Monthly Archives: May 2014

Culture, Japan

TokYO.

In many ways Tokyo is exactly how I imagined it: full of art, beautiful gardens, clean streets, respectful people, and bursting with amazing food. But I didn’t expect beer to be cheaper than tea! That’s just one of the random things I’ve found in Tokyo…

Things I’ve seen in Tokyo:
– the most beautifully dressed & groomed people. They take beauty and cleanliness very seriously. I even checked out an onsen one day… it’s a public bathing facility. It’s an experience…
– very old people walking hunched over with a cane, who are about 3′ tall. Many Japanese live very long lives, and the sterotypical elder looks like a cartoon character – so sweet.
– an iPhone5 in four out of five hands. Don’t let anyone see you have an iPhone4, cause that is so 2012. You can’t even buy accessories for it.
– women in Kimonos, even on the subway.
– women acting like dolls: pigtails, short frilly dress, and a super high-pitched voice. They’re “cosplay” girls.
– Men with large purses, cause small purses are for women.
– Men in suits sleeping anywhere. The first night I arrived I saw a man in a nice suit curled up on the ground outside a Karaoke bar. Yesterday a man fell asleep standing on the subway. Both hands were clutched to handles above him as he swayed side to side, back and forth with the train. The lady sitting under him looked frightened but politely allowed him to sway over her. Today a man at the mall was sleeping with his laptop open, both hands on the keyboard, mouth gaping, and head cocked straight back on the couch.
– vending machines everywhere. They sell mostly drinks and cigarettes, and sometimes you order ramen (noodle soup) with them.

Things I haven’t seen in Tokyo:
– a speck of dirt
– a traffic jam. Because over 6 million people are in the metro every day (wikipedia).
– garbage bins. I can never find one when I need one, but there’s never any litter on the streets either.

…And that’s just Tokyo!

This adventure’s pictures are on Flickr:
Amyleajacobs’ Tokyo Photos on Flickr

 

 

Indonesia

Magic Bali.

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It’s been over a year since I struck a Yoga pose, but I couldn’t leave the Yoga capital of the world without doing a class. So I walked into the Yoga Barn in Bali ready to make a fool of myself, but halfway through I received an applause! There’s this pose called crow where you balance on your hands with your knees tucked under your bent arms and your feet off the ground. The teacher saw me do it with ease, so he pointed me out to the entire class. They watched in awe as I jumped from downward dog into this handstand-ish balance position, then into a headstand where I played around with my legs in the air, then folded gracefully back down into crow pose. Ta-da, magic!  The teacher, a Yoga master for 15 years in Bali, told me I have the potential to be a pro yogi in Bali with just 3 years of practice. I’ll think about it.

Cambodia

If I had a Million Dong…

…I’d have $50 USD.

The currency in Vietnam is called Dong. 20,000 Dong equals $1 USD. So, If I had a million dong, I’d have $50. That’s it. To buy a new iPhone (actually used, and probably stolen) from one of the 30 vendors in Ho Chi Minh Chinatown you’ll need 6,200,000.00 dong, cash.

So I bought an iPhone for six million dong. I’ll be extra careful with this one…

I’m adding to my list of Things I learned in Asia that you shouldn’t hold your phone out in public, especially within arms reach of motorbikes. I was in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia, holding my iPhone in both hands looking down at Google Maps, and then it was gone – swiped out of my hands by a man on the back of a motorbike. I shouted and mindlessly ran after them down the middle of the street, then my flip flop flew off and I watched it tumble across the road. Did I get the flip flop? Obviously not! I kept running with one bare foot, but I quickly lost sight of the bandits among the traffic. I looked around expecting someone on a motorbike to help me chase them. A kind old man on an ancient scooter stopped! I hopped on and we headed in the thieves’ direction, then, at the first intersection, we realized they could have gone any direction. They were gone. I got a ride back to my shoe in the middle of the road, and stood in the dust.