A Weekend in Tokyo

♫ ♪ No Sleep - Wiz Khalifa

What can I even say about Tokyo...it's just something else entirely. I loved Roppongi, Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya...I often travel alone and I enjoy big, crazy cities because it's easy to wander around by yourself without feeling like you need to find someone else to hang out with. Essentially you can be alone without being lonely. Once I figured out the trains, I was good to go. Trains in Japan are shockingly easy, even if you can't read kanji. In fact, I'm still blown away by the fact that I went all the way from my apartment in Osaka to my hotel in Tokyo just by getting on one train after another for about four hours total. It was pretty simple. The Shinkansen is a pretty nice ride, like an airplane, but with a humane and decent amount of legroom and no turbulence.

I sort of feel like I failed in the way of photography on this trip...to be honest it just wasn't the first thing on my mind, or even the second or third for that matter. I went to Tokyo so I could know what it was like to be in Tokyo, I just wanted to see it all for myself, and it definitely has a much different feel from Osaka. I was forewarned that people in Tokyo would be less friendly to foreigners than those in Osaka, but I did not find that to be the case at all. I met some really kind people, and also had some encounters with some very strange people. Strange people pop up in any big city, I suppose.

I ate horse meat sashimi (basashi...not my idea, but I'm down to try anything once), devoured twenty pieces of sushi from one of the best sushi restaurants in Tokyo (Sukiyabashi Jiro in Roppongi), lounged in the bar featured in Lost in Translation (the Peak Lounge, on the 41st floor of the Park Hyatt Shinjuku), shopped in Harajuku (saw the girls Gwen Stefani was talking about), and stayed out all night in Roppongi. I returned to Osaka totally exhausted, but happy about my adventures. Also, notably, when I arrived in Osaka again yesterday afternoon, for the first time ever I  found myself calling it "home". Perhaps that's what the insanity of Tokyo can do to a person. It makes another place "home" by comparison. Much as I love traveling solo, I do have my moments in big cities when I just want my own room, my own bed, my own little kitchen.

All in all, I love Tokyo, but at the same time, it's good to be back. Next time I go, I'll get some nighttime pictures. Tokyo at night is breathtaking.  

Tokyo Instagrammed

♫ ♪ All My Loving - The Beatles

I have not yet uploaded photos from my camera (I must admit I did a horrid job of taking pictures on this trip...it was so hot and I just didn't feel like carrying a camera). These photos were all taken with my iPhone and later Instagrammed. As you can see, I ate a lot of delicious food, including twenty pieces of sushi in one sitting. I would say the highlights of my trip were dinner at Sukiyabashi Jiro, and a visit to the Peak Lounge on the 41st floor of the Park Hyatt Shinjuku. I felt a little Lost in Translation lounging in that bar, and I adore that movie so it meant a lot to me. I'd love to go back there again. Also, Tokyo (and Japan in general actually) has some really incredible Indian food! The dessert shown is gulab jamun, a bread deep-fried in sugar syrup. 

How Valuable Weekends Are

♫ ♪ Ain't She Sweet - Enoch Light and the Charleston City All Stars

For the past few weekends I've either been working extra days or have had some plans with a group of students or with my Dad, so my days to myself have been few and far between. Staying with my Dad in Nara is quite relaxing, but that's maybe the only exception. Other than weekends with him in his quiet, spacious apartment, unless I get a day to myself in my apartment to clean things, eat cookies (the maple cremes above are the best cookies of my entire life right now), rearrange furniture and have a glass of chilled white wine and a bubble bath, I feel a little sullen. I've never had such a hectic work schedule as I do now, so I appreciate my weekends like never before. Tomorrow should be a weekend for me, but I have an extra day of training, so I'll be going into headquarters in Osaka for the day. To be honest, I really don't mind. I love this job. I love teaching, and I want to be better at it. I'm sure training will be immensely helpful, and part of me is really starting to love the process of putting on a suit in the morning and cramming into the train with all the other suit-wearing people of Osaka. I love to feel like a part of something much bigger. I did however make sure that today was as relaxing as possible, so as to make up for the lack of half my weekend. 

During a conversation exercise the other day, I asked one of my students, "What's the best way to be happy?" and she immediately answered in perfect English "Buy some lavender aromatherapy oil. It will help you sleep." The confidence and excitement with which she answered totally sold me on the idea, and anyway I love things like this, little aromatherapy candles and oil burners and such (scent is such a powerful thing...it can affect the mood so deeply and jog the memory so abruptly), so I went into Ikeda today to buy one. Of course the one I found was pink. I found lavender oil, and I also found another scent called "Paris elegant", which I had to buy, because for the past few months I've been obsessed with the movie "Midnight in Paris" and its soundtrack. I don't think I've ever loved a soundtrack so much, and I believe it has actually helped me get settled in Japan. The sounds of this movie are those of a big city, far away from home, but they are the sounds of the dreams one has about what sorts of amazing things can happen in a new city far away from home, so they are hopeful and exciting yet nostalgic and sweet at the same time. It's really beautiful music and a great film. As a result, as I live my little life out here in Japan and appreciate and love every moment of it, I also cannot help but dream constantly about a trip to Paris. It's a good daydream topic, I always need at least three of those.   

Summer in Osaka

♫ ♪ At My Most Beautiful - R.E.M.

It's so hot here. You know how in really cold areas of Canada, people have a very specific, step-by-step process for warming up when they arrive home at the end of the day because the weather is so intense? Like, first you remove your gloves and warm up your fingers so you can use them to do things, then you start a fire or turn on the heat, then you start to take off all the layers of clothing, one by one...well, here there is a process as well, but it's for dealing with the heat. The first thing I do is refrigerate any groceries that need refrigerating. Then I turn the air-conditioning on. Then I slowly peel off my work clothes, brush my hair and tie it up because it's most likely stuck to my neck (I have super long hair right now), wash my face, unpack all my things carefully, shine my iPhone with the little cloth because I'm obsessed with keeping it shiny, and only then when the air-conditioning has settled into a nice cool temperature can I even bear to turn the stove top on to cook something for dinner. It's a whole new way of life. But honestly, I don't mind it. I appreciate the fact that my mind is constantly occupied. I love a good step-by-step process. 

I haven't taken very many photos lately; the two above are just iPhone shots. I spent another weekend in Nara with my dad and did some shopping for essentials, and oddly enough everything I purchased ended up being pink. That happens to me inadvertently sometimes. Dad took me out to dinner at this Indian restaurant in Nara that I love, they served a dessert that was like a milk-flavored ice cream with mango syrup, I only wish it had been bigger :) Life in Japan is lovely, I'm so busy, I work so much, but I've never loved a job so much and never felt so strongly that my work was making me a better person. I go to Tokyo next week for my summer vacation, hopefully I'll get some good shots to post on here. :)