Japan Trip - Part 1 ~ Food + System

Initially I intended to do a daily blog posting for each day of the Japan Trip, in which I did write out in a small note book at the end of everyday for about 8 days before I gave up due to fatigue of sleeping later (an average time of 1hr to write) and having to be the first out of bed to wake the other 2. Instead, I'll divide the whole trip into sections and work from there, and first up I'll talk about the food we had there.

1 word to describe it all, Godly. The fact that the foods that we can get there are fresh, the difference in quality is simply too great. The overwhelming taste of the food just lingers on your tongue, asking for more. The juices that burst out when biting into the food just fills the mouth with favour. Food to the Japanese is an art, an art that they have been perfecting through the ages, and the country is truly a hidden treasure. I'm sure I've only been tasting the very mid-bottom range of the tree, and I wish to seek the very best out, given the money and time, eventually.

People have always said that when overseas, one would usually miss the food back at home, in which is usually true, but sad to say for this case (and I'm sure the other 2 who traveled with me would agree), it doesn't apply. I'm currently missing the food that I thoroughly enjoyed throughout the trip. I had always been a fan over Japanese Cuisine, but right now I don't think I can truly enjoy the cuisine in SG ever again, the taste that arises from the freshness is too big a gap to bridge. Now I understand why the old man would have his chef fly to Japan to bring in fresh ingredients whenever he wants to have Japanese Cuisine for his meal. (Who else in SG is old, still weld lots of power from his words in this country, and have a shit load of cash, and still making more from filing lawsuits against those who "defiles" his name? Not mentioning any names.)
Here's a picture of the Ootoro which we had on the 2nd last day of the trip, where we 3 spent about S$200+ worth on just sushi, and it was only breakfast. In fact the Ootoro you see cost about 6-7 SGD per piece, and I had 7!!! But god was it worth it, it just simply melts in your mouth. For more photos of some of the food that we had in Japan, click here ---> FOOD

Next up I'll talk abit on the system (custom? daily routine? I don't know what to call it) that I can see there and compare it to SG, in which I feel truly ashamed to be called a S'porean. In fact if any of you did see me on Tuesday, I was swearing and cursing about the behaviours of a typical S'porean. Just see the comparison.

Point 1: Using the Escalator.
Japan - Everyone keeps to one side (left side for Tokyo and many other places, right side for Osaka, and don't ask me why they reverse), unless they are rushing in which they have the empty lane to make their way.
Singapore - FFA who gives a shit if you are in a rush, I ain't going to be moving my ass for anyone. Go take the stairs noobcake. I'll stand where I want to stand, even if my group is blocking the "express lane".

Point 2: Queuing for train, boarding/leaving train.
Japan - Keep to 2 rows, queue in a line. Train comes, doors open, allow those inside to go out first, once no one left then orderly board the train, priority seats for those who needs it.
SG - O.O no one at the door? I shall stand right in front of it to have first pick on any empty seats. I'll just force my way through the horde of exiting people just to get my seat. Heck even if there's no seat I'm still not giving way to those exiting, I'll just force through, and screw those who need it more I'm going to "sleep".

Point 3: "Packed" train/bus.
Japan - Hmm there's going to be many many people boarding the train/bus, I think I'll move to the center to give more space for more people to board, and we'll all squeeze like sardines but it's all okay.
SG - I ain't going to move to the middle!! I want to be near the door so I can make a fast exit!! Who the hell cares if I move and maybe 3-4 more people can board? Hell I don't even care! Screw thinking about others, I only think for myself! (In fact on Tuesday I had the blast of my life standing in the middle with about 1metre worth of space around me to move, but seeing everyone else squeezing at the door. Bloody retarded humans.)

Point 4: Accidental bumpings.
Japan - Opps I bumped into you, I shall say sorry immediately. In fact I'll apologize for even the minor things.
SG - "bump"......silence. Nope nothing happened I'm just ignoring all the people I'm hitting.

Point 5: Dress code.
Japan - OMG it's cold!! But all the girls are still wearing short skirts and long socks/pantyhose and letting the wind do their job. Nose-bleed the guys to death!!
SG - God I'm melting, but I'm still going to wear my jeans 365 days a year, even if I am feeling hot.

Okay ignoring point 5 (LOL), I've pretty much said what I wanted to say about the cultural system that is being developed/nurtured in the citizens of each country. I'm sure Japan has it fair share of jerks and retards and SG have a huge base of friendly people who are more than willing to contribute their part to making the world a much better place to live in, but this is what just I have seen, experienced during the 24 days in Japan / 21 years in SG. Many would argue that 24 days is not enough to make a comparison, in which I do agree to a certain extend, but it does already speak volumes of the level of maturity of the citizens of each country.

I'm really missing Japan big time while writing up this post, thinking back to all the experiences I had during the trip. I so want to go back again this year, hopefully if I do manage to save enough I want to go for C75 end of this year again. More pictures would follow soon as I sort through the 2,416 pictures that had been taken, and more posts on what we did during the trip, and eventually the loots that were brought back from Japan. For now just enjoy the food pictures.

Note: As mentioned, I'll not be putting up pictures one by one in thumbnail format as I had received complains of the constant loading of pictures which is slow. I'll now only post at most about 5 pics per post, and if it's really a big load of pictures I'll just show 1 or 2 and the rest will be in a link to the photo album. Hope this would lighten the load on my visitors. Would love more feedback on how to improve the site too, though I'm a total noob at this, but willing to learn.

Outing - 1st Dec 2007

Late post. Intended for Sunday but just too lazy to get to it. My blog my pace ^^. Long Post Warning!!! 3 Parts of the day.

First off, as mentioned in my previous post, this day was the screening of Byousoku 5cm at National Museum's Theatre Gallery brought in by Animation Nation 2007. Had always wanted to watch an anime movie/film on the big screen, and I surely wasn't disappointed by this screening, it actually was beyond what i had hoped, though the seatings of the Theatre Gallery were slightly uncomfortable.

The animation of Byousoku 5cm was top-notch, smooth, beautiful and definitely mesmerising. As said in the previous post and I'll emphasize it again, Highly Recommended to watch! However, when watching it again, the ending does seem abit... rushed, and it gives a bittersweet feeling, making us realise that not everyone can have a happy ending. It all depends on the choices we make in life, and just a wrong turn can make it go really bad. But! It also depends on how each individual jump back from one's mistake, to once again take control of their lives, make that U-turn and once again try to obtain what one really wants in life.

Will start a rating system now, realised I didn't do one for the previous.
Byousoku 5cm Rating: 9/10
Demerit for the slight rush factor, the lack of closure on characters. Even though this could be the style of Makoto Shinkai, it doesn't really fall well with me, as I would prefer a better closure. Individual preference ^^". (Actually I wanted to give it a perfect score, but felt I shouldn't. So had to find a reason for the "demerit".)

Some photos from National Museum.Poster for Animation Nation 2007.Interesting signboard for "Slippery Floors"

Here comes the second part!! After finishing the show at about 1pm, I had to bring my cousin to get his shoes and some winter wear in preparation of our upcoming Japan trip. Long story short, National Museum --> Queenstown --> Marina Square non-stop in 4 hours. I swear this can be considered training for walking the streets of Japan lol. Once that was done, sent my cousin to the MRT station, and off I am to meet up another group of friends. At this moment it was around 4.45pm, but the meet up with that group was supposed to be at 6pm, and the earliest person that could arrive (had arranged to meet earlier since we were both already outside) was around 5.30pm.

Despite being slightly tired, from not having enough sleep (does 5 hours count?) and the lack of food (didn't take lunch and breakfast was at 9am and that was just 2 slice of bread + a cup of choco milk) and including the shopping, I went to Kinokuniya at Takashimaya and went around walking, and scouting for the prices of manga/artbooks to take note of so that I'm able to estimate the amount I would be spending in Japan buying those. The prices at Kino@SG is nearly double the amount I would have pay for them in Japan, thus I plan to do all my purchases in Japan and ship them back. Even the shipping cost is way cheaper this method. Ignoring the rest of the things I did in Kino@SG, soon after at around 5.25pm, went to meet up with her.

What happened next? Let's just cut the story short. Went for more shopping since she wanted to get a dress, acted as her "fashion consultant", going from shop to shop. The other two individuals were late (as usual?), in which when they came was about 6.45-7pm. Dying from hunger yet? Not really, but close, and we still had to decide where to eat, and as usual it took us about 1 hour? What else happened in between? More shopping and walking from Wisma Atria --> Paragon --> Takashimaya. lol. period.

Eventually back at Takashimaya, we settled for dinner at Crystal Jade Ginseng Chicken BBQ, which serves Korean Cuisine, and with no mention of the multiple times we went up and down the escalator to decide which place to eat. Time check: 8.24pm. Well, they do say humans can go without food for about a week, what's 12 hours?

Looking through the menu with all the tempting pictures on display, we were at a loss to what to order, so we decided to just ask for a recommendation and we settled on a set package for 4 people.

One can choose whether you'll prefer to cook the food yourself or just ask the chefs to cook for you. In this case we decided to let the chefs work on the chicken and pork collars while we settle the beef and prime beef steak.

Beef

Prime Beef SteakSide Dishes which I can't remember what is what.Chicken, which was cooked by the chef.

Pork Collar, also cooked by the chef.1 hour 30mins later. The eventual damage done. S$153.25 Slightly on the high side for quality of food, but quantity makes up for it. We were surely full from the portion of food given. Rating: 6.5/10

Christmas Tree @ Takashimaya's Lobby

Ready for part 3? I'm actually tired from doing this blog post (2 hours since start). Stand up! Do some stretching!! Take deep breaths!!! Let's just get this done with, this part is going to be fast (At least I think it will be).

Finished with dinner, and having nothing planned to do after, we decided to watch a movie. Proceeded down to Cathay Cineleisure to watch Enchanted (P.S: Sorry Jason you were too late when you asked). Since the movie was at 12.15am, and time being 10.15pm, we had 2 hours to burn. What can one do in Orchard when shops are closed, stomachs full from dinner and tired legs? Dessert!! Sweets and Desserts goes into a different stomach!!

Took us a while to find a place to settle in, didn't know Orchard was still so crowded with so many people chilling in the cafes/diners. More walking about till we settled for Maestro Bistro in Cineleisure.

Waffle with Chocolate Mint Ice Cream Topped
with Nuts, Chocolate Chips and Chocolate Sauce.Banana Split.

Damage Done: S$25.20 Not worth it. Service was sub-standard, the waffle wasn't freshly hot, the banana in the split wasn't as fresh as what I would expect. Ice cream was standard no comments. To add on, they do not serve ice water. Big negative from me. Rating: 4.5/10

The only truely worthwhile purchases of the day.

I wanted to do a review on Enchanted, but just couldn't think of anything to write besides that it's filled with lots of laughter. That's about it I guess. Good film for the family and for its comedy. Click on the hyperlink on the movie's name for a description by yahoo!movies.

Enchanted Rating: 6.5/10
Worth watching for the laughter, not quite so for the overall plot. Sometimes I really felt like taking something hard and just hit my forehead continuous with it. It's just gets lame at times.

Here's some photos of the Christmas decorations along Orchard.
It's only 3 though lol.

End of day, reached home at about 3.45am, went to bed at around 4.30am to wrap up a long day. 8.30am - 4.30am with lots of walking around with 2x movies, you just don't get this very often. Well, just consider it as Japan walking training. Now look away from the computer, look at something far, relax your eyes before letting them wander back to this screen. Enjoy! Signing out.

Note 1: I had to wake up at 9.30am for church either way so that's another 5hours sleep. What a way to spend the weekend!! Thank goodness I'm on night shift this week so I'll be able to catch up on the fatigue.

Note 2: For food ratings, I'll try to separate the contents of the scoring system and not just posting of the overall rating eventually.

Note 3: Took me 3 hours for this post. Zzz... and Please leave more comments! It's depressing not to see any :( Or a simple note on the tagboard would do too!

Edit 5th Dec 2007: Sorry I had to change the photo of the "worthy purchases" as I didn't realised my name and NRIC being shown there. Have edited the photo and reposted.