Less than 24 hours in Tokyo

New rule, although not too sure how many more impromptu weekends I have in me. The new rule is, avoid flying into Narita Airport for short-duration trips, the time spent navigating between the airport and Tokyo really adds up. Short 20 odd hours in Tokyo hanging out with the Niseko crew, who have been up in Sapporo. Some convenience store sandwiches, some ramen, some bbq and we're out.

 

On a side note, I've started reading some books on babies. I'm starting to get excited. There's a sense of routine and discipline which I'm looking forward to getting stuck into. That being said, you know the saying "everybody has a plan, until they get punched in the face".

Japan effect

I had heard that due to the unprecedented surge in tourists that the Japanese politeness had slowly diminished. Happy to report that this is not the case, perhaps there's a slightly less patience. But the friendliness, politeness and conscientious mannerisms were still there. It's interesting to observe that even on the return trip back to Hong Kong, people on the flight appeared to be more considerate. Speaking quietly, giving way. It's a nice effect.

Four days in Tokyo. Not too much activity, the days were mostly eating. It's true what they say though, the popular places are busy. Expect to line up, and queues. The food and hospitality still amazing. I forget where I heard this but it goes along the lines of "Japan ruins everything. The minute they start to perfect a craft, it makes all other variations, products feel inferior", or something to that effect. Referring to the fact that everything in Japan is so beautifully crafted from the peanut butter sandwiches, to the egg sandwiches to the cup of coffee, an even the humble pancake. 

Don't think we had a bad meal. Kept saying, why has it taken us so long to visit Japan. Not a huge amount of day time activity as fatigue has settled in rendering our days to. Eat. Sleep. Eat. Rest. Sleep. Or something permutation of those activities. Went for a nice run around Tokyo Harbour and managed to even pop into the office.

Saying yes more, saying no more

This post just won't come out. Thoughts. Words. Incongruity. Our actions are invariably driven by two voices. The internal voice that aligns with our actual wants and expectations. The external voice that we perceive as what society expects from us. Ultimately it comes down to behaving in a way that is organic, or behaving in a way that we are expected to behave.

One of my things for 2018 is being conscious of saying yes more, but also saying no more. The difficulty is finding that sweet spot between doing something because you really want to do it versus doing something because you think you should be doing it.

"Hey, I'll be in Tokyo this weekend, come along". My mind flashes to Sushi. Winter. Onsen. Ramen. Sleep.  Japan always refocuses me. The culture appears so polished and polite. There's a delicacy and respect that is so profound.

The most menial tasks are conducted with so much pride and emphasis, from being greeted upon arrival at a restaurant or being bowed at when you enter a toilet. Are they behaving in a way that they want to, or how society expects them to?

Currently reading: "The Golden Compass"

Tokyo + Halloween + Stag

Passed the exam. There's a certain satisfaction in not having to read through the material and instead jump on a flight to Tokyo for 24 hours. Ended up talking the 1 am flight on Saturday morning arriving in Tokyo at 6 am local time. Mental note, try to avoid this flight time at all costs.

I arrived into Narita with just a backpack, toiletries and the clothes on my back. The direct bus to Roppongi shuttled me into Tokyo in a short amount of time and I was checking in at 8:30 am. The Whatsapp group was littered with activity up until 7:40 am. Either they had a quiet night in or they had a late night back. Given this assemble it was highly probable that they have only retired to their hotels within the last hour.

Turns out, one person was awake, not awake early, but rather, still awake. It was was a friend who had flown in from New York and with my freshness and his jet lag, we hit up Tsujiki fish markets for breakfast. Checked into the room and heading straight to lunch and kick started the buck's party. What would follow would be a romp around Shibuya dressed up as Street Fighter characters and the buck dressed as a lone Chun Li. The Halloween romp was followed by a group dinner before we retreated to the hotel to reassemble for the club.

Headed back to the hotel to drop off some water before heading to Agaha. Only to fall asleep. I wake up propped up against my bed with a million messages along the same line "Where are you?", "Wake up", "Get here now". It was 4 am, I had flown in for one night and managed to sleep through the entire evening. I pulled myself out of bed to meet up with more stragglers at 6 am for some morning sushi. What a whirlwind 24 hours in Tokyo.

Tokyo

If you find yourself starting a sentence with the words "I remember" or "Back in my day" it is fairly safe to say that you're old. Long gone are the days when I use to look at thirty year olds and wondered if their thirty years of existence was everything they imagined it would be. So here we are, with our generation slowly leaving behind the twenty-something age category and starting off our freshmen years in the thirties.

Let's compare eras . The year was 2003, we were deep into our university degrees with little end in sight. Endless hours of Calculs, Signal Processing and Computer Science courses had forged what would be a friendship that stands until this day. Commemorated by tactical use of designated drivers, night rides and taxi pooling Sydney Birthdays ended up at nondescript venue, with plenty of classmates, sometimes a bar tab and if we were lucky KFC or Superbowl to round up the procession.

Ten years on, it's a little different. Market turmoil and reactive budget cuts have left me unemployed. Still, it's Albert's birthday and we're grabbing our overnight bag and rushing off to the Airport Express. In under four hours we will be in Tokyo to celebrate a 30th Birthday.

We arrive in Tokyo on the Thursday evening. It's Lewis and myself. The entire journey has been his reiteration of the previous weekend in Kaohsiung, Taiwan and how I "should kill myself for missing out on the best weekend in his life, ever". Our first evening is spent in Asakusa. Unfortunately, we would soon realise that we have no Yen and that both our accounts have had overseas withdrawal limits set to 0. We ended up at bar and managed to make a decent night out of it surviving only on credit. The highlight was undoubtedly meeting the owner of the bar, a Japanese born expat now living in Singapore. I quietly sip Grey Goose and politely nod as he introduces me to his mistress, talks passionately about Japanese Taxes and offers advice on how to buy mines in Asia.

Friday evening and the rest of the group arrives. Most weekends trips follow a standard template, most people leave early to mid afternoon, it's rare that everybody is on the same flight due to work schedules. Rendezvous is usually at dinner or at a bar, the night generally forks off in two directions. Club or hotel. Due to the nature of the trip, we ended up at a club. The rest is a combination of good times, room service and a very tired Monday morning. Currently reading When Genius Failed.

"I wonder if you know, how they live in Tokyo" - Terikayi Boyz