March 2016
After leaving Singapore, I had more free time to spend. I had not found so many design clients yet, so I decided to explore Japan for spring. I was super stoked!
Blooming sakuras and I
The flowers were blooming and tourists were flooding. To be honest, it was very difficult for me to take good photos without including the crowds. I did not even have a good photo of the shrines. None. Zero.
Check this out! Humans everywhere.
Japanese are very polite though, sometimes even way too polite. I was accidentally bumping into someone and instead of being pissed, girl kept bowing and said sorry to me.
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Japan is way too modern compare to Indonesia. Not only from their smart devices but also at small things, like these images below.
(Photo courtesy of Katie Anderson)
What a sign! It allowed me to check which toilet is vacant. I found this very interesting as I have never seen such a fancy shmancy sign before in my life, especially in the bathroom.
The steel bar coin park. I was actually waiting for a car to park and examined how does this thing work. I know I might sound super stupid right now, but we do not have this in Indonesia. It was super cool to see the lumps of steel rose up as the car is parked and to get the car back, driver needs to deposit a coin at another machine.
Never loose your brollies ever again! ;)
Sadly, in this fast rapid country, there are still homeless people around. I never expected that there will be one in Japan.
This was right outside a zoo opposite a stretch of restaurants and bars. There were so many elders laying on the floor just using cardboards to sleep, weather was cold and I could not help much.
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Not only visiting the city centres, I also went to visit Mount Fuji. Weather was not great though. It was cloudy and foggy all the time. It was freezing too. I managed to go up to 2020m height but stayed there for few minutes only. I repeat, it was freezing.
If it was not foggy, I would be able to see the mountain from my hotel room.
Yes, I stayed in a traditional Japanese hotel in Mount Fuji. When it is time to bed, Japanese people will take the tables and chairs away and put their futon (a quilted mattress) on the floor. I thought I would not have a good sleep, but I did had a good sleep, actually good deep sleep. Will I ever come back to this place again though? No. I think it was a one time thing for me. It was very comfortable, very homey, but it was difficult to have a conversation with the staffs. The only English words that they can say are: Hi, Thank You and Bye!
If I had internet, then maybe my life would be easier, as I could just google translate it to them. Signal was weak and I had no local number.
Will I ever come back again to Japan? YES. I like it in Japan. People are very polite, food are great, uniqlo is cheap and there are still many places that I have not explored yet.