Moshi moshi, My Memoirs of Japan

Tokyo? No it isn’t. What you’re seeing is the corner of Wilshire Blvd. and Hope Street. The location filming of the movie Fast and the Furious 3. Noticed the tire marks on the road?

It is interesting to see how the movie production people converted a busy Los Angeles Downtown setting into another major city in another continent, Tokyo it is. I can’t help myself but be amazed at how simple it seemed to be. Just like when Spiderman 2 was being filmed, 7th Street and the Metro train station underneath was New York for about a month. But interesting as it is, this set also made me nostalgic…

Flashback, memoirs of Japan…

This picture taken in front of our office building with the bicycles reminded me of the policemen I saw in Tokyo and Okayama. They don’t ride cars, they don’t carry guns, they ride on pedal bikes like this and they carry clubs, no guns. Gave me sense of peacefulness, somehow.
This picture of Lemuel and Brack by the vending machines and the lights, reminded me of the nights we, my Kumareng Fhe and some friends were roaming the streets of Tokyo at minus four degrees centigrade, admiring the lovely flowers, which seemed to me like green leaf lettuce because they are so big and fresh. I was amazed to see even flowers were sold in vending machines; I enjoyed the hot soup from there.

I was also surprised to know that Camote or sweet potato in Japan is such a popular and quite an expensive treat, especially the roasted ones. We find them everywhere in the markets all over the Philippines and buy them so cheap that is not enjoyable to have anymore. While there, it is usually sold at nighttime by vendors in white vans, and people run to get a share.

We enjoyed the convenient stores and we're flabbergasted that people will buy disposable umbrellas and throw them away as soon as they get on the trains. This is where I experienced a ride on the first overhead electronic train (as in no driver) in Asia, second to the world, I heard the first is somewhere in Europe. Breathtaking to cross over the Yodo River which they say is kind of polluted, is still to me one of the cleanest rivers, at least visually.

I can’t help but smile in front of my monitor when I flashed back to the bloopers we did at the Electronics Conference and Exhibits we attended, like attending a presentation just so to get a convenient seat to nap and getting freebies afterwards. Sashimi, fresh veggies, and a ton of gift from my sweet staff, Gracie, made my stay in Tokyo so memorable.

Tochigi, the city of my first traditional train ride and my first time to hold a snow in my hand. Can’t do this in Tokyo, so embarrassing…First time to eat Soya with soy sauce instead of the sweet syrup we are used to in the Philippines. I learned that eggs, older than a day, are considered old and not good to eat, for people there only consume eggs right from the poultry. Royal treatment, company tour, and real Fuji apples made my day.

Off to Okayama so curious about the Sento, but as fast as I get in, I went out. I can’t be a naked fish in a hot tub, I could bear the hot spring, I love hot springs in Laguna, but I can’t bear me being naked together with other people. No!no!no!no!!! Bullet train? Yes I did, from Okayama to Osaka, it’s fast but not as fast as a bullet as I expected it to be, ha!ha!ha! The view of the mountains is so spectacular, going through the mountains, is dark, of course : - )

Osaka International Airport to me is the most beautiful so far, very good architectural design, so high tech, and clean. I also love the bargain stores there, the Sanrio store is not crowded, a whole store, only one storekeeper who also posts as cashier when customers are ready to pay. Gave me the impression that Japanese are so trusting with their goods. The quest for Game Boy – this egame is made in Japan and is available at all Toy Kingdom branches of SM Shopping Centers in the Philippines, surprising enough not to find one in a major city in Japan as Osaka, thus I settled for Tomica.

Can’t forget the authentic guava tea, wearing the Kimono, the Japanese slippers, the cleanliness of the places, the politeness of the people, the telephone booths full of advertisements of you know what…

I guess, Japan will be forever dear to my heart, after all more than a decade of my career life was spent with Japanese companies. My only regret is I should have taken my Nippongo lessons seriously, four months learning Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji under Sensei Beatriz Mojica, a noted scholar, should help me a lot, but thanks to my laziness, my line remained: “Sumimasen, eigo de hanashite kudasai ma senka?” (I’m sorry, in English please?)

Travel has a way of stretching the mind. The stretch comes not from travel's immediate rewards, the inevitable myriad new sights, smells and sounds, but with experiencing firsthand how others do differently what we believed to be the right and only way.Ralph Crawshaw

Click Here To Write Me