snacks, one of it being some sweetened gigantic black bean. I bought a vacuum-sealed pack of sweetened beans, a bottle of wasabi salt and a marimo moss ball keychain.

After trodding around on soggy, damp ground, we returned to the bus to head to Gotemba for lunch. We were served a bento set with udon, some tempura, tamago (sweetened omelette), grilled salmon and some boiled vegetables. Everything except the rice and udon were served cold as this is how bento should really be since it is usually eaten as food on the go.

After refuelling our stomachs, it was time to do some shopping at the Gotemba Premium Outlets at the foot of Mount Fuji. There are a total of 210 outlets at Gotemba, with a good mix of luxury and mid-range brands. I paid a visit to some of my favourite brands such as Ralph Lauren, Hugo Boss, Emporio Armani, Adidas, Banana Republic and GAP. There is even a LEGO shop which carried up-to-date stock. It was time for some shopping spree in Japan! We were given 1.5 hours to shop at Gotemba before we had to leave for Tokyo.

We arrived in the eastern side of Shinjuku in the evening and walked through the red light district of Kabukicho which had rows of adult stores and kinky neon signs advertising all kinds of adult services. After walking through those dodgy lanes, we reached the main intersection at Shinjuku. Shinjuku is a very busy area and it was hard not to get lost in the crowd. To get some relief away from all the crowd on street level, we headed underground which was quieter.

Tonight, dinner was at a Chinese restaurant in Shinjuku and it was nothing worth shouting about. Our hotel for the night was at the Keio Plaza Hotel, Tokyo. It's a very large and busy hotel in the western side of Shinjuku. The hotel is surrounded by tall office towers and from my room window, I could see the Shinjuku Cocoon Tower with its signature criss-cross patterns. I could also see that the streets were still busy with office workers pouring into the subway stations, even at 11pm! From afar, they looked like black ants marching.