Today I struggled to get out of bed to go to work. I feel very sluggish every weekday and dread going to the office to see what awaits me. Only when I think about when I will resign from this job, a smile lits up on my face. I know, it's quite pathetic. I look at the calendar today to figure out when is the best day to resign. I do want to stay to finish up the last round of orders, which is due May 23. So, late May. Close to my birthday... it will be my birthday present then. 8 years with this company...fast coming to an end (?).

SQ started his first day at the new company today. He said he spent the entire day reading through the employee handbook. Not much excitement. I told him he should be careful what he wish for. It's slow now, but enjoy it while it lasts... wait until all the work gets piled up and then, there would be no room to be bored.

Give It Back!

Japan is a land of vending machines. You can get almost EVERYTHING via a machine (Yes, even underwear!). It's all about "DIY and self-serve" as much as possible. Even in temples, there is a self-serve fortune-telling booth. It's not a hi-tech machine, but it is definitely do-it-yourself. Here are the basic instructions:

1. Pay 100 Yen into the slot
2. Pick up the steel container and shake it (eyes closed optional)
3. A long narrow wooden stick will come out naturally
4. Read the number written on the stick
5. Find the same number written on the one of the many drawers
6. Pick up your paper fortune
   

Ok, I tried it, and I got like the WORST fortune ever!! It said something like, "None of your wishes will come true. You will suffer in bad health. Your marriage will end in divorce." I mean I was literally DOOMED forever. But NO FEAR!! According to Japanese customs/traditions/legends, you can give your bad fortune back to the Gods! Simply tie the bad fortune on the wire shelves (to the right) and your bad fortune will be dissolved. Whewww! Thank goodness I am not cursed forever!!

Geisha Spotting

Having read "Memoirs of a Geisha," I have always been fascinated by this mysterious ancient Japanese profession. So, here we are in Japan, in Kyoto, in the Gion 祇園 district, on Hanamachi (花街)...why wouldn't we go spot some geishas out? Our tour guide told us that "real" geishas don't pose for pictures. They just go from one appointment to another, and is usually very fast doing so.


The Gion area is absolutely fascinating. It composes of 1 main street with many smaller alleys. The streets are all filled with small 2-story old Japanese teahouses. This is where the geishas entertain their guests. Apparently, fees for a geisha run about $400-500 USD for 3-4 hours or so. The geisha also has the power to say no to any appointments. Her outfit can cost over $10,000 USD. Her outfit, along with her head-dress, are indicators of how popular she is and how much she makes because these things don't come cheap.

So we were there at around 8pm - the perfect time as the geishas are usually wrapping up their duties. We were the papparazi for the night-- literally lurking in the dark to take pictures of the geishas! Remember they walk very fast from one destination to another - many times to a waiting car or taxi. And of course, our camera's flash wouldn't charge up fast enough... We will be like..."look, there's one. wait, she's gone...no, another one there..." In total, we saw over 10 geishas, but was only able to get a couple of shots. We were lucky to get this shot.



Overall, It was really really fun... but of course, to the geishas, we are probably the most annoying people EVER! What a great experience in our night of geisha-spotting!!

My Impression of Japan

Having just came back from a 9-day tour in Japan, I figured it would probably be best if I blogged on special aspects of the trip rather than describing all the what, when, and where - that would be way too boring. The first segment would be on "My Impression of Japan." I thought hard about how to best summarize my feelings about this place - took me a while, but eventually, I couldn't find better words than "Finding Perfectionism." In fact, I think their entire culture and life goal is all about being perfect.

While the Japan is globally well known to manufacture all the cool gadgets and advanced technologies, they are never the inventors of such things. The Japanese is known to "better" things, processes, and skills. They excel through improvement and enhancement, not creativity and inventiveness. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion. Always try to do better.

The Japanese people not only strive to be perfect, they love perfect things. Someone told me that in Japan, people don't believe in cheap prices. Quality comes with a price. Take these fruits for example. I took these pictures in a fruit store in Ginza. These mangoes were imported but only

the finest were selected. The strawberries were home-grown, but each was hand-selected and presented in its best shape and form. So look at the prices. Yep, quality things don't come cheap. A mango for $23 USD and a crate of strawberries for $126 USD. But these fruits are the best nevertheless.

I love Japan because in my opinion, it's almost perfect. People are so polite and friendly. They bow and say hello to you even when they don't know you. They try to make you feel comfortable and welcomed. In the service industry, people don't have a sense of entitlement. They don't expect tips. They serve you because it's their job. They are courteous and follow the law. They don't talk on the phone on the trains. They don't litter and the place is beyond clean, it's tidy. People walk on the left; there is order.
But unfortunately, being perfect isn't easy. There is a lot of pressure (self and society pressure) in this country. Anything less of perfect is not acceptable. It's a hard life there in that sense...but I think the good outweighs the bad. It's still a beautiful and friendly country.

Japan - Here we come!

On Tuesday, Mar 4, SQ and I leave for JAPAN! I am super excited!! This is the longest vacation since our honeymoon 4-1/2 years ago... After the house, the wedding, the surgery, the house renovation, we are finally making time to go on this long-overdue vacation.

We are going on a 9-day Japan tour, which visits places like Toyko, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Kobe. The tour is a bit on the expensive side...but the main reason why we took the tour instead of venturing out on our own is because we are both too damn lazy to plan the itinerary. SQ never likes to any sort of planning - because he thinks that things "just happens." YEAH RIGHT!! Me - I like to have things settled before getting there - i.e. rough itinerary, places to stay, etc. But I have just been too spoiled from traveling so much for work...because whenever I travel, everything is all taken care of for me! But now since I am traveling personally, I have to do everything myself. I seriously don't have the time and patience to research & figure out where to go, where to stay, what to do, what to eat, etc. so hence the tour. Yep, you can say that I'm buying the convenience!

After the 9 day Japan tour, we will stop over in Hong Kong for 4-1/2 days! I was in HKG for about 2 days last time for work, back in Oct 07. But SQ hasn't been there since Sept 03...it'll be nice to go back for a visit. This time, we want to stop by the Big Buddha and Macau, which we didn't get to do last time. I'm reserving 1/2 suitcase and at least 1 full day for shopping!!
Counting down...2 more days!!

Day at the Beach

'Though we live only 3 blocks away from Ocean Beach, we almost never go there. Majority of the time, it is way too cold. But today, the weather was a bit warmer, so SQ and Is topped by for a quick visit. We always have our beach towels/picnic blanket in our car trunk, so all of those came in very handy today. We stayed there for about 1/2 hour... it was nice - saw a lot of people taking a stroll and/or walking their dogs. When the wind picked up, we decided to leave.
On a nice day, which happens only a few times a year, it's quite nice to live so near the beach.