6 things about Japan
State of Being : Observant?
1. Japanese are simply CRAZY over Mickey Mouse.
Compared to Universal Studios Osaka, there were longer queues for the rides everywhere in Tokyo Disneyland!! We even had to queue for 90min just to enter Mickey's humble home and snap a pix with the famous one. Yikes!
Yes, being "clean" is so important to them to the extent that they even had high tech toilets that wash their bums after doing their "business". Honestly speaking, it felt kinda funny with the warm water spraying at my posterior. Anw, I still relied on the good old toliet paper to clean up the mess everytime even after washing.
3. Japanese are extremely punctual?
Not so sure about the people though, but the schedules for the buses, subway trains & shinkansen are strictly adhered to. As a result, it was quite stressful during one of our transfer from one shinkansen (Kokura to Shin-Osaka) to another (Shin-Osaka to Tokyo) as we had only 7min to navigate and find the right platform at the station. Missing the shinkansen would mean that we had to wait for another 1hr for the next train!
4. Japanese men are big on tote bags!
Relative to Singapore, you'll highly see any men here carrying a "handbag", more commonly known as the tote bag. In fact, Singapore men usually move around more with bags sling over their chest rather than carrying a bag over one of their shoulders. Even though it would have been nice getting a tote bag there, but I opted for an exclusive Burberry Black Label briefcase (33,600円) instead. Even though we were given only a mere 15min stop at the Burberry shop in Ginza, I already knew which section I'll be heading - the Black Label section. In case you aren't aware, the exclusive Burberry Black Label is only available in Japan. 3 days later, I succumbed to temptation and bought a mobile strap (6,300円) from the Black Label counter in Shinjuku Isetan as well.
5. Japanese like to push. *Ouch*
It's a real wonder how a seemingly packed train is able to accomodate 5-6 more passengers after commuters shoved their way into a crowded train. I was initially near the train door during boarding but subsequently got pushed some distance back into the packed train before the door closes. Hmmm... perhaps we could deploy this tactic as well in Singapore during the peak hours??
6. Japanese just luv doing the dishes.
Why else would they use so many dishes to serve their meals? Believe it or not, the servings for both meals is meant for only one person. Just check out the number of dishes they used for two of our meals in Japan...
Featured Song In My iPod_10.07
State of Being : "Comeback" Princess
Gimme More
Britney Spears
Blackout
Pop
Video Link
It's been 4 years since the last studio album release from Britney Spears in 2003 and based on her comeback catchy single "Gimme More" taken from her 5th album "Blackout", the ex-princess of pop looks set to re-capture the hearts of her fans worldwide & silence her harsh critics once more.
Generally well-received by music critcs, the latest uptempo dance track "Gimme More" became Spears' biggest hit since "...Baby One More Time", having already reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 to-date. Personally, I like the remixed version of the single featuring T.I. better.
With so much controversy and public scrutiny surrounding her every move, Britney remains unapologetic and continues to shock the public with her latest raunchy video, featuring herself pole dancing in a strip bar joint, for her new single. What will she come up next for her follow up single? I can only wait with bated breath...
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Last Day In Japan
The time here in Osaka is 9:43am. Just finished breakfast at Swissôtel Nankai Osaka's Executive Club Lounge. Nice view from where we are sitting. Gonna leave Japan soon for the 1:10pm flight.
Will update with the tour pixs as soon as I get back to Singapore.
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Our 7th Day in Japan
State of Being : Exhausted
Gosh! We are all on our own now. The rest of the tour members are already back in Singapore so as to speak. So far so good. Though we didn't manage to visit Takayama, due to time constraint, we did manage to replace with Nagoya's Castle and Sakae shopping district instead. The time now in Nagoya is 10:12pm. Extremely tired from the train ride, sight seeing and walking.
Tmr will be another tiring day as we will be going to Takaragawa Onsen via Tokyo; 2 hour shinkansen ride to Tokyo plus another 3 hour ride to the Onsen. Aiyoooooooo.
Will update the blog again if there is free internet (like this hotel where we are staying for the night). In case anyone is interested, we are staying at Nagoya Rolen Hotel.
Japan Here I Come!
