Cafe Scene
Jul 18, 2018 20:53:13 #
Living where I do in Asia, I have access to many countries that are only an hour or two by airliner. I am surprised, even as close as these locations are that they are quite different from each other. Thailand is so different from China, and China is so different from Japan. And Japan is so different from... Paris? Nope, this scene is in Tokyo and was made while my wife, son and I were on our "Honeymoon" (She and I took one alone to Thailand...). We were walking near Tokyo tower and came across this scene and naturally had to go inside and get a bite to eat. We had dessert and coffee here and it was delicious.
I was a little disappointed in Tokyo, honestly. The people are far less friendly in comparison to the Chinese and as funny as this may sound, it is freakishly clean. Even the subway stations are immaculate. And vending machines EVERYWHERE. They also seem to be a little more up-tight in comparison to people in other Asian countries as well. A conductor for one of the trains we rode on apologized for being *30 seconds* late. Dude, if you had not said anything, I'd have had no idea. Coming from New York and living in Shanghai, I found this quite amusing.
There were other parts of Japan that we visited as well. Kyoto is magnificent and there are many, many temples that are worth exploring. In China, if I go into a temple respectfully, I can make photos, but not so in Japan. In fact, some of the places we went insisted on reviewing the images in our cameras to ensure we did not break the rules. I think, quite honestly, they are doing a disservice to their culture by doing this. Noone wants to be policed like that, but the Japanese do this. I also noted that it was typically foreigners they insisted on seeing images from. When I was confronted for this I would tell them what's on my camera is none of their business and would generally just walk away. The temples themselves though are magnificent.
We also went to Hiroshima for a day and went to the "Peace Museum", which again I honestly found a bit disturbing in that the Japanese don't take any responsibility for World War 2. In the museum, it is very lob sided in that most of the displays involve children as victims and do not discuss the Japanese actions and attitudes that lead up to the bombings. A group of American tourists were on a tour and an elderly man said to the guide "What about all of the things that the Japanese did in places like the Philippines and China and Korea?" and the guide looked at him with a straight face and said "None of those ever happened...". My jaw dropped listening to this. So, even 80 years after the fact, the Japanese do not consider themselves the instigators of the Pacific portion of the war. Amazing to me.
The highlight of Japan was Hokkaido. A magnificent island and wonderful people (for the most part, anyway). We flew from Tokyo and upon arrival had booked a car because the Air B&B we rented was about an hour and a half outside of the airport. Well, Nissan Rent a Car refused to accept my international driver's license because it was not issued by "AAA". Yes, that's right, the people you call to tow your car. Amazing. I explained to the woman that I have a government issued portion to my license, and that "AAA" was simply a company in America and that she was denying a government issued document in favor of a document from a company. So, we called the landlord and told him we would be late and why. There was a train to the city we were going to, so we took it, wondering how we would get around. Well, Landlord to the rescue. He contacted a woman who was a friend of his and the manager of the Toyota Rental Car office and she was spectacular. I did all of the paperwork, and she explained that they did not have a car, but would have one at 8 a.m. the following morning and if I came at 8:30, they would have it cleaned and full of gas. Great! Landlord took us to the home and it was magnificent. Best Air B&B we have ever stayed in. He also told me that he would come back the next morning and take me to the rental car place. I didn't realize it at the time, but his home was a full hour away. I wrote Air B&B after our trip and requested they recognize the landlord for going so far above and beyond what he was obligated to do. While there, we went into the mouth of a volcano- which was astounding. They also have these HUGE and magnificent flower farms there and we literally spent a day touring them. We also went to a costal city and while there, wanted to eat and found a restaurant that was empty- not a soul in it. We walked in and a very rude man came up to us and asked if we have a reservation. Told him no and he said "No reservation, you go...". I asked if he was expecting a large crowd and he said "no... you go.". So I asked if I could make a reservation for 5 minutes into the future (being half sarcastic) and he said "No, I am not accepting reservations now...". He was totally serious too. Honestly, you can't make this kind of thing up. So, we went to the noodle shop next door and were perfectly OK with that.
Anyway, that's Japan from my perspective. Lovely place, but not so crazy about the people.
I was a little disappointed in Tokyo, honestly. The people are far less friendly in comparison to the Chinese and as funny as this may sound, it is freakishly clean. Even the subway stations are immaculate. And vending machines EVERYWHERE. They also seem to be a little more up-tight in comparison to people in other Asian countries as well. A conductor for one of the trains we rode on apologized for being *30 seconds* late. Dude, if you had not said anything, I'd have had no idea. Coming from New York and living in Shanghai, I found this quite amusing.
There were other parts of Japan that we visited as well. Kyoto is magnificent and there are many, many temples that are worth exploring. In China, if I go into a temple respectfully, I can make photos, but not so in Japan. In fact, some of the places we went insisted on reviewing the images in our cameras to ensure we did not break the rules. I think, quite honestly, they are doing a disservice to their culture by doing this. Noone wants to be policed like that, but the Japanese do this. I also noted that it was typically foreigners they insisted on seeing images from. When I was confronted for this I would tell them what's on my camera is none of their business and would generally just walk away. The temples themselves though are magnificent.
We also went to Hiroshima for a day and went to the "Peace Museum", which again I honestly found a bit disturbing in that the Japanese don't take any responsibility for World War 2. In the museum, it is very lob sided in that most of the displays involve children as victims and do not discuss the Japanese actions and attitudes that lead up to the bombings. A group of American tourists were on a tour and an elderly man said to the guide "What about all of the things that the Japanese did in places like the Philippines and China and Korea?" and the guide looked at him with a straight face and said "None of those ever happened...". My jaw dropped listening to this. So, even 80 years after the fact, the Japanese do not consider themselves the instigators of the Pacific portion of the war. Amazing to me.
The highlight of Japan was Hokkaido. A magnificent island and wonderful people (for the most part, anyway). We flew from Tokyo and upon arrival had booked a car because the Air B&B we rented was about an hour and a half outside of the airport. Well, Nissan Rent a Car refused to accept my international driver's license because it was not issued by "AAA". Yes, that's right, the people you call to tow your car. Amazing. I explained to the woman that I have a government issued portion to my license, and that "AAA" was simply a company in America and that she was denying a government issued document in favor of a document from a company. So, we called the landlord and told him we would be late and why. There was a train to the city we were going to, so we took it, wondering how we would get around. Well, Landlord to the rescue. He contacted a woman who was a friend of his and the manager of the Toyota Rental Car office and she was spectacular. I did all of the paperwork, and she explained that they did not have a car, but would have one at 8 a.m. the following morning and if I came at 8:30, they would have it cleaned and full of gas. Great! Landlord took us to the home and it was magnificent. Best Air B&B we have ever stayed in. He also told me that he would come back the next morning and take me to the rental car place. I didn't realize it at the time, but his home was a full hour away. I wrote Air B&B after our trip and requested they recognize the landlord for going so far above and beyond what he was obligated to do. While there, we went into the mouth of a volcano- which was astounding. They also have these HUGE and magnificent flower farms there and we literally spent a day touring them. We also went to a costal city and while there, wanted to eat and found a restaurant that was empty- not a soul in it. We walked in and a very rude man came up to us and asked if we have a reservation. Told him no and he said "No reservation, you go...". I asked if he was expecting a large crowd and he said "no... you go.". So I asked if I could make a reservation for 5 minutes into the future (being half sarcastic) and he said "No, I am not accepting reservations now...". He was totally serious too. Honestly, you can't make this kind of thing up. So, we went to the noodle shop next door and were perfectly OK with that.
Anyway, that's Japan from my perspective. Lovely place, but not so crazy about the people.
Jul 18, 2018 21:14:01 #
Jul 18, 2018 23:10:02 #
Nice shot.
Thanks for the travelogue.
Yes. All very diverse, deep, and aged cultures, some seemingly nearly the opposite in many things. Japan, China, America, etc.
Thanks for the travelogue.
Yes. All very diverse, deep, and aged cultures, some seemingly nearly the opposite in many things. Japan, China, America, etc.
Jul 19, 2018 05:59:01 #
Pixeldawg wrote:
Living where I do in Asia, I have access to many c... (show quote)
Great story and info, but wish you had posted some more pics to go with it..
Jul 19, 2018 08:18:03 #
repleo wrote:
Great story and info, but wish you had posted some more pics to go with it..
Well, there's just too darn many of them. If you're truly interested, here is the Facebook Album with a few hundred images from this trip. I keep ALL of my Facebook postings as public, so you don't have to friend me or anything if you don't like. Hope you enjoy. Here is the link:
https://www.facebook.com/mark.lent.7/media_set?set=a.1053381464739719.1073741886.100002036268165&type=3
Jul 19, 2018 08:32:43 #
Pixeldawg wrote:
Well, there's just too darn many of them. If you're truly interested, here is the Facebook Album with a few hundred images from this trip. I keep ALL of my Facebook postings as public, so you don't have to friend me or anything if you don't like. Hope you enjoy. Here is the link:
https://www.facebook.com/mark.lent.7/media_set?set=a.1053381464739719.1073741886.100002036268165&type=3
https://www.facebook.com/mark.lent.7/media_set?set=a.1053381464739719.1073741886.100002036268165&type=3
OOPS - I got ... 'Page not available' Maybe because I'm not signed up for Facebook?
Jul 19, 2018 20:19:55 #
Great story. Lived a while in Japan and how true. Didn't have the temple photography problem you did, but perhaps due to an earlier time. FYI, just checked your Facebook link, and it said page not available. Will try later. George
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