The countdown says there are still 42 days to our trip. It does feel like a long way to go, and we have a ton of stuff (mostly work-related; all very mind-numbingly arduous) to accomplish. But, it is going to be (already) October at the end of this week, so. So, so, so. Think this [...]
Booking hotels in Japan when you don’t have decent proficiency in the Japanese language is a headache. I didn’t have the stomach to have others suffer my very-rusty spoken Japanese, so I turned to Rakuten for all my lodging needs. Rakuten does have an English site, but I found the Japanese site to have a [...]
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). [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
29 October 2009, Thursday Today we left Hakone. But not before going through the entire route we did yesterday. Milking the free pass for what it’s worth. I don’t like school children. Especially more so after we ran into hordes of them in Nikko. And Hakone. There wasn’t a leg of our journey where they [...]
27th October 2009, Tuesday Somehow the concept of a normal working weekday has already gotten itself a little forgotten. Today was a highly productive day. We woke at four in the morning to make our way to the Tsukiji Fish Market, and finally, during this third visit, I managed to catch some tuna auction action. [...]