Before in Tokyo

by shz

OK, I’ll tell you what I’ve been up to. I am currently studying Tokyo like a maniac! I am yet to be tested in ab0ut 2 weeks. Honestly I’m pretty terrified.

I guess travelling in Asia is a lot different than any other continents. I mean, without trying to sound like a boast, I have been to many places. From the romance of Europe in Paris, Rome, Siena, Venice and Florence, to the hustle in New York, to the exotic Africa in Morocco. Normally I don’t have as much anxiety as what I’m feeling at the moment, but I guess this time around I’ll be bringing my 1.4 years old baby to one of the biggest cities in the world. Wait – it is the biggest city in the world.

I am mostly terrified of the subway during rush hour, which I hope easily can be avoided.  And I trust the Japanese – I’m sure there are ways in the stations for strollers. People kept telling me to get the umbrella stroller, but I love the Xplory so much, its a fantastic stroller, only not as easy to fold like those umbrella ones. And I am after all are travelling with my three besties and Qadir. But you would think they’re up for some heavy Daisy lifting, lets just wait and see, shall we?

Interestingly I bumped into one of my old friend from Oxford, Izuan, the other day in KLCC. His wife lived in Tokyo for awhile and said it shouldn’t be a problem to bring a baby on a stroller in Tokyo. Her sister did it alone without the husband on a trip last time. He also commented on how typical Malaysians like to take tours on their trips. Sort of like, just sit and enjoy and let the tour guide do all the hard works. And when they reach to a certain destination, they’ll just say, “Ah, interesting. Nice. Next!” without ever really understood anything about it. That is hardly an experience I think. Its pretty stupid too because if you want to go somewhere just for the sake of it, might as well not. The real deal is to study the subway map, knowing the right pass to get, know the right exit, and get to the right place at the right time. I believe if you don’t suffer in your travels, you’re not really travelling. And if you see the other maps, I think London’s is such a peanut – a monkey could’ve find its way through.

I swear when I saw this I am tempted to leave Daisy at home. But its one week. I don’t think I can live without her that long. Worse, I might just make some drama at the airport and not go at all! I’d rather agonize in Japan than longing for her cuddle for a week.

On another note, I found this in an old file while looking for my degree:

I have a Japanese friends. One of them is Kaoru. Sometimes its nice to know that my circle of friends are not limited to just Malaysians. And at times like this when you’re travelling to your friend’s country it becomes extra exciting. Kaoru is one of the closest friend I had back in Oxford. She is back in Japan for good for now, but not for long I guess. I think she’s marrying her British fiancé soon but I’ll save all the juicy talk when I get there. We were house mates for awhile and suffice to say, the best house mate I ever had. During her stay with me, I made her watch Beautiful Life and we cried for days watching the whole series. When she got a job in UK, she credited me a lot for it – I’m such a motivational speaker. She’s a lot older than me, like a lot lot, but you won’t believe how cute and childlike she is – or maybe that’s a Japanese thing. One of my friend who read this card said she could hear Doraemon’s voice reading it in her head. Hahaha.

Kaoru will be joining us for the weekend. I miss, miss, miss her and this is one of the things that I look forward on this trip. And I really hope it will be a good one, and I really can’t wait to introduce Daisy to her. I have a good feeling they two will get along.

If any of you have been to Tokyo with a child, or even without, I appreciate comments and suggestions. I got my 6 days planned up, but who knows, you might have a surprise, unpopular, interesting discoveries to share. As for me, I’ll just get back to burying my head in Google for my never ending research.

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