Japan Traveling 2011

A new year and this year seems even worse than the last as far as work is concerned.

Too many issues happening at work, too many projects for me to handle with no support from my boss, and absolutely zilch as far as recognition from the psycho is concerned.

Anyways... the long and short of it is, I had no idea where I wanted to go this year. I had no time to plan neither. In the end, I decided to just head towards Japan. This is my first ever foray into Asia, willingly. I get my winter and travel for 2011 done. Yay is me! Truth be told though, traveling alone in Asia freaks me out. I am perfectly comfortable traipsing all around Europe, even at night. But Asia... just.... F.R.E.A.K.S. me out!

I was so busy at work that I hardly had time to plan anything. In the end, I bought my ticket on a Tuesday and flew on Friday of the same week. I got so caught up in work that my colleague got worried for me and started researching for hotels and spas and transport for me instead! heh! I am blessed with great friends.

Even on the day of my flight, there were some last minute issues at work that had me worried and I was wondering if I should cancel the trip. Nevertheless, I got on the plane and managed to get to Tokyo in one piece. Phew! And I spend the next 2 hours walking around hunting for the crap of a hotel I chose. Well done me!

Anyways... I must say, I love the service attitude in Japan. There is an innate joy and pride when the service staff serve and it can be felt by the consumer. I'm sure most of it is faked but to be so fake that it is believable, now that is a true skill!

Aside from the gold star level of service, I love their trains. Getting around has never been as easy as this. The train system is lengthy as hell and stupid but they go EVERYWHERE and they are always on time. You don't ever have to wait longer than 5 - 10 minute for a train. I heart denshas!

Now for the things I didn't enjoy quite so much.
I feel like a jolly pink giant in this land of the rising sun.
Everywhere I go, I get stares. Most of the time, it is most likely because of my height and stature. I have actually seen a 40ish male, at about 1.6mtrs tall, SCUTTLE away when he turned to see me walking alongside. I think towards the end of my trip in Osaka, I realised that part of why people stare is because I wear too little. I ain't naked in case you were wondering, but all I had on was my top, my tights and a coat with boots. C'mon... how much do I need to bundle on at a temperature of -5 to 5 deg celsius?? Like seriously...?

The other down side, would have to be how the males and females who don't know each other, rarely sit together. Now don't get me wrong, I have no dying wish to plop my fat arse beside a male in the train. But if I had to choose between standing in a train with my humongous luggage (ergo getting in everyone's way) and sitting down comfortably beside a male, you can bet your bottom dollar my arse would be parked snugly alongside the male's.

My thoughts on this trip though... is how much I enjoy solitude. No one to whine to me, no one scowling at me for wanting to smoke in the cold, no one who is uptight about money and always expecting me to pay first for everything. It has been awhile since I traveled alone and I am glad to know that I still enjoy it.

I loved every single minute I lazed in my hotels. I lounged around so much that friends who see me online ask why aren't I out pounding the streets. Neh... not my style to pound streets. It's a holiday and I will do whatever I feel like doing for the day. I also adore the freedom I have to wander around supermarkets and parks. I could literally spend 4-5 hours in a big supermarket, just looking through everything and trying to come up with my own interpretation of what the item was. Fascinating. They had a tool for every damn thing you need to do in your life!

I also enjoyed my Calpis and Kirin Milk Tea on a daily basis, with the occasional Melon Pan. It brought back memories of my tertiary education where we would be at the atrium and I would troop into sun moulin cafe to get my much loved melon pan. It was bliss having the freedom to do any darn thing I wanted to do with no accounting to anyone. Pure unadulterated bliss!

The truly scary thing of Japan is that everything costs almost 2 arms and 2 legs. Sigh... and I had thought this would be a relatively inexpensive trip. Oh well... at the very least, I can now cross Japan out of my list of places to visit before I die.