As it's approaching Winter, the sun sets around 5pm, so I usually reserved night time for shopping since there's not much sightseeing one can do when the sun sets. And the shopping experience can yield quite a few surprises even when I'm not buying much....
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| Christmas neon lights -- Osaka |
Deserving of mention is one of the items from my 'bucket list'. I have to traverse that zebra-crossing in Shibuya, a popular shopping district among Japanese youth, much like our Cineleisure and Scape, except that it's not just one building but an entire district filled with shopping blocks, buzzing with energy and radiating youth. Anyway, back to that zebra-crossing, it is no ordinary zebra crossing. It's a series of zebra crossings in the heart of Shibuya, and they are framed in the shape of a hexagon(?), such that once the lights turn green for the pedestrian, one can move around in any direction within the hexagon framed by the zebra crossings. You really feel like the king of the world as all the traffic comes to a standstill at the beckoning of the traffic lights, and you join the sea of people plunging into the junction. Yes, it's a 'sea' of people once again. According to my travel bible, there's reputedly ten thousand people crossing this junction every hour, making it one of the busiest in the world. It was so exciting that I crossed to and fro in different directions for a few times! Crossing traffic junctions has never been so orgasmic!
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| The throngs of people waiting for the lights to change at the Shibuya junction. The sea of people can be quite intimidating. |
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| The popular starbucks outlet in Shibuya, where people hog the seats at the window on the second floor so that they can look down at the junction where throngs of people make their crossing. |
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| Dizzying neon lights; makes u feel like u r in some kinda futuristic city. |
Here's another epiphany that greeted me when I was sauntering down their version of Orchard Road in one of their famed shopping districts -- a church situated right next to an LV mall!!!!! A place of God and spirituality located right next to an icon for crass materialism/consumerism! It's like they're having a dialogue, or making a statement -- after indulging in the sin of shopping and consumerism, time to repent in the house of God next door! I could virtually hear the believers chanting in remorse, 'Father, forgive me for I have sinned in spending my entire month's wages on an LV bag, and for the harm this act of consumerism has done to Mother Nature.'
Kind of reminds me of a similar scene when I was backpacking in the Europe a few years back -- a Cathedral located just next door to a Prostitution Information Centre (in the midst of Amsterdam's infamous Red Light District)!!!
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| A real temple of God, right next to a temple of consumerism (on the right which is lit) |
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| THE LV mall. Juxtaposed with the church next door (see above pic), this comes across as more opulent and lavish! I sure want to go in -- if not for my 'refugee' clothes! |
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| The Cathedral (right) in Amsterdam, situated next to a Prostitution Information Centre, both located in the heart of the red light district, which is incidentally, a tourist attraction. |
Another shopping anecdote here is the unfailing politeness of the Japs, esp those in the service industry. The most oft-heard words there were 'arigato gozaimashita' (Thank you) and 'irrashaimase' (Welcome). I have never had so many people thanked me in my entire life, and what's more drama is this -- I've never had so many people bowed to me in one day (or in my entire life for that matter). Even when I was still a teacher in school, I did away with the standing up and bowing at the start and end of each lesson. So it was quite a surreal experience in saunter into a department store here in Japan, and have them bow to you when u walk in and when u leave. It was quite fun, so I deliberately enter the store a few times, using different entrances of course, so that they won't recognise I'm the same person eliciting their bows. A girl at the hostel I was staying at later told me that bowing connotes different meaning, depending on the angle of the bow, much like the way the Thais do their 'wai' (hands clasped together, like in prayer, when greeting people). There's the 15, 45 and 90 degree bow, according to this receptionist at the hostel who once worked for Daimaru. The 90 degree is reserved for ur superiors. And of course, the most extreme is when they kneel down and kowtow until their head hits the ground! But I don't think you're gonna get that at the department store, unless you buy up the entire store!
About their overflowing politeness when it comes to retail, here's an anecdote to share. I was at this Daiso store and after paying for a packet of shaving blades, the sales girl at the cashier thanked me so profusely and with such genuine earnestness and -- get this! -- gratitude in her eyes, that had u been there to witness the scene, you would have thought that I've just saved her entire clan! Needless to say, I was so embarrassed that I quickly beat a hasty retreat!
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| One of the trademark department stores in the Ginza district, where I was treated to not quite a few bows. |
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| Glittering branded malls in Ginza...note how the LV malls are always some opulently constructed. |
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| a close-up of the reptile that adorn the façade of the Bvlgari building |
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| cupid playing peek-a-boo at the corner of a mall |
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| face of cupid --brings to mind the Chinese idol drama 'zhuan jiao jiu shi ai' (turn a corner and there is love) |
Located in Ginza (the grandmother of shopping districts in Japan) is also this flagship store of UNIQLO (see pic below), supposedly the largest in Japan (according once again to my travel bible). It offers twelve full storeys of retail orgasm, with different storey catering to different gender. One thing I notice again shopping malls in Japan is that most of the levels are reserved for female wear, and these often occupy the more accessible lower storeys. The male wear, in comparison, are relegated to the topmost storeys, which are very cumbersome to reach as u have to keep taking the escalators or wait for the elevators. Sadly, when it comes to retail therapy, the males are a marginalized lot. Have they forgotten that men are the ones with earning power? Oh, I forget -- man earns, woman spends......the men dun geddit!
One other thing struck me when I was in Japan, esp in Tokyo. I don't normally observe people when I travel , as I'm usually more interested in the scenery and the buildings. Most of my pics don't include people anyway. But while in Japan, a sense of disquiet keep plaguing me that I can't quite articulate. Then suddenly, it blazed into epiphanic clarity: where are all the ugly and old people???!!! Believe u me, Tokyo seems to be peopled with only the drop-dead gorgeous looking kind. It was as if they just walked off the pages of fashion magazines! Try as I might, I could hardly spot any old or ugly people, esp in Tokyo. And when I was in Shibuya, there were NO old people, and everyone looks stunning! Ok, I exaggerate. It was night time, or there was too much light, so dazzlingly and blinding that it interfered with sight at times. But I could safely say that out of every five people I crossed paths with, three belong to the young and beautiful type. In a nutshell, the land of the rising sun is also the land of the beautiful people. And in my head I was thinking, didn't they say Japan is facing an ageing population that is slowing down its economy? But where are these old people? I can only conclude that they are staying at home or residing in the mountains. You will never see an old person serving you in Tokyo. Luckily, normalcy gradually returned when I fanned out of Tokyo into the adjacent cities, esp the cultural ones like Kyoto and Nara.
Back to the beautiful people issue, you will not believe there could be such a high concentration of goodlooking people in one particular spot. And I'm not talking just about the women, it's the men and children too! Even the odd old people I chanced to encounter have this royal bearing about them, as if they are descended from the gods! And if I were a paedophile, Japan would be a paradise! Goodness me, the kodomo (children, not to be confused with komodo dragons) are so kawaii (cute) that u just want to go hug them and pinch their rosy cheeks (facial cheeks, not butt cheeks, mind u!) No wonder they all grow up to be such good looking young people. And unlike their South Korean neighbours, I don't think the plastic surgery culture is that pervasive here. Believe u me, I've yet to see a Jap with acne problems, or any visible blemish on their faces. And yes, I did look at them at close range, esp when squashed in crowded trains. Most of the girls possess porcelain-like complexion, the kind that radiates a glow that will send girls into envy and pubescent guys into throes of heart palpitation.
So what's the secret to their good looks? Is it their climate? diet? fashion sense? dipping in their numerous onsens (hot springs) or just good genes? (recognise that the Japs infamous xenophobia means that they have managed to keep their gene stock 'pure' by not inter-marrying). A safe answer would be that it's probably all of the above. But I'm inclined to think fashion sense plays a large part, esp now that it's approaching winter. Winter fashion tends to exude more aesthetic appeal, and for those who are not-so-thin, they can hide their plus-sized figure under the thick winter coats -- not that the Japs have any rotund figures o hide. Most of those I saw possess model figures, and there are no fat children, unless they're tourists! And the few fat people I encountered are the obasan, but they are seldom seen in Tokyo. Back to fashion, they cannot fail to amaze me with the clothes they don. Everywhere I go, I felt like I was in some fashion show with models sashaying down the catwalk. Even a mother doing something as 'unglam' as pushing a pram did it with such style that I was floored! -- fur-coat, high heeled boots that extend all the way up beyond the knees and white elbow-length gloves! Suddenly, the pram and the baby within have become an accessory! And the men wore such fine winter wear that I felt almost ashamed to be walking in their midst. I was like some refugee while these guys were clad in fine threads and those double breasted winter coats. And they are true metro-sexuals! They can pull off carrying what I thought was a feminine bag (a female friend called it a 'man bag') with style, looking no less manly in the process. The girls also love to wear amazingly high heels, like they're walking on stilts. See pic below:
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| how do they walk -- and run! -- in these? It takes a masochist to wear these! |
