Japan Trip 2011

I've been pondering for the longest time how to blog about my Japan trip.
I'm more concerned about which aspect of the trip I'd like to describe. Anyway, let's just start with SOMETHING and eventually... all will fall into place. I hope.

I think I'll start with the overall emotion/feelings/thoughts gathered from this trip.

I was mightily excited about trip before we depart from Singapore. I was alone at home while Mr Ho was still at work and my heart was pounding away as if I had too many cups of caffeine for the day. When Mr Ho opened the living room door, I was at the doorstep greeting him with my megawatt grin. My parents stayed up to send us off at AM in the morning and Kelv was being such a gem for joining us at the airport.

The week in Kyoto (Kansai Region) with Mr Ho was, I guess, the most enjoyable part of the whole trip. Love the pace, love the temperature, love the people. The view was breath-taking, we walked a lot and shopped a lot, saw temples, met nice people, it was really really fun.

Tokyo, the big city, brought about a bit of depression to the both of us... and this is rather unfortunate. I guess we both prefer something closer to countryside. Tokyo still did impress us but having been so deliriously happy in Kyoto, it did pull the brakes on us by quite a fair bit.

Having said so, I'm somewhat glad with my choice of location for the Ryokan and Guest House which were in Kasuga and Asakusa respectively. Kasuga is a quite old neighbourhood and it removed the sense of "big city" from Tokyo. I loved the family bathroom big time cos then I can soak my tired body and feet in the hot onsen bath. Then came Asakusa which is bustling with crowd and full of energy that shooed away the uncaring sense of "mind your own business" attitude which we get from the Tokyo crowd. Getting advancements in development comes at a price. There are other reasons contributing to the disappointment in Tokyo but I will not venture into that.

One thing noteworthy is the unwavered dedication and sense of responsibility we observed from the Japanese. How they put in an effort in tasks, no matter how small, to perfect it and to do it right. Then there are those who were very helpful in lending us a hand when we were confused about directions and all. Some of them offered to help us even though we didn't ask and we felt a sense of gratitude that made us want to 'give back' what 'we have received' to others who also needed help. Unfortunately, this thought evaporated when we were back in Singapore. sigh.

I'd like to visit other parts of Japan soon. :)

Age

Age does funny things sometimes.
With the years gained, some things doesn't drive me up the wall anymore.
With the years gained, some things drives me wild and the intolerance gets worse with age.