Totally Tokyo! Pt. 1

This is my third night in Tokyo. There had not been any updates the last 3 nights because ... well, I've been busy. Haha ...

We (Pauline and I) left for Tokyo on the A380 Friday night at 23:40. Thanks to my habitual preference for the tail of the plane (though no cute flight attendant this time ~.~), we reserved seats at the last section of the plane, which happened to be on the upper deck! Haha ... remember, if you get to ride the A380, Rows 71 to 83 are on the upper deck! Oh well, just that the thought of sitting "upstairs" is exhilarating. The rest of the experience was just so-so. In fact, the superhyped A380 is also only so-so.

Perhaps it's because of all the hype that my (and everyone else's, I'm sure) expectations got inflated so much that when it falls just a little bit short (like I don't like the colour scheme of blue and beige ... quite yikes), it is so disappointing it hurts.

Now, not that there aren't any "wow" factors. I like the bigger screen and the ledge by the window that you can use for small barang-barang like iPods or passports. Better still, it can be opened up to drop you pillow and blanket, and anything else, when you don't need them. But from what I observe, this privilege is strictly for window seat passengers so they really should be charged more ... haha ... why hasn't SQ thought of that?

What's a minus is that the seats don't recline much, so it makes sleeping harder. Throw in a screaming baby and stewardesses who wake you up for the next meal only 2 hours after the last one (on a 6.5-hour flight), and you get Pauline and me when we touched down in Tokyo on Saturday morning.

We took the airport express to the Shibuya area where we had booked a stay at a ryokan. It's called Fukudaya, about 15 mins from the main Shibuya shopping area. It's in a nice quiet neighbourhood it amazed me that such tranquility could exist within such a short distance from crowded Shibuya.

We went out for lunch at Shibuya (after getting our Ghibli Museum tix - first things first!), hoping to shop a bit but fatigue soon caught up. We did manage HMV but decided to go back to the hotel for a nap. It wasn't till dinner time that we set out again. The shops here close surprisingly early about 9 pm. It's interesting to see the landscape completely change from a sea of shoppers to diners-cum-clubbers. Our meals on the first day had been good - a rice set for lunch and egg ramen (delicious egg!!) for dinner. Yummy.

Day 2. We tried to set out early, but we could only manage 8 am, for Hakone-Mt.Fuji. For some strange reason, there's a mental short circuit this morning. See, the cashier at the convenience store near the hotel is Chinese so we could chat a little and he was saying something the convenience store he was working at(called AM/PM) and when I asked questions, I kept referring to Lawson's. I was even surprised how come he seemed confused. Haha ... it wasn't till I left the store that I realised my mistake. Then, at the Odakyu Info Centre where we're gonna get tix for Hakone, I told the girl we were headed for Haneda. That threw her into a frenzy and Pauline into shock. What were we going to the airport for?! Haha ... Pauline saved the day and corrected my mistake so we were finally on our way to Hakone on a 2-day free pass which covered train, bus, ropeway, cable car and boat rides.

The train ride to Hakone took 1.5 hours, after which we transferred to a local train headed for the Hakone-Yumoto station, after which we had to transfer to a local bus headed for Motohakone, which is the central spot for Mt. Fuji viewing across and on Lake Ashi. Tried as we might, on all the available transportation by the Hakone free pass, the mountain refused to show its face from behind the thick veil of fog which we thought had a chance of lifting when the sun shone for a while. Nevertheless, we did have a delightful seafood lunch at a small and cosy eatery run by an elderly couple on the bank of Lake Ashi.

Tokyo here I come!

At the airport now. This trip marks several firsts.

First time I enter the new Terminal 3.

First time I'll be boarding and flying in the A380.

First time I'm able to get a seat numbered after my birth year (just goes to show how old I am cuz anyone who's less than a quarter of a century old this year will not get a seat that is numbered after their birth year)

First time I'm visiting Tokyo for real (and not just wander aimlessly around in Narita Airport, in transit).

Gee ... will Japan be my next annual pilgrimage destination after Hong Kong? This time last year, I was in Kyoto, the former capital of Japan.

June was the best month of last year. How will this June shape up?

Mood: Hopeful v(^_*)v

Sex and the City

I finally know what the last episode of SATC is all about! Big swept Carrie off her feet in Paris! Phew ... after so many years. See, every episode that Fauzie downloaded played fine on my laptop except the last which appeared to require a special codec which I couldn't for the life of me find. So I gave up. I knew there would be a day I found out for myself what the ending to the series was. Came the movie. And my answer.

Too bad Karen couldn't join us. Girl departed for Phuket this morning for a 3-week sunny R&R with Greg and Maia. So Pauline, Fauzie and myself went for the movie ourselves. Hehe ... really, the 4 of us are quite like the girls in SATC though not really characteristically. Just that there are 4 of us of different ages, different personalities but somehow we gel. 好难得哦.

The movie's definitely not the best romantic comedy I've seen for sure, but it's kinda lovely. Partly because it affirms my belief in weddings being the affair of two and the people who really extend their blessings from the bottom of their hearts and not just out to have a good time. That it does not take a penthouse and a custom-built wardrobe to make love work. That trust and forgiveness go a long way. That sometimes, you don't have to go searching for love - it's always been there.

And all the sights of Manhattan drowned me under a giant nostalgic wave. The Brooklyn Bridge which I had crossed on foot but which now sports an altered skyline on Manhattan side, the Chinatown which was pleasant and I still wanna go to the big white Buddhist Temple I failed to visit previously.

And the grand library that is so much like the one I visited in Boston, which closed its doors after 911 so I didn't have the chance to marvel at the magnificence of its interiors. It has the same same dome with paintings of angels, the same marble pillars, the same windows over-looking quaint gardens where one can read for endless hours as the snow falls ... wow ... if I really do make it to New York come December, this will definitely happen. I would love to snuggle up next to the window with a good book (perhaps "Love Letters of Great Men"? :), reading and watching the snowflakes drift onto the window panes. I do love snow (^_^)

P.S. The Vogue editor tells Carrie that 40 is the last time a woman can be photographed in a wedding gown. I have 8 more years. 加油? Ha ha ha ha ha ...

Home alone

A bit strange to be coming home to an empty house knowing full well that the whole family's on a Melbourne-bound flight. It's kinda a waste cuz this time, if I had joined them, it would be the FIRST time the family takes a holiday together. Previously, Dad wouldn't join us because his legs are less than nimble. This time, since it is a self-drive trip, he consented. But I couldn't make it due to work commitment. Ahhhh!!!

They found her!

They found Xi Xi yesterday morning at 11.20 am. She's ok ... they had to tranquilise her to prevent her from running into the woods again.

One more is still missing :(

Another aftershock

Gosh ... another strong aftershock of 6.4 hit Qingchuan at 4.21 pm today, over 200 km northeast of Chengdu, and killed at least one more person and injured 260.

Watching the charity show on Channel 8. More sob stories ... how many times have I cried?

It's also heartening that many small and medium-sized companies and even individuals are pledging donations in thousands and tens of thousands.

However, how come callers are still being charged administrative charges? How much have Singapore's telcos donated? Couldn't they even waive the admin fees? I wonder how much MediaCorp itself is contributing in donations. Perhaps it will announce at the end of the show. We'll see.

四千年古寨消逝

The state of 萝卜寨 now : This 4,000-year old village has been reduced to rubble in the earthquake.

萝卜寨 before the quake

After surviving more than 4,000 years of trials and tribulations, the village is now a pile of yellow mud, of which the houses were built of aeons ago. There have been at least 41 deaths according to one report, but there are probably not too many as the buildings are mostly low-rise.

This is what the character-filled village looks like now. The rescue team just finished erecting the tents for homes and schools on 22 May.

Also see:

四千年古寨消逝

云朵深处有人家

萝卜寨的悲怆与自救

Hmm ... there are things that I didn't know about the origins of this village and the Qiang culture that I'm slowly discovering now; now that it's no more and even after the rebuilding, will never be the same again. I am glad we were there last year. Truly, that was the highlight of the trip.

I have plans to return, and perhaps like the writer, will have the chance to stay there a night or two, waking up to the fresh mountain air, listening to the wind carrying the singing voices of young men and women trading love songs over peaks above the clouds.

Pandas at Wolong

Finally found some pictures of the pandas at the Wolong Giant Panda Conservation and Research Centre which is 30 km away from the quake epicentre. Three pandas remain missing :(

But worry not, Yukitse, most of your rolly polly cousins are safe and eight of them are already in Beijing, recovering for the Games in August.

Flickr of hope

From Flickr. There are more heart-rending photos and stories there.

When the rescue team discovered her, she was already dead. She was crushed by the house that collapsed. Through the debris and destruction, you can see the position in which she died. She was kneeling, with her whole body in a forward position, using her hands to support her body. It is somewhat similar to how people pray in the olden days, except that her body has somewhat changed its shaped, and it looks a little scary.

The rescue worker squeezed his hand through all the debris just to confirm that she's dead. He shouted a few times, using his baton to knock a few times on the bricks ... but there was no response inside. When the crowd walked to the next building, the team leader suddenly ran back again, shouting, "come quickly!!!"

He came to her dead body, and used all his might to feel under the woman's body. He seems to have felt something ... then he shouted, "there's someone, there's a child, still alive".

After some struggle, the team and volunteers helped to clear all the debris apart, and took out her child from under her body. He was wrapped in a red blanket with yellow floral patterns. He's about 3 or 4 months old. Because of his mother's protection, he was completely unscathed. When they carried him out, he was still sleeping peacefully. His sleeping face warmed everyone's heart. The accompanying doctor performed some checks on him, and found a hand phone inside the blanket.

He read the screen and found that it wrote the following, all entered in the phone. "My dearest child, if you are able to survive, you must remember that I love you". The doctor who has experienced many births and deaths in life through his career, cried too at this moment. The phone was passed around. Everyone who saw it couldn't help shedding tears either.

(Source: Xinhua Internet Discussion Forum)

Sichuan and New York

Remembering in the aftermath of 911, whenever Enrique Iglesias' and Mariah Carey's Hero or Sarah McLaughlan's Angel played on the radio, tears would stream down my cheeks, even as I combed the unusually quiet streets of Manhattan as the city mourned its dead thousands.

Last night, when I saw the promo clip for this Sunday's charity show for the Great Sichuan Earthquake victims on Channel 8, a few fleeting frames of a heart-wrenching image made me sob almost uncontrollably. It was a picture of many school bags, which looked uncannily like mine when I was a primary schoolgirl, neatly laid on sandy floors of what must have once been a classroom or playground, now a mass tomb of thousands of young, bright students.

I know these two places will forever hold a very special place in my heart. Seven years on, I am still planning a return to New York. Perhaps this winter, I'll visit Ground Zero once more. Or perhaps, I'll head for Chengdu, this time on an almost spiritual trip - perhaps I'll take the road less travelled to Tibet, perhaps I'll attempt to go as close as I can to the little towns where I had once been, but are now no more than dust and ashes.

生死不离

Not only has he donated RMB 10 million to the earthquake victims, Jackie Chan has also recorded this song as an encouragement.

Being Chinese

I think this is a damn good article.

In China, Temblor Accomplishes What the Olympics Couldn’t

My thoughts below:

Ostentation will never earn as much admiration as when you keep it real.

China, in its rapid rise to the top, is like many of its innumeral self-made m/billionaires: it has become complacent, it is spinning off-tangent. It indulges in a newfound purchasing power, buying luxuries in the form of avant garde constructions and architectural icons to show off its status as the host of the Olympics.

Elsewhere in the world, China is increasingly seen as a threat by its economic and political competitors who can hardly wait to see this upwardly sprinting giant crumble under its own weight: the higher (and faster) you climb, the harder you fall. Among its developing world cousins, China is scorned for being the show-off who became rich overnight and forgot his humble beginnings.

What an irony, it takes a destructive earthquake that tears towns and cities apart to jolt all the disjointed pieces back into place: China's own complacency brought the nation to its humble knees, but it is now one that is truly unified by a common cause that digs deep into every citizen's soul, and not simply the pride and joy of a privileged few in Olympic host cities.

It has earned considerable admiration from the "big brothers" abroad which once saw China as an insidious, formidable opponent, and the allegiance of the "small brothers" who are eagerly reaching out their helping hands to 扶大哥一把 in dire times like this.

It has made me proud to be Chinese by blood - an overseas Chinese but a Chinese nonetheless.

Heroic tales from the rubble

Stories of human strength and kindness surfaced in the aftermath of 四川大地震.

What is the value of 100 yuan?
A middle-aged tourist took out a 100 yuan bill and gave it to the disabled beggar lying on the ground. In merely half a minute, the beggar less than a metre tall limped with great difficulty to the donation stand 30 meters away. He put the 100 yuan bill into the donation box and limped away. This scene at Huaqiang North Street, Shenzhen moved scores of people who had witnessed it.

In the end

it all amounts to nothing

but a bucketful of tears.

萝卜寨

I was hoping I was wrong about the location of 萝卜寨 but damn, this of all times, I'm right. Check Wiki.

Would the fact that they are up on the mountain mitigate the impact of the quake?

Sobz ... God bless. It had been some of my happiest moments visiting the village and meeting the people there.

This One's For The Children

Across China at 2.28 PM today: Children for the children perished in the Great Sichuan Earthquake.

One of the lucky few to survive: A student from the affected quake region of Jinyang, Anxian in Sichuan.

Anhui

Beijing

Suzhou

Jiangsu

Hebei

Gansu

Zhejiang

Changsha

Jiangxi

Shandong

Shandong

The Meaning of National Unity

Wow. A nation of 1.3 billion came to a standstill for 3 whole minutes. Must be quite a sight, at least according to a stream of tweets from all over China.

Remembering 5.12 ...

Let us unite in prayers for the victims and survivors of the Great Sichuan Earthquake.

One week on ...

Some of the very real, very heart-rending stories and photos from the ground we don't see on TV here ... a reminder we should feel extremely fortunate and blessed, especially on this Vesak Day, that we should appreciate every mini-second of our lives and all that we know and love.

It's May 15, and 26-year-old Chen Jian has already been trapped under the rubble for 73 hours. While waiting for the lifting equipment to arrive, he chatted with the reporter Zhang Qian (张倩), and said: "I am a lucky as well as unlucky person in the Beichuan earthquake. I felt that I escaped from the hands of Death. Many of the others are less fortunate. I am pinned underneath three pieces of pre-fabricated slabs and I cannot move. I have not eaten anything for three days and three nights. I only drank some water. I must be strong. I have to be strong. I have to be strong for everyone who loves me. I must live for their sakes, because they have been so good to me. I hope that you can be just like me and not be intimidated by any hardship." Rescue workers assure Chen Jian that they will be there for him and will bring him out alive. The journalist puts Chen Jian on the phone with the anchor back at Sichuan Television so he can get word out to his wife that he is okay and will be out really soon. In the very short conversation, he tells the anchor he has no big dreams in life but to live peacefully and quietly with his wife for the rest of their lives.

The equipment arrived and rescue workers set about to extricate Chen Jian from the rubble as night falls. After six long hours of hard work they finally set the man free.

Now that he's out, Chen Jian suddenly stops chatting and responding. The rescue workers and the reporter call out to him, "Chen Jian! Chen Jian! Wake up!" but Chen Jian does not respond. An officer proceeds with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but to no avail. Chen Jian passes away quietly, and everyone in the team breaks down. The officer said to Chen Jian between sobs, "You foolish man. You held on for so long already. Why can't you hold on a bit longer? You foolish man." Meanwhile, the reporter cries her eyes out.

After learning of Chen Jian's death, the Sichuan TV news anchor who had earlier spoken with him on the phone breaks down on air and says, "I feel extremely sad. When we did the phoner, the sound quality was really bad, and everything was broken in between. We only knew a young man had been trapped under the rubble, and that he just wanted to let his wife know he was okay. We did not know he was Chen Jian, and that he had been trapped under the rubble for 73 hours then. Today when I saw him in the news, it only struck me then that this was his situation. Watching the news, we saw with our own eyes how such a strong man, such a strong life, slip away from you like that. I terribly terribly regret that I cut him short that day and wish I had given him more time to speak. That voice was so close to me. That life was so close to us."

Can you believe everything was all bright and cheery this time last week? Sigh ...

Destruction. Devastation. Destitution. Desperation.

Here is a vivid account of the situation in Beichuan.

Last week, this time, the town of 160,000 was still very alive. Many must be preparing to celebrate Mother's Day on 11 May, if not Vesak Day (Buddha's Birthday) the following day, the day the earth cracked open beneath their feet.

Today, it's D-Day. Why do the worst adjectives in the dictionary begin with "D"?