2 posts tagged “japan”

Tadaima! My family and I are back from +2 weeks in Japan. We spent most of our time with family, and weren’t able to see any friends this time or do anything extraordinary. But still, it was Japan, which is nothing short of fantastic. And we got to see Shimajiro.

Trips aren’t without their challenges. I am not the world traveler I could dress myself up to be. Hopefully I am gaining experience with each successive trip, so I can come closer to my aspiration, rather than staying close to being, well, an ass.

But some notable Powerpoints:

All that you can’t leave behind. In the 3 weeks prior to our trip, I was up to my receding hairline in work. I had to train my team on what I do. Which is sort of complicated. I knew my guys could do it. I was just under the gun to explain what to do. This was the most stressed out I’d ever been at work. I had many people come into my office, their faces immediately blanching with a look of pity and guilt – a reaction to my obvious oh-my-god-I-can’t-take-this look about me.

Coming back from vacation is sometimes just as bad as before you leave because of the mountains of work waiting for you. But this time – because my team rocks – I was in good stead and didn’t walk back into a complete fire pit.

Language. I’ve discovered an easy way to learn a foreign language. Become a three-year-old. Mitsuki just soaked it up, mostly from spending time with her O-baa-chama and O-jii-chama (grandmother and grandfather), and although this is standard for children 0-5 because their brain’s language centers have not “closed,” it’s still a marvel to witness. She’s left me in the dust, using proper articles and verb conjugations, and constructing multi-verb sentences. I haven’t advanced past single-verb sentences, barely enough to ask where the toilet is. Oterai wa doko desu ka?

Hospitality. We spent the bulk of our trip in Saitama, at my wife’s parents’ house. Enough cannot be said about how kind, generous, and accepting they – and all my wife’s family – are. Not only were we staying in a warm, cozy, loving atmosphere, but we also treated to oishii (delicious) food and premium sake. They are always so gracious to me. A big doumo arigatou gozaimasu! to them.

Japanese TV. Of the many things that rock about Japan, TV is one of them. Even though my language comprehensive is close to nil, I can still sit for hours in front of the streaming news, entertainment, cooking, sports and drama shows. It’s a visual river of goodness. Even the commercials are cool. The variety of it all is wonderful and staggering. American TV blows goats by comparison.

Kimura Takuya [Wiki], one of the most famous pop idols in Japan, is in full force. He is currently seen in ubiquitous Nikon and Georgia Coffee (I think it was) commercials. Not to mention starring in his band SMAP’s weekly variety/cooking shows. This guy is one of the coolest on the planet. If I could be anyone, I’d like to be him. He’s got talent (singing, acting, even cooking), he’s well respected, and he’s got a charisma rating off the charts. The latest news on him is that he’ll be starring in the second installment of the “Hero” drama, where he plays an unconventional police detective.

The weather with you. I thought it’d be cold in Japan, but it was about like San Francisco. So I came home with my butt in tact, not having frozen it off.

Oedo Onsen Monogatari. [an English site | official Japanese site with pictures] The onsen (hot spring baths) is a unique experience, and this one was especially posh, made-up like a theme park from the Edo period. After stowing your shoes in a locker, you get a master key you wear around your wrist. You go to the yukata (cotton kimono) counter and pick out the one you’d like to wear for your visit. I chose a purple one with a scenic print. My wife chose a light blue one, and we got a yellow one for Mitsuki. Then, you go to your respective changing/locker room and change into this yukata. (Tourists, please remember to wear your undergarments.) Afterwards, you enter the “town” that’s decked out like an Edo-period street, with trinket shops and lots of restaurants. From this main street, you can access the outdoor footbath. After a dinner of sushi and ramen, we went to the outdoor footbath first, which luckily wasn’t too cold. One of Oden Onsen’s special features is a special tented footbath that holds an entire school of small, 5cm catfish. When you stick your feet into the water, the fish swim to you and (presumably) clean your feet by nipping off the dried skin and other undesirables. It was quite a nice feeling, therapeutic too, having lots of tiny fish kissing and cleaning your feet. But it was somewhat embarrassing having more fish swarm my feet that any other customer. Too bad I didn’t have my camera on me.

We could have stayed, going to the traditional onsens – which often have a set of baths of varying temperatures, from hot to scalding, and if you’re lucky an outdoor bath, which is simply a sublime experience if it’s cold outside. The juxtaposition of super-hot volcanic water and cold air wafting in from the scenic view is tops. (And it’s super-tops if it’s snowing.) But instead, we wrapped up and went back to the hotel (Hotel Intercontinental, Tokyo Bay), which was all of a 3-minute train ride. My wife scored with this choice of evening entertainment. Then again, she puts in a lot of work researching where to go. Hint for next time: research and plan something.

Big in Japan: How you carry yourself and your stuff. Years ago, once I became mindful of it, I started to try and carry myself “quietly” – that is, avoid making useless, excessive movements. For example, if I am sitting down with my legs crossed, I won’t jiggle my leg. Or if I’m standing in line for something, I won’t splay with my feet apart, elbows out, looking around every 20 seconds, like a nervous bird. In the US, this kind of non-movement might seem sort of Japanese/Asian. But in Japan, I found I was still the sore thumb, my carriage not quite exact, my back not quite as straight, my movements still too “loud.” The eternal gakusei (student), I have much to learn, much more to have discipline over.

I also found, being in crowded Japan, my ass was always in the way. I was often blocking someone from passing, I was bumping into people, I was making someone wait for me. This is not about size. It’s about taking up space. It’s about being aware of where you are, and how you carry yourself, which I’m both pretty poor at. For example, if I am walking and I have to reach into my backpack, I should move off to the shoulder of the sidewalk, so as not to slow people down behind me. This might seem like common, courteous sense (which it is), but I had to dial my sensitivity meter up 10 clicks because I was just not quite getting it – that is, I wasn’t conscientious enough. I was always inconveniencing people.

A slice of blame can be placed on the amount gear I was lugging around. Having a 3-year-old, I still like to carry extra clothes, baby wipes, lotion, tissue, etc. – all in a big backpack. And since I purposefully brought it to help optimize our overall suitcase space, this relatively roomy pack became a downright behemoth, like an airplane hangar on my back. For daytrips into Tokyo, this is not the thing to carry. I must’ve bumped about 20 people on the train (non-rush hour), which is still “lame” on the tourist meter. Hint for next time: bring a smaller bag, even if takes up precious room in the suitcase. In Tokyo, people travel light, and look good doing it. Also: bring a lint brush. I looked like a wooly-bully for Christ's sake.

Well, those are some noteworthy bits. I hope I can make it back to Japan sometime soon. I always have my stack of language books to pick through, until the next trip.

My Flickr photo set.

...So we'll be leaving for Japan for a +2 week vacation on Thanksgiving day (Nov 23), and to start cleaning up my act, I gave myself a haircut and started to brush up on my Japanese. But how do you brush up something that's essentially nonexistent? (Much like brushing up my brush cut, which in its current state is thinning out quickly.)

I took 3 Japanese classes back in 2000-2001, and have tried to pick up more from watching Japanese soap operas and news programs. So it's no wonder I've plateaued. I just haven't put in the time to make serious progress.

Just this week, I found that I'd forgotten simple words like "friend" (tomodachi), much to my panic. And for years I have been trying to remember the difference between tsukuru (to make), tsukeru (to turn on), and tsukau (to use). Good luck to me getting it right in the next 8 days.

But, you do what you can. Gambaremasu! (I will try!)

So back to my hair. I had been wanting to grow it out as a last stand. I had dreams of looking like a Japanese rock star. But like many dreams, this one died hard. But, to my pleasant surprise, I happened to watch Infernal Affairs and was suddenly inspired to look like Andy Lau.

Infernal Affairs is one kick-ass movie. I won't go into it, so as not to spoil the plot. But this cops-and-gangster movie rips on all levels, mainly because the actors rock all parts - from the leads to the supporting players. Tony Leung is always engaging and is my new hero; he adds delicacy to the gangster, not by the obvious motivation to balance out the character, but by the understated act of slipping a human being into the cinematic staple.

This was my first Andy Lau movie. The man is a bastard, for he's arresting, handsome and looks like a million bucks in a tight and tailored suit. So, even though I have no suit to match, I cut my hair in emulation because, well, sometimes aspiring to be someone else just might help pull yourself up a notch. I'll take motivation where I can get it.

Here's a well-balanced review of Infernal Affairs from my favorite Hong Kong movie-review site [lovehkfilm.com].

By the by, I have little desire to see Martin Scorsese's The Departed, which is the American remake of Infernal Affairs. Though I love Scorsese and most of the cast, I want to savor the original a while. And I don't see very many movies nowadays, so it's not any great restraint.