There is the very hip and cosmopolitan side to Japan -
and the centuries-old traditional side.
And somehow, she navigates through this huge cultural divide with confidence and pride.
I find that as admirable as it is incomprehensible...
was the month
- I made my first ever trip to Japan.
I find its people fascinating, totally different from my expectations which I admit are built on Hollywood's take of the land and its people.
Where I expected the Japanese to be intense, either in a serious or cartoon-y way, I quickly realised how gracious and civic-minded they are. Everyone I approached for help would go out of his/her way to steer me back on course and see me off with the warmest smile.
Where I expected only the extremes of the weary formally attired salarymen vs the fun-loving colourful kawaii boys and girls, I found a spectrum of very tasteful styles.
I resisted going to Japan because I was so sure the country and its people are, simply, too foreign. I have been so ignorant and wrong.
It is a country where its people will show you that you - the foreign tourist - have a place in their ever gracious land.
Food presentation is such a high art form that I always wonder if I should just sit there and admire it for a long while more.
Eventually I take that first bite. Then it is just food again...
Japan is a land of contrasts -
and the modern 
exist comfortably with each other.Oh wow, I am finally all packed and ready to go, with hours to spare before heading for the airport.
It seems like I bring along the same amount of barang barang whether I am packing for 10 days or 10 weeks. That's too profound for me to think through right now...
My good friend who loves Jepun-land tells me I am heading into good weather. So...
I am looking forward to visiting the strange new place.
I have been following the weather forecast for Tokyo and Kyoto. The prediction is sunny days with temperature in high teens, or else rain bringing the temperature down to high single digit.
I am being stubborn again, just like I was when packing for New York city. That time I decided that it could not possibly snow on me. It did. I lived my days all bundled up in everything I had.
This time, I am betting that it will not be too rainy, and ambient temperature will be comfortably cool, not clammy cold. I am actually bringing my many brightly coloured Paul Ropp skirts with tops to match any of the colours. If my bet went against me, I will wear everything all at once; I will look like a bag lady wearing a confusion of multi-layered multi-colours.
I really should learn to look at weather forecasts with greater reverence. Just not this time.
