Crowded Tokyo

Just to give you an idea how crowded Tokyo is :D




Note: pictures were taken in Hachiko crossing in Shibuya, one of the most favorite places for hanging out in Tokyo.

Japan 3: sushi

Sushi is definitely something not to be missed in Japan!

During the weekend we went to the kaiten sushi, a restaurant that sells sushi in conveyor belts. The sushi move around, so you just sit and wait for your favorite to come :D.

And Japan it is, where technology is applied in daily life. Even in the kaiten sushi where we had lunch, which is actually the cheapest sushi restaurant in town, there is a machine in every desk for a customer to order sushi. We didn't have to shout to ask our fav maguro (tuna) or sake (salmon).

Another thing is a plates counter. Normally, a waiter will come to count how many plates we ate (two sushi in a plate :D), but using this counter we can just simply insert the plates and the number of plates will appear in the display.

left: order machine, right: plates counter

Convenient, isn't it? ;)

Japan 2: natural disasters

Last weekend was supposed to be a long weekend with some traveling. Unfortunately, typhoon came from the southern part, hit Okinawa and some part of Kyushu, and was predicted to come to Tokyo as well. One thing we have to learn from Japan is their awareness in natural disasters --those that attacks Japan often, by having good prediction and warning system. The TV broadcasted the typhoon warning, and this Japan Meteorology Agency's website kept us updated.

Here was the forecast for Saturday. The prediction caused us to cancel our planned trip to Kamakura and Enoshima, in southern part of Yokohama, as we concerned that going to seaside was not a wise thing to do in such a weather. I remember being in the middle of typhoon when it attacked Tokyo in October 2004. I was on the way to a friend's house --still not pretty sure where it was located. Pretty scary as I knew I was however in danger :D


The prediction is not always true, especially when it interpolates the typhoon movements for many hours later. The typhoon was predicted to hit Tokyo on the following Monday, but during the day the weather was clear. The typhoon eventually turned to the sea of Japan instead of moving up to Kanto area. I regret that I didn't check the latest update :-(


However, it seems that my visit to Japan is welcomed by natural disasters --reminding me that it was disaster survival training that I had in the first few weeks of my exchange year in 2004. On Monday, which was the last day of the long weekend, earthquake attacked Niigata prefecture (160 miles away northwest from Tokyo). Pretty hard, as the shake was said to be also felt in Tokyo, which I luckily didn't feel anything.

Some after shock still occurred, again also felt in Tokyo, but I somehow felt safe that my husband has a survival bag hanging on the wall since a while ago. I don't expect to have to use it, though. In addition, there is always an evacuation area in every part of the city to where people could run to, should an earthquake occur. Earthquake is something obvious in Japan, so it seems that the government has managed a system for the survival.

Natural disasters are something we cannot avoid, however, those are something that we'd better put our efforts to cope with. That's what I learned from Japan.

Japan 1: food & service

Day one; back to Japan again.
A beautiful country with its fast life pace, one that put me a few years ago in a stressful yet interesting life; one that I miss once I am far away.

Fish and seafood are what I always find best here. It is fresh and its taste is unquestionable. Yesterday we were starving from almost-a-day journey from our western home, so very lucky to have a nice stop by having these food for a late lunch.

Tamago to hotate okake gohan (rice with egg and fried scallop) for me

Zalfany started to be cheerful again *haha*, once he bit "aji" fish

Ah yes, and the service we had was kind of telling me that indeed I've arrived in Japan! Very polite and helpful, and yes, the customer is king. ;-)

Pindahan

Akhirnya setelah beberapa hari kamar saya lebih nampak seperti gudang atau kapal pecah, malam ini kamar ini lebih layak ditinggali (baca: rapi dan bersih :D). Karpet divacuum hati-hati, kaca jendela pun dibersihkan, (tambah lagi barang-barangnya hilang; sudah masuk dus semua). Sayang ya, kenapa kamar ini baru senyaman ini ketika akan ditinggalkan. Hihihi, pelajaran nih buat berikut-berikutnya supaya rajin beres-beres.

Ternyata tinggal selama setahun bisa juga menghasilkan dus sekitar 5 buah (dan itu masih lebih sedikit kalau ditambah barang-barang yang dibawa pergi sementara). Untunglah.. di saat-saat seperti ini ada yang bantuin (baca: ada Mas Zalfany di sini :D). Lumayan juga kalau harus sendirian bersih-bersih besar, dan belum lagi angkut-angkut barang-barang yang segede gaban, belum lagi lemari yang beratnya minta ampun :D. *Hehehe, kalau ga ada suami aja sok perkasa, kalau udah dateng kayak gini, kayaknya hilang semua kekuatan :o. Ini aja malah lebih banyak berpartisipasi dengan memberi semangat doang :D* Makasih ya, Mas sayang :*

Selasa pagi insya Allah take off dari Schiphol ke Narita. Mohon doanya semoga semua lancar, ya.

***

Foto: Mas Zalfany tarik-tarik barang dari rumah untuk sementara dititipkan di gudang K' Oki & Dianti. Makasih banyak atas kesediaannya, ya.. semoga ga kaget nanti pulang-pulang lihat gudangnya penuh :).