Today is the 4th of January (close enough; sing the song if you know it), and I am currently on the train to Narita Airport where a flight back to Singapore awaits.
The last few days of the trip, particularly yesterday, were just spent worrying about packing everything into a nice palatable (and carryable) pile(s). Thus, there was limited sentimenalism but plenty of imagined packing configurations.
This morning was bright and slightly cloudy.
Hello, it is the end of the year 2009.
Am currently watching NHK 60th Kohaku. I don’t know almost all of the performers, except the very popular crowd pleasers, but it still makes for an interesting watch. You learn quite a bit about the country from its music, and so far, we have had songs from almost very genre including a disco crap track from some girl group. It was horrendous; the clapping was unusually subdued.
Hmm SMAP is doing a Michael Jackson tribute.
(Anyway, Tokyo has been nothing but shopping, sadly. Most of the city decided to close for the New Year, and to find pleasure in coaxing out my wallet.
This is the third time I missed Meguro Parasitological Museum and Cow Books! Tmd.)
Being back in Tokyo after some ten weeks feels a little like coming home. Only home it is not, but there is a comfortable sense of familiarity and I did not have to check any map or ask for directions to get to my hostel. Knowing where you are going with luggage can never be overrated.
Yesterday was meant to be lazy to compensate for the long and slightly overexciting journey from Sapporo. But, I was quite happy to be back in Tokyo and so hopped off to Ueno after depositing my stuff. Ameyoko felt like Chinatown during Chinese New Year, except without bah-kwa and with piles and piles of tako and crabs instead. Ah. I miss bah-kwa.
Anyway, Kangaroo Hotel is by far the cleanest hostel I have ever stayed in in Japan. Hands down. The best interior decor as well. Hmm, then again, its concept is more like a business hotel rather than a hostel. Seriously, hostels here are not worth the dough. (Some may draw attention to the so-called benefit of a more social environment, but that same social environment is usually comprised of just two or three overly chatty tourists with exceptionally loud voices.)
The weather is nice. Not a peep of snow in sight, and I am quite relieved about that. It feels more like autumn here, and the temperature lingers in the 10-15 range instead of the -5-0 range. Encouraged by the forecast and yesterday’s outing, I decided to forgo the winter jacket and long pants, opting for two thinner jackets and leggings instead. Bad idea. Let me introduce me to winds.
The city was exceptionally windy today. Sure, the sun was shining so prettily up there; but if the wind blows, it is best to be wearing long pants. Lesson learnt, and tomorrow, the scarf and hat will also be back in active duty.
Today: Shinjuku, Shimokitazawa and Shibuya. The SSSes. I planned for Odaiba, but having alighted at Shimbashi and gotten a taste of the chilly breezes, I decided that visiting somewhere near the sea was not particularly a wise thing to do. Also, I really wanted to do some shopping. After weeks of deprivation, I damn well deserve to spend some money.
That said, Christmas shopping is kinda fun after Christmas. No pressure, and so many sales!
Number of photos taken: 1.
Also, The Book Thief was wonderfully satisfying. Finished it at lunch (couldn’t resist; last chapter!). My seafood paella wasn’t that good, but the book was the one that got me teary-eyed. How can a book that reveals its ending way before it ends still be so devastating? Ahh.
Next: book #13, Paul Auster’s New York Trilogy.
Am three-quarters into The Book Thief, and am already dreading the end. Such a good read.
I think I will be sleepless tonight.
Today, I washed, vacuumed and threw out four big bags of garbage. I also ate the remaining contents of my fridge, which consist of (the list follows, for the sake of posterity) a packet of udon, a bag of shredded cabbage, an egg, a packet of tofu, half a packet of corn kernels, a chicken drumstick, one-quarter bottle of milk tea, one-quarter bottle of Coke and four baby tomatoes. Not a total conquest though since I drew the line at finishing the last clove of garlic and a forgotten half-packet of instant noodles.
Tomorrow morning will be a mad rush.
I plan for it to be, anyway. Today, just barely here, is the day before I leave Hokkaido for Tokyo where I shall spend the remaining week of my holiday.
Yesterday, I bought myself a small suitcase so tomorrow will be a lot of fun. I shall heave a huge sigh of relief when I finally reach my hostel in Tokyo. I think of my route from here to there, and it gives me not that much Christmas cheer. First, a hazardous walk to the streetcar station, then to the bus stop where I shall board a bus for New Chitose airport, then a plane to Haneda where I shall then take the monorail, then a train to Ueno, where I will need to switch trains to get to Minami-Senju. Finally, there is a 15-minute walk from the train station to the hostel. What a delightful journey it promises to be, with a backpack, a carryon bag and now a suitcase.
Today, I shall pack whatever that still needs packing (I got inspired this evening and packed quite a bit of stuff already). Then, I shall need to clean this room and return it to its initial glory. I have bags of sorted garbage that I have no idea where to toss, because say, plastics are Wednesdays, burnables on Mondays and Thursdays, and paper on Fridays. And, today is Saturday and you aren’t not even supposed to put out garbage the night before, so doing that a few days before will definitely be a despicable act.
Am also slightly nervous about missing my flight on Sunday. This anxiety stems from the fact that I overslept the day I was supposed to leave for Asahikawa. The alarm did ring, but I had forgotten to reset the volume level so it rang only in theory. Funny thing was that I was already awake about half an hour ago and that I was waiting for the alarm to go off; when I decided to check the time, because waiting feels like forever (but I don’t like waking up early, in principle), it was almost an hour after when the alarm should had gone off (loudly). However, it is also entirely possible that I did hear the alarm go off, thus my half-awake state. Ahh, the mysteries of real life.
To summarise, I shall triple-check and double-confirm that my alarm will be ringing loud and clear on Sunday morning.
Just saw a raven trotting through snow. Damn adorable. On the bus to Asahikawa 旭川.
09:10, I can no longer make out the horizon between ground and sky. If anything, snow can be unifying.
09:17, Mayday’s 温柔.
09:20, it is so pretty out here.
09:25, it is probably true that the most beautiful scenes are best seen with the eyes, than through a camera lens. It is also probably true that I didn’t have time to fish out the camera.
09:33, on a wild sheep chase.
09:45, halfway there, and the temperature readings have indicated, so far, readings of -1, -3, -6 and then -3. I find myself thinking that -3, ooh not that bad. Insane.
10:09, snow is piled up high on both sides of the road. Waist type of high. Mountainous. Hmm, traffic seems to be backed up. Not a good sign.
10:12, oh toll booth.
10:14, I love it when Jenny Lewis sings “I’ve had it with you, and Mexico can fucking wait” in Pictures of Success.
10:51, how come there is snow in a covered tunnel?
10:53, snow up to shoulder. Okaaaay.
So, it is evident that Sapporo has been getting the leftover snow. I come to Asahikawa expecting a cold and snowy city, and it didn’t disappoint. Far from it. About damn far from it. The cold wasn’t so bad, but the snow. I think I won’t again ever see so much snow in one place for a very very long time. I have graduated from not having seen snow before to having seen a lot, a lot of snow. If no one bothers to clear the snow for one day or even one night, I bet this city will be buried under a blanket of white.
Observation: Hong Kong tourists are damn noisy.
Asahikawa zoo is fun. Once you get used to slipping and falling, there is plenty of cute animals to see. Slopes are dangerous; you slip and fall, and you try to get up and then you slide down a couple of metres more. It is insane how many other visitors that particular slope has claimed.
Penguins on strolls are especially cute.
Merry Christmas!
A foot of snow fell between yesterday and this morning. I think there was a foot. If there wasn’t, well, I just had been wanting to say that. But there was a lot of snow. Too much. At this point, I can safely say I don’t care for another 1/16 inch of snow. I’m hoping and hoping that it doesn’t snow in Tokyo, and I can walk around for five straight minutes without having to look down.
Wind and snow. Feels like someone is blowing baby powder in my face. Feels like I should be whacking someone in the shins for that. If you are looking to take all the romanticism out of snow, may I recommend a dose of walking. Just that should do the trick.
Time will probably rectify this bitterness, just as experience has jaded novelty. Eventually, with enough distance (literally), I will finalise my opinion on snow and write another few rambling entries on it; for the time being, snow gets a bag of coal for Friday.
The year is drawing close to Christmas, and then it is drawing to a close. My long vacation is too, because now, the number of days lapsed is significantly more than the number of days to go. In another two weeks, I head home to a room that is entirely mine, to bookshelves of my books, and to 12gb of local data monthly. To two months’ worth of damn Windows Vista updates, two months’ worth of my nat geo recordings, two months’ worth of pearl tea. I kinda look forward to the last two.
You know, I have somewhat decided on my next vacation destination, despite it being at least half a year away. This time, I’m going to an English-speaking somewhere. I realised that since I started working and travelling, all I have been are places where I have to play charades and apologise for my lack of linguistic ability. So fuck it, I’m headed somewhere where I can read newspapers, road signs and museum exhibit descriptions. I think I deserve that.
I head for Asahikawa for Christmas. It is supposedly the coldest city in the country, but I sure hope they are just bragging.
That’s the list so far for this trip. In another two days and it would be two months. Two whole months of layering clothes; it will be fun readjusting to Singapore weather. I’m not really looking forward to that, even if I’m somewhat glad to not have to don the same winter jacket every single time I head out. Even the mirror is getting bored.
Let’s not get distracted. Spent the last two nights reading stories of The Mysterious Benedict Society. Enjoyble, though I’m obliged to draw more Harry Potter parallels than I think the author would like. Unfortunately, I found the first book a better read than its sequel so I guess I shall give the third book a miss for now.
Am, however, immensely grateful that I did not have to end up reading Stephen King. Did read, at least for half an evening which felt like several, half of a story from this book called Skeleton-something. It was quite painful. The book was on the communal book shelf, and having no other option (I picked up the only other book – the Karin Slaughter one – the other day), I thought at least, having not read any of his books, King would be entertaining. Um, nope. Halfway through his preface, I wanted to hit him over the head.
So to summarise, he and I won’t see much of each other’s company.
As much as I like holding a real book in my hands, I have to admit that reading on the phone isn’t that bad. True, I don’t get to flip through pages to do some belated or overlooked fact-checking and there is something unreal about reading 6,450 pages, but I don’t have to worry about lugging the books around and I can quit rummaging through the handful of bookstores here that do carry an international section for ¥900 paperbacks (and only small paperbacks get that pricing; not many books make it that far) that are actually decent reads.
Happiness is a good book.
Am incredibly jealous that the Japanese-language books are wicked cheap here. Their fiction paperbacks go for ¥500 thereabouts or less! Now, that is a good way to encourage reading.
Most friends can vouch for me that I am not a fan of vegetables. I don’t order them voluntarily, and if they appear in my meals, they were usually treated with polite disgust and they often ended up balanced perilously on the edge of my plate or in the company of other vegetables in an adjacent bowl (pick your friends wisely; they should complete, and not compete with, your food groups) To be fair, I don’t dislike the entire category; like with everything else, I pick favourites and those favoured ones enjoy the hospitality of my digestive system and beyond. To generalise, I am okay with the non-green vegetables. Like corn. Like cabbage. Like carrots. Etc etc. It is an aesthetic preference.
That said, I find myself turning over a new leaf (leaf! leaf!), albeit just slightly. Maybe a 15-degree flip rather than a complete turn. I find myself lingering in the veggies aisles longer than I used to, and I find new characters in my daily supermarket soap drama. Like tofu. I have never liked tofu. I like soya beancurd, almond beancurd et al (meaning I like tofus in desserts), but not in its most primitive state. But last week, just for the fun of it and also because there is a huge tofu section (let’s try not to get left out of the party), I tossed a packet of tofu in my basket before attacking the poultry area. Had them with soup on Saturday night and with udon this afternoon, and I must admit they weren’t half bad.
Seeing my reserved approval for tofu, you should have guessed by now that the main star of this entry is yet to be revealed (but, titles are so telling) and my unbridled affection must lie with some other deserving vegetable.
That is correct. The main star(s) are tomatoes. Tomatoes. Tomatoes! Especially these so-called ‘Snack Tomatoes’ that I bought during that same tofu trip. I tell you, those damn tomatoes are the loveliest things. Fresh, juicy and all the most wonderful adjectives you can think off. I ate one and wanted to build a tribute website for it; it was that good. The rest of its friends went quickly too, like the first, with no resistance at all; and I found myself looking forward to my next trip to the supermarket so I could get another dose of them lovelies. (I went yesterday; all gone, as of 20 minutes ago). There is bound to be an advisory against eating too many tomatoes, like there is with carrots, but I shall plead a case of no wifi (and therefore, no googling) in the room. I would buy tomatoes back for everyone if I could, but I guess some people would prefer teabags.
I think the veggies here in Hokkaido are up to something. My self identity as a meat eater is being chipped away more every day. It is kinda unnerving.
(no photo of the tomatoes because it is hard to hold the phone steady when all you want is to finish that yummy tomato)
