A note from afar

Greetings from the land of the rising sun! Took a 7 hours night flight over with a time difference of an hour ahead over here. Been so long since an overnight flight that somehow, didn't manage to catch that good a sleep. Then another 2 hour plus train ride from Narita Airport to Yokohama. Would have been great if this was a holiday trip, but work cum semi holiday is also ok for me. Honestly though, looking at the schedules, not much free time except for full day Sunday and of course this afternoon since I arrived at the Training Centre about 10:30am Yokohama time. Incidentally, the trains are quite packed, with many commuting quite a distance by rail just to get to work.

So far, adjusting to the environment here and will probably blog more once I get back home. One thing I noticed immediately though, the streets seem kind of quiet barring the rat-tat noise of the various construction projects going on. Don't see as many people walking around, I guess probably due to the heat. But once you enter the malls, it is another matter. The interlinking malls may seem like a maze, but keeping some key points as bearings, can find my way back. I guess the current summer heat is keeping many indoors. Will probably not explore much more today, and might just get a quick nap later to recuperate from all the travelling. The sales people appear very friendly, and as I was exploring a shop displaying some decorative cloth pieces, the sales lady initially spoke to me in Japanese, but after saying that I am from Malaysia and excused myself for being unable to converse in Japanese, her eyes lit up, and she has indeed heard of Malaysia. She was regaling as best as she could in English, saying her son and cousin have visited Malaysia and thought well of the place, especially the snorkelling and the food. Incidentally, I enquired about the price of the beautiful piece of cloth, hand sewn with light coloured threads depicting an olden Japanese village against a snowy mountain backdrop! Breathtaking scene with an equally hefty price, all for a cool 819,000 Yen!!! The sales lady did admit that it was quite expensive, but I guess for such an exquisite piece of work, and with all the various markups charged in, there may be willing buyers out there. Alas, unfortunately, I am not one of them. I liked it heaps and had wanted to buy it for my empty wall back home, but couldn't afford the hefty price.

Yep, things are not cheap here. 1,000 Yen can get you a proper meal (which costs about RM30). But I had my first bite at the local McD's and went for the McPork! I only had one McPork burger and some fries, but it cost me 330 Yen, which is slightly over RM10! Initially, I didn't see many food outlets and thought that I might have to frequent McD during my stay here, but once I started exploring a bit more, especially in the malls, there are just so many choices around for food depending upon one's fancy, and of course, budget.

Oh! One other thing, apparently, my yellow DIGI man didn't follow me over, so no internatinal roaming on my handphone! Bummer! Till the next post then, Sayonara!