Rvl’s Pick:
Guess Who Batman (Fuck you very much) – Lily Allen
Just when you thought everything was going well, can life be anymore moronic? Hallmark and fairy tales are the true devils in life.
Rvl's Pick: Pets Dance (Steve Aoki Remix) - SPA
Sensory Overload', best describes Japan's capital city. Where else would you find a city so bustling with people, cars, trains, and bikes. Its a beautiful thing, controlled chaos and yet that hardly sums up the city. Lurking at every block is convenient store selling everything you need (even porn) and conveniently in between them, there are countless vending machine selling anything from drinks to cigarettes, all of them in perfect working condition and did I mention that all these machines talk? All with some fancy get up and I'm pretty sure they use the same voice from one japanese girl and installed it on everything... Everything. You can hear the cute wannabe voice in trains, vending machines, restaurants, billboards and signs, toys, pachinko slots, pretty much anything which has a speaker installed.
The people prefer to let machines do the talking while they sit quietly and closed in on public transport without even the sound of a single ring from phones. They hardly glance around to check people out and stare blankly at their books or phones, this means Gaijins like me get away with wearing anything we want without generating stares from the public. It also means every once in awhile I can relieve my eyes on the cute Japanese girl in the corner, you know the one with the knee high boots and the short skirt.
Tokyo is the fashion capital on this side of the planet. Its true and I for one really admire the fashion sense of these people. Crossing different parts of town I see huge variations of style from Ginza to Roponggi to Harajuku. Girls will absolutely love it here.
Frankly I don't think can ever be done trying to explain this place. Just a word of advice, if you get a chance to go, do it. forget Bali or China or any other second rate holiday spots. Indulge yourself with the hectic lifestyle of Tokyo and spend time trying to understand their way of life. Then come home and tell your friends, lover or kids.
-Sayonara-
Rvl's Pick:
Paparazzi - Lady Gaga
My visit to the land of the rising sun can somewhat be described with one word, " overwhelming". What began as a simple visit to family member, turned into one of the best travels of all my journeys.
I've set foot in many foreign soils and there are also places in which I've gone where if I were to point it out on a map, you wouldn't believe me. There aren't many places which manages to tickle my fancy but this place is one of the rare few.
I Japan, yes you still have the crazy mad rush of the usual Asian mentality in the city but at least the people are civilised. There are friendlier smiles and faces elsewhere but none such a place where a culture values honesty, privacy and honour more, this I believe.
I shall leave the story of Tokyo in part II or III but as for now I think I'll ramble more about the life in the countryside. I must say the only major changes which had happened in rural Japan since the time of swords and arrows is just pretty much the landscape. The mountains are still there, there's just more holes in them. The structures and homes are no longer wood and every once in awhile a train track passes along the scenery and that's about it. Oh and the tarmac roads of course. But the farms, the trees and most importantly, the laid back lifestyle of the people, lives on like nobody's business.
Rural Japan is just as peaceful as feudal Japan and this I absolutely love. It means I can come here in winter and enjoy quite conversations over dinner at night and head to the mountains for some snow action in during the day. And yes winter is the best time to visit northern parts of this country particularly after christmas.
Many different people come to this place and take back many different experiences from it. As for myself I took very fond memories of what used to be my family. Some places changes a person, some makes everything seems right if only for just a brief moment. Japan gave me a small glimpse of the past and directions to the future.
I remember whispering to myself after bidding goodbye to the kid sister at the airport before we left for home.
"I shall return"
-Sayonara-
It's time for an update, from minor to medium level changes to embrace a new chapter in life. Welcome to the new look and possibly (doubt it) more frequent updates to the blog and changes to the topics. Expect articles to stray from one thing to another. For DarcPassage is blind and definitely without purpose.
