Holiday and Mobilisation

It's been a pretty hectic week.

ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT I PASSED MY DRIVING TEST AND I AM NOW OFFICIALLY, READY TO BE A PERSONAL CHAUFFEUR.

Had mobilisation today so I stayed in the office with the guys till 8pm, just playing bridge while printing out reports every half hour.

Will be heading to Phuket tomorrow with Desmond, Jafnie and Hanson. Will be back only on wednesday. =)

Finally, a trip without any chaperon, no itinerary, no fuss. Just gonna be spontaneous, like good ol' Harry Headbanger from Mamamia.

Updates

It's been a long time since i updated this site. Actually, a hiatus of 2 weeks can hardly be called "long", but it is long by my standards.

It has been hard to get back into the blogging spirit. Blame it on laziness, or simply the lack of enthusiasm to pen down my thoughts anymore.

Anyway, things are just gonna get even more hectic for me.

Driving test on Friday, pending Japanese lessons, trip to Phuket with Desmond, Hanson and Jafnie on Sunday (everyone, say NO to television coups) and a myriad of commitments I've gotten myself involved in.

I marked my 19th birthday with a trip down to Hanqiang's place to help him shift some furniture and we built an Ikea shelf from scrap. First time I ever attempted to build anything as massive as a shelf. I wish we brought a camera, then you would see a bunch of arts fac boys with hammers and nails.

On top of that, I still have Uni admission to worry about. Where and when does it end?

Canine Aficianado

It's official, I'm a dog lover. Someone get me a dog. A sausage dog, a golden retriever, anything. Introducing, Snowy, my Aunt's Maltese. When you are in Japan, everything is so perfect. Everything. The 5 nights I spent in my Aunt's place was really enjoyable. Despite a Maltese being a Maltese where one has to have a high threshold for high pitched barking, the dog actually quits barking after you have cuddled with it.

So what happens is, the dog disturbs you at 3am in the night. She will come by my bedside, scratch the linen and jut stare at me. Pretty creepy when you are asleep. But in the morning, just reaching out to pet her head is such a pleasure when you are greeted by this little angel.
So there you go, I'm pretty besotted by dogs that look ridiculously deliriously happy when you take a picture with them.

Epilogue part 2

In the evening, we proceeded to the famous Kiyomizu-dera shrine. Not wanting to waste anymore time, we cabbed down from the previous shrine which took us across Kyoto. So this particular world heritage site is situated on a hill / mountain (I'm no geog student so i really can't tell the difference). Our cabbed drove us up the slope, pass these little quaint houses which sold mostly tourist stuff like mochi and other souvenirs .

As we were going up, we finally caught sight of our 1st geishas WALKING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. OMG OMG OMG. 

"Geisha geisha!!" Asami and Aoi pointed out, "there, there.."

We got off the cab and sprinted like a hundred meters down until we caught hold of them. Thank god our company spoke Japanese and managed to convince them to snap a picture with us. The old lady in purple is actually their mamasan while the 2 young ones are in fact, maikos, or apprentice geishas. Love the thick makeup and the elaborate costumes. Speaking of geishas, Memoirs of a Geisha is a very poignant film. 

This is the part where I get very philosophical, I was just confounded as to what value a geisha held in modern Japan. It's not an ephemeral occupation is it now? I mean, it takes great dedication and a life long passion for someone to become a geisha. Imagine all the freedom forgone. But I have deep admiration for the girls who are willing to sacrifice all that to keep tradition alive.

We continued our hike up the slope, stopping at a vending machine for drinks. I was just so impressed with the traditional streets which lined the hill.
Finally, we reached the shrine. We were greeted by a pagoda at the entrance. The hike would seem pretty benign, not until we caught a glimpse of the actual shrine which appeared to be on stilts, perched at the hill top.
As a mark of manhood, the girls egged us on the lift up the staff which abbots would carry around with them. Mind you, those iron sticks were heavy. Imagine the monks carrying them around daily when they went from A to B.
When we reached the top, we were pretty flushed. Perhaps it was out of fatigue, perhaps it was because we had a view of the city which was unparalleled. We could see Kyoto being surrounded by mountains. Very much like Lucerne in Switzerland which I blogged about last year. No matter how much we walked, Asami and Aoi always seem to look less shagged than Trevor and I.
The impressive thing was, the entire shrine was built in 798AD and not a single nail was used in its construction. No prizes for guessing why it is a UNESCO world heritage site.

That's Trevor "casting" away his bad luck and hoping for better fortunes.

See what I mean by "perched at the hill top"?

By then, we got really exhausted and we sat down, just watching the sun set while we tried to catch our breathes.
So the trail was actually a "U" shape which took us up the hill and down from the other side. Along the way, we saw a "love shrine" which was supposed to bring luck for singles, desperates and the ugly, among other attractions.

We continued our hunt for geishas. They truly are the real mystery of the Orient. 

Then surprise surprise! We saw this fat geisha. So it confirmed that you don't have to be pretty to be a geisha. As long as you have good communication skills, anyone can be a geisha. I wonder how a diploma in mass comm from our polytechnics would suit these ladies.
At the end of the day, we walked by down the same way which we came up. This time, we stopped to buy souvenirs. This is the street where I bought all my mochi. They don't come cheap at $15 for a box of 20 but their texture was really soft and the skin alone was so fragrant. 

It was also here that Asami and Aoi tricked us by saying that they wanted to get something for themselves. Instead, they surprised us by buying us Yukatas (the summer kimono). We returned the gesture by buying them traditional handbags and purses. I'm pretty sure the Yukatas did not come cheap but my Aunt explained that it was just the Japanese's way our expressing gratitude and hospitality. It would be rude not to accept or reciprocate.
For our ride back to Osaka, we took the train back and surprise surprise again, we saw these few cabins which were designated for women only. Holy crap! A women-only train cabin! I've heard about all these but never did I expect to actually see one in service. Naturally, we opted for the co-ed cabins.
Remember how I mentioned it was all awkward when we first took the train TO Kyoto. Well after spending the entire day with the girls, all that was history. We got comfortable and alternated our seating arrangement. 
Here we continued to speak about how different our country was...

1. They asked about the Olympics, we told them Singapore has never won a gold medal and we were stagnant at 1 silver (as of 11 August 2008)

2. We told them we had maids to do our chores. They gave us an incredulous look cause the only maids that existed in Japan are the Akihabara cafe girls and those who cosplay.

3. They found it hard to believe that cars cost as much as houses in Singapore.

4. They wanted to know what our school uniforms looked like, so we showed them pictures from our cameras and they showed us theirs. And holy cow, their uniform really is the sailor kind. They actually wear such high socks and short skirts to school.

5. They only learn English when they go to high school as an elective.

6. We showed them our bald heads from NS and they giggled. They showed us a picture of their pet dog and we showed them what our Shitzu, Sophie, looked like. They exclaimed "oohhhh KawaizZXxxzzz nehhxhzhxz" in a typical Japanese cry.

7. They asked if we watched any Japanese movies and they got all excited when we replied "death note, Ju-on..." and the likes.

8. We showed them our CNY pictures of our families. They exclaimed how our mothers looked so young. In exchange, they showed us pictures of themselves in their Kimonos during festive seasons.

By the time we reached Osaka, it was dark already. I really enjoyed how the sky turned dark on the country side as we travelled from Kyoto to Osaka. I enjoyed seeing the transition from simple traditional houses to city buildings. Most of all, I enjoyed our little conversation we had on the train with the girls.

Just an illustration of how crazy the train stations are, we took our attention off my aunt who was leading the way from Shin-Osaka station for just 2 seconds and the result? Alas,  5 Adults got separated from my Aunt and we were lost.

Nevertheless, we found our Aunt, thank god for a little device called the "mobile phone". By the way, when I took out my phone, it was the first time the girls saw a Nokia phone. That is the extent of globalisation and Japanese dominance in the electronics market. The whole world knows Japanese products but not all of Japan has seen products made outside of Japan.

Dinner was something simple. We went for Oden, a typical Japanese cuisine involving ingredients like fish cake, radish and other regional food all stewed in a light broth. Very much like our Yong Tau Fu, only it is served with Japanese mustard. The restaurant was yet another quaint diner below the train station found among the labyrinth which leads out of the train station. It was so cramped up but I enjoyed the squeeze. There is this cosy feel as everyone gathers together to eat while the chefs serve you on the spot.
Here, we had tried several weird eats like whale meat and whale blubber which was really fishy. I spat the blubber out cause it was just too overwhelming. We also had sake to compliment the food. Here the girls revealed that the legal drinking age in Japan is actually 21. So all this while, we have been drinking illegally, but who cares when you are a tourists eh? We found out that the girls themselves did not dare to eat the whale meat. Neither did they drink alcohol. They watched us down the Sake as if it was our first time touching alcohol, much to their ignorance that the drinking age limit in Singapore was 18. Also, they chose to stay away from beef because they didn't like the taste of it.
By then, we realised that we had over ordered. Asami mentioned how it was custom for the men to finish all the food if the ladies could not do so. They chuckled at our inability to finish the left overs, much less, the horrid whale blubber. We were quick to refute their claims that it was in fact, "A Japanese Joke". "No no," we said, " cannot...." I took another bite at the whale meat and gracefully spat it into my towel when the chef was not looking.
Towards the end of dinner. The chefs started to get really humorous. They found out through the girls that we were from Singapore and they started engaging with us, regarding Singapore. They explained that they have been to Singapore on holiday and their favourite part of the trip was the SIA air stewardess. They roared with laughter at their own joke. You won't believe how much dinner cost us. For something like Yong Tau Fu, we paid close to $300 for that meal.

After dinner, we were really reluctant to part with the girls especially since we were getting along so well. My Aunt suggested that we met back at her house to play with the fireworks and firecrackers which we bought a few days back. The girls enthusiastically agreed to her proposal but insisted that they would go only on 1 condition: that Trevor and I were to wear the Yukatas which the girls bought for us.

We gave a really dumbfounded look but agreed to it after the girls sportingly said that they would wear theirs to accompany us if we felt uncomfortable. So we all headed back to my Aunt's place to change into our Yukatas. They looked more like oversized pajamas. After washing up and preparing the necessary items to bring along to the park like pails, torch light etc, the girls arrive looking really stunning in their Yukatas. They chortled when they saw us looking so uncomfortable in it. My Aunt proceeded to help us with the strings which were used to tighten the shirts. It was no easy feat.

Myself, Aoi, Trevor and Asami.

By the way, that's Snowie, my aunt's maltese, that Aoi is carrying

We walked to the park carrying our arsenal of rockets and firecrackers. Discomfort soon turned to fun. I mean, it was perfectly normal to walk around the streets in our Yukata cause everyone else was doing it. Wearing your traditional costume in Japan is something that holds a lot of pride for the Japanese. It isn't frowned upon unlike how people will give you weird stares when you wear a qipao to Orchard Road.

We ended up at this open area which overlooked the rest of Osaka. It was kinda like a river with the other part of the city on the other side. My Aunt told us that it was the Bon festival where the Japanese would honour their ancestors, much like our Qingming, only that firecrackers is a huge thing during this period.

My aunt was really fervent that we joined in the celebrations for the festival and marked the finale of the trip with a huge bag, literally with firecrackers.
We bought everything, from sparkles to rockets, we had all kinds of gunpowder devices just waiting to be blown to bits. The only thing the girls dared to touch was the sparkles. Anything which spells "rockets" were considered too dangerous for them.

We looked around and it was just us playing in the park. On the other side of the river bank like 1km away, we could see another entourage playing there.

Finally, much to the goading of my aunt, Aoi mustered up her courage to light the rocket. It was only after I accompanied her did she dare to stand 1m away from it as it took off. Asami, still remained reluctant to venture near the rocket. On a side note, they were shocked to hear that firecrackers and chewing gum are banned in Singapore.
So you see, lighting the rockets involves great dexterity. We had to use joss sticks to light the fuse while we pointed our flash lights at the fuse. Concurrently one of us would be on stand-by to snap a picture of the whole adventure.
A picture like this does not come easy. We were just feeling really high. Like "fly-me-to-the-moon" high.
The girls initiated this game where the winner would be the lucky one whose fire did not go out on the mini sparkle.
Pardon the chest baring picture. This picture marks the end of our 6 days in Japan. The smile on our faces just summarises the fun we had in those 6 days. We proceeded back to my Aunt's apartment where we exchanged contacts. We gave them our email addresses and home addresses, promising to keep in contact. We then set up a facebook account for the girls which we left for them to manage.
By 12, it was time for us to part. My aunt told us to send the girls off. We followed them down where they got on their bicycles. We wished we had our Aunt with us so she could translate our words of gratitude and appreciation for their company, to them. But we all we gave was a handshake, a solemn one nonetheless. As they rode off, we watched them leave with a heavy heart. We knew that chances are, we would never see them again. It is intense, the feeling of getting to know someone and knowing that you may never meet again.

The next day, it was our turn to leave. My aunt sent us off the train station where we got on a bus to Kansai airport. Due to the rush for time, we did not get to bid farewell to my aunt. All we could manage was a hug. I was upset that again, I never really got to express my gratitude to my aunt for hosting us and organising all these for us.

We arrived back in Singapore in the evening. I was pensive. The trip to Tokyo taught us so much. I was impressed with the neon lights which dominated the Tokyo and Osaka skyline, and the mountain which surrounded little old Kyoto. Japan truly is a country of contrast. From the Harajuku girls to the Yukatas which we donned, from the gracious and hospitable people to their delusion with World War 2, from their sushi to their vending machines which dispenses cooked food. 

We saw everything, we ate everything and we tried everything. Yet a trip is never complete until you actually live the way the people there do. The climatic point of the trip was when we got to interact with Asami and Aoi. We lived and breathed Japan when we donned the Yukata and celebrated Bon festival with firecrackers. The past few years have seen me traveling around with my family and school, yet no trip can compare to the experience we had in Japan.

I came back to Singapore with a new perspective in life, with a new motto and a new meaning to it all. That is to live life to the fullest. Why the Japanese have the longest life expectancy? I guess they owe it all to living life as if it is the last day on earth. To spend lavishly on food, to be forever happy, to laugh at everything funny, to be hospitable and make others happy, and to make as many friends as possible.

I opened my inbox when I got home only to be pleasantly surprised to see an email entitled "Good evening". An email came from Asami and Aoi thanking us for the happy memories we left behind for them and vice versa and how much they enjoyed the day with us. If any consolation, they promised that they would find time to visit Singapore to see us. And in that very moment, I flashed a smile, I was genuinely happy. Enough to fill me up that day, enough to remove the feeling of emptiness when we came back.

For the first time in a very long time, I was happy.

I tried to sms my Aunt to thank her but the message failed to send, probably due to the difference in network. I wrote," Hi Aunty Morian. My Mum and I would like to thank you for being such a wonderful host. The one week in Japan was probably the best trip I've ever had. Already, I'm missing you and your husband, Asami, Aoi, the food and the unique culture that is, quintessentially Japan. I miss you and your spontaneous moments and your philosophical antics. You have taught me to live life to the fullest. So here's to you and the wonderful people of Japan. Arigatougozaimasu!"

I doubt she'll ever see this, but some where some how, she knows how much we appreciated all that she has done for us.

Epilogue part 1

The final leg of our Japan trip took us to Kyoto. My Aunt tried to kill 2 birds with 1 stone that morning. You see, the feisty lady teaches English in Osaka at a private school. So in an attempt to help improve the standards of her students, she got one of her tuition kids to bring us around. At the same time, it was a chance for us to actually interact with Japanese student(s) to make our trip complete.

That morning, my aunt arranged for her student and her younger sister to meet us at the train station before we took an hour's train ride from Osaka to Kyoto. And after the much anticipated wait to find out what they looked like and what kind of people they were, we were finally introduced. It was more like a smile rather than a handshake cause we were unsure of how the Japanese people were introduced. Do they bow or shake hands? I don't really know.

The elder girl was Asami while her younger sister was Aoi (pronounced Ai-yo-ee). That certainly was as Japanese as it could get.  The first things that instantly struck me were just how graceful and gentle the girls were. Japanese girls, unlike their Singaporean counterparts, are more reserved, demure and coy. Second, their fashion sense is very much like what our girls back home have. I mean, I have seen girls in Singapore dress the way they do. I wouldn't know for sure, but i'll bet that the girls back home actually try to mimic the Japanese fashion trend.

We sat awkwardly with my cousin and I at one seat facing the both of them. My aunt did nothing to help break the ice (she only translated English to Japanese and vice versa when we had problems communicating). Yes, the girls were struggling with their English and we had to break sentences up like "So, what did you study in school? ...... You know, in School? You learn what? Math? Science? .... Aunty Morian, could you ask them what subjects they took in school?" That's how much trouble we had when we communicated. Most of the time, our conversations were accompanied by hand gestures, much to our dismay.

There were many awkward moments cause there would be long pauses in between when they had their answers in their heads but could not translate to English. We talked about their hobbies, what they did in school, what their parents were doing, what cars they drove, what life in Japan was like. The funny part got to the point when they asked what Trevor and I were doing. Instead of explaining the whole concept of pes E, we simply mentioned that Trevor was a soldier while I was a fire fighter. For those who are still unaware, we are both low-life clerks in the air force and civil defence respectively.

And when they heard we had to serve 2 years of NS, they were utterly shocked. I mean, literally lost for words. They used their hands and gestured the gun-sign and said," You... training? Bang bang? Ooooohh" They were just so confounded by the term "national service" cause Japan does not have an armed force. 

We later discovered that…

1. Their parents owned a bakery chain

2. Asami drives a Honda Odessey and studies Journalism at Osaka Uni 

3. Aoi is still doing the Japanese equivalent of JC1 

4. They have never travelled outside of Japan and their holidays are usually spent touring other regions of Japan

5. Their favourite sports are jogging and badminton. 

6. They both love Gucci and Chanel products (no imitations for them, they both own Gucci wallets)

7. They were planning to study at NUS but changed their minds under the influence of my aunt.

8. We were the first people they actually interacted in English with 

9. They are free tinkers.

10. They listen mostly to Japanese music but English artists include Ashanti, Eminem, Pussycat dolls and other RNB singers.

They also asked what Singaporean girls were like and if they put as much cosmetic products as the Japanese girls. We struggled to answer that Singapore was too hot that the make up would melt over their faces. They also found it hard to believe that Singapore has 4 different races. They were also shocked that we were fluent in English, Mandarin (I know I'm not, piss off) and occasional dialects. That was as much as we could talk about during the 1 hour train ride to Kyoto.   
So we reached Kyoto only to step out to find that it was completely different from Tokyo and Osaka even though these cities were so close to each other. There were no high rise buildings, only rows of shop houses in the city centre. The whole city was almost preserved like that of a world heritage site. The people in Kyoto looked different too. Nothing ostentatious about their dressings. After we alighted, we took 2 separate cabs to our first destination - The Golden Pavilion. There, the heat started to get to my Aunt and Uncle. They were just so reluctant to walk with us that they tasked Asami and Aoi to act as our tour guides and bring us around. 
So the Pavilion is famous because of its scenic location and the fact that it actually looks like it's floating on water makes it all the more worth while to make a trip down to this temple district.
Disclaimer: Nicol is very critical of people who act like bai chis and do the "peace sign" when they are posing for a picture. Yet in Japan, EVERYONE does that. Including our 2 girls who when we posed with them, eagerly stuck out their fingers and we had no choice but to follow suit as a friendly gesture. Note that Nicol looks like a bloody noob with his fingers sticking out. Pardon the fledging "peace" novice who looks out of place as though his finger is up his arse rather than doing a proper pose.
We hiked along the path, passing little shrines and little water falls which streamed down from the hills above. Along the way, we continued talking about religion when we saw the shrines. I told them I was a Christian and they did the sign of the holy trinity to confirm. I was surprised that they knew nothing about 2 pre-dominant religions in Japan, namely Shintoism and Buddhism. 
I'm not kidding when I said that they do the peace sign in EVERY picture. It was so hot that we stopped at this vending machine to purchase our all essential yoghurt drink, Calpis (A must try when you go to Japan).
And yes, we got excited when we saw these girls wearing their Yukatas. Apparently Kyoto is the city with the most number of people who would wear Yukatas and Kimonos. These traditional costumes are making a huge revival in modern Japan.
We proceeded to cab down to another park which is well known for its tranquil paths and gardens. We were told that it was about 800m away from the Golden Pavilion park and we walked to walk there but the girls were quick enough to suggest we cabbed down instead to avoid the scorching heat. They just refused to let us pay for the cab fares. That's how gracious the Japanese are.

To demonstrate how hot the sun was that day, Aoi passed me her paper fan and insisted I used, much to the amusement of the girls.

"Use use... Hot hot..." they said " you use..." They proceeded to take out their sun block when was aptly kept in their hand bags.

There are no other words to describe the park. Koi ponds, bamboo shoots, lotus flowers, it couldn't get any better than that. It was a huge huge contrast to what we were seeing in the city for the past few days.
They pointed at the trees behind us and said, "Maple tree. Turn red.. uhm. September.. Autumn" Again, they were shocked to hear that we don't have Autumn or Maple trees in Singapore. Also, they took it a little hard when they heard it doesn't snow in Singapore.
We then came to this enclosure where we were supposed to meditate. We were told that if we meditated hard enough, we would count 15 rocks on the ground. No doubt, we tried but Trevor and I both counted 14 despite trying more than 3 times. The 4 of us then sat in a row after the girls beckoned for us to act like we were counting rocks just to get away from the heat. That's us pointing. Closet muggers. 
Some random fountain thing. Hard to believe that there was actually a long queue just to see this.
Jeez, look at that bloody rookie with the noob fingers again. Some one please look at Asami's dressing and tell me that we have actually seen Alicia Chua dressed in something like that for prom. =)
Annoyed by the heat and the beads of perspiration that were coming down, we took a bus back to the city for lunch. Public buses are very different from our SBS buses. You enter from the back door and alight from the front door, paying coins as you alight. And the driver will have a microphone attached to his shirt where he will announced the location at every stop. And every time someone alights, he will say "arigato gozaimasu". Mind you, he said that to EVERYONE who disembarked. So if there were 10 people alighting, you would expect him to pay compliments 10 times! That's how seriously they take service excellence on public transport.

We alighted at this departmental store (let's just assume it's Takashimiya) for lunch. Tempura was on the menu for us. We ordered the "ladies set", don't ask why, but we were delighted that tempura came with little different fried dished. You have your usual prawns, veg, fish and other little assortment. The food wasn't fantastic but I'll tell you, the company was top class. We invited the girls to Singapore to tour and they seemed pretty hyped up about it.

Asami went "Sinseh Sinseh, fujifilm kawasaki konichiwa toyoya Niko Niko sashimi shabu shabu..." pointed at me, and both sisters laughed. My aunt then translated and said that my name, if spelt as Niko, actually meant laughter in Japanese. 
True to my name, we ended up laughing. I was more amused with how the girls were so easily amused. After analyzing this picture, i finally found out when I look like a noob with the peace sign. Seasoned pissed peace sign people place their fingers close to their heads. That's how it looks so kawaiiiZXzxzxzxzxz. Losers like us hold it awkwardly away from our bodies.
After lunch, we took a slow stroll around the Gion district. This district is actually the main entertainment centre where the geishas would roam at night. These houses are where they live and we were told that we would not see any at that hour cause they were probably wearing their make up and all, preparing for the night. If I'm not wrong, several scenes of Memoirs of a Geisha were shot here. 
After the stroll, we headed by cab to Sanjusangen-do, the shrine which stalls the 1001 golden Buddhas. Sadly, photography of the statues is not allowed, but we did get quite a lot of pictures of the exterior. I was pretty impressed by how each statue looked different. 100 rows with 10 Buddhas which lined the shrine and a huge one in the middle. So that made 1001.

More spring water to cool off. Actually, I think it's more for cleansing.

By then, the weather was getting cooler and the sky was clearing up. I quote a friend who once sent me an sms "Pretty sky we have today, no sign of a cloud, but you don't have to have everything for something to be perfect. I just wanted you to know cause I know you don't look up some times =)" And that just reminds me of how busy our lives are, how we take for granted some of the most beautiful things in life. Love, friendship, health, and even sunsets.
We did not conclude our shrine visits here because we wanted to get the best out of Kyoto. In fact, the day just started for us. I loved how the girls were so decorous, genteel and unassuming. From what I observed, we have done all we could to emulate the culture of the Japanese, from its fashion, to work ethics, to food, we have copied. Yet the one thing we have failed to mimic is the graciousness of the Japanese people. The sophistication  and geniality of the Japanese people is truly unparalleled, something which Asami and Aoi have epitomised. Watch the tone of my writing, I was truly awestruck by what I saw, truly smitten by the girls.

Watch this space for part 2

Japanese Food At Its Prime

Still sweaty from our walk through the Tokyo Imperial Palace, we took a train down, back to Roppongi Hills for lunch. We knew we could find some good food around that area cause my Aunt was not familiar enough with Tokyo to introduce any good restaurants.

Lunch was not before we snapped a shot with this iconic spider monument. Truth be told, I don't really know why a spider is featured in the Beverly Hills on Tokyo anyway.

Finally we found a good old sushi joint along the streets. The restaurant was more like a sushi bar. You have 3 chefs behind the counter slicing away the fish while we sat at a table and waited for our food. Pretty interesting watching them catch the live fish from the tank and just slicing them up for us. Cruel some may say, but I don't care, as long as the food is fresh and in my belly.
Our first platter came. Clockwise from top, you have the diatoro which is the top grade tuna belly, then you have some sardines, followed by Sake which is what Salmon is called, rather than the alcoholic beverage. And if you look closely, you would notice how small the rice is and that the fish is 3 times the size of the rice. By the way, the diatoro tuna you see there? Each slice costs 1000Yen, which is like $12 for each piece. So you do your maths, $36 for those 3 pieces of tuna.
But yeah, $36 was worth it. The tuna was so fat that it slipped down my throat so easily. Never before have I tasted such fresh and sweet fish. Again, I like how the colour of fish differs from the ones we have back home.

The second platter consisted of crab roe at the top, sea urchin roe at the bottom left and salmon roe at the bottom right. The crab roe was too pungent for me but I particularly enjoyed the Urchin. very unique texture, an acquired taste indeed. The salmon roe was more like a big fishy mess in my mouth as a munched on it, trying to break the little sacs.

Just look at how rich the Urchin is. Intimidating at first but it turned out pretty fine.

No prizes for guessing how much lunch turned out to be, especially since we ate in the heart of Roppongi.

We proceeded back to Osaka where my aunt lived, by bullet train. Remember in my last entry, I mentioned how the bullet train would come to a stop before all those ladies in pink would board first to clean the cabins? Behind my cousin, you can see them waiting to board the approaching train. Pity we didn't get a shot of them all lined up in a role.

And here we have a picture with the Shinkansen captain.

By the time we reached Osaka, it was close to 5. With dinner booked at 7pm, we found time to gamble at the jackpot machine once again before proceeding to the restaurant.

On the menu that night, we were having Yakitori for dinner.

For appetizers, we had this fried shrimp which was not shelled. My aunt taught us to pop the whole shrimp in our mouths and just eat the whole thing straight. We didn't even have to peel the shell. Pretty damn good stuff.

Shitake mushrooms with radish

After the appetizers, we started ordering many of these tiny dishes. My aunt and her husband insisted that we tried everything on the menu. From skewered meat to barbecued squid, we ate all we could.

And finally, we have the yakitori. Different meat parts, the breast meat, the ribs, the offal, the pork fat and pork belly. My favourite of course, was the chicken skin.
At the bottom left, we ordered this silver fish thing that was named "prego fish". The fish is bloated cause half of it is actually filled with roe.
Took a bit at it and spat the rest out. I couldn't believe of all the things we ate, the one thing that turned me off was actually this innocuous, small fish.

So that's how much we ate. Look at the number of sticks in that cup.

Trevor, Uncle and myself. Moments like this don't come very often.

So there, a quaint little yakitori restaurant along some back ally near my Aunt's place. It definitely is climbing up the charts in my list of "favourite restaurants". Yet another $300 meal. I'm guessing the bulk came from the number of glasses of beer my aunt's husband ordered for us and himself especially. Plus the chilled sake which he downed in one gulp.

As if that wasn't enough for one night, my aunt took Trevor and I for a tour around the red light district of Osaka. Over here you have the infamous love hotel which is in fact, euphemism for a one-night-stand budget hotel. Here you have everything, from porn dvds to revolving beds, these hotels offer anything that can spice up your sex life when you go for a quickie. To my surprise, everything is done tastefully. These hotels try to minimize physical contact between staff and customers. For example, any transactions made at the concierge is done behind a veiled barrier to prevent embarrassment. I guess that's how the Japanese can be so brazen about these things.

And as we were walking along this street, we saw my Onsens and ladies clad in skimpy clothes, wearing really thick make up. Unfortunately, most drunk bar goers cannot tell the difference between prostitutes and your-average patron walking down the street. My cousin and I witnessed this drunk dude walking up a lady, trying to grab hold of her. The lady and her boyfriend just hustled the drunk away and pretended that nothing happened. I was shocked that Japanese women are actually so submissive.

This karaoke bar we saw along the way. Appearance means everything in the red light district. Doesn't look very inviting though. Speaking of karaoke bars, I learnt a new word back in camp. Apparently, dirty bars are called "Lup Sup Bars; a mix of hokkien and english I imagine. Sounds awful. Okay let's not sidetrack.

Our quest for good food didn't stop at the Yakitori restaurant. We saw this stall selling crepes and we could not resist trying our hands on some. Or shall I say, trying our mouths of some. I ordered this strawberry ice cream crepe while my cousin had the banana and chocolate one.
And as we walked along, deeper into the dark ally, we found more nude bars and love hotels. Pretty seedy. Not wanting any trouble, we made our way back to the main street. There we saw rows and rows of vending machines. There's a reason why they call Japan the "land of vending machines".

A quick shot of our crepes and the bars in the background before we proceeded back to my aunt's apartment. Good stuff, the crepes.

So we ended the day with a hot bath which my aunt prepared for us. The water was boiling which she added some mineral essence into the water. One of those Japanese therapeutic minerals to simulate the Japanese hot springs. "Suppose to be relaxing and good for your skin" said my Aunt. I really really like Japanese toilets. If you look closely, you can see a mini television mounted on the wall for viewing while you are soaking away in the tub.
And that marked the end of the day. I slept very well, anticipating what laid in store for us for the very next day.

Patriotism Ambivalence or Pure Apathy?

Which "PA" are you? Patriotically ambivalent? Or purely apathetic?

Our sunday morning conversation in Tokyo began like that on our way to the controversial Yasakuni Shrine.

Aunt Morian: Today we'll see the shrine, you'll see why it's so controversial.

Nicol: I am not really affected by it. It doesn't really bother me, how they (the japanese) view militarism within their domestic territory.

Aunt Morian: Eh how can you say that? They invaded us and killed so many innocent people.

Nicol: Well, I don't recall them touching my family so I feel no angst nor abhorrence.

Then this conversation got me thinking. What a weird perception we have of Singapore's history. Our guns were pointed the wrong way, and the Japs entered Singapore on bicycles (BMX perhaps?). That sort of summarizes the brief history of world war 2 in Singapore doesn't it? Apparently not for some Singaporeans like my Aunt.

We left the hotel that morning and made our way to the shrine, stopping at some fast food joint for breakfast. Tried our hands on Japanese curry which still remains a mystery to me. How can spicy-less curry win the hearts of so many people?

We hiked further down the road before we saw a long wall surrounding this park. At once, we knew we had reached the Yasakuni shrine. Japanese parks really evokes a sense of tranquility.

And there you have it, the infamous Yasakuni Shrine, made controversial over the years for PM Koizomi's perpetual visits to the shrine. 

The day we were at the shrine coincided with the PM's annual visit to the shrine. No matter, Koizumi's successor's successor, PM Fukada, wasn't around that very day due to his Olympic commitments in Beijing. Nevertheless, when we reached, we saw what was to be his cabinet members praying in the shrine. Of course, we were not allowed to enter, or photograph the not-so-blessed event.

We proceeded to venture around the other monuments around the shrine. We saw this concrete structure which paid homage to the Japanese warships which sank during world war 2. If you look carefully, you would realise that the stone structure on the ground is a picture East Asia with tiny red dots littered around, indicating the exact location of where each ship was sunk.

Next, we saw this monument of a lady carrying her children, presumably a mother / wife who was left behind without her husband. Really depicts the depravity of war and how the invaders had their losses back home too. Very Wilfred Owen, this monument won me over. Very sad how women back then had to shoulder the weight back home.

We paid $20 each to enter the war museum, again, it exacerbates the controversy surrounding the Yasakuni Shrine.

Kamikaze Japanese Zero Fighter

Artillery and a train which was meant to transport goods through the Burmese death railway.

And yes, the whole museum was very one-sided. It made it look like the Japanese were indeed fighting for a cause and how they were the ones being invaded rather than what history suggests. I cant imagine how disillusioned, deluded and misled the Japanese people would be if they saw this as truth. Nothing of the Nanking massacre was mentioned, as well as the atrocities committed with regard to Sok-Chin and comfort women. And at one obscure corner they briefly mentioned the war criminals which people hardly even noticed.

It was then that I could actually feel annoyed and empathetic towards the Chinese nationals. Controversial would then be wrong to describe the Yasakuni museum. Wouldn't "deluded" be a much more fitting word?

We left the Yasakuni shrine and proceeded down to Harajuku which is known internationally for its youth fashion and street culture. Think Bugis Street with extreme cosplay.

But first, we ended up walking to this posh shopping belt with Gucci and Chanel at the side. Pretty classy way to parade down the street.
Harajuku was crazy. Utterly crazy. There was just soooo many people walking around. Street stall after street stalls selling fashion products for teenagers. We even saw Africans promoting their products. They looked just so out-of-place. Hoards of tourists flooded the place together with weird looking teenagers with super thick cosmetic products on their faces.

This picture bears testament to just how crowded it was on a late sunday morning.

No doubt, it would be a shame if you came all the way to Harujuku and not see the teenagers who would engage in cosplaying. Shocking, if I had to describe it in a word. They were all dolled up in their favourite anime characters. Just look at how proud they are to parade around in their costumes.

What they would do is, they would buy their costumes, or sew it themselves and proceeded from the shopping area to this bridge 100m away just to parade. So they all have their respective little cliques and they come out only on Sunday afternoons. Whether you are able to catch a glimpse of them is entirely based on your luck.

These people were just so spontaneous, they sportingly agreed to pose with us.

Gothic madness

These 2 girls were probably the most outrageous of all. They looked like some cyborg heroes from space. Couldn't really tell what it was that they were dressing up to look like.

So it got us wondering, were these teens really gonna board the train to Harajuku from their houses looking like hell's rejects? Our answer came when we saw most of them dragging along their luggage. You see, what they would do is, they would come in their normal clothes with their costumes in their luggage. From Harujuku, they would change at the toilets and wear their makeup.

So here you have those 2 cyborg warriors continuing to embellish themselves much to the public scrutiny and gawking from the tourists. 

See this guy? It is actually a girl..

Check out the fat lady with the red hair. Amazing how these kids managed to turn themselves into little celebrities just like that.
We left Harujuku feeling pretty perplexed. We headed for the imperial palace deep in the heart of Tokyo. What a mistake it turned out to be. The palace tour turned out to be a 1 hour hike through the garden which seemed very much like a huge botanical gardens, only the heat was so much more unbearable.We were just pretty enthralled by the serenity of the garden albeit the heat. I like how the palace garden provides a quick getaway from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo.
I got to admit, I am a sucker for romantic pictures. This picture happens to be a really sweet depiction of romance and courtship in a city which shares similar problems of an aging population and declining marriage rates, same as Singapore. A couple donned in their Yukata (summer version of the Kimono), holding hands and taking a stroll through the garden. I also like how their willingness to wear their traditional costume rivals the unsettling fashion scene we witnessed at Harajuku. That bloody slope up was damn steep, mind you.
Impressive isn't it? The garden in the foreground with commercial buildings in the background deeply contrasting the picture.

The imperial palace and our afternoon trip to Harajuku proved to be deafening illustration of how Japan remains true to its culture despite the intrusion of new and emerging trends (weird ones sometimes), and how some people are still fighting to keep tradition alive. I have deep respect for the city's fight to preserve tradition and yet, I marvel at how the people are just so receptive towards unconventional vogue.

Culture Shock on 09-Aug-2008

I just looked up the dictionary on my iMac desktop for the word "culture" which came out as "the arts and manifestation of human intellectual achievement collectively". Whoever coined the term "Culture" sure had no idea of what it truly was. Personally, I felt the Singaporean culture was nothing more than Singlish, Kiasuism, multi-racialism and a knack for imitation, all put together in a melting pot. But there truly is no culture like that of Japan.

So Nicol's guide to culture shock comes about one afternoon in the heat of the Summer, in Akihabara, down town Toyko.

 Akahabara is most famous for its sale of electronic goods. It is like our Lucky Plaza multiplied by 100. Aunt Morian wanted us to see the array of Japanese phones. I myself would have bought one if not for the incompatible network. Essentially, it is like the silicon valley on Tokyo, only they sold completed silicon goods; mostly electronic products, occasionally we saw Silicon of another kind.

So we arrived at the train station and we were greeted by models distributing fans. Kinda kinky eh, what they were wearing. And on these fans, companies would advertise their electronic products. Being Japanese, they of course were very gracious and spontaneous enough to snap a picture with us.

Upon further probing, my Aunt surmised that they were teenagers fresh out of high school, around 17 or 18. "Part time job..." she said, "rakes in like $40 Sing dollars an hour for them to pose like that"

We continued walking down the streets. Buildings after buildings, we saw the colorfully decorated glass panels. Crowded it was, very much like walking down Orchard Road on a Saturday evening. This was such a typical Japanese city shot.

As we were walking, we actually came across this pavement where people were laying down flowers. White roses if I remember correctly. We then realised that it was the very spot where the Aikahabara massacre took place. Remember that incident where this guy went berserk and stabbed 8 people? So that spot was the very spot where one of the victims died. At the bottom left hand corner of this picture should be that spot.

My Aunt decided to bring us to this maid cafe which is popular among Otakus, or geeks who are obsessed over electronic products, Mangas, Hentai and the likes. So these late teens would dress up as maids and serve you drinks. Yeah, that cafe! So popular it was that we had to queue for an hour before we were ushered into the cafe. Prior to that, we were given a brief introduction of what to expect. The shop beside the cafe sold cosplay costumes. No prizes for guessing what kind of costumes.

So we entered the cafe and we were just shocked to see how degrading it was for these girls. I mean, they literally dressed up as maids and they have to entertain the customers. When I say entertain, I mean serve them drinks and have a chat. From the girls' point of view, there was absolutely nothing humiliating about the job. Sure, gender discrimination still exists in Japan, so it was the girls way of making quick and big bucks. In a feministic way, it was sad to see them in such a demeaning position where women are still there to "serve" the men.

Despite all that, they girls were very enthusiastic, you could say that something as awkward and as taboo as a "maid cafe" was turning into a big hit. For us, we were just speechless as we entered the cafe. Naturally, we giggled away thinking that this was perhaps the most ridiculous place ever, but the girls just seemed to be having more fun working than we did as customers. Still, there were strict rules to ensure the safety and the humility of the girls. For example, customers were not allowed to get any personal info out of the girls, they could not insinuate any sexual innuendos or sexual advancements. These were measures to downplay the sexual fetish that was so prominent with the whole maid idea.

So as a souvenir, we were allowed to take a picture with the girl we fancied. What was more shocking was that there was a poster with all the employees' faces on it and we had to choose 1 of the girls. Trevor and I were plain tickled by the whole affair. The staff took a polaroid camera to snap away while I had to choose some silly prop to wear over my head. I went for the bunny-ears hat. Don't ask why, just wanted to bask in the whole atmosphere. I felt awful, just utterly disgusted when I was forced to do that pose. Bleah. But I shall post that picture up for pure fun. I mean, how can i go all the way there and not come back with a picture like that huh?The staff decorated the picture, neo-print style and handed it to us. Naturally, we were just sitting there going, "oh my gooooosh..."

And guess what?! We actually received some membership card. It was just so hilarious. LICENSE OF YOUR MAJESTY, MY MASTER. I mean, every attempt at downplaying the sexual innuendos just failed dismally. These cards were more like a counter. If you went back more than 20 times, you could upgrade your card to a Silver card, followed by a Gold card, and then a Platinum card and so on.

We left shortly, feeling pretty perturbed by the whole experience. The general consensus was that the card was to stay in our wallets for a long time, and no, we were not coming back.

We were on our way to the train station before coming across this huge huge mall selling nothing but handphones. Apparently, Japan only has 3 brands of handphones for their domestic markets. You will not see a Nokia, or a Sony or a Samsung.Our Japanese family friend, Aunt Jun-ko then brought us to Ginza. As a gesture of Japanese generosity and hospitality, we found ourselves in one of Japan's most expensive departmental store, Mitsukoshi. There, she bought us lots of snacks which was scary how a tiny lot could cost so much.There, she parted us and we bided goodbye to Jun-ko San and HELLO GINZA! Lo and behold, we entered one of the most popular shopping belts in Tokyo. Nevertheless, shopping was not to be cause Ginza is Japan's most expensive shopping belt. Or rather, the most expensive shopping belt in the whole of Asia, rivaling New York's Time Square, Paris' Champ Elysee and Beverly Hills.Ginza was pretty cool cause they shut down the whole street and vehicles were not allowed to enter the road. Naturally, we swaggered down the street in the middle of the road pretending to be closet millionaires.Being the most expensive street in Japan comes with a certain image, and that image is maintained by the flagship buildings owned by the respective brands. That's right, each brand owns a building. If you count the number of floors on each building, you would realize that most of them have 7 stories. That's because 7 is considered a lucky number in Japan, just like how 8 is to the chinese. Mont Blanc, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Gucci, Ginza sure did not disappoint.

Bvlgari

Ferragamo

Sadly, the only thing we could afford was found in a bookshop. There we found lots of books on Kamasutra, Samurai style.

By night fall, we made our way to Roppongi Hills, the Beverly Hills of Tokyo, known for its rich expats and fancy cabarets. If the rich shopped at Ginza, then the rich lived in Roppongi Hills. That's the relationship between the 2 streets.

There, we came face to face with another cultural difference. This time, it was this little eatery where customers had to place their orders through a vending machine which would dispense a ticket. After choosing what you like, you pass the ticket to the chef in the restaurant and he will "process" your order from there. That was something I didn't understand. Why go through all the trouble when you can just place your order on the spot?We did a little shopping along Roppongi before making our way to the Tokyo Tower. A replica of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Tokyo version boasts a commanding height of 332.6m, just 13m taller than the Eiffel Tower. Albeit beating the real Mc Coy in height, I still prefer the Eiffel Tower's light up; but that's just my personal opinion, you guys can see for yourselves. This is picture is probably worth a million bucks, considering how my Aunt sneaked us into this office building where we climbed to the 6th floor just to snap this picture. Enjoy.Our tour of Roppongi ended with our hunger pangs beckoning us for dinner. We figured Roppongi was probably too expensive and we made our way down to the Yakuza-dominated-red-light-district, Shinjuku.

Upon arrival at Shinjuku, we were greeted by Times Square. I assume it is again modeled after New York's Times Square. You can see the clock tower in the background. Clearly, the American presence and influence is still dominant in modern Japan.
There you have it, Shinjuku from the overhead bridge. Very very typical Japanese street with neon lights.
Dinner involved some deep fried pork. I cant remember the name of the dish but the word Katsu rings a bell. It was more like pork chop anyway.
Pretty fatty pork which we deep fried in flour and eaten with Japanese mustard. I was excited to find that our Miso soup actually contained baby clams, something which remains authentic to Japanese Miso soup. Evidently, globalisation isn't at its best when it comes to Miso soup.
Being placed right in heart of the red light district, we decided to explore the back lanes of Shinjuku. My Aunt, fearing being harassed, stayed in between Trevor and I. We came across this DVD shop which sold nothing but porn DVDs. The best part is, the porn is such a big thing that it has become mainstream in the entertainment industry. People just stream in and out of the shop at ease. Did we enter - Yes. Did we buy anything - No.

Shinjuku at its best. Pachinko slot machines in the middle, strip clubs on the left, and porn DVDs on the right.

By then, we got tired and made our way back to the hotel. By the way, Tokyo hotels are really really tiny. Trevor and I had to share a single bed. Imagine that.

At the end of the day, I was left pretty confounded by my day trip in Tokyo. Culture shock it was. I mean, Japan seems really pretentious at first glance. But from the time of the Kieretsu and Zaibatsu, Japan has excelled in reverse engineering; tearing things apart and putting them back together, new and improved. True to that, it has done the same with its culture. From gender discrimination (maid fetish) to the porn industry to Americanization, the impact of post world war Japan has certainly made Japan a unique gem in Asia, and possibly the best in this increasingly homogenous world.

It is precisely this pretentiousness that has made Tokyo so amazingly interesting (at times with jaw-dropping results).

Watch this site for Tokyo, part 2.

Footnote: The author wore red as a symbol of patroitism from abroad on 9th August 2008. It hardly is part of "culture" now isn't it?

Introduction to Ancient Japan

We woke up pretty early the next morning in a bid to catch the must-not-miss bullet train from Osaka to Tokyo. Aunt Morian booked the so-called "reserve seats" for us and we were absolutely under no circumstances to miss the the train or we would be left standing for 2 hours on the train to Tokyo.

Apparently, the Shinkasen, or bullet train, has many different grades and class. Each train travels at a different speed. So the faster the train, the higher the price of the train ticket. Naturally, we were reluctant on wasting time on the train so we went for the fastest. Call it adrenaline seekers or desperate attempt to save time, we went for it anyway.

There, tried to get a shot of the carriage we were on. Mostly business man. I was very impressed by how we were waiting at the station to board the train and there would be ladies in pink uniform stationed 5m apart. As soon as the train arrives, they would rush onto the train, and do a quick house-keeping in 3min before passengers are allowed to board the train. And this happens for every train when it reaches the last station. That truly is service excellence.

So our 2 hour journey was spent playing cards on the train. We played bridge with my Aunt and Uncle. Oh, and the coolest part is, the seats can be rotated 180 deg so that 4 of us can face each other. Neat huh? As soon as we were out of the city, we were greeted by the typical Japanese rice fields, small houses, ally lanes and country side hills. Our ride to Tokyo had us stopping at a couple of stations, namely Shin-Osaka, Kyoto, Nagoya, Yokohama and then Tokyo. We even passed Mt Fuji on the way there. Views like these are hard to come by.

2 hours later, we reached the train station in Tokyo. My Aunt called it a mad house. There were so many people we took extra care in not losing one another. Probably the busiest train station in the whole of Asia. There, we tried to navigate our way through the mad labyrinth and finally found ourselves on the subway to the hotel. Our hotel was located right next to the Prime Minister's residence. Below is a picture of Mr Fukada's house. Not very impressive but security around our hotel certainly was tight.

And back in the city, we met up with my Aunt and Uncle's friend who lives in Tokyo. She was set to bring us around Tokyo and our 1st stop was Asakusa, an area which preserves its ancient temple and streets. True to the word ancient, we saw some poor rickshaw riders soliciting under the hot sun. Mind you, the temperature in Tokyo was about 36 deg. 

The entrance of Asakusa had this huge red lantern which many Japanese restaurants around the world try to copy by placing their lanterns at the front door. So we were told that this is the "real thing".

It was exactly like a pasar malam, only it was more crowded and they sold stuff that we had never seen before. From samurai swords to mochi, they sold everything Japanese. We were also doing some people watching. I should also mention that girls in Tokyo don't look half as good as the girls in Osaka. Fashion wise, Tokyo girls are less adventurous. Not sure why region plays a part in this difference.

Being Singaporeans, we went around sampling everything that was free. The one thing which we couldn't do without was the Iced Green tea which was milkish and sweet. Something you do see back home.

Ah, the Japanese fans which we were tempted into buying. Everywhere we went, people were either wiping their perspiration with their handkerchiefs or fanning themselves.

3 ice creams for the 3 gentlemen. Sesame, mango and green tea flavoured. I like how the Japanese do their transaction by having a wooden tray (as you can see on the bottom left) where customers would place their cash on. Not sure of the logic behind this practice. Can someone enlighten me?

Fresh seafood on sticks ready to be barbecued. Smelled heavenly.

At the end of the market place, we ended up at a temple. Uncle explained that not many Japanese are even aware of their religious backgrounds. Religion plays an insignificant part of their lives. Business and cosmetics on the other hand, is right up their ally for men and women respectively.

There, we stopped at this statue which dispenses spring water which we could either wash or drink from.

I thought it tasted a lot like well water which I have drunk from in Ubin, only it is sweeter and cleaner.

Truth be told, temple visits don't really interest Trevor and I. But we were thrilled to see men and women walking around in their Yukatas (a summer version of the Kimono). I mean, these are ordinary Joe(s) walking around in traditional dresses and proud of it they were; they even let us snap a shot with them.

Some giant slipper which my aunt couldn't explain what its significance was.

We ended our tour of Asakusa with a traditional tempura meal. Tourist food in a tourist hot spot. Yucks. I wished we had gone to some back-ally for the "real stuff" instead. Nevertheless, the service was excellent, the staff were nice, and we ate in this room which again, we had to seat crossed-legged on tatami mats (traditional straw mats). By the way, in Singapore, when we buy houses, we go by square-foot. In Japan, houses are measured by the number of tatami mats. So instead of buying a 2000 square-foot house, they buy a 150 tatami-measured apartment.

Aunt Junko (the nice Japanese lady), my Uncle, my Aunt, Trevor and I.

Hope you guys enjoyed this edition. More pictures to come. =)

Osaka Vice

Naturally, the food in our bellies was left tumbling around due to the aftermath of the rides at Universal Studios. Let's just call it collateral damage for now. So we were more keen on the rides than food, that meant we only left the theme park at 2.30pm. Having eaten nothing, we took the train back to Osaka for lunch.

What good would it do if you went to Japan and not try Ramen right? So my aunt brought us to this quaint little restaurant located at the city centre, famed for being ranked as the 3rd best Ramen store in Osaka, we were pretty sure our arrival at 3pm would mean an empty restaurant.

Unfortunately, the restaurant's food far precedes its reputation and there was still a queue forming. We waited for some time, much to our cursing at the heat. But, the wait was worth it. We ordered our Ramen (pronounced as "La Mian") together with some Gioza (fried dumplings).
Boy oh boy was it the most heavenly thing ever. Aunty Morian told us that slurping the ramen was part of their culture as a gesture that the food was good. The soup was succulent, nothing quite like the ramen we have back here. And the pork, oh my gosh, THE PORK WAS SO FAT THE THING JUST MELTED IN MY MOUTH. Just you try and beat that.
So lunch was spent wondering why such a popular restaurant only had space for some 15 customers. Also, the Japanese customers next to us were probably wondering why a bunch of Asian adults would be speaking English cause they had this intrigued look on their faces.

Anyway, we came out pretty satisfied with our $200 meal. Don't even ask. We just shrugged it off," Sigh, that's Japan for you..."

Post lunch saw us gambling away by the Pachinko slot machines and the Jackpot machine which we frequent ever so often. Pretty uneventful if you ask me, but we really needed was to sit at one corner like a bloody sloth and rot away with the Ramen digested.

3 hours later, my Aunt ebulliently mentioned that it was time for dinner. So she took us to this tower were the restaurant was located on the 27th floor. One of those swanky restaurants at the tower top. Yakiniku was on the menu. That's right, not just any beef, but the real Wagyu beef. Raw, grilled, cooked with rice, smoked, offal; you name it, we ate it.
Just look at how well the beef was marbled with streaks of fats on it. I guess that's what makes the Wagyu so expensive. We had 2 trays of that mind you.

Below is a picture of the raw beef and egg which we had to mix together and eat straight from the plate. You heard me right. Raw beef. I was squeamish at first but I mustered enough guts to try and it tasted exactly like beef. Only fresher, devoid of the heavy beef smell.
They say," When in Rome, do as the Romans do." but they failed to mention that "when in Japan, do as the Japanese do - Only at your own risk." That's Trevor and I sampling raw cow's liver. Bloody and everything, courtesy of my Aunt's husband. Certainly not my idea. Them crazy Japanese. I bit off a corner of the liver and spat the rest out.
As if that wasn't enough, my aunt's husband ordered cow's tongue which he zealously claimed was the best and most expensive part of the beef. I actually fancied the tongue. It had less flavour but the texture was exactly the same as the meat.
I thoroughly enjoyed dinner even though we over ordered. In the name of all things new, I was surprised that the one thing I liked the most we not the beef, but actually a drink my Aunt ordered for us : Chuhai, a shochu (alcohol from fermented rice) based fruit drink. Tangy and refreshing. Dinner cost more than $340 (after a 30% discount). Thank god my uncle was generous enough to pay. =) I love the way the Japanese spend on food. I mean, this truly is the epitome of living life to the fullest isn't it? So ended the night with yakiniku (Or so we thought).

We continued our hunt for good Japanese food even as we walked back to our Aunt's place. There along some remote street, we stumbled upon this van which was selling tacopachi (octopus balls). We couldn't resist not stopping to purchase the octopus balls, again for comparison sake.
No doubt, the original thing was satisfying. For some reason, everything just tastes much better over there.
The night was still young for us. After returning back to dump our bags, we proceeded back out to the supermarket for some late night shopping. Truth is, we knew our schedule was going to be so packed that we would not have time to shop for souvenirs so we tried to cramp all our activities in one night. My aunt explained that supermarkets usually open till past mid-night to compensate the workaholics who finish work late.
So yeah, for those who received food items from me, this is where I bought most of food. We had a pretty good time just gawking at the huge array of food stuff. Sweets, mountains of them. We wanted to buy one of each but that would take more than half a year to finish.

The last part of our gourmet adventure was this $15 peach we bought from the supermarket. I was shocked that 1 peach the size of 2 fists put together would cost so much. Apparently, the peaches are in season. To my horror, peaches in Japan are actually called "momo". Holy crap, i thought momo was some act-cute word used by twits and Jap wannabes. Ironically (and to some extent, hypocritically), I admitted that momo sounded really KawaixXzxzXZxz.
So there. That's how much we ate on the 2nd day of our trip. It's no wonder why Japan has a such a high HDI. Everyone one eats well, everyone is happy. Damn, those Japanese are so lucky to have food fit for a king.

Substitute for the Olympics Opening Ceremony

The next day in Osaka was very much hotter than what we were expecting. Everyone mentioned how Summer would be different from that of Singapore, intense heat but a relief from the humidity which plagues Singapore.

We went there and how wrong those people were. Barely 2 min after stepping out from my Aunt's apartment, the heat struck and I started perspiring. I felt sticky all over and what was supposed to be a 10min walk to the train station became a hell ride.

As usual, Trevor and I wanted to try everything Japanese. Thus, breakfast was spent at Yoshinoya, a test of how Singapore fails to do justice to the Japanese franchise.

I imagine the beef to be that of the Wagyu grade cause it was really thin and full of flavor. The sauce was light but went really well with the rice. We even had to order a 2nd plate of beef cause it was too thin for just one serving.

And there you have us finding our way to Universal Studios Japan (USJ). Took the subway there which again, was another inferno because it was just so packed. My aunt said," Blame it on the school holidays."

Finally, we reached USJ. As soon as we were out of the city, you could feel the wind which provided some ephemeral comfort. As far as I remember, I downed 4 bottles of water and only peed once in the park. That was how hot it was. 

There you have it, the Universal Studios trademark globe.

We purchased the express ticket which was twice the price of a normal entry ticket. Thank god for those who coined the term "express ticket". The waiting time for each ride was more than an hour. With our express ticket, we waited 2 min to get on our ride.So we found ourselves in the Hollywood themed area and the very first ride we took was this roller coaster which took us for a spin (well, more than a spin actually) around the Hollywood boulevard. I found myself screaming, or shall I say shrieking with my cousin.This was the very ride where this Japanese girl and her friend tried to chat me up while we were being strapped to our seats. For a moment there, it felt really cool to be mistaken for a Japanese. However, I gave up and asked her if she spoke English.

Jap girl: Sumimasen, juido dawadasiasjfijafiq )@(*$)$9152w

Nicol: Huh? Sorry, do you speak English?

Jap girl: English, hai hai. Are you from Korea?

Nicol: No Singapore. Here for holiday...

Jap girl: Ahh Singapore. Uh...

Our conversation was cut short when the ride started. And before I knew it, we were on the incline. Both of the girls started screaming and so did Trevor. After the 2:30 min ride, I legs felt wobbly, my arms stiffed from gripping the handle too tightly.

We proceeded to the different rides which were mostly 3-D simulators. The spiderman ride we took was really impressive. You could feel hot air being blown at you to simulate explosion scenes and water splashing at you when Spiderman punched the water villain.We had little regard for the warning sign outside the spiderman arena much to the annoyance of my mother whom I phoned later that night.
So this was what we sat on. A futuristic car with us wearing 3-D goggles while we spun round and round.
After many rides, we caught sight of the sesame street parade with all the little kids waiting enthusiastically to catch a glimpse of their tv heroes.
The ride I actually enjoyed most was the hallmark of Universal Studios, the ride which takes you on a vertical drop before you splash into the water. Yes, that's the one. It was the Jurasic Park ride. At first, the ride seemed rather benign with us floating on a mechanical raft being led around on a tour of the Jurasic park. Dinosaurs would occasionally splash water at us. Soon, our raft was knocked into some restricted area where the carnivorous dinosaurs were let loose. 

The climax was at the of the feeding area where the T-rex roared as us. At that very moment, while we were distracted by the T-rex, our raft plunged down the pseudo waterfall and boom, into the water.
That's us seating in the front corner, a very very bad place if you don't want to get wet. As you can see, everyone was wet and started to wipe themselves. Trevor and I were especially drenched.
Because of the heat, USJ took special care in installing these cooling tents which spray mist to cool you down from the warm summer heat.
Still wet from our Jurasic park ride, we headed for a water show which was essentially a stunt production. Very thrilling, very loud, lots of explosions and real fire. I loved it even though the narration was in Japanese.

More parades later in the afternoon which we skipped of course.

Hollywood Boulevard

My aunt enthusiastically approached Betty Boob and asked her to take a picture with us. Everything about the Japanese is so cute, even down to the way they act and pose. I was impressed with how Betty could do such a cute pose with her costume. I can't imagine how hot it is for her.So we left Universal Studios after spending the entire morning and afternoon there. Took the same train back to Osaka's Umeda district for lunch.

The trip down to Universal Studios was very meaningful to me. I fought with my motion sickness, I exchanged a few words with random Japanese girls, and I sat on one of the most famous theme park rides in the world. For me, it was the day 08-08-08 was well spent.

Stay on for lunch folks.

Introduction to Japan

Because I enjoyed myself so much in Japan, I have decided to make an effort to write intensively, and extensively. I'm not gonna leave any pictures out, not gonna leave any details out; I will tell you how much my perceptions have changed, and how much I love the country.

I used to think of myself as a patriot, believing that the very country I was born in was perfect (in every way). However, upon arrival in Japan, one word comes to your mind: Utopian. Having been to so many cities in Europe, nothing, absolutely nothing can compare to the distinctive culture in Japan.

When I read about my friends traveling overseas after the A levels, I imagined I would never be able to do the same until I ORD. Yet, the opportunity was presented to me when Aunt Morian came back to Singapore and invited Trevor and I to Japan.

So off we were on board SIA, headed to Kansai airport. For those who are unaware, Kansai Airport was constructed entirely on a man-made / reclaimed island.

Caught a couple of movies during the 6 hour flight to Osaka. Upon our dis-embarkment, we had to navigate our way through the arrival terminal to this machine which dispenses bus tickets for our "limousine bus" to down town Shin-Osaka. Vending machines, by the way, are ubiquitously unique to Japan.
We reached the city centre, Umeda, which was were all the shopping could be found. Incidentally, my aunt and her Japanese husband owns an apartment in the Umeda district. We just had to walk 10min from the train station. Along the way, we noticed how morbid the whole city looked with its monotonous colours.  Pessimistically, we were greeted by the intense summer heat where the city soared to 37 degrees celsius.
There, we were brought to the Osaka Ferris wheel which gave us an excellent panoramic view of the city. The Ferris wheel was built right on top of a shopping centre its distinctive red cabins.
Aunt Morian wanted to do a litmus test to see our threshold when it came to rides, a prelude to Universal Studios. So we were led to a gaming centre. Apart from vending machines, gaming centres are equally ubiquitous in Japan. My aunt explained that gaming arcades are a big part of the Japanese leisure lifestyles which people spend big money on: which in turn generates "internal consumption to boost aggregate expenditure". True to that, we saw the elderly enjoying themselves at the slot machines. We soon found ourselves on a couple of 3-D simulators which we endured.

We walked around the traditional, neon-lit Japanese streets before stopping at this restaurant which my aunt had made reservations for. Just looking at the wax figures was enough to make our mouths water. Some how in Japan, even the wax figures look more authentic and closer to the real thing.
We were brought to this semi-private room with an authentic setting; the table was low, we had to sit cross legged under the table and behind us, the ambience was embellished with wax paper. Aunty also explained that the restaurant was filled with working executives who did not live in Osaka but worked there. And because they end work at 7pm, they don't dine with their families. Instead, they head out to restaurants like this with their colleagues. Many of them don't even get to see their children until weekends.
We had an assortment of Japanese dishes. I particularly enjoyed the toro (fatty tuna sashimi) which cost about $40 for this dish.That's $8 for each piece of the sashimi. So fat it was that the sashimi literally melted in my mouth when I pressed my lips against it. I'm someone who detests eating fish but I knew I couldn't pass a $8-a-piece sashimi. It was absolutely brilliant.
Apart from the various sashimi and sushi, we ordered some shabu shabu which was just as fatty as the toro. The beef was so thinly sliced that all it needed was a 5 second dip in the soup.

What was cool about the sushi over there is that it looks nothing like the cheap imitations we have in Singapore. Even the salmon was of a different grade and colour.We also tried the Japanese snow crab which was barbecued. The legs were huge, about 2 of my fingers put together. And surprise surprise, the meat looks EXACTLY like the crab stick we have back here yet, it tasted 10 times sweeter.Along came my Aunt's husband who downed 3 glasses of beer and 1 bottle of cold Sake (which he forced us to try in shot glasses). We also ordered some exotic shell fish which was chopped up and boiled in a broth.And there you have it, our $360 dinner on the 1st night. Loved the simplistic setting of the restaurant, nothing pretentious, everything to boast.As if the food wasn't enough, we proceeded for some traditional Japanese deserts. On the menu, we had some pseudo ice-kachang which was topped with red beans, mochi and green tea ice cream. A work of art indeed.With the night still young, my aunt brought us back to the game centre to try our hands on Pachinko, a popular gambling machine in Japan which have turned many innocent people into addicts.

 We didn't fancy the Pachinko machines cause we were losing money at such a fast rate. Instead, we got hooked on to one of the jackpot machines which we almost, just almost struck the jackpot.

We headed back to my Aunt's apartment (which we would be spending subsequent nights) for some fruits. The "fruits" turned out to the the world famous Kyoho grapes which can cost up to $130 in Singapore. Over here, we paid 1000 Yen which was like $12. You can see just how big and juicy they are. Known for its high sugar content, eating them tasted just like gummy bears and white wine put together in one sugary mixture.And no surprise, my Aunt's toilet had one of those typical high-tech toilet bowls which could warm the seat, play music as you shit, and spray the hell out of ass once you finish taking a shit. I should probably mention that you can adjust the angle of the spray, the pressure of the spray and the temperature of the spray. All these were done with the push of those colourful buttons.While we had fun and ate like kings on the 1st day, what laid ahead for day 2 remained unknown. We could only throw guesses at what Universal Studios had in store for us but as we slept comfortably snug in our beds, we knew that day 2 would certainly, not disappoint.

The Hors d'oeuvre

I'm back people. Japan was great. As I was telling Margaret, I fell in love with Japan. Coming back to Singapore was filled with much vacillation. The thought of coming back to a society which lags far behind in the race for graciousness just made me cringe. I don't have the pictures with me cause I took only 20. The rest are with my cousin.

So stay tuned. Here are some pictures to wet your appetite.

On the Osaka Ferris Wheel.

Osaka city - Population : 17 000 000     Season: Summer      Temperature: 37 Deg Celsius

 Dinner which amounted up to a cool $360. Or about 30 000 Yen.

Osaka by night. Also known as Kansai.

The Great Unbend

Okay guys, I will be leaving for Osaka, Japan tomorrow. Pity we were not flying to Tokyo first, then we could have had a seat on the A380. SIA so I'll be expecting to watch at least 3 movies. Pretty excited about the whole thing. Will come back and update you guys on the trip. =))

Cheers.

Updates

Well well, I noticed I haven't really had the time to update this site. What I have been busy with, I don't know as well. Maybe it's the computer games which I have obsessively felt enslaved to owing to the assiduous preparations for the A levels.

Anyway, things are fine over at my side. The trip to Japan has been confirmed with free air tickets courtesy of my uncle's milage. With any luck, I will be on the A380 to Tokyo. And I believe it will be a domestic flight to Osaka where our family friend lives. I have a serious motion sickness; as the name suggests, Disneyland sounds benign in comparison to Universal Studios. My mum freaked out when she discovered the Osaka Ferris Wheel was on the itinerary. This would be a pretty good trip with my cousin.

And I passed my final theory test. Again, everyone in the office was predicting that I would fail, but I worked my magic on that tiny computer screen. Some guy in there turned to me and asked if I was 16 instead of 18. That youthful radiance gets to me sometimes (much to my dismay).

I just ask for one last thing. One of my Cat High buddies' father had a massive stroke and has been in a coma for the past week. I appeal to all those reading this to pray hard for the recovery of his father. And that with divine intervention, his family will find solace and comfort in this time of tragedy.

Celebrations, dolce style

While I was having dinner with my friends on a morbid and mundane Wednesday night, I received a call from my parents, asking me to cab down to Rifle Range Road for dinner. Found out that it was my uncle's birthday and the family was celebrating at this famed Italian restaurant called Valentino.

So I made my way down, reluctantly in my SCDF uniform. You can't imagine how out-of-place I was. As it turned out, my uncle had this other business he ran with a family friend, supplying the restaurant with pasta sauce. So with the benefit of biased affiliations, the restaurant booted their guests and allocated us the private function room.

Private function room? No, I turned out to be a Tuscan-style decorated dining room, complete with a bar, a piano, couches and a lovely dinning table.

I don't really know what the family had for dinner, except that it was a 7 course meal with stuff like parma ham, fried mozzarella balls, soup, pasta, steak and desert. Something like that. I'll let the pictures do the talking.With a stroke of luck, I made it just in time for the last piece of steak. Excellent. Never before have I tasted anything like this.

The parents

The family

I'm sorry about my absence from this site. It has been a busy week for me. Driving, NS duties (compensated with Off-days of course), medical appointments and Friday Nights happy hour which the department insists we go for lan gaming every fortnight after work.

I hope everyone is fine. =)

Flight Plans and Farewell

It has been a busy week for me. Organised a workshop for the NSmen which was successfully executed after 3 months of preparation. I'm pretty fervent about what I do in the office instead of feeling resigned but last week was really hectic and I needed a well-deserved break. Took my half day leave to catch up with Lynn, accompanied by Hell Boy 2 which is perhaps the most overrated movie of the year. Dinner was spent with the cousin and the family at some Japanese restaurant.

And in the name of all things Japanese, if all goes well, I should be on a plane to Osaka, Japan during the 1st week of August. Finally, yet another trip overseas without any chaperon (ie parents).

I have never been to Japan, neither do I enjoy eating fish for that matter. Japan is probably as mysterious and unexplored to me as the remote parts of Siberia so I have absolutely no idea what will be in store for me.
Thus, I am appealing to those who read this entry to furnish some survival tips on Japan (Sirens should start going off for people who frequent Japan like Desmond and Hanqiang). Tell me which places to visit, what to eat, what to expect and what to buy. Don't just say," oh go to the Masatomikatsu Fuji Toyota Sashimi Palace..." cause I have no idea what that is anyway; English please. Help me out and I promise I will buy something nice for you IF MY LEAVE GET'S APPROVED. Thank you. =)

On another note, we had a farewell cum class gathering last week at Chinatown. Mainly because Miss Lynette Lim had left NJ for RJ. Lunch was spent at some Indian vegetarian restaurant by the name of Anaklashmi (if i'm spelling this right).
I cant really remember the details of the gathering but I went something like lunch, farewell, lan with the guys, followed by Wanted at night.
Ignore the weird hand at the corner of the picture but do notice the aptly misplaced (ooh I like this paradox) line "Life is Beautiful" at the corner. We will miss you Miss Lim. 

Driving Log Volume 3

Boy am I glad my instructor did not go ballistic on me today. Perhaps he was in a good mood. I think I'm getting the hang of it. Today, he told me how some people actually were on the course to collision because of being distracted by voluptuous women. One thing I noticed is how NSFs are always excited at the sight of the opposite sex. Talk about weapons of mass distractions.

I'm taking half day leave tomorrow. Really need a break. Shopping and movies :)

Home Coming

Ever since I enlisted, I almost, just almost, lost contact with most of the Cat High people, teachers, classmates and students alike. However, the idea of an annual homecoming carnival is brilliant. Whether it is done to ensure school spirit or to raise funds for a new sports hall, the opportunity to converse with old boys and teachers is priceless.

And facebook has once again lived up to it's function (albeit euphemistically) as a social networking site. By invitation on facebook, that's how I got to know about the carnival. This year was a bigger event because of the combined participation of the primary school. Henceforth, Uncle Ringo was involved with the rides and the blown-up slides.

Decided to bring Hanson and Desmond because meeting up with the old 4-7 people was difficult due to their NS and academic  commitments. The best part of my day was meeting my boys and their new teacher. 

"Mr Ngiam! Mr Ngiam! Buy our stuff!"

"HEY HE IS BACK!"

"OMG, YOUR HAIR!"

"OEI DON'T SO CHEAP SKATE LEH"

The moment I stepped into school, I was met enthusiastically my 1-8 boys. A testament of their frivolous character would be the sight of their class t-shirt. Don in their ubiquitous black shirts with the words M18 on it. Nevertheless, I was delighted to see them doing fine and maturing really fast.And as I walked further down the canteen, I met my 1-5 who were complaining that they had trouble selling their Otak. I was surprised by how cheap they were selling it at considering how my class always ends up selling our merchandise at a 500% profit margin. I really loved their banner's slogan "Don't be so cheapskate, buy our Otak"Finally, I got to meet my 1-7 who were also having difficulties selling their maltose candy tossed with random assortments. It was easy to point out who they were. Desmond took a look at them and asked if they were the best class.

Walked about and it was great to see the basketball match in the hall with old boys (hardly boys because they are all in their mid 40s) pairing with the school team players. Entered the staff room and chatted with the teachers, or shall I say, ex-colleagues. Bumped into some 4-7 classmates and we concluded that a BBQ was imperative.

And yea, I finally got to introduce Mr Heng to Desmond and Hanson. Glad they got along famously.

Left the school for Hancock which I felt was good because of the different concept of a super hero.

Good day for me folks. =)

Pushing Daisies - A serial to die for

I've recently been hooked onto the serial, Pushing Daisies. It would be blasphemous not to rave about this highly acclaimed show which turns out to be one which is highly addictive, like a candy dipped in chocolate and laced with sunshine.

Many reviews have labelled the show as a forensic fairytale because of the nature of the serial itself. Ned, the pie maker is able to bring the dead back to life by touching them. The only rules are, they (the dead) can stay alive for a minute otherwise someone else will die in his/her place.

 

The demerit? If Ned touches them a 2nd time, they will die instantly. So Ned hooks up with this private investigator to help with unsolved murder cases. Inevitably, Ned brings back him childhood sweetheart (Chuck) to life and has to spend the rest of his life, without being able to touch her at all. Chuck begins to appreciate life with her "newborn" gift and falls for Ned, changing him to be more affable.

With that, this romantic thriller would see the lovers kissing through plastic sheets which is cute (but awful if you are a sappy romantic idealist)

People have also commented that the programme is pretty "quirky"with the vivid colours and lighting which truly makes this show a visual treat. Albeit the narration being a tad too fast, many of the conversations are really witty and subtly humorous.

And with the ensemble cast, the show is simply flawless. I must say, Anna Friel is a wonderful actress. Her petulant and obtuse personality makes it all the more enjoyable to watch. Friel is brilliant in her portrayal of "Chuck" or "Charlotte".It really struck me when I found out that so many of my friends were watching it too. Intellects and ah bengs alike. Many als mentioned how Lost, Prison Break and Heroes could not be compared to Pushing Daisies whose concept is really refreshing. So take my word for it, catch it Pushing Daisies on Channel 5 on Sundays, 10.30pm to 11.30pm.