Being kawaii and genki

Cute and little: PART II

I had absolutely no idea how absolutely tiny Vancouver is compared to other cities until I heard that Tokyo has a population of 13 and that the station of a major city centre called Shinjuku is taken over by 2 million people in a day. This means that the entire population of Greater Vancouver would pass through one train station in the course of one day! Sugoi (v. impressed)! My perspective of Tokyo is that it would be glitz and glamour is a dizzying urban jungle with the newest of technology. But after seeing the suburbs and sitting on 7 trains on the same day, I can't say that it describes the entire city. I didn't originally make a concrete plan to visit Japan on my China trip but I'm so very glad that I did!

Iron Chef

Yes, there is indeed sushi in Japan. As good as back home? Can't really say. I would say its approximately the same minus the very unauthentic California roll. Sacriligious to say the least to have avocado of all things and imitation crab *gasp* within maki rolls. I was able to experience 100 yen sushi which means plates of sushi and other goodies move on mini conveyers belts past your table and at the end they calculate the bill by the amount of plates on your table. 100 yen a plate = $1.30Can. We had ramen noodles and soba at noodle places. The price of fruits is sky high. And I went to eat okonomiyaki, which is like a Japanese style omelette with batter and we cooked it in real authentic lard ourselves! How exciting! :)

Other rather brill moments of Japanese eating adventures include a couple of 24-hour upscale Japanese family diners with a drink bar (all you can non-alcoholicly drink). We also had fish and chips at a British bar and authentic Aussie meat pies at an Australian pub on Aussie day! Oh and did I mention that 7-11 is my new favourite store in Japan? They have box lunches with sushi, rice, tofu stuff and other yummy Japanese "fast food" you can bring along with you for picnics when you go wandering about.

Japanese characters

In the Meiji shrine area, there are goths who gather together every Sunday. I was unfortunately unable to make the meeting as I was caught up with another v. important meeting (Hard-core hiking in Tokyo). This area is the fashion district for funky trendy teenagers who may splatter themselves with bloody make-up, super high clogs with white white make-up and witch black outfits. The non-goths are not to be unrivalled, they are decked out in the trendiest, "cute" looks, very hard to describe except to say that I felt v. old and v. out of style.

The young Japanese school girls in uniform have the longest skirts, their skirts go all the way down to the crotch of their panties (or lack thereof as I've been told). Their school socks are ones that look like, when pulled up all the way, they should go up to their hips but when worn the "appropriate way", fall loosely beneath their knees. With the cold temperature and the windy conditions while I was there, I wonder how they can still have the energy to parade down the streets with their bouncy skirts. I guess that's why they have those white masks to avoid giving other people their germs. . .

How can I forget the businessmen. The salarymen who is the sushi winner of the household gets home late every night because he is held back by colleagues. . . to be drunk and merry. He is lured by the hostesses of bars on the side alleys and drinks sake till the wee hours. I've heard of the coffin shaped sleeping portals he can rent to stay the night in downtown after the last subway leaves the station before one in the morning.

Homeless in Japan

In parks around Tokyo there are tent communities where the homeless live. I've seen this example in Ueno Park, where blue tarps take over an area. It actually looks like a campsite in Canadian campgrounds you can pay $15 a night for. They must be pretty well insulated to keep the people warm in the windy nights. (It reminds me of Hong Kong when temperatures of 12c and under requires a "chill warning" on television. In such conditions, Hong Kong reports several deaths, usually old people who freeze to death.) I have heard that if you want to send a person living in a tent community snail mail, you can address it to the park (ex. Ueno) with the recipient's name on it and it will arrive there safely.

To be continued

p.s. Happy Chinese New Years on February 1st.! My Granny has been so busy with preparations lately. She tells me that for the Hong Kong people, it's like Christmas celebrations. V. exciting to be participating in this years festivities. They celebrate New Years on Jan 1 in Japan so coming back to see decorations and people rushing about with New Years goodies is delicious.