Wednesday, June 04, 2008

東京の写真


female toilet at daimaru, JR tokyo station. hands down, cleanest public toilet in a shopping centre i've ever seen. i was actually reluctant to leave, but had to eventually (after checking out almost every cubicle and corner) coz was rushing for a train...


off the beaten track - this is a seaside town about 2 hours from tokyo by train. headed here for a night's stay at a ryokan by the beach.


just got to know that green tea mcflurry is now available in sg, but the one here sure pales in comparison to this one i had in shimoda.


room at shimoda yamatokan. website


room package is not cheap, but it includes dinner and breakfast. and by dinner, they mean 3 dinners! just look at the spread...and this is just part of the many many course meal.


the greyish, slimy thingy is abalone sashimi...and it's alive!! kinda freaked me out to see it moving...was glad it didn't have a face to show expression nor a voice to cry, coz it had to be struggling in pain on that hotpot that was cooking it to death...


me in traditional onsen attire...the Yukata!


view from the room


located on the 2nd storey of a 3-storey muji outlet somewhere in Ginza, this is Meal Muji the restaurant. have always liked Muji as a lifestyle brand, so totally enjoyed myself eating here.


the food. simple, but good.


coffee from a famous mobile cafe at one of my favourite places in tokyo: daikanyama 代官山


haha. check out the 2 of us...one is acting cute, the other is...also acting cute.


out of the so little time we had together, diya brought me to this wonderful place that sells really good crepe! thanks babe.


"when you wish upon a star...makes no difference who you are...anything your heart desires will come to you..."
ah. my very 1st trip to a theme park. seriously. when i was a little girl, i dreamt about going to one, but that dream never came true, and was gradually abandoned. wasn't too keen on going initially, but almost everyone who knew about my trip told me how magical and wonderful a place disney is...with reservations and a little anticipation, i boarded the train bound for tokyo disneysea...and spent an entire day living my childhood dream. :)


tower of terror: favourite ride at disneysea!! awesome. i took it twice.


seashell burger at the little mermaid world! haha...so cute but not that yummy.

one of my most most favourite shopping places in tokyo (and in the whole wide world)


another one of my most favourite shopping places in tokyo

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Japan is a place i dream to go .....
Finally able to feel ur happiness u had at japan!
I went Korea once and i love it too...hmmmm wonder when will my dream come true to visit japan...haix but i heard its rather expensive at japan and its not easy communicating too....is tat true? in korea i remember having hard time communicating using english =P .... anyway nice photos!

farmountain said...

对日本一直有着莫名的情感包袱。

我爷爷那一代,一提到日本人,就切齿痛骂。我父母那一代,生于二战结束后,耳濡目染下,对日本人也没太多好感。顶多是不喜不厌。

而我们这一代,看着日本的卡通,漫画,用着日本的电器,游戏机长大,年轻的时候更是爱追看日剧。看着时不时发生的反日示威,看着奋青们在网上呐喊,内心不无内疚。隐隐怪责自己为何受不住腐败的资本主义诱惑。。。。。。

在中学暑假工作,曾经招待过日本客户,有点疑惑。。。。 温文“多礼”的日本人?他们的客气多礼让我的脸硬不起来。。。更是有点颠覆了一直以来的观念。。。。年轻的日本人,是新生代吧?战后出生的吧?他父亲不知道有没有参与二战。。。。。 等等,他父亲做过什么关他啥事?我在想啥?

直到大学时期,选修了中国近代史,一位教授的话才让我卸下了这个历史包袱:“为何学历史?学历史是为了以史为鉴,让人类不再重蹈复辙,让人类可以更好的生活下去,可以自由地追求幸福。千万不可背上历史的包袱而影响了人类自由追求幸福的权利。”

在这之后,我开始没有顾忌的欣赏日本的文化,向往着到日本的一些地方走走。一些以往看不到的美渐渐的被发现了。。。傲慢与偏见吗?偏见会扭曲人的视觉,丑化美的事物。

想想,拿起一本英国文学,啊!鸦片战争。欣赏法国服装,英法联军,不可忘!!啊,日本的厕纸,不抹屁股吗?太累了吧?

大前提是不影响他人和环境(呵呵,中了佩芬的环保魔法.)的情况下,让人类可以更好的生活下去,可以自由地追求幸福。历史包袱是否应该放下了?

Anonymous said...

Hullo Pei Fen, this is your how many times in Tokyo? And this is like your how many times traveling in just 2 years? So so envious! Pictures look very cool! Very funny tho that you mentioned so passionately about the toilet... hahaha... you must be a hygiene freak like me.

Anonymous said...

Peifen, will there be a So Simple 3? I know you have been asked this question like hundred times but I cannot help it...I'm so sad I didn't get to tape down the show. Please reflect to the production people or maybe they can make dvds or a book? So many nice photos can make a book I will buy!!!

Jing Rui said...

Wow..peifen u finally upload ur Japan's trip photos!

Japan indeed a nice place to go to, but a pity is I have not been to this place before...

The scenery of Japan is really beautiful and the food looks yummy too! Hope to vist Japan soon haha

btw u look good in the traditional onsen attire!

take care

Anonymous said...

You love Tokyo alot right? Did you go wid Mian cos I see So Simple blog got many Tokyo pictures too. Btw u got Mian's pic? Curious... U know if she take intern? - maze

Anonymous said...

i almost wanted to ask if u went alone... hahaha.... so.... who's that photographer who took all the nice pictures of u? LOL...

Anonymous said...

[对日本一直有着莫名的情感包袱。

我爷爷那一代,一提到日本人,就切齿痛骂。我父母那一代,生于二战结束后,耳濡目染下,对日本人也没太多好感。顶多是不喜不厌。

而我们这一代,...
]

"furious youths 憤青" in China might accuse you of being a coward or traitor based on your seemingly simplistic reasoning. i am here to provide you with a handy tool to refute them. since you mentioned that you once took a module in contemporary history of China, you should be aware that, in China, there was never anything like Meiji Reform 明治維新 of the 1860's, during which various aspects of Japan were intensively modernised, including the elimination of kampo 漢方 medicine (please refer to 浅井国幹's 告墓文), and more importantly, countless books in European languages were first translated into any East Asian languages.

although it is an established fact, you might still be surprised to learn that many every-day words (especially bisyllabic ones) in colloquial Chinese 白話文 were in fact coined by the Japanese. for instance, they first combine two Classical Chinese 文言文 words, ka 科 and gaku 學, into kagaku 科学 (学 is kanji, not Simplified Chinese proposed in the 1950s) to translate English "science", French "science", German "wissenschaft" etc. the same goes to thousands of others, e.g. teigi 定義 (to translate "definition"), shugi 主義 (to translate "-ism"), kagaku 化学 ("chemistry"), keneki 検疫 ("quarantine"), keizai 経済 ("economy"), kinyuu 金融 ("finance") etc., concepts previously non-existent in East Asia. the information about their origin can be traced unambiguously in many daijiten's 大辞典, say, Nishi Amane 西周 single-handedly coined shukan 主觀、kyakukan 客觀、risei 理性、gosei 悟性、eneki 演繹、kinou 歸納 from "subjective, objective, rational, perception, deduce, induce".

the new terms were wholesale borrowed into colloquial Chinese 白話文 during the May Fourth Movement 五四運動 starting from late 1910's. prior to that, Japan had been the most important country where generations of Chinese students first encountered and acquired modern knowledge. Lu Xun 魯迅, a medical student in Sendai 仙台, is one of the most prominent among them. incidentally, the Chinese first heard of kyousan-shugi 共産主義 ("communism") in Japan, and the first books on that were translated from Japanese as well (see, for example, http://philosophy.cass.cn/facu/wangqing/01.htm).

if a "furious youth 憤青" is to counter everything Japanese, first he can't even speak colloquial Chinese 白話文 readily, before painstakingly sifted out the words coined by the Japanese, rendering him impossible to express many modern concepts.
the reason why the majority of the "furious youths 憤青" do not get to know about this simple fact is that something like "Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology" was not compiled in China until very recent times, and most of the common people gain no access to them. therefore, they live in an imaginary world where the modernisation of China had nothing to do with Japanese influence, a wishful thinking that set their mind more peaceful.

farmountain said...

pei fen, I know I shouldn't even ask, but I have to borrow your blog
for a little discussion with honorable Mr. anonymous. :)

["furious youths 憤青" in China might accuse you of being a coward or traitor based on your seemingly simplistic reasoning.....]

I don't afraid to be accused by anybody, either "furious youths 憤青" in China or whoever hold different opinions.

In the past history, chinese has been famous for fighting against each others, as long there is different voices, then both sides seems not going to be co-exist.

Does that means we must make others shut up if they have a different opinions?

I would like to ask them to re-think about the way they should react to a different opinions. Otherwise, how China is going to continue growing?

By the way, you have a very good research & understanding in the contemporary culture of Chinese and Japanese. I guess it would be wonderful to have a friend like you. If you don't mind, drop a line or two to farmountain@gmail.com, my friend who study history would bow humbly before you!!! :)

Thanks

Anonymous said...

Mine should be the shortest comments ;) Upload more funky and good pictures because i 've never been to Japan...including Disney...but i am an adult alredi.

卫斯理 said...

Hi peifen nice pics that u've posted there! Thanks for sharing the beautiful sceneries and interesting insights of your tokyo trip with us :)

Anonymous said...

peifen, did u gain weight after eating so much @ Japan? LOL.
anyway, happy working. tak care.

Anonymous said...

Hey peifen, envy u a lot leh..I hope 2 go Japan 2..haha.anyway, thanks 4 d nice photos!!

Anonymous said...

alamak... again lorz... same as europe sia... 孤单旅行? lols :p hmm but from the photos, i must say japan is another nice place bahz... hehe

Anonymous said...

peifen, u nv make up really look like a ghost.. but a pretty ghost la..

Anonymous said...

hi peifen, as you mentioned one of your tokyo fav places is daikanyama, can you recommend where/which are the interesting stores/cafes? :)

Yida said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

HI WILL YOU BE TAKING TOUR GROUPS OVERSEAS LIKE CHONG QING AND MARY BUKOH? I'D SURELY JOIN YOU COS I THINK YOU'D MAKE A FUN GUIDE JUDGING FROM THE WAY YOU ALWAYS DESCRIBE YOUR HOLIDAYS.

Anonymous said...

me too me too...i will joing your tour group. when? will u go japan again?

Unknown said...

Hi Peifen,

Do u know any website where I can gather info for free and easy trips? I think u mentioned during 933 but I cant remember the website now. Thanks.