Zsup~!

Its been 25 in Japan already, not a very long time away considering that my last trip was about 3 weeks in Malaysia. The trepidation of this trip was immense knowing that it was going to be much longer than this. Several reasons were the cause of that trepidation, the weather, the culture, the people, the uncertainty that even research cannot dispel. However, much of that fear has been expelled from my mind after experiencing Japan for almost 4 weeks!

First off, the weather has been hell on me, but thats mainly because I cannot stand cold. It gets EXTREMELY cold when it rains, regardless of the severity of the rain, and it gets real hot when the sun beats down on you (I for one would prefer hot, hence I believe I probably am better off staying in the tropics). I have seen snow here, and ice forming and all the beautiful things associated with temperate countries, but I have also experienced 3 days of continuous rain and several days of zero degree temperatures. However, it has all been a refreshing and excellent experience.

The culture has astounded me. The politeness, the verying degrees of acceptance we see in the people' s eyes, the plethora of sub-cultures and dressing that can be seen on the streets that are NEVER frowned upon. Japan is really a buffet for the eyes, even without venturing far from the city.

The people are the main topic for this post though. Japan has been renowned for its manners, the people's helpfulness, and overall the kindness of the population is immense. From my trip so far, I have met quite a number whom have gone out of their way to help me. First up would be the nice restaurant owner from Choshi, even though she did not understand our half baked Japanese or English, she still helped us to find a hotel with available rooms! Then on the train to Nagoya, a nice uncle stepped up to ask if we needed help, something that surprised me totally. After that, while we were in Nagoya, another old man stopped to enquire about our well-being, whether we had eaten, whether we had a room. Our next encounter would be in Kyoto, where a customer in an internet cafe was requested to help explain to us the rules and packages offered by the cafe, and he did so with much patience. He even struck up a conversation with us after, talking about Singapore and all.

One encounter which I would like to mention would be in JR Kyoto Station, a restaurant named PASTAMORE. We headed in to have a meal shared between us, but when we found out that the restaurant had rules for ordering, i.e. each person had to order 1 each, we thought of leaving the place because we couldn't eat so much. This was the point that the nice waitress asked us to wait for a moment, and she went to check with the manager for permission for us to order 1 set to be shared. she returned moments later with a smile and told us we could, whereupon we ordered our share of food and guzzled it down. She never had to go out of her way to do this, and just let us leave, hence I feel very strongly for their service. If you even have to have a meal in Kyoto, try this place out, prices are decent even for 1 person, the food is excellent, and service is no doubt extremely good.

The last one on the list but definitely not the least, is a middle-aged man who sold Takoyaki from the back of a Van at JR Kyoto Station Hachijo Exit. His hospitality is boundless from the first time we bought a box of 6 Takoyaki from him, which was when he inquired where we were from, upon knowing that we were travelling from overseas, he immediately went 'Service Service!' and promptly changed the box to a larger box and gave up 10 balls instead! This happened the next 2 times as well, without fail and he never ever gave us the feeling that he wouldn't have done so for repeat customers. I definitely recommend anyone and everyone who visits Kyoto, Japan to have a go at the nice uncle who sells Takoyaki. You can find him at night parked outside JR Kyoto Hachijo Exit, with his Lantern hung to a white van, sitting in there cooking his Takoyaki!

I believe we will only meet more of these kinds of people as we move on in our journey through Japan, so I look forward to having these encounters of the nice kind. They keep my spirit up even in the cold.

We woke this morning at 8 and checked out of our comfy internet cafe sleeping place to head for our day trip destination. Matsushima Bay, one of the top 3 scenic sights in Japan. There were a number of routes we could take to explore Matsushima. Thus there were a few things we had to decide.

First was which station we wanted to start from. We could either start from Hon-Shiogama Station (300yen)and take a cruise down over to Matsushima or start from Matsushimakaigan (400yen) and take a cruise over to Hon-Shiogama Station. No matter what the cruise would cost us 1400 yen.

Second, was the cruise we wanted to take. We had several choices, of which we attempted to make an online reservation at an english site (http://www.marubun-kisen.com/english/index.html) which would cost us only 1260 yen due to a 10% discount for online bookings. However, the reply we got was that they would get back to us in a few days time, of which we didn't have, so we steeled ourselves for a 1.4k yen charge for the cruise. The routes available were either from Hon-Shiogama to Matsushima or vice versa or Hon-Shiogama round trip or Matsushima round trip.

We figured that since we wanted to check out Matsushima bay, and have the cruise too, we picked our cheapest option. Which was to take the cruise from Hon-Shiogama, which would cost us 320 yen reach via train, the cruise costing us 1.4k yen and returning from Matsushimakaigan 400 yen.

However when we reached Hon-Shiogama we were greeted with a pleasant surprise. JR operated a cruise line too. At we could get the 10% discount on the spot, so we took it immediately and left for the cruise which was to depart at 12, 10 mins from the time we reached the station.

The cruise itself was quite leisurely, watching people feed the amazingly fat seagulls, and the islets move by.

Some pictures.

After a leisurely 50 min cruise, we hit Matsushima Bay. Which wasn't all that bad, the surroundings were serene, and peaceful. We took a stroll down to the tree-lined path to the temple. And we spotted a stall selling Sendai's specialty. Cow's Tongue (Gyu-tan). We had a sample each, and boy was it good. Even to me, considering that I am honestly quite averse to such things. However IMO, I wouldn't consider it a delicacy, and pay the exorbitant prices exhibited at JR Sendai (averageing 1k yen). Kim did however purchase a portion to eat costing 500 yen. Also, Matsushima's specialty seems to be shellfish, to be exact oysters. Didn't try that, cos I'm not really into shellfish.



Walking down the pine tree lined path to Zuiganji Temple, was total serenity. The tree's gave shade and an aura of peacefulness.

So, I finally get a connection thats long enough to do stuff. At 1,940 yen for the whole night, which makes this place my staying place with a roof overhead and warmer, I think its pretty cool. Compared to a hotel which brings us round to about 4k? I figure, its worth it. (Comes with food and drinks and toilet)

Ok, so begins my post of Day 0, From Changi Airport to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi AP. I hit Changi AP to meet up with Kim before Check-in and just as I left house MX called to ask what time we were going to meet up *shocknhorror* To understand this, Changi Airport is situated in the Eastern-most-ish part of Singapore, Kim and I stay rather far East, and MX stays way out West. *shocknhorror* Well anyway I told him the time, and he went ok, so I assumed he'd be there.

So I hit Changi AP with my mom and met up with Kim. Whereupon we realised that the flight opens at 1455 and not 1555. Which is expected upon hindsight, cos the gate normally opens an hour before the plane rises. So we looked around, and called MX, who didn't pick up the call, and more *shocknhorror* so we decided to check-in first w/o him.

Soon the one and only person to come send us off reached.

Luckily, he arrived within the next 15 mins with his parents. Apparently he took taxi down.