Help! I’m In A Style Rut!

Yes. I’m in a Style Rut. There. I said it. And just like any other girl, being in a style rut is a cause for alarm. Here’s how I can tell when I’m in a style rut: the mags tell me that I am, I’m noticeably less aroused when ambling down the aisles of my favourite stores and I’m uninspired whenever I look at my closet. Everything I own is so … so … so 2008. God, talk about a downward style spiral.

I cannot – I will not – allow this to happen (it happens every January … hmm, am I sensing a pattern here?). It’s a crime and must be stopped. So, armed with determination, I’ve scoured the many resources out there and have found a few tips to help me get out of my Style Rut. Here they are:

1. Get A Celeb Muse

Just like artists need a source of inspiration … we do too. After all, looking good is an art what. So okay, first I need a Celeb Muse.

Ah, this is easy. Jennifer Aniston, definitely. I love her minimalist, sleek, not overtly sexy and effortlessly chic style. She never looks over-done; she’s always down-to-earth and yet, classy – never cheap or tawdry. Now that I have my Celeb Muse, I go into a WWJD situation – as in What Would Jen Do? Would [celeb name] wear this to a client meeting? Would [celeb name] wear this to pick up guys in a bar? Apparently, this will help me when I go shopping.

2. Get A Signature Piece

Next, I’m supposed to pick one out of the truckloads of accessories I already have (stuff I’ve accumulated over the years and yup, never ever wore) and start wearing it. A lot. With everything. Ah, this is also easy. I already have one: my hoop earrings.

I’ve always liked how they instantly give any outfit a little flash. Good, I’m sticking with this one. If you’re picking your own signature piece, make sure it’s somewhat noticeable and visually interesting. I mean, don’t la go pick barely-there stud earrings or something that’ll completely slip under the radar. At the same time, it should be subtle enough so that it doesn’t overshadow the rest of your outfit (or you!). So avoid an accessory that’s so striking that it’s the first and only thing people see. Can you imagine wearing a bright red scarf with every outfit? You’ll just wind up looking the same every day.

3. Get A Hue That’s You

Now, I need a hue that’s me. The mags tell me to take a look at my closet and note what colour dominates, apart from the usual neutrals, that is. Mentally brush aside all the blacks, browns, grays, etc and then, pick out the next most dominant colour. That’s the Hue That’s You. So if it’s say, jade green, that’s the colour you keep an eye out for when shopping. Taking note of jade green pieces will open you up to outfits that you may never have considered wearing, which may actually look pretty great on you.

Hmm, I like this tip. But looking at my wardrobe, it’s kinda hard to tell what my hue is. I have every colour in there. Since I have no ‘you hue’, I’m gonna make a call and declare my hue this year: yellow.

4. Pick Three Words

Moving on, I now have to  pick three words to describe the style I want to have, the vibe I want to project. I need to be specific too, and not pick vague words like pretty, nice or stylish (gak!), so here goes:

Sleek: I’m talking mostly about silhouette here – a sleek silhouette. None of that baggy, shapeless or waist-less stuff; clothes must always flatter and show off the figure, not hide it or worse, un-shape it.

Sexy: clothing should be feminine (NOT girlie though). Yeah yeah, I know sexy is an attitude but trust me, you CANNOT feel sexy in one of those god-awful pumpkin dresses paired with (ugh) flats or those criminal tapered ‘mom’ jeans. If you feel sexy in those things, you need therapy.

Classy: as opposed to being a fashion victim, I’ll stick to simple, classic pieces that don’t go out of style – or at least, don’t go out of style as quickly. Classy is always subtle, never loud or crass.

5. Adopt A Trend (Or Two)

Pick a trend and incorporate it into your existing wardrobe. No wardrobe overhaul necessary, just a few new pieces for an instant update. The thing is not to follow trends blindly but pick something that you personally like, that will work on you. Take your pick: asymmetric dresses, corsages, huge earrings or necklaces, gold, headgear, jade green and yellow are in, say goodbye to skinny jeans and hello to leggings, layering is back (did it ever leave?), killer heels (as far as I’m concerned, this isn’t a trend, it’s right up there with protein and oxygen), shrunken jackets, go monochromatic, etc. Click here for the full 2009 Spring/Summer trends list.

There are quite a few that are easy enough to do – for instance, I’m thinking asymmetrical dresses, killer heels and leggings. Only problem is, I have a good friend who’s totally sewn up the leggings department – that’s her signature look. So, for me to hijack that trend would be nothing short of sartorially sacrilegious! So I’m gonna go with another one: long cardies.

6. Read Up

Sure, I don’t take women’s mags seriously and I wouldn’t advise anyone to subscribe to them as a guide to Life, but they’re great when it comes to style inspiration and keeping you updated in terms of what’s current. Flip through some mags or go online every once in a while – for instance, Style, Vogue, Harpers Bazaar and Glamour. Being some of the biggest fashion mags around, they’ve got tons of content and lots of great links.

To see what people are wearing on the streets, go to Streetstyl.es, Street Peeper and The Sartorialist. Expose yourself to fashionable pics regularly enough and you’ll gradually pick things up by osmosis. Next time you go shopping, you’ll be able to instinctively sniff out what’s hot and what’s just plain wrong.

Oh, The (Exercise) Guilt Is Killing Me

I haven’t worked out since Jan 10 – it was the day before I left for Tokyo. It has been a grand total of 18 days. Gulp. That’s 2½ weeks. More than half a month. To make matters worse, I’ve been piling on the ba-kua, kuih kapit and pineapple cookies for the past several days … plus I’ll be going to Cambodia this Saturday and won’t be back in KL until next Thursday. Oh god.

I know what it is: my routine’s been screwed up this month. It’s been a very chaotic first-month-of-the-year – there have been some significant changes taking place and I guess I’ve just been too distracted to work out. For me, working out has always been more mental than anything. If I’m not in the right frame of mind, I find it so much harder to do.

This is silly. I should be looking forward to my trip this weekend instead of mulling over how many more ‘workout days’ I’m gonna be missing. Besides, I know the dust will settle once I get back next week and I’ll get back into The Routine … and until then, I should stop treating this like it’s some kind of huge failure on my part.

*Gives self two tight slaps*

Yeah. I guess that’s what I’ll do.

Tokyo: Hot Springs (5/5)

… continued from Tokyo: Poisoned!!! (4/5)

Today we’re going to the hot spring (onsen)!! You can’t go to Japan and not visit an onsen, especially in winter! Since Japan sits on one of the most thermally active areas in the world, there are 20,000 natural hot springs all over the country. To get to experience this is very exciting. And guess what: I wake up this morning and I’m feeling almost back to normal. Yippy.

There are no natural hot springs in the city, only sento – public baths usually using heated water from the tap and not from a real hot spring (for a list of sento in Tokyo, click here.) For an authentic onsen experience, you need to travel out of the city. We decide on Oedo-Onsen Monogatari – we just take the Yurikamome line from Shimbashi to the Telecom Centre. The onsen is open almost 24 hours so there’s no rush. So the plan is: Shinjuku first, onsen later.

We get to Shinjuku station in the morning and let me tell you, I can understand why it’s the Busiest Train Station In The World. It’s teeming with people and my god, it’s HUGE! You’ll get lost in there. There are so many exits you won’t know where to go. Take the wrong one and you’ll come out onto the wrong street and never get to where you wanna go. Even when we asked the hotel reception earlier, the manager assured us that yes, we will indeed get lost. I guess it’s all part of the Shinjuku Station experience!

We visit Isetan – very different from the Isetan we have in KL.

An interesting feature is that they have an entire floor dedicated to just desserts! The most adorable cakes and pastries and chocolates you’ve ever seen, all packaged to perfection.

We also drop by Muji, a wildly popular local chain of convenience stores. Everything sits nicely in clear vacuum-sealed bags, rows and rows of them neatly lined on the shelves, all positioned in the same angle. That’s how everything is in Japan: uniformed.

Everything is individually wrapped – cakes, bagels, biscuits, fruit, three pieces of cotton, you name it.

While they look pretty, they also look very … clinical. Overly sanitary. Mass-produced. Let’s put it this way, can you imagine buying pisang goreng individually wrapped in plastic? It’s a crime, I tell you.

By now, having eaten nothing since morning, I’m starting to feel faint. But I’m scared to eat cos I don’t want to throw up again. So, I buy two bananas (individually wrapped, of course) @ RM5 each. The most expensive bananas I’ve ever eaten.

With a new surge of energy from my expensive bananas, we get a bit carried away in Shinjuku. At about 2pm, we finally make our way to the onsen. We lose our way and by the time we reach the Telecom Centre station, it’s past 5pm and quite dark already. Luckily, the onsen‘s only 2 minutes away from the station.

The moment we reach the onsen, I fall in love with it. It’s beautiful! And big!

We go in, remove our boots and leave them in the lockers. Then, first order of the evening: pay the admission fee of 2,900 yen (about RM150).

After paying, we go this counter where an old man is waiting in front of a row of yukatas. We pick the designs we want, along with a belt (obi) and proceed to the changing room.

The lockers in the changing room feature the famous 1831 wave painting The Breaking Wave Off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai.

From here on, you change into your yukata (and nothing else) and then, you’re free to roam anywhere you want within the premises.

There are little restaurants …

… and souvenir shops everywhere. Since I hadn’t bought anything the day before (thanks to being poisoned), I go a little crazy in the souvenir stores. Every time I buy something, they scan my wrist tag. Because my cash is in the locker, I only pay when I exit. Quite dangerous. You can easily get carried away and lose track of how much you spend (which is precisely their intention).

So anyways, as I was saying … it’s all very pretty, there’s a soft glow on everything, very romantic.

Unfortunately, I’m there with two chicks. Aish.

After shopping, we grab a bite to eat.

Now, a hot springs experience begins with a foot spa, so that’s where we start. We throw these thick orange ‘jackets’ over our thin yukatas. Once we open the sliding doors, the gust of icy cold wind hits us. Omg, it’s freezing outside!!

You’d think you’d freeze standing around in the winter cold at night at something like 0 degrees … but step into the almost knee-high boiling water for a few moments and your entire body warms up.

It feels really good. And soon, you’re as toasty as a bun in the oven. There’s also a little hut where you can have a doctor fish experience but at extra charge. I did this back in KL before (it was fun!) so I don’t fork out money for this.

After one round around the garden, we hurry back inside and move on to the hot springs area. Now, taking a bath is a very serious ritual here in Japan, so you can’t play-play. These are three important points:

1. Don’t wear anything in the bath. I don’t think I need to elaborate on this point.

2. Take a bath first. There are rows of bath stations equipped with a mirror, a low wooden stool, a bucket and toiletries. You must be 100% squeaky clean before entering the pools – even a trace of soap on your body is considered unacceptable. This is the first time I’m bathing in public while seated and you know what? I actually like it! Or maybe it’s not the sitting down part that I like so much as the fact that I’m bathing in front of a mirror – haha.

3. When in the pool, sit quietly. Don’t thrash around, make a lot of noise or splash water at people. In other words, don’t be a jakun.

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Now, I can’t bring my camera into the pool area (for obvious reasons), so you have no choice but to imagine the scene based on my wondrous description.

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There are two hot springs areas – indoor and outdoor (rotenburo). The indoor one is a spacious floor area with various pools – some aboveground, some below, in different shapes and sizes. The colour of the water in each one differs, depending on the mineral content. They’re meant for different purposes too – from arthritis to stress, backache to indigestion, etc. Your vision is clouded by thick steam and there are naked women everywhere, some of whom are pretty hot. There, that should paint a picture that’ll stick in your mind for a while.

We soak in almost every pool. It feels soooooo good to just immerse yourself in the hot bubbling water. You feel all your stress and anxiety just melting away. Ahh … this is the life …

After about 30 minutes in the pools, we decide it’s time to get out. It’s so hot and steamy, it’s like being in a sauna … and you can only last for so long. Besides, it’s getting late and we need to catch the train before midnight.

Before we leave the locker area though, we spy a weighing scale near a row of Osim-type masage chairs. Being female, it’s hard to walk past it without hopping on. I rarely weigh myself (my body weight gauge isn’t the scale, it’s denim) but my weight doesn’t fluctuate, so I kinda know what my figure is. But tonight, I step on and holy cow, I’m 48kg!! Good lord. Talk about underweight. Must be all that throwing up. I guess I just gotta pile the pounds back on when I get home!

So anyway, after we’re done, we head back out to return our yukatas and pay up. Walking in the cold winter air that night, we don’t feel cold at all. Body temperature has been elevated!

It’s quite a long trip back and I’m kinda tired (too relaxed from the bath), by the time we reach the hotel.

I sort through all the stuff I bought at the onsen … then settle into bed. Tomorrow’s our flight back to KL and we need to check out at 6.30am and get on the bus at 7am to Narita Airport. So better sleep!

The thing is, I suddenly become wide awake. I’m lying in bed and can’t sleep at all. 12am. 1am. 2am. My stomach starts to growl. I haven’t eaten anything but a banana in the morning and a few pieces of sushi at dinner, so I’m famished.

Luckily, I have a ball of sticky rice wrapped in seaweed that I have stashed in the fridge. I grope my way in the dark to the fridge to get it. So there I am, at about 3am, sitting up in my bed eating a rice ball, trying to make as little noise as possible – not easy when it’s wrapped in really noisy plastic. I make so much noise I wake Liling up (oops).

After I finish the rice ball, my stomach feels better and I immediately fall asleep. Two hours later, the alarm rings and we hop out of bed and spring into action.  Soon, we’re in the bus on the way to Narita and by 11am, we’re nicely buckled in the plane and headed back home.

On the way home, I watch Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Night At The Museum (for those of you who are interested in this sort of thing) …

… time flies and before we know it, we’ve landed.

The first thing I do in KL is have kiam-chai t’ng. Then I unpack. Then I check my email. Then I decide that I must go back to Japan again … five days is seriously not enough – especially when one day was spent working and another spent being sick. Having said that, I think Japan will have to wait for now though, cos I’ll be headed to Cambodia next Saturday!!!

Click here for previous posts Tokyo: Disneyland (1/5), Tokyo: Shiseido (2/5), Tokyo: Harajuku (3/5), Tokyo: Poisoned!!! (4/5)

Tokyo: Poisoned!!! (4/5)

… continued from Tokyo: Harajuku (3/5)

Okay, so I didn’t die last night. But I sure am feeling like a bucket of #@$@#$ by morning. After an entire night of running to the bathroom to be sick, I can hardly drag myself up from my bed. The plan is to explore Asakusa …

… home of Senso-ji, Tokyo’s largest Buddhist temple …

… and snap a pic standing in front of the famous Kaminarimon (also known as the Thunder Gate) …

… and then go nuts in the Nakamise shopping arcade. But since I can’t get out of bed, I don’t go.

“Eh, you sure you can’t go?? Aiyo, so wasted la. Are you okay? You wanna see doctor? We ate the same ramen last night but we’re both okay wor … maybe you’re allergic or something,” say Elsa and Liling as they count the cash in their wallets, all ready to attack the shops.

It’s true. We ate the exact same thing last night. And Japan, of all countries, is so freakishly clean … how can kena food poisoning?? I mean, you get food poisoning in Nepal I can understand, but in Tokyo?? So my only conclusion is that it isn’t the food but my greed. Greed, you ask? Okay, here’s the list of things I ate yesterday:

1. Rice and salmon (1 bowl)
2. Bran flakes and dried fruit in milk (2 bowls)
3. Croissant slathered in butter (1 piece)
4. Coffee, coffee, coffee
5. Japanese grilled egg snack (1 piece)
6. Snyder’s pretzels (1 bag)
7. Choc-covered raisins (1 bag)
8. Beef steamboat (1 set)
9. Clear ramen noodles (1/2 bowl)
10. Spicy ramen noodles (1/2 bowl)

I’m not exactly a big eater so I think my stomach revolted – which explains why I  felt like the food was climbing up my throat. So the lesson here, boys and girls, is: don’t be a pig. So yeah, I deserve what I got and I wind up saying goodbye (tearfully) to the girls as they happily leave for Asakusa. Sniff. I shut the curtains and pull the sheets over my head; the room sinks into darkness.

You know, the worst thing is to be sick when you’re away from home. It’s so depressing. As I lay in bed, I start to feel homesick. So lonely. While I don’t feel like throwing up anymore, my stomach hurts. In the midst of dreaming of bak kut teh, I fall asleep.

I’m jolted awake by happy chattering. Elsa and Liling are back and it’s 4.30pm already! Wow. I’ve been sleeping for 6 hours since this morning!! In they come, hauling a load of bags. “We’re back to put our stuff and then, we’re going out again!” they announce. They then proceed to tell me about the wonders of the Nakamise shopping arcade and conclude their story with, “Aiyo, if you went, you sure go crazy one! So many things to buy!!!”

In a few minutes, they’re gone again and the room sinks back into silence. I fall back to sleep. In what feels like just a short while later, I’m wakened again by noises. The girls are back … I look at the clock and it’s almost midnight already!! Wow. I didn’t realise that I’d slept for soooooo long.

I get up to eat this bread the girls bought for me (“You better eat something!”).

It’s the cutest thing ever: the sandwich is all sealed up like a puff and there’s scrambled egg inside – hahaha. The funny sandwich cheers me up somewhat. By then, I’m feeling quite a lot better. All that sleep sure helped.

“Eh, you make sure you okay by tomorrow! We’re going to the hot springs, remember?” they say.

Of course, I remember! I’ve already spent the whole of today in the room, I’ll be darned if I’m gonna waste the whole of tomorrow too! “I’m definitely going tomorrow,” I assure them. “Even if sick also I don’t care. Must go.”

At a little past midnight, I fall back to sleep. Again.

Continued in Tokyo: Hot Springs (5/5)

Click here for Tokyo: Disneyland (1/5), Tokyo: Shiseido (2/5), Tokyo: Harajuku (3/5)

Tokyo: Harajuku (3/5)

… continued from Tokyo: Shiseido (Day 2/5)

Today is Transition Day. Transition Day as in transitioning from nice fancy hotel in the spanking new urban area of Shiodome to an el cheapo one in the business district of Akasaka. Everyone else has already gone back to KL and the few days of sponging off our client’s generosity have come to an end.

So, we get up Wednesday morning and tuck in a hearty breakfast in the hotel before packing our stuff to check out.

I realise this looks like a seriously scary amount of food … especially for breakfast but what can I say. We’re Malaysian ma.

After breakfast, it’s onwards to the Tsukiji Fish Market. It’s the biggest wholesale fish market in the world! I remember seeing it on Globe Trekker when Ian Wright visited the market during the famous fish auction. It looked like such an amazingly crazy experience that I wanted to see it too (whine whine). Unfortunately …

… argh!!! Okay la, actually I knew it already when I was doing my research for this trip … but STILL!!

Since we have no auction to see, we venture around what they call the ‘outer market’ where there are rows and rows of little shops …

… selling all sorts of things, from kitchen tools, souvenirs, boots, groceries, etc.

Of course, being a fish and seafood wholesale market, there’s a slew of sushi restaurants. Look at all the people lining up to get in. Sushi for breakfast? Umm, I adore sushi la … but I don’t think I can stomach it for breakfast (especially since I’m already all porked out from the hotel!)

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We get back to Shiodome for the Big Move at noon. We bid the hotel farewell (sniff) and head down to the train station. Okay, now here’s the part that sucks: Akasaka isn’t exactly near Shiodome and taking a cab there will cost us something insane like 6,000yen. It’s as if we’re moving to a whole other prefecture! On the other hand, going there by train will cost us only 300 to 400yen like that. Being El Cheapskates, we of course decide to do that. Only one problem: our bags are monstrous. Taking the train will mean lugging our massive bags ALL THE WAY. “Never mind! Adventure ma,” we say. “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger!!”

We become stronger all right. I take no pics between the Shimbashi station and the Aoyama-Itchome station. Why, you ask? Because I’m too busy cussing, that’s why! Imagine dragging a huge (stupid) luggage bag in and out of trains, up and down staircases and across the street. %$@$@#!!! By the time we get to El Cheapo Hotel, we’re exhausted. What a workout. I swear I developed biceps.

Now, despite this being El Cheapo Hotel, the room’s actually very decent and very clean. But of course! This is Tokyo, you know.  After tossing our bags on the floor, we head back out to the station. Destination: Harajuku. Yippy! The hub of Tokyo’s high street fashion scene.

We’re walking along the main street and we see … H&M!!! It’s the second one to open in Tokyo. The first was in Ginza where people were still queuing up to go into the store two to three weeks after the grand opening! (In fact, when I was in Ginza yesterday, I saw a bunch of eager shoppers lining up at the entrance, waiting for the store to open. Talk about taking your shopping seriously).

Then we turn into this little street, which is apparently the most ‘happening’ one here in Harajuku. I can see why: the stuff here is cheap. And by cheap, I mean cheap (even by Malaysian standards).

There are clothing and shoe stores galore, along with snacks stalls all the way.

For some reason, crepes are damn happening here. There’s a stall at every corner! I wonder why.

Despite the way I may appear, I’m really not a big shopper. All I buy is this pair of Ugg boots and that’s only cos I wanted to take a break from my black leather boots. Okay okay, so they aren’t really Ugg boots; they just look like them. But they’re soooo cheap: RM80 only. And mine aren’t even the cheapest. A few stores down the road, they’re selling the boots for RM40!!! (They’re so damn cheap that I didn’t even bring them back to KL; just left them in the hotel room cos no space in my bag!)

Anyways, as I was saying: I’m not a big shopper. My friends Elsa and Liling, on the other hand, are running around macam they kena jampi by the God of Shopping. I’ve never seen such zeal. Such ferocity. Such fire. They’re damn scary. They’re so jampi that they spend 2 whole hours in the 100 Yen Store. Now, I understand that the 100 Yen Store is nothing short of an institution in Japan, but 2 whole hours??!! I browse for a grand total of 30 minutes (only cos there are three floors) and then, walk around the street outside while they shop. I’m bored so I entertain myself by eating a pack of chocolate-coated raisins and a pack of Snyder’s.

Once the girls are done, we go for dinner at this little Japanese steamboat restaurant down the street. The waiter doesn’t speak English, so we point to the window display to indicate what we want. The food’s okay but I can’t help but wish that they had tom yam soup instead of this super-clear, bland stuff. Ha.

Soon, it’s dark and we’re stuffed, so we decide to head back to the hotel. We’re walking to the station when we notice this quaint little ramen restaurant on the way. It looks good, so we decide to have dinner. Again.

And unlike the steamboat dinner, this ramen is delicious.

Steaming hot … one clear, the other spicy. Yum. So, we eat and eat and eat and … eat. Then it’s back to the hotel.

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It isn’t until an hour or so later when I start to feel a little … funny. It’s like I have food slushing around in my stomach, and it goes right up to my throat. I feel sick. After a while of feeling totally uncomfortable, I decide that I need to make myself throw up if I want to feel better. I wonder if I should stick a finger or toothbrush down my throat or something (I’m not bulimic so I don’t know how to throw up) … but turns out, I don’t need to force anything. The moment I close the bathroom door, everything comes right out. Yeah, I know. Eeww. For those of you who get nauseated just hearing about this, you should stop reading now. But for those of you who get a kick out of this, read on (but go see a shrink after) … so there it all is: my ramen. Bits of noodles … pieces of undigested pork … the soup … everything. Eewww.

It doesn’t stop there. I stay awake the entire night, alternating between the bed and the bathroom. It’s absolutely horrible. By the time morning comes, I’m exhausted and feeling worse than ever. I even have a slight fever. I want to die.

Continued in Tokyo: Poisoned!!! (Day 4/5)

Click here for Tokyo: Disneyland (Day 1/5) and Tokyo: Shiseido (Day 2/5)

Tokyo: Shiseido (2/5)

… continued from previous Tokyo: Disneyland (Day 1/5)

Okay, today is the day we “work” … that is, if you call attending a forum in an exotic faraway land work. To me, real work is like, you know, tapping the rubber tree, mining the coal or listening to Peter Andre’s comeback album. So obviously, today’s event is hardly “work”. And that brings me to the reason why we’re in Tokyo in the first place: to attend the Shiseido Whitening Forum.

We meet up with Kagami-san on Tuesday morning at the hotel and stroll down to Ginza. We’re going to visit the House of Shiseido. House of Shiseido was first built as a pharmacy, but since 2004, it’s been turned into a museum dedicated to all things Shiseido.

There’s a mini-theatre where you can watch Shiseido TV ads through the ages, check out the products and see how the brand’s advertising evolved over the year. There’s also a library containing books on cosmetic culture and artworks.

To understand Shiseido is, to a large extent, to understand Japanese culture, so it isn’t a bad idea to pop by for a visit if you’re ever in Ginza … you know, take a break from buying all those Burberry bags. Haha.

From the House of Shiseido, we walk on to the Shiseido Parlour – ah, the home of the oh-so-famous Shiseido cheesecake! When we arrived in Tokyo the day before, we each had a gift bag waiting for us in our rooms. Inside was a beautifully wrapped package containing three cheesecakes from the Shiseido Parlour.

After I tasted it (read: devoured all three at the speed of light), I understood why people say, if you ever go to Japan, you must try the Shiseido cheesecake. Omg, it was delicious!

And so now, here we are at the Shiseido Parlour along a main avenue in Ginza. It was originally a soda fountain over a century ago. Today, it’s a swanky place to dine and is well-known for its Western food (Japanese style!). Hmm. Obviously not the place to go if you wanna go el cheapo … unless you consider curry that costs 10,000 yen (that’s RM400) el cheapo la. But since we aren’t picking up the bill, we happily wallop the lunch in our private room.

After lunch, we head to the Tokyo National Museum for the forum.

One message I pick up at the forum is that Japanese women take beauty very seriously. I mean, sure all women want to be beautiful but not every woman makes the effort to cultivate a beautiful appearance. And beauty, to the Japanese, is fair flawless skin. I think back to the women I’ve seen since I got here. I can certainly see that skincare is big business here. Coming from a very selekeh country, I’m impressed by the obvious care Japanese women take in their appearance. They’re so well-groomed – perfectly applied makeup, perfectly styled hair. The eyelashes on these women, I tell you! Long eyelashes and big baby doll eyes (enlarged by their obvious skill with the eyeliner) … all against a backdrop of fair flawless skin. I shudder to think what life will be like for the few unlucky enough to be cursed with problem skin … in a sea of porcelain faces, that’s gotta be tough on the self-esteem.

But for all their beauty, I find that Japanese women all sport the same look. They all fit into this cookie-cutter mould: typical smoky eyes, pale lips, flawless skin, long brown hair and slim figure. Maybe that’s why you have those who revolt and go the totally opposite way with their weird hairdos, goth makeup, strange clothing and all that. The antithesis of conventional beauty, I guess. There’s a ‘freak show’ every Sunday in Harajuku where all the young people come all decked out in their finest (read: weirdest) attire – the perfect time for people-watching!! (We visit Harajuku tomorrow but it’s Wednesday so no ‘freak show’ for us. Shucks.)

We wrap up the day with a dinner and then, it’s the end of the “work” day for us! We decide to go for a drink in Roppongi later that night since early next morning everyone’s flying back to KL. Everyone, that is, except me, Elsa and Liling – we’ll be extending our stay for another three days (*insert big smile here*).

Roppongi is a happening area with bars where people go to chill and have a drink. We’re cautioned that there will be lots of blacks (Africans) hanging around there and they aren’t exactly a calming presence, if you know what I mean (*raise eyebrow here). They move in packs and exist solely to buat kacau. So, the advice is: no eye contact and move fast!!

We have drinks at this bar called Gonpachi. It’s adorable! It’s rather quiet today but oh, I love the ambience of the place.

We order some snacks … zaru tofu (edible), octopus and okra in pickled plum (weird) and fried chicken (good).

By the time we finish, it’s past 1am. The last train is at midnight, so we wind up taking the cab back to the hotel. Need to get back and get some rest – tomorrow’s the Big Transition. Tomorrow’s also one day closer to that traveller nightmare experience I was talking about in my previous post!

Continued in Tokyo: Harajuku (Day 3/5)

Tokyo: Disneyland (1/5)

Wow. I can’t believe it’s been three weeks since my last entry. Why the long silence, you ask? Aiya, I’ve just been so busy, you know, with work and stuff (my boss could be reading this) … so much has been going on since 2009 began that my routines have been thrown a little out of whack for a while – in a good way, of course. The dust hasn’t totally settled though, and probably won’t until the second week of Feb. You’ll know why soon enough!

Anyways, happy new year! And now, on to my very first Post of 2009: Japan!!! Konnichiwa, people-san. That’s right. I just got back from Tokyo last weekend. It was my first time there and I can tell you one thing, I’m planning my next trip back already. It was, in most ways, a fantabulous week. I say “most ways” cos something bad happened somewhere in between … something I didn’t expect. I’ll give you a hint: it’s every traveller’s nightmare and I’m not talking about losing my passport.

Now, coming back to my story … It’s Sunday night when we (all eight of us) board our plane to Tokyo. As you can clearly see, there’s nobody on that flight. It’s awesome! Like being in your own private plane. The moment the plane takes off, we fan out and grab three seats each. After forcing down a sandwich, I watch half of House Bunny before deciding to get some sleep (note: House Bunny‘s a bit of a letdown – not as funny as I’d expected). Now, I can never sleep on planes. Don’t ask me why. I can sleep perfectly well in a car or bus but planes, for me, have always sucked. And this is no different. For 8 hours, I try to sleep only to wind up with a sore back and a crick in the neck.

By the time we land in Narita airport, it’s early Monday morning and we’re greeted by a super cold gust of wind. Ah, winter. Yum! We hop into our cabs and speed off to our hotel, the Royal Park Hotel Shiodome. We’re here on serious business and have no time to waste. We sail into the hotel, check into our rooms, run downstairs to gobble down some breakfast and march on to the train station. Must faster-faster. Mickey Mouse waits for no one.

We stand around the ticket machines trying to figure out which line to take. In Japan, the public transport system is a complex (but very efficient) network of railway lines operated by different companies. It can be a bit of a challenge to figure out how to get where you wanna go if you’re a foreigner. Some more, there aren’t always English signs and most Japanese don’t really speak the England. If you can read Chinese, it’s easier cos you can understand some of the Japanese characters (not all though) but if you’re a banana like me, then die.

We get our tickets and so, here we are at the platform waiting for our train.

And here I am posing next to a vending machine. I feel it’s my duty as a tourist to have at least one picture standing next to a Japanese vending machine. And since I’m one who usually goes above and beyond my call of duty, I take plenty more but for the sake of not appearing moronic, I will resist the temptation to post them here.

Pic by Irene Heng

Ah finally, here we are: Disneyland! The first ever Disneyland to be built outside the US, Tokyo Disneyland is BIG. All 115 acres of it. It comprises seven themed parks – there’s Westernland, Adventureland, Fantasyland, Toontown, Tomorrowland, Critter Country and World Bazaar – and each one has its own variety of rides, souvenir shops and restaurants. I can tell you, one day’s not enough if you want to fully explore the place and go on all the rides.

Pic by Irene Heng

I don’t wanna sound like a travel brochure, so I’m not going to go into a point-by-point description of what you can see in Tokyo Disneyland (yawn) … instead, I’ll tell you all the stuff we do that day: we run amok like kids. There’s just something so fun about being all silly and being a kid all over again.

We line up to go on rides …

… we visit the souvenir shops …

… we check out the merchandise …

… we have lunch …

… we visit the parking lots …

… we play Hidden Mickey …

… and of course, we camwhore. Okay, okay, I camwhore.

If there’s one activity in Tokyo Disneyland that’s not listed in the brochure, it’s Baby Watching. Omg. I swear Japanese babies are the most adorable things you’ll ever see. You want to just kidnap one to bring home and cubit puas-puas. I try to snap pics of the cute ones I see but I fail miserably. I consider asking some of the parents if I can borrow their kids to snap a picture but decide against it. I’m Asian, so it’s a very pai-seh thing to do.

Oh yes, I forget to mention that this particular day is actually the Coming of Age Day (it’s called Seijin No Hi in Japanese). It’s a celebration of all who’s turning 20 years of age. In Japan, 20 is considered the beginning of adulthood. It’s also the age when they get to vote, smoke and drink legally.

Pic by Irene Heng

Those who are 20 celebrate this day by wearing traditional costumes, so we see plenty of girls walking around in gorgeous kimono. Oh, I love it! As far as traditional costumes go, my top two are the cheongsam (it is, without a doubt, the sexiest outfit any woman can ever wear; I swear nothing even comes close) and the kimono.

It’s true what they say: the moment you put on a kimono, you transform into a different person. Your mannerisms change, you walk more daintily, you behave differently … it’s cumbersome, of course, but that’s all part of the allure. It’s like being wrapped as a present – quite apt cos everything in Japan is beautifully wrapped and packaged anyway, so it makes perfect sense that the women are too.

Coincidentally, today is also Tokyo Disneyland’s 25^th Anniversary Celebration, so we get to see a parade that afternoon too. The colourful procession of floats with dancing Disney characters (in case you’re wondering, my all-time favourite is Donald Duck – I love the fact that he’s got a fiery temper and isn’t all cutesy-wutesy like Mickey Mouse) … such a feast for the eyes.

By early evening, about 5pm or so, it starts to get dark outside and the temperature begins to drop further. Soon, temperature hits 0 degrees and let me tell you, it’s COLD. I wish I had worn an extra layer (a mental note to keep for tomorrow!)

Once we get out of Disneyland, we’re practically running to the train station cos it’s so friggin’ cold. By the time we reach our hotel, it’s almost 9pm and I’m totally knackered. Need some sleep, especially since tomorrow’s the day when we have to do actual work – that is, if you can call attending a forum work!

Continued in Tokyo: Shiseido (Day 2/5)