Back in Old Country!

It's been almost 24 hours since we arrived in Japan. We are staying at a small apartment a couple blocks from Mao's parents house. Mao's family has been extremely generous and have prepared a bunch of things to make our stay more comfortable. Our apartment is no more than 300 square feet. But more of that later.

Vancouver international airport is beautiful. But we have a little bit to learn about the difference between doing your job and making someone feel like a criminal. We were both grilled by customs officers as we walked through the terminal to the plane. I don't mind answering some questions, but the way a person asks a question really makes a difference on how the other person wants to answer it. Let's think about it? There's no reason why I should be grilled before getting onto a plane... I've been through check-in AND boarding, and I've been through security. If I was up to something, or I had drugs in my possession, I would most likely have been caught already. On top of this, my mistrust or apprehension couldn't be more agitated by the fact that in this same airport and innocent man was TASERED to death.

It was very different from the experience within Japan. Immigration took under 3 minutes. The customs officer greeted me with something like, "I'm committing an offense, excuse me."

The plane ride consisted of the easiest nine and a half hours I've ever had on a plane. Each seat was complete with it's own media center, that offered recent movies like Inception, Love Eat Pray, and Salt, TV shows, and classic time passing games like Tetris and Bejewelled.

You could even play Tetris against anybody in the airplane! I'm not kidding!

The remote for the media center, it is also a game controller, credit card reader, and telephone when you flip it over!

I had been told about the wonder of Japanese convenience stores, but it was a little bit better in person. It truly embodies the meaning of convenience. Believe it or not, it's hard to describe. One of the things that makes convenience stores better than in North America is that the food is so much healthier. Not only is it healthier, but it is really good. I'm a big fan of Japanese food, so I want to try anything and everything. But if you are not impressed by Japanese food then the convenience store probably wont have much appeal to you, except of course that you can have a beer anywhere, anytime in Japan, thanks to its presence in convenience stores and grocery stores.

Snacking on Onigiri (Seaweed wrapped rice) and hot tea. Yes, they serve bottled tea hot!

Legendary Japanese vending machines equipped with from soups, hot AND cold drinks, and cigarettes.
(BEER vending machine coming soon)

If there is anyone out there who thought that Chinese and Japanese are all the same at one point in their life, as I did when I was a kid, I'll have you know that Japanese are very different than Chinese. For one thing, they don't pick their noses. Everything is very clean, the airport was spotless. Old things are kept in good condition, you don't need to worry about where you put your hands.

The view from our apartment. Mao's house is beneath the red "x". It's within walking distance. 

Outside our front door.

I'll probably be comparing everything to China for a while, because it's the only other Asian country I've been to and I'd like to show how different Japanese and Chinese are for those who intentionally or unintentionally tend to lump Asians together. As you can see from the picture above. There is a lot less pollution than in Chinese cities. And everything is CLEAN! Yeah, yeah, I like the clean...
Every now and then you see an empty lot that looks like it is for farm land. These fields actually have owners and people tend them. Houses here, particularly older houses(that look new), keep a uniquely Japanese style. The roofs look like they were built to last a hundred years. The scent in the air reminds me of a clear winter day in Vancouver. It is more on the drier side in this part of the country but not too dry. I feel very comfortable here.

My new longjohns I bought from UniQlo. About to drink Yakult: bacteria cultured drink.

By the time I'm writing this part of the blog it's Sunday and yesterday we spent the day around Himeji. Mao's mom picked us up around 10:30 to go chill at a Coffee shop. Coffee shops mean food, and they are more like restaurants than Cafes. They are very 'sit-down' style. I ordered a very traditional breakfast of miso soup, onigiri, pickled veggies, and tamago(egg), and COFFEE. I really like coffee in Japan. Most coffee in Japan is light roast, but deep in flavor. Sooooo good. Japanese meals are very healthy, I think I will lose a little weight while I'm here. I am never completely stuffed, so my belly is thanking me.

We then made our way to a mall to do grocery shopping to get a few things for dinner and breakfast. We were craving Mikan(tangerine oranges). Produce is more expensive in Japan, but they package and present only the best produce. If you want to buy some Tako(octopus) sashimi for dinner or snack, you can buy an individual portion, slice it up and there you go. Sorry for the lack of pictures. I'm still not that good at remembering to take pictures during the day. I'm too focused on soaking up vibes.

We did some shopping later at UniQlo. It is a really generic Japanese brand, that has casual and semi-casual, everyday clothes. I bought some Jeans, Longjohns, a cardigan sweater, and a couple boxers. Really good value. The Longjohns use a new technology that keeps heat in. I spent about just under $100 CDN. Taxes are already included in the price.