quick reflections about my trip

was in osaka and kyoto over the last weekend. here's some quick thoughts:

• the place was crazy busy. and it wasn't even tokyo. but generally, i amazed me to see how people are so organised and observed basic courtesies. it's a very japanese thing - being courteous and civil.

• having said that, there was an overwhelming number of koreans and chinese. so much so that the public announcements urging people to refrain from eating or drinking when they walk, or when they shop, etc, included the korean and chinese versions (in addition to the japanese version).

• it was really interesting to see novel ways of marketing stuff. for example, i walked pass a pharmacy and there were 2 salesgirls dressed in schoolgirl-like attire and they were doing a dance routine in unison and waving placards to encourage people to patronise their shop. in a warp way, it reminded me of japanese anime where schoolgirls has large oversized breasts and would dance around and have their breasts bouncing up and down to attract attention of the forever horny japanese guys. hmmm...

• and oh, there seemed to be a lot of cute japanese men! wow! hahah... i could almost imagine them wearing goggles, just like how they did in japanese porn! and of cos i needed to confess here. while at the temples, what caught my attention were cute guys (i don't know whether they were japanese or not) and that was the highlights of my visits to the temples. i even managed to secretly snapped a couple of photos of the cuties! lol!

• the japanese train system was amazing. short trips, inter-city trips, all sorts of variations and each one operating like clockwork. and it was interesting to observe how the train master actually walk from cabin to cabin, bowing as he entered and exit each cabin, and in between, walking slowly and deliberately as he inspected each cabin along the way. very professional.

• looking at the city as i travel from point to point, i could literally picture a scene from godzilla. from my view in the train, the houses looked like toy houses lined with street lamps and overhanging wire cables, and the houses are messily interspersed amidst tall towers. i could imagine godzilla moving around and as he moved, he would wag his gigantic tail and destroy the houses that crossed his path. lol!

• i visited the museum of history in osaka and it was amazing to observe their storytelling technique. by having the museum located in a tall building that overlooks the historical site, they were able to provide a birds' eye view of the current day real-life site, and with clever use of lights and movements, and computer-generated and videos, infuse history over the sites to bring across a story that cuts across the different times of history. impressed.
• regretfully, it rained non-stop during my 4-day stay in japan. nonetheless, i didn't let it affect me too much. bought an umbrella and did my exploration. the only issue was that the rain impacted my abilities to take proper pictures. otherwise, all's ok and good.

• above all, the cool temperature was a huge plus for me.

i will definitely head back to osaka and kyoto again.