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Hi all,
Long time no blog! I finally have a high speed internet connection at Candy's friend Ken's place, so I'm very very happy :D I'm tired now so I'll just do a short entry and more tomorrow.
Still reeling from culture shock in Tokyo, we've been spoilt in Shanghai and Hong Kong since we took taxis everywhere in Shanghai since it was cheap, or were driven around in my Dad's SUV, and the Hong Kong MTR/subway system is
the best I've seen: bilingual, well-designed stations so passengers can transfer from one line to another just by walking across the platform, and little blinking arrows on the line map that tell you which line and direction you're on as well as the next stop. Amazing. Then we arrive in Tokyo and it takes two hours and four trains to get to Ken's home. Arrrggghhhhhh!!! At least we did follow his advice and had the baggage sent from the airport to his home so we wouldn't drag it on crowded trains. I had NO idea Tokyo is this big and how train lines are sprawled everywhere... crazy.
We stopped by 7-11 for food on the way home and I spent about 15 minutes gawking and pointing out the weird and wonderful food: buns with butter already inside that you melt in the microwave, the whole cooler full of different brands of pure green tea, breads that contain any kind of filling you can think of, shelves of cold noodles, Japanese curry, sushi, rice dishes, etc that you either heat or eat straight... you can pretty much have a gourmet meal there! We bought about CDN$25 worth of stuff which Ken tells us people never do - they just grab one or two things and go, so everyone there had a good laugh at us I'm sure.
And not to mention... I feel like such an idiot because I forgot most of the Japanese from high school and have been reduced to reading the katakana to sound out English words and the kanji since they're basically Chinese characters. Candy and I did manage to eat a fabulous ramen meal while Ken was at school just by first saying "Nihongo wakarimasen" (I don't understand Japanese) and then pointing at everything we wanted. I could read some so it makes life a bit easier. I can't imagine how difficult it is having no understanding of Japanese and trying to get around... insane! I almost wish I wasn't Asian here though because people automatically assume we're Japanese and start gabbing away while we look on dumbfounded... we usually just nod, smile, and thank them before shuffling away :p
Went to Shinjuku today after Ken's class - a classy shopping district but next to the red light one as well... Candy bought a suit at Zara and I bought a white trench coat and white shoes while Ken was trying to persuade us to save our shopping tomorrow in Harajuku, the trendy district where all the girls who want to be seen go. Yes, and I'll have my camera...!!
Toodles until then~!
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Matti
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Finally in Tokyo eh? So when are u coming back again? And btw, i love the alliterated title. haha