A Japanese Summer: Chapter One (i)

Alright. Finally... *note to self: need to change a fresh new song to this page now* YES YES. The post has finally arrived. Before I begin, please allow me to grumble a little first. After all, a month's absence from blogging really itches my fingers to type type type and I can assure you I can probably go on rambling pointlessly and end the post with, well nothing. In fact, I haven't even got into what I wanted to grumble about YET!

WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD. FUN PART AT THE BOTTOM. SCROLL.

If you're not one to read, please skip the following paragraphs and scroll till you see "ramble ends here" sign because that's where the fun part starts. *waves to those who really plan to skip the following* See you again down there!

***** ramble begins here *****

To those who continue on with my ramblings, thank you you kind kind souls. The Ramble of The Day... *drums roll*

PHOTO EDITING

Probably one of the most tedious process make common after the invention of digital camera.

Yup, no longer are we constrained by the rolls of film we buy nor the amount of negatives we have to developed. Oh yes, even with the limited disk space inside your camera, you'll find a way to transfer them out to little pendrives using public computers oh so thoughtfully provided by almost every hotel in Japan. *nods* Thus, you return home with over 1,000 photos. GREAT!

Now, editing photos ain't that bad but there's the "edit to be developed" and "edit to be shared on the internet" kind of photos. And it's not just about resizing photos you "edit to be developed" into smaller files to be posted on the net because you tend to blog about photos you don't want to be developed. Am I confusing you?

You see, there's a set of what me and Cubbie call "the people picture" meaning photos with us in the picture where beautiful backgrounds show where we were in the shot. It's a kiasu thing that says "I've been there!" loud and clear. Those are the photos to be developed so grandpa and grandma can see them *obviously viewing my photos through the computer ain't an option in this case* and those are photos that mummy dearest can show to friends and relatives whenever they come visiting. My mama is proud of my little achievements in life. Or maybe I see them small, she sees them BIG. It's a mama thing I believe. Or maybe it's just my mama. As annoying as her slightly boastfulness might be, I secretly am proud of myself too, simply because she's proud of me. Awww....

Alright alright. Save all the emo talk another. See! Told you I can ramble long and wide if I want to.

***** ramble ends here *****

Here's where it begins. For those who came directly from the top. Hi there again! Shame on you. How can you read my blog without "reading" it. Tsk tsk tsk.

Saturday, 2 Aug 2008: And so we flew from Penang to Singapore and then we had a stop over at Bangkok before we finally head off to Japan. All that to save that extra money to spend later on during the trip. For a return air ticket priced at RM2610, Singapore Airlines Economy Class, I got no complains except the uncomfortable flight back home. *frowns at that thought*

Sunday, 3 Aug 2008: Yup, we arrived early in morning the next day. So early that YY overslept and was not there at the airport to pick us up. *panick panick 100%* Our first challenge in Japan. Two Malaysian gals hanging around the airport. Collected our rental phone and called, called and called. Uwaah!!!! To leave or not to leave the airport? How lah how lah? Tell me what will you have done in our place? We walk down to the train station collect our 14-Day Japan Rail Pass aka Our Super Pass which gave us unlimited access to all trains under the Japan Railways for the said 14 days. Cool right? Except the fact that we paid about RM1.4k for the pass! Hah! And I tell you that RM1,400 is still waaaaay cheaper than all the trains and shinkansen you'll be sitting throughout a 14-day trip in Japan. Worth every cent I tell you.

So we took a ride on the Narita Express down to Seibu Station and met up with YY there instead. Hah. Lucky us for our detailed planning. Always a Plan B in case A didn't happened. Sankyuu Cubbie for all that research *huggles*

Met YY, lots of huggles between Cubbie and YY, old school friends. So warm and fuzzy. You can tell how happy YY was to see a fellow Malaysian, a fellow old time friend and me, a new friend found. ^^

YY lives in Tokorozawa, Saitama. Downtown Tokyo where rent is cheaper and thus is a popular "bedroom community" where working Tokyo folks make this place their home, coming back to rest after a hard day at work. Prope Street is a colourful arcade street just outside the train station. YY's place is about 25 minutes walk from the station and thus throughout our 14 days in Japan, walking along Prope Street had became a norm for us. We go Prope Prope out as early as 5.30am in the morning when the shops are still closed and we came Prope Prope back through the rain as late as well, almost midnight.

Our First Meal in Japan. It's silly I tell you. Simply silly. Our first meal in Japan was... CHINESE! *smack herself on the head* What were we thinking? Well, actually I think we weren't, at least not with our brain, our growling stomach got the best of us. Notice how BIG the portion of everything is? Ya, food in Japan is dem expensive but it's also dem BIG. I almost never finish my bowl of rice, a big taboo back home. *sticks tongue out*

OMG. I just posted a very clear picture of myself. Rules have to be bent for dear Japan no? How can I go on "A Japanese Summer" without a single picture of me! That will never do.

The sunset view of the little alley heading to YY's place. Yup, that's a "longkang" lah I know but I must say it's the prettiest longkang view I've ever seen.

A series of event happened after that, one which involved missing a concert I so longed to attend which I rather not mention. Otherwise, it was a night with as much disappointments as there was anticipation for what was awaiting us the next 13 days in Japan.

Next: A Day Out in Tokyo