Lets each fly 1000km and have a coffee
And thats how this came about. I flew down from bangkok to Kuala Lumpur and she flew up from Kota Kinabalu. And we spent the afternoon together.
]]>New Year's Resolution #1: Write on my blog more often
Wishing you all a very healthy, inspiring, outstanding, amazing, thrilling, sizzling, interesting, spicey, lovely, outrageous, attractive, passionate, ravishing, luxurious, brilliant, refreshing, delightful, splendid, tempting, warm, abudant, heartwarming, appealing, transforming, rewarding, fun, beaming, adriant, invigorating, serene, better, relaxing, brimming, colourful, cool, dazzling, active, beautiful, precious, divine, dynamic, ecstatic, exquisite, fantasic, luscious, flourishing, successful, generous, lucky, glamorous, incredible and above all Happy New Year!
]]>And thats how this came about. I flew down from bangkok to Kuala Lumpur and she flew up from Kota Kinabalu. And we spent the afternoon together.
]]>Kim is in Malaysia for a conference and has Given with her. And although originally she was going to come up to Bangkok for 2 days, those tickets were so expensive that we're meeting one another in Malaysia. She is flying up from Borneo to Kuala Lumpur and I am flying down from Bangkok. We're going to spend the afternoon together and then depart in opposite directions again! A strange rendez-vous, but how often do we get a chance to see each other!?
Air Asia (oh dear) would again (sigh) not accept my creditcard and so I had to call them. The (Thai) girl on the phone asked me "go and come back" (thats Thai-English for "return ticket") "on one day??". Yes indeed madam!
I'm excited to see them!
]]>Having spend almost a week in Tokyo, the conclusion I've reached is that what we perceive Japan to be in broad lines is true. A very civilized country, a very polite people with strange habits and great food. But it is very obvious, much more so than I've found in places like Thailand, that there is a layer beyond what we can see. A layer which we will never be able to see. I don't pretend to understand Thai society, but when it comes to Japan the message of 'you will never really understand this' is much stronger than in a country like Thailand.
When I visited Hong Kong for the first time, it immediately became my favorite city. New York got bumped. Before my trip, I was wondering if Tokyo would beat Hong Kong and sort of expected it to. It has and it hasn't. There are certainly things about Tokyo which I find much more interesting than Hong Kong, such as the technology industry, the level of sophistication, that incredible attention to details, etc. But Hong Kong also has certain things going for it, for example the fact that it is much more open to foreigners. Both have the elements of surprise which I love about Bangkok and so dearly miss in Singapore.
I can't seem to make up my mind. So yes, Tokyo is my number one favorite city in the world. And so is Hong Kong. I'm sure they won't mind sharing the much coveted and highly reveared position of being MY favorite city.
]]>After I got to Tokyo and said goodbye to Natalie, I was left to find a hotel. I stored one of my bags in a locker at the train station so I wouldn't have to carry it with me and back to the train station. Then I called the hotel I had been staying at, but they only had more expensive rooms available. I tried to find a capsule hotel and briefly considered booking a love hotel after all, but ended up paying for the more expensive room.
An evening with rain, I did go out for a quick bite and had a drink in a bar, but went to sleep fairly early. I woke up the next morning, had a shower and set out for my errands. A Tokyo city mug from Starbucks, I wanted to get a bag for my computer to take to the office, etc. Walked out of the hotel (they couldn't be bothered to let me know checkout was at 11am so I had to pay extra) and walked into a very rainy day. Enough of this already, I know I said I was so happy to find fresh air again but I never said I missed rainy days!
Soaking wet from a 200 meter walk to the Aayome-Itchome subway station, I decided to have breakfast before heading downtown. I had a bagel with cream cheese and blueberry, a blueberry juice and blueberry pastry and a coffee. The reason I mention this is because it demonstrates how seasonal things find their way into a lot of things. Fall for example is the season of chestnuts and one can even get chestnut Kitkat and chestnut flavored drinks. This store went the blueberry route and I quite enjoyed. But I digress.
Subway to Shibuya and I was able to find my way into several department stores without getting wet, using the subway station as underground tunnels. I spent too much time browsing (and ended up not buying anything, to make matters worse) and then had quite the hustle to get on the plane. I had to rush from Shibuya to Tokyo station (a half hour trainride) and then take the airport express for an hour. In between, I had to pick up a bag and somehow call the airline to see if I could check in because I would arrive at the airport the same minute the checkin counter would close.
When I get home around midnight tonight, I've got one more day to relax and then holiday time is over and it will be back to work for this boy.
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Kyoto is a very traditional city and the old Japanese lifestyle is still to be found here, long gone from the streets of for example Tokyo I presume. Funnily enough, it is also known for its technology industry - a lot of small tech companies work out of Kyoto for whatever reason. Natalie and I, after dropping our bags, spent the evening wandering around the suburbs and after the downtown area. Funny was that in the suburbs we really did get the feeling people did not get to see foreigners a whole lot, but downtown I spotted so many tourists that it seemed odd that these places were in the same city. Kyoto is a very quiet town, both in the suburbs as well as the city center.
The Shinkoin temple turned out to be a family temple, one of many that had all been clustered around a main temple. It was a bit of a disappointment in the sense that it made for a different type of experience. More or less a traditional Japanese house in my eyes, a temple I expected was one with monks scurrying around and things like that. I took it for what it was to me, relaxing time after having run around for a week and really enjoyed the time we spent there. After having slept late in the morning, Natalie was taking a Zen meditation class (I was meditating in my own way!), and the weather not looking very good I decided to stay at the temple and spend the day relaxing. Natalie was planning to do a walking tour, but when the rain started coming down she also decided to stay in for the afternoon. We read, slept and chatted and after the rain stopped took a stroll around the area. We then decided to head back to Tokyo together. Initially I was planning to stay in Kyoto a second night but the trip from Kyoto to the airport would be too long and basically take up the whole Saturday already. So I figured I might as well go back to Tokyo today.
Looking back now, the whole trip to Kyoto cost 2 days and we did not really get to see or do a whole lot. But it was interesting to see another city and a really nice and relaxing experience to stay in the temple. Some true down time in a holiday that otherwise was a lot of running around. And for that alone, it was worth it for me.
]]>In the train on the way to Kyoto as I write this, the high speed train (shinkansen) zooming across the countryside at over 200km per hour. Every 30 minutes or so a lady with a little food and drink cart will walk by. Also, the ticket guy has passed several times. When he does, before he exits the cabin, he turns around and bows to all the passengers and is then on his way.
The weirdest form of this bowing thing was something I noticed in a subway station the other day. The trackside (after the turnstiles) was separated from the unpaid section of the subway station only by a low stone wall. A man and woman were talking about something before saying goodbye. When they finally did say goodbye, they bowed to each other. But the woman continued making bows to him while he was walking away. And even stranger so, continued making bows while he had disappeared out of sight and walked around a corner. She did that for another 10 seconds before walking away.
An example of consideration for your fellow (wo)man, is the covering of ones mouth. In Bangkok tuktuk drivers and others wear those to protect themselves from the air pollution. Chinese tend to wear them to protect themselves from disease such as SARS and what not. In Japan, people use those mouth covers to protect others from their germs. If you have a cold or whatever, put on a mask to make sure you dont contaminate others.
All these kind of protocols are nothing new to me. In Thailand too, there is a lot of protocol in the way people address and deal with eachother. I'm sure the west has similar protocols that I simply not as much aware of as I've grown up. And the above and other examples that could be given, are all a matter of following rules. And as I've said before, following rules is something the Japanese do very well!
]]>Japanese are really good at following rules. Even if rules dont make sense, rules are adopted and flawlessly executed. One follows the instructions of the family, boss, the government, society and whomever may come up with additional rules. If they somehow apply to someone, they will be followed. Something like a tea ceremony for example is filled with protocol and Japanese I'm sure feel great pride in understanding and being able to execute this protocol. But always having to follow rules I'm sure makes a person a bit edgy at times, so it seems only natural to find escapes for this. The best example of this I guess can be found in comparing Japanese businessmen during the day and during the night. During the day, they are obedient and respectful workers who never contradict their boss (I'm sure even less so than Thai) and do their job with pride. In the night however, they get super drunk and really annoying at times. The getting drunk is not always an escape from being obedient though. It turns out saying 'no' to an invitation from your boss to get a drink is unheard off. You go, you get drunk with him and you will like it. End of story. What is cool about this is that during those two worlds remain apart, in the night you can get drunk with the boss and call him an asshole, this will stay in the bar and not get back to the office provided you show him enough respect from 9 to 5. Or rather, 8 to 8 I'm told.
Plenty of true escapes remain. The most interesting one is the obsession of the Japanese with the fantasy worlds of cartoons. From 5 to 55 years old, they read cartoons on the way to school or work. Discretely covered books (nobody needs to know what perverted manga story you are reading) and smiles on the subway, but it doesnt stay there. Endless rows of stores cater to the 3D version of comics, where you can let your own imagination run wild. Buy the little figurines in stores and you can spend the evenings at home playing out your own comics. Or whatever they do with those dolls, some of the dolls have interesting positions as this $160 little doll in the middle will show you.
And that brings us into the second escape - sex. I think it's common knowledge those Japanese are fairly perverted people, but I never expected sex or sexuality to be so openly displayed here. An exhibit of this is perhaps the 6 story sex shop I visited where they sell anything you could ever imagine ... and then have only covered 10% of the shop. The imagery of sexy girls is used everywhere, on tv and on posters and in screaming graphics praising a certain store. And a lot of the comics, or so I've heard, have quite the sexual inclination.
While they are masters at following rules (perhaps a reason why Japanese are such engineering marvels?), they seem to be equally skilled at finding ways to escape from those rules.
]]>The first thing I noticed when we walked outside of the train station was the fresh air. Living in Bangkok means you never really have to wonder about the weather, it is always going to be around 32C/90F and it only changes slightly with the different seasons. Not so in Japan, as they have real seasons there. Autumn was coming and so the air was crisp and fresh, something you never realise how much you miss it. Also really interesting was that cars turn off their engine AND their lights while waiting at a traffic light, the latter to avoid causing discomfort to other cars. Amazing, it really is true how considerate they are. Although that turned out to be less the case once we started getting into more crowded places and people were pushing in trains and what not.
We all went to the downtown area of Chiba to eat sushi. And the first thing you can't help but notice is how good everybody looks. Not just compared to Thailand, but compared to the west as well, people went all out in looking their best. The result is a constant fashion show of both men and women. There are different styles and within each style people try to look their best, it might not be your cup of tea but they really do their best. The girls especially look amazing. Japanese women are beautiful as it is, but being dressed up and looking like little dress up dolls makes them all the more a pleasure to look at. I couldn't stop turning my head as we were walking the streets and expect this not to change anytime soon.
After food a coffee and then in the train to Tokyo on my own. With the directions Chris gave me, I was quick to find the hotel I had booked and was pleasantly surprised. Small, SUPER small rooms, but quiet in a business area of town and with free internet access. So I'm not complaining. It's also not as expensive as most other hotels, at 60 euro per night! Time to sleep, it was an early morning and I'm very, very tired.
]]>Natalie and are now aboard United Airlines flight UA838 on our way to Tokyo. She had booked United for her entire trip and so I thought I'd join on the same flight. I'm still not in 'holiday mood' and rapidly firing off emails to people at the office. But I intend to change that soon. I'm looking forward to a week of sleeping in and relaxing. I'm staying at a hotel right downtown Tokyo.
Did not get a lot of preparing done. Basically consulting Lonely Planet, WikiTravel and getting some tips from others is all I have for this trip. I'm sure I'll be filling my days quite rapidly. I'll be in Tokyo for the first 4 nights, then take the bullet train to Kyoto and spend 2 nights in a temple there. Basically, 5 full days for doing tourist things in Japan!
]]>When I arrived at the airport last night and got into a taxi, it was a boring ride home. I've only been out of my apartment this afternoon to have a bite to eat downstairs at the coffeeshop. And even now, Saturday night, I decided to stay in because of the weather. Blegh, reminds me of rainy weekends in Holland.
Last year I remember having bought a large computer screen and wading through knee deep flooded streets. I was so excited about this then, nothing exciting about the rain anymore. I do still smile when I walk into my office building on a rainy morning and find a hallway full of drying umbrellas. But generally speaking, I'm ready for the winter!
]]>The year that followed splits up into two parts, first six months of doing no working and then six months of doing nothing but working. I remember the first few weeks were quite difficult for me. I was still dealing with having said goodbye to so many loved ones. This ended when I moved into my own place after a short vacation during which I think I let go. I 'set up shop' in my own place and settled in for some well deserved relaxing. Boredom kicked in after a few months, so I decided to look for and found a job. The biggest surprise was landing a job in Thailand, which I really never expected to happen. After starting work, Thailand really did become a home for me. I think strengthened by the frequent travel abroad, coming back to Thailand every time underlined this was really my home. And although I'm still relatively new here, I feel this has really become my new home.
In actuality, I've lived in Asia for only one year now. But I've seen so many incredible things, met so many interesting people, did things I never did before and thought thoughts I never thought before. My life has changed dramatically and in my opinion for the better. Arriving here a year ago seems like a lifetime away.
]]>I've never really worried about hygiene when eating in Thailand, I simply adhere to a few simple rules when buying streetfood but when it comes to restaurants I generally don't worry. I have this theory that you will only get sick when you start to worry about getting sick. This point was proven when I first went to India and got quite sick following that visit, from a 5 star hotel no less. I was carefull during the entire trip there about food hygiene and 'worried' about it. And indeed I got sick. In a place like Singapore, I would never worry about food hygiene. Imagine my surprise when I got sick during this trip.
There is this Chinese snack, no idea what its called but it is minced meat pressed into 'coins' using some kind of glazing that makes the whole thing taste sweet. I love eating it when I get the chance, could blindly walk you to a shop selling just this in Hong Kong. So when I saw it in Singapore, I got myself a handful and happily munched on them walking down the street. No harm done. But a couple of hours later at the dinner table, I wasn't feeling all that good. I just thought it was hunger. But a few bites into the dinner, I started feeling a bit sick. I'll spare you the details, but I made it back to the hotel. I went to bed, shivering and waking up all through the night. The following day one of recovery, but soon back up to speed.
Nonetheless, food poisoning for the second time in one year. Neither of them in Thailand.
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Back in Thailand, a lot of people told me they simply got their visa in Bangkok. So I was relieved. A bit annoyed that the company had incurred all those expenses for no good reason really, but relieved things were looking on the upside and I didn't have to travel somewhere else to try and get the visa there. So the ball started rolling and preparations being made, until it turned out that for certain legal reasons I would not be able to get the one year visa I needed inside Thailand. Great, all this clarity.
Still unclear what the outcome is, I have a visa for the next three months and so I have a while to get this mess sorted. Or rather, my boss does and he is working several different angles. I might be able to get one in Tokyo during my upcoming visit. Who knows ... visa tales to be continued.
]]>So what does one do for fun and games in Singapore? One goes shopping. I think the Singaporeans have an even greater love of shopping malls than the Thai do, plus the expendable income to spare. And so on Saturday afternoon I joined the masses (and I do mean masses) going in and out of shopping malls. My Airport Express wifi base station recently died due to a power surge in my condo and so I waited with buying the new Airport Extreme for this trip as it saves me 20% from the Bangkok price. I was also very happy to find Gap stores in Singapore and got myself a new pair of jeans there.
What else is there to do in your spare time in Singapore? Sentosa! The people of Singapore complained to the government that there was nowhere in the city to really kick back and relax. And so again, in its typical manner, the government designated an island as 'recreational' and built a Disneyland like holiday experience. It was fun to sit on the cable car onto the island, see the big Merlion, see a 3D movie, etc. but it was all so ... organised. -- [Go to the site to see the photos]
"Yes, but Mr. President, we don't even have our own soccer team to cheer on!", is what the people said. And so Singapore formed its own soccer team. They imported talent from all over the region and on tv they have this commercials promoting the soccer team. Like I said, ultra organised.
And it is exactly that over-organisation that puts me off about Singapore. My first impressions of Singapore last year were pretty much underlined during this trip. I do enjoy the shopping a lot more than I do shopping in Bangkok, because I'm not perceived as a 'farang-have-big-money' here. And walking around the streets everything is really well organised. It is easy to get around, everything is up to standards, everything works, etc. I wouldn't go as far as calling Singapore itself a Disneyland experience, but it does have certain similarities in that it is one single type of feeling throughout the whole place. What really gets to me is even when I want to get a taxi I have to cue up!
I guess I prefer in a place that is a bit more dynamic. Thats probably why I love Hong Kong (its been a while, I should go visit soon) so much - it does have all the comforts that I so much appreciate. But it also has the back alleys and weird places and odd experiences that I so enjoy in for example Bangkok. Singapore is completely void of that experience.
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