ホワイトデイおめでとう!!

Happy White Day!! I was in the midst of doing day 3 of the Tokyo post but I decided to do a short post on White Day! :D

For those who are utterly confused over the existence of White Day, it is a day celebrated exactly a month away from Valentine's Day on March 14th. It is most commonly celebrated in Japan, Korea, and some parts of China. Basically, on this day, the males are suppose to give an answer with gifts to the females who had given them chocolates and what not on Valentine's Day. And yes, apparently in Japan the FEMALES will GIVE the MALES chocolates not like the total opposite in Singapore #lesigh.

So... I decided to portray this in a easily understandable picture.

 Ta da!! :D

Pretty easy to understand right? This is basically everything you would need to know about White Day. And don't worry if you are #foreveralone, they created Black Day as well!! ((:

So yup! That's it for White Day! Although it would take maybe take light years before Singapore ever celebrates this, hey it is still good to know that such a day exists right? Haha!

And so...Tokyo day 3 would be coming soon I hope *fingers crossed* 

日本ハロー Pt 2

HARAJUKU!!! :D

We decided to wake up pretty early like 6am!? Get an early breakfast and its time to roam the streets of Tokyo!!! I swear in cold countries, the sun is pretty much "fake". There is sunlight and all but you still feel like you are in the Arctic. Sounds exaggerating but I guess I'm too used to Singapore's warm and humid weather. 

The morning scenery in Tokyo was equally beautiful as well. And I absolutely love their trains and their railway tracks, those kinda classic trains with the 80s vibe! ((:

I would prefer these kind of trains over the ones we have in Singapore ANYTIME! Haha!

Moving on....their subway stations are like a labyrinth, its totally confusing!! Partially its due to our inability to understand ANY Japanese at all. But we still managed to navigate our way slowly due to several English notices along the way. Damn thankful and grateful for those English notices, if not I swear we will spend half a day trying to figure our way out!

The picture's pretty small but their entire subway lines are CRAZY!! If you think Singapore has too many MRT lines in service, wait till you see Tokyo's. 

I can dare say they've used all the colors available in the color spectrum. Haha! xD

But aside from that, the ticketing service was pretty much user friendly and it comes with English instructions. Surprisingly, its actually quite SIMPLE to buy tickets and even know where you're headed.

I don't know whether is it just me or is EVERYTHING in Tokyo pretty much beautiful and looks more awesome. I think I look like some crazy guy in their subway, snapping pictures of literally EVERYTHING!? Haha. 

But hey! You've gotta admit that their country is absolutely beautiful!! ((:

I have this bad habit of sleeping on ANY kind of trains I'm on, same goes when I'm in Seoul for the past 3 times! xD

But Tokyo's scenery was amazing and their train stations have this movie-ish feel to it that I didn't fall asleep, NOT EVEN ONCE!!

Movie-ish right!? ((:

One thing that I love about subways in both Japan and Korea is that they have vending machines and convenience stores in them. Yes, IN THEM, not outside but IN THE FREAKING TRAIN STATIONS!! Something that I will never see in Singapore not in another 1242346287320 light years.

 

After the train trip of only 3 stations.... can't believe I had that much crap to say for only 3 stations worth of train trip!! xD

We are in Harajuku!! ((:

In Harajuku, this is like a street fashion lane. Eating, shopping, eat some more and then continue shopping. Other than the endless chain of apparel stores, there is this AKB48 shop conveniently located at the entrance to this street. 

Not really a fan of them but still it was interesting to have a look at the shop. Unlike Singapore's at Scape which is often filled with guys, this is practically flooded with female teenagers. Strange huh?

I'm guessing is maybe due to pure coincidence that it just so happens that it is filled with female teenagers when I went in. But it was rather shocking to see a few to almost no male customers in there! HAHA! 

 

When we first arrived, there was practically no one!! Most shops open at only 11am(?) so I was basically on a frenzy, snapping any and everything that I saw. ((:

The stores mostly had some form of graffiti BUT it was mostly pretty, artistic graffiti. It is not those typical anyhow-spray-on-stuff, at the very least it was visually pleasing.

Also, there was this delicious crepe store that everyone MUST try if they are in Harajuku. It's called Marion Crepes, its like 700 yen or so for one but it is absolutely worth it. The flavors are mostly chocolaty, fruity and accompanied by ice cream!! Yum!!

But of course if you have a feel for unique tasting crepes, they do serve with tuna(?) and what not as well!! ^^

Seeing that we couldn't do shopping this early yet, we head for Mcdonald's and had a nice hot cup of coffee while waiting for the shops to open! ((:

And this picture is one of the few remaining photos that I have before I say goodbye to my hair!! ^^

When the stores finally opened, the crowd started picking up. It was crazy, it was packed with tons of teenagers and the whole street was filled with them. I sworn I could've gotten a picture of that but I think I accidentally removed it xD

Anyways, we did some shopping but not as much as I expected. The whole street was mostly filled with female fashion(?), only maybe 20% is male fashion but I'm not surprised at all. Well....considering how Bangkok's Platinum mall has 6½ floors of female fashion and only half a floor of male fashion, I guess 20% is pretty decent. HAHA!

And when it comes to Harajuku, it is all about their wild and fun fashion. I managed to take a photo with some of them!! xD

We followed them on the streets for quite sometime and was contemplating with my mum whether or not to ask for a photo but in the end we just did! 

They were pretty friendly considering the fact that we couldn't understand what each of us is saying but they still agreed to the photo ((:

Viola!!! New me, new hairstyle!! :D

Well, of all the crazy things I've done overseas, I have to admit this was the craziest. Till now, I can't tell which was crazier, the fact that I had my hair cut in Japan or the fact that I paid 5500 yen for the hair cut. In case you are unsure of how much 5500 yen is in Singapore dollars, it is around 85 bucks. NO MISTAKE, IT IS FREAKING 85 bucks for a haircut and it is ONE of the CHEAPEST around there. 

Guess we Singaporeans have NO right to complain about expensive haircuts anymore huh? ((:

Oh yeah! The guy was the one who cut my hair and the lady was the one styling it for me. I guess seeing that I was the few rare tourists who had the guts to have a haircut despite language barriers, the manager personally cut the hair for me!! ^^

If anyone wants to have a haircut as well, their shop is called Milky Way and the manager is called Sou. Well....I could post their address but I doubt anyone would actually refer to it anyways, so if you want it then do tell me. Haha!!

Ok, I have to admit the styling was a more feminine one and in this picture it looks like a female hairstyle BUT its nothing like that!!! 

 

Well after the haircut and all, we decided to have Yoshinoya. A choice that I didn't even know of as we entered from the back entrance. Can't really state what's the difference from Singapore's as I have never been a fan of rice but due to cold weather, I don't have much of a choice huh?

Before we head back to the hotel, we shopped around for snacks and drinks around Lumine Est area, its like an area filled with shopping malls around Shinjuku. And look what I've found!!!

Blue Curacao in their SUPERMARKETS!!! Speechless... Singapore's supermarket needs to improve on what they have huh? 

And...this concludes day 2 in Tokyo!! Stay tuned for day 3! ((:

日本ハロー Pt 1

Over the past week, I was in Japan for a week vacation with my mum. Absolutely amazing country, especially with the scenery, the people and just the overall experience. To me, the LONG flight was really worth it but I really can't imagine taking any flights exceeding more than 6 hours; tremendously torturous. 

 
So anyways, I reached Narita International Airport at 4pm, and it took another 2 hours (?!) to reach our hotel at Shinjuku. For the entire trip, we stayed at Shinjuku Prince Hotel. Really clean, cozy and comfy rooms; makes you wanna lie in bed all day especially in the cold weather!! Anyways, this is like roughly how the room looks like?

Did I mention how cool the toilet seat was!? Maybe it was because I'm rather "sua-ku" in such technologies. The toilet seat had a "keep-warm" function, with other nifty stuffs like water-sprinkler(?) and what not. Its hard to describe but I remembered getting so amazed by it and was fiddling with it for a whole 15 minutes before my mum had to drag me out. Haha!!

Well, after that we had to try this Ramen that the taxi uncle recommended to us for dinner. We could communicate to him was that he was from Hong Kong(?) and he could speak both Cantonese and Japanese, pretty cool huh? Haha.

Doesn't that Ramen look absolutely DELICIOUS!? The Ramen was heavenly, can you imagine a bowl of hot tasty Ramen on a 5°C temperature? Both the soup and noodles were cooked to perfection and although it was like 700 yen ($11) a bowl, it was WORTH IT!! What's more they offered for second servings of noodles but I was simply too full. If you are in Tokyo and you do chance upon it, REALLY DO TRY IT!! I would absolutely recommend to everyone who is going to Tokyo!! ^^

After that we just had to explore the busy streets of Shinjuku. Brightly lit, bustling with people, the most awesome night experience there is. There is simply too much to describe through words alone....so here are some photos!!

Compared to the streets of Singapore, this is just speechlessly epic. Seriously, compare their pedestrian crossings to ours, ours is like beyond PUNY!!

And really there are a lot and I mean A LOT of karaoke lounges, slot machine(?) arcades and pubs/restaurants. The slot machines are pretty cool, the payouts are in balls, really small metallic balls instead of coins or money. And I guess they use that to exchange gifts? Can't imagine the people carrying trays of such balls home anyways. Haha!!

Apparently, the major departmental stores close at about 8pm? However, Shinjuku streets never seem to be "closed" at any time, I guess its like a perfect nightlife area for both tourists and Japanese themselves. Considering that I'm with my mum, I guess engaging in some wild nightlife activities seem entirely out of the question, so we decided to buy some stuff from the convenience store and headed back to the hotel.

 

Guess what I saw? Truthfully speaking, I am unsure what does this truck actually contain or what is it suppose to advertise!? Someone who understands Japanese, please do enlighten me on this one. Haha!

And so, this concludes the first day in wonderous Tokyo! Day 2 coming soon!! ((: 

Money is the root of all evil

One of the most widely known sayings in human history and easily the most agreeable justification to most problems faced by any human being. Problems like poverty gaps, social alienation, and the most widely observable reason for any family breakdowns.

Before you agree to this statement like the majority, take a step back and ask yourself is money necessarily the root of all evil? If money was the key source to all evil, are we not the creator to such evil? And even if it is the root of all evil, how can one deny the countless benefits evident from the creation of money.

Can you even stop to imagine what life without money is? Can you even see yourself bartering for your favourite gadget using maybe your clothes?

However, you cannot simply dismiss the problems it had brought about as well. People starving due to lack of money, families destroyed due to the very need for money. Even as the list continues, money cannot be simply just discarded in today’s context and ironically, we humans are truly dependent on it.

So where is the problem with it then? The answer is simple, it’s us. How we perceive the need for money, how we utilise the money and even the very process of attaining such money are a few reasons why we are the underlying problem that we see so much today.

Greed, the simple act of wanting more is already one of the key leading factors for so many problems today. “Never having enough”, “We need more for our retirement”, “You’ll need to study hard to get a good-paying job”. Even just the mentality alone had impacted and skewed the way our educational systems run, how parents educate their children and ultimately losing our freedom of doing what we wished to do.

Not only had this mentality changed our lifestyles but also creating a façade that money is a safeguard to everything. It became the ultimate goal that every single human being should have and not only are they forgoing their dreams and aspirations for money, they are willing to waste half their lives relentlessly fighting for something that they, themselves are unsure why.

Many would argue that the money could be used to buy a new car, a new house or some even say it is to buy happiness. It could be true to a certain extent but do you really need all these? Are you really happy? And do you really need all these money? Is it even worth wasting more than half your life getting more than what you actually need?

Now after all this, it is time to sit down, take a look back at what valuable time you have wasted just trying to pursue this goal of attaining more money. Ultimately, happiness does not magically appear even if you get more money but rather just simply enjoying the small, happy moments in life.

When was the last time you sat down, looked at the window and wishing you were a super hero? When was the last time you took a walk in the park and thought of how beautiful the world actually is? Do you even remember the happy moments while you were reminiscing the past with your friends?

We, human beings created money, suffered because of money and die because of money. Money is the root of all evil? No, we are.