Japan and Bali

[lapassionata]

To mark a recent major milestone, I decided to take a trip to the other side of the world. I’ve got a very close friend living in the suburbs of Tokyo. She was one of my roommates during undergrad, and it was the most positive shared-living experience I’ve ever had (besides living at home, that is). She had been urging me to visit Japan, even from before she returned home after graduation. But things just never seemed to fall into place, and I didn’t feel confident enough to travel alone more than 12 time zones away from friends and family. However the last year has been pretty intensely stressful personally and professionally: some triumph, and some serious disappointments, quite a bit of emotional rollercoaster-ing, and a temporary loss of direction and focus. After going through all of “that”, I guess I felt that making a three week trip to the East as a single female traveller was more than manageable.

So this trip was not just about seeing the sights ; I think it was also about regaining my equilibrium, restoring my confidence, and maybe even rediscovering myself. And although that sentiment is cringe-worthy , it makes up for the melodrama by being 110 percent truth .

[lapassionata]

Re: Japan and Bali

Why Japan? Because my friend is there, and it’s really far away from home. Why Bali? Probably partly because of Elizabeth Gilbert. I am not ashamed to say I read and really liked Eat Pray Love. And probably like 99% of her female readers, I identified with the whole “dark night of the soul”, “heart lost spirit regained” theme running through the book. I was very much taken with her brief descriptions of Bali’s people, culture, and landscape. It sounded like such an impossibly beautiful and exotic place to visit. On the other hand, I really wanted to see Angkor Wat, and spend a week relaxing on one of those gorgeous Thai beaches. But in the end I settled on Bali because of the political situation in Thailand, and because I didn't feel up to the task of solo back-packing in Cambodia.

I bought guidebooks, a new digital camera, travel insurance, shorts and teeshirts. I got vaccinated. I packed light, dozed intermittently, and of course scrambled around at the last minute looking for keys, traveller’s cheques, phone, while the taxi was waiting downstairs. And still I had to turn back just 200 metres down the road, because I couldn’t find a very important flash drive. Eventually I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare, and only having forgotten the headphones for my mp3 player.

I didn’t really start to get excited until I was in the departure lounge surrounded by Japanese people conversing in their soft, staccato language. And then of course looking out the window at the massive Air Canada jet that would be making the 12.5 hour journey from Toronto to Tokyo. The longest I had previously flown was six hours to London. I had no idea what one did when one was stuck in a flying metal box for 13 hours. The answer turned out to be: watch ALOT of movies, eat, sleep, wake up, and do that two more times before the captain makes the announcement that they were beginning the descent into Narita.

[lapassionata]

Re: Japan and Bali

I was sitting next to a young Japanese couple with the sweetest, plumpest, roly-polyest baby ever. The mom pre-emptively apologized for any noise CutieBaby would make, but she was actually VERY good for the flight. She loved her fingers, she loved her toes, she loved her daddy’s squishy nose. And she also seemed to like to turn curious eyes on me and follow the shaking of my braids. I almost overdosed on the sweetness.

And then just as it was beginning to feel as though we were on the never-ending journey, and I was thinking maybe the pilots had missed the right turnoff back at the last intersection, and were too embarrassed to admit that they were lost ; just as “an interesting experience” was morphing into “a bit of an ordeal”, the grey-blue ocean so far beneath us suddenly gave way to land, and just like that we arrived in Japan.

[Stormmey]

Re: Japan and Bali

following along....sweet read. did you get to do any shopping Tokyo is a shoppers paradise

[lapassionata]

Re: Japan and Bali

Welcome to Japan. Donata ka eigo o hanasemasu ka? Nihongo wa dekimasen. Gomen nasai.

My friend M-chan greeted me at arrivals with a big hug, and a few happy tears. I felt sooooo glad to be there. And I had arrived just in time for a bit of a warm weather spell.





The trip from Narita to M-chan's home was about 2 1/2 hours, and both my friend and her dad was super generous in picking me up from the airport, since travelling on Japan's highways can be pretty expensive due to all the tolls you pay (not mention fuel.) It felt a bit surreal that I had left Toronto in the afternoon, travelled 12 hours and still ended up somewhere <span style="font-style: italic">in the afternoon</span>, but I was planning to stay up as much as possible to beat the jet lag.

I snapped alot of pics along the way out the car window, but most of them are blurred or unfocused. M-chan was amused. The first impression I had of the place was order, cleanliness, efficiency. Rice paddies next to housing subdivisions, narrow streets, restricted personal space. A carefully controlled landscape.

[lapassionata]

Re: Japan and Bali

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Stormmey1</div><div class="ubbcode-body">following along....sweet read. did you get to do any shopping Tokyo is a shoppers paradise </div></div>

Hi Stormmey, thanks for following along.

Did I shop? Well, lets just say, I went to Japan with one checked half empty suitcase, and came back with two checked pieces and one medium sized carry-on. I don't know what would have happened if they did stock my shoe size....

[Marielle]

Re: Japan and Bali

Oh fantastic!

I will be following your post with glee and interest cos I have Bali on my nr 1 destination for August - if I get away HA!

I also loved Eat Pray Love, and have to get to Bali before the hordes do after the film is realised this summer with Julia Roberts!
Indonesia has been hovering on the bac burner for years, not least cos we have so much connection there, ashamed to say the Dutch were there for 500!! years!!!
Have family and friends connections to there too

But would love to also go to Borubudor(sp?), Buddhist temple complex on Java and Lomboc and the Gilli islands off Bali

18 thousand islands in Indonesia! And Bali is the only Hindu island!

For Bali I can recommend - by travellers to there - Lovenia, Candidasa, Amed and Ubud of course (inland, artists centre)

Can't wait for the trip report!

Enjoy your trip!

[Marielle]

Re: Japan and Bali

Here's a tip for you

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2010/may/11/ubud-homestays-hotels-bali

In fact, you can just type in Japan or Bali and find lots of info!

[LusciousJohnson]

Re: Japan and Bali

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: lapassionata</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Stormmey1</div><div class="ubbcode-body">following along....sweet read. did you get to do any shopping Tokyo is a shoppers paradise </div></div>

Hi Stormmey, thanks for following along.

Did I shop? Well, lets just say, I went to Japan with one checked half empty suitcase, and came back with two checked pieces and one medium sized carry-on. <span style="font-weight: bold"> I don't know what would have happened if they did stock my shoe size.... </span></div></div>


sounds like me i LOVE shoe shopping


nice pics

[lapassionata]

Re: Japan and Bali

On the way, M mentions that her brother and sis-in-law were coming over to cook that night. It was a prearranged date that HAPPENED to coincide with my arrival. Yumm Moment #1: Gyoza (chinese dumplings), pho and bonito sashimi in this salty-sweet marinade on a bed of parsley. Oh, also there were cold vegetarian spring rolls.






<span style="font-size: 14pt"><span style="font-weight: bold">Once you learn how to fold gyoza, you never forget...</span></span>


<span style="font-size: 14pt"><span style="font-weight: bold">Gyoza, bonito sashimi, and the fixin's for pho and cold spring rolls.</span></span>

I was staying up late to get on to Japanese time and avoid succumbing to Jet lag. I made it to 10 pm, then hit the wall. At the urging of my hosts, I finally went off to bed.

[lapassionata]

Re: Japan and Bali

Day 2: Don Quijote &amp; Ikebukero

So, there are these two very well known department stores in Tokyo called Tokyu Hands and Don Quijote. They really need to be experienced, I think, to understand a little bit of the Tokyo-ite soul (I’m not even going to generalize to the entire country.) My first major introduction to Japan was the following morning via Don Quijote, and I don’t even know why or how I exited that store $100 poorer, but somehow, I bought 3 bags of essentially useless but fun brightly coloured over packaged stuff. I mean, I almost had a mini seizure JUST due to the blinking lights in this place!

But that was after breakfast. I actually woke up before 8:00 am in the morning when I was expecting to want to sleep away the entire day. M-chan’s dad took us for breakfast at a local diner ( I guess the equivalent would be Denny’s), where I chose the Japanese breakfast, and they both ordered the Western breakfast just in case I changed my mind. They needn’t have bothered: I don’t have a very precious stomach, and I love exploring new tastes. There are very few flavours or textures that I can’t bear (licorice and cho-cho come to mind). Turns out it’s a good thing I like to eat, because Japanese people love to cook apparently, and Tokyo is a gluttons' paradise.

My hosts seemed to be gently amused by the wide-eyed ingénue act, and were very happy to explain that first I had to whip the fermented beans into a foamy concoction, then pour it on top of my rice, then take the small sheet of sea-weed, dip it in soy sauce to make it pliable, then place on rice and use chopsticks to make a mini rice roll. In the time it took to get an awkward little roll done and to my mouth, M-chan could have rolled a dozen (very gracefully) before proceeding to filet her fish with her chopstics. Dining is performance art in Japan. At breakfast I also learned: the iced tea comes unsweetened by default; the little packages of transparent liquid are sugar syrup; there are not alot of black people in Asaka, in fact you might be the first these customers have seen live and in living colour.

It was Mother’s Day, and the weather was quite warm and lovely for season, if a bit overcast. M-chan and father, went to pay respects to M-chan’s mother who had passed away 2 years previously. Although I tried to give them space and privacy to visit, they graciously asked me to participate placing some flowers. On the way back, we talked a bit about the difference between Christian and Buddhist burial rites. I told them Christians (or at least catholic Christians) don’t practice cremation because they believe in the resurrection and have to maintain the integrity of the body for that event. I think they were really amused by that.







I mentioned needing to purchase a sake set for a friend, and M-chan’s dad made it his mission to find a store that sold one. That’s really how we ended up at Don Quijote. People in Toronto will understand when I say it was like an even kitschier version of Honest Ed’s. Fun-er too. You could buy just about anything there, from underwear to camera equipment to household supplies and even discreetly and tastefully wrapped adult toys in a small section at the back of the store. Out front were those coin machines where you can insert 100 Yen for a chance to win an Ipod Mini. I kept dropping stuff in the basket, and man did it add up. That was really my first wake up call to pay attention: Japan is EXPENSIVE . No luck at Don Quijote with the sake set, so we visited a few other places before giving up. M-chan and I were dropped at the train station, because she was taking me to Ikebukero.


<span style="font-size: 14pt"><span style="font-weight: bold">Don Quijote: because rhinestone encrusted 2 inch fake lashes should be an ESSENTIAL part of your daily makeup regimen.</span></span> The rest of the pics I took at this store are definitely not post-able


<span style="font-size: 14pt">DQ goodies. Note the Tokyo Metro map in the background. </span>

So a word on Tokyo’s train and metro lines: they are impossible to navigate without the extensive use of at least one, and up to several maps of the different train lines. There are MANY railway companies operating in Tokyo. They run on each other’s lines, and they run on lines above and below each other; Tokyo is liberally tattooed with their tracks. I got a PASMO card that I charged with yen almost every day; fare is calculated based on the distance between the departure point and destination, and also switching rail lines means an additional tariff. As an aside: Foreign visitors are advised to buy a Japan Railway pass before arriving in Japan, and it is WELL worth the price (my one week pass cost more than $300), because of free unlimited travel on the shinkansen (bullet train) all over Japan. Shinkansen tickets are VERY pricey, but you reach your destination in literally half the time. But, JR operates only one circular line within Tokyo (the Yamanote), so you usually end up spending quite a bit on metro transport within the city limits. Despite that, I truly regret not getting the two week pass. Oh well, spilt milk and all.

Ikebukero station was the first major transfer point closest to my hosts’ trains station. I got a little worried when I realized how very few signage have English translation; and the anxiety levels ratcheted up even further when my friend stated that there were several rail lines running via her station, and taking the wrong one could get me very lost indeed. She tried to write down the kanji characters that meant express, local, semi express, etc, but I found it pretty difficult to associate the efficient little slashes on the paper in front of me, with the electronic characters scrolling across the station’s electronic boards. I eventually discovered on my own the next evening that if I found the right board, and waited long enough, an English translation would stream quickly behind the Japanese. So within a couple of days, I was pretty confident navigating the Tokyo metro, or at least, confident enough to find my way home, which is sometimes the best you can hope for.

I was doing the wide-eyed ingénue thing again when we arrived at Ikebukero. Lonely Planet, (the bestest friend a solo traveller can have) describes it as “a neighbourhood that shouldn’t rate high on a busy schedule”, but as my first introduction to the bright lights, big city atmosphere of Tokyo, I was pretty impressed. I couldn’t NOT be amazed at the number of people out on a Sunday night (some in school uniforms), shops open until 9 pm (they close at 5 pm on Sundays in Toronto), wide busy crosswalks, tons of neon billboards reflecting light off the night sky. M-chan said I should save my wonder for Shibuya crossing, and its iconic image of thousands of pedestrians crossing at each green light.


Why does your shirt need a tail?






First brush with &quot;Engrish.&quot;

[lapassionata]

Re: Japan and Bali

We didn’t spend long at Ikebukero. My hosts were once again generously taking me to dinner at a popular sushi place. On the way back to the station, we ran into M’s acquaintance who was with an Egyptian expat who makes dojo accessories and has been living in Japan for about 10 years. Was he fluent in Japanese? No, but good enough to get by. Shame. However, that did give me hope that Tokyo was a little more multicultural than what it presented on its face, because I had been getting SERIOUSLY stared at, and it was starting to get to me a little.

About dinner, I will only say: Yumm Moment #2.






<span style="font-size: 14pt">This was my absolute favourite. Mmmmm tastes buttery...</span>

[lapassionata]

Re: Japan and Bali

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Marielle</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Oh fantastic!

I will be following your post with glee and interest cos I have Bali on my nr 1 destination for August - if I get away HA!

I also loved Eat Pray Love, and have to get to Bali before the hordes do after the film is realised this summer with Julia Roberts!
Indonesia has been hovering on the bac burner for years, not least cos we have so much connection there, ashamed to say the Dutch were there for 500!! years!!!
Have family and friends connections to there too

But would love to also go to Borubudor(sp?), Buddhist temple complex on Java and Lomboc and the Gilli islands off Bali

18 thousand islands in Indonesia! And Bali is the only Hindu island!

For Bali I can recommend - by travellers to there - Lovenia, Candidasa, Amed and Ubud of course (inland, artists centre)

Can't wait for the trip report!

Enjoy your trip! </div></div>

Hi Marielle, thanks for stopping by! I've already completed my trip, got back a few days ago. I really wish I had done more exploration of Bali, but I spent the majority of time in Ubud, and came down with case of Bali belly during the last 2 days there. But there will be a next time, and I definitely want to do the North (Lovina et al) and Lombok!

[lapassionata]

Re: Japan and Bali

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Fancy</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: lapassionata</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Stormmey1</div><div class="ubbcode-body">following along....sweet read. did you get to do any shopping Tokyo is a shoppers paradise </div></div>

Hi Stormmey, thanks for following along.

Did I shop? Well, lets just say, I went to Japan with one checked half empty suitcase, and came back with two checked pieces and one medium sized carry-on. <span style="font-weight: bold"> I don't know what would have happened if they did stock my shoe size.... </span></div></div>


sounds like me i LOVE shoe shopping

Thanks Fancy! I'm telling you God knew why he gave me the biggest feet in my family because my bank account can't manage that particular addiction...

nice pics </div></div>

[Marielle]

Re: Japan and Bali

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: lapassionata</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Hi Marielle, thanks for stopping by! I've already completed my trip, got back a few days ago. I really wish I had done more exploration of Bali, but I spent the majority of time in Ubud, and came down with case of Bali belly during the last 2 days there. But there will be a next time, and I definitely want to do the North (Lovina et al) and Lombok! </div></div>

Oh, I'll be waiting for the trip report of Bali then!! Sorry to hear about the Bali belly!

Where did you stay in Ubud?