lioness in japan

I don’t always get funny queries when I pass through customs at a Japanese airport, in fact, I rarely do. But this time, I flew in from Singapore to Nagoya, and had a handful of puzzling questions from a very curious man in uniform.

Let me recount our convo here…

”Where are you from?” – Singapore.

”But you are Chinese…?” – so I told him my grandparents were from China who moved to Singapore, so my parents are Singaporean, and hence I’m Singaporean.

”You live in Tokyo, but why did you fly to Nagoya?” – that’s fair enough because most people commute through Narita Airport. I told him I couldn’t get an air ticket out of Narita.

”Why did you spend only one day in Malaysia? What did you do there?” – hmm, I guess it would look odd to someone who doesn’t live in Singapore or Malaysia. I answered, “Shopping.” And he raised his eyebrows — I suppose very few people outside of southeast Asia would consider Malaysia as a prime shopping destination. I was amazed that he picked that one out but he did flip through my passport very thoroughly.

”Why do you have so many clothes?” – I wanted to laugh in my red eye stupor! I was thinking, “It’s none of your business?!” as he ruffled through my entire suitcase, looked into my dirty laundry bags, and unashamedly flipped my bras about, while feeling the walls of my suitcase. I told him I took a month-long holiday back to Asia — in truth, it was a five-week one.

“Why don’t you have any omiyage?” — Because I’m a selfish b*tch?!

I suppose I looked like a possible drug mule in my disheveled, unwashed state. Or maybe he just wanted to practice his English — I must say he had a good command of the language.

Sorry for the long absence — I’m finally back from my hiatus and this post is definitely a lot happier than the last. I’m still struggling with a deluge of emails, photos, teaching, Beauty Box matters, and adjusting to Tokyo’s cold and dry winter after a whole month of sunny weather. Watch out for new posts coming up…

For the sake of my blog readers, I’m making this announcement, so sorry to you folks on Facebook who got this news already (I link my RSS feed to my FB profile).

The kangaroo surprised me with a proposal on a deserted beach in Goyambokka, a slice of paradise in the south of Sri Lanka, near Tangalle.

Some folks thought it was about time (we’ve been together for over six years) and some considered it was a miracle (the kangaroo was a self-declared, anti-kids bachelor), but I kind of expected it because there were lots brewing in his mind in the past few months…But not so soon…

He was quite the detective — ferreting around my costume jewellery to check for ring sizes; trying to get hold of my dad’s mobile phone number; and not raising any suspicion on my part. He loves surprises, as you can see, but you know, so do I.

No, he did not go on bended knee, and no I didn’t cry. We took the photo above just after I said, “Yes!” We couldn’t stop grinning and I had a million questions for him.

Here’s the beautiful ring he got me — it’s the prettiest thing I own.

I had a blogging schedule all planned out so that Lioness in Japan will continue as I’m lying on white sandy beaches in Sri Lanka.

But life has a way of throwing unexpected curveballs in your direction sometimes.

My grandmother passed away last Saturday morning at 4am. My elder sister alerted me through Google Chat that our mama (grandmother in Cantonese) died after two weeks of ill health. She requested that I return as soon as possible and I said, “Of course I want to be there for the funeral.” I flapped around looking for air tickets online but managed to wake the kangaroo up at 5am while he was in Frankfurt so he could change my Singapore flight (I was planning to fly this week because of my Sri Lanka trip).

And so it was confirmed I would fly out of Nagoya, which is 90 minutes away from Tokyo by shinkansen (bullet train) for an 11am flight. I rushed around all day tying up loose ends for work, packing and buying things that friends asked me to. I was actually glad to get out of the house because I would have cried if I stayed at home.

After 12 hours of travelling, I touched down into the embrace of my family where we comforted each other through old stories, traditions, and food. My grandmother lived with my parents since my sisters and I were born as he was her only surviving son. He decided on a Taoist Buddhist funeral because it was what she would’ve wanted although she was not religious.

My father got acqauinted with Taoist funeral rites and educated our whole family on what to do. I won’t go into the details but there was a lot of bowing, joss stick burning, offerings, and a couple of monks who chanted ancient scripts and songs. One thing that we did that was a little different was that we wore red after the cremation and had dim sum to celebrate my granny’s long life.

I can’t say that she died peacefully in her sleep because she actually suffered quite a lot physically towards the end. Our domestic helper, Yati, was her care-giver and was with her till her last hour and was an absolute champion in taking good care of my granny. We will forever be grateful to her for her kindness and patience.

As a family, we spent a lot of time together as the wake and funeral wore on. Before leaving for Sri Lanka, I decided not to spend all my time on the computer and I will just enjoy their company. I was afraid the blogging world would forget me if I didn’t post articles for a month, but I have more important matters to take care of in the real world, like catching up with friends and just being around my folks.

So, please forgive my absence and hope you will still be here when I check in again in Jan 2010. Ja, ne. Mata rainen.

It’s the time of year again for the dreaded JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test; you can read about my experience last year here).

I have a love-hate relationship with language learning: I need the skill, but it is f—ing hard to master.

There are times which I just don’t want to look at my textbooks, especially after a warm soup dinner and episodes of Desperate Housewives, Dexter, and Gossip Girl beckon.

But if there is no discipline instilled, nothing would get done, so lately, I’ve been very preoccupied with juggling Japanese study, Beauty Box, and teaching English since my return from NYC, Toronto, and SF.

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“You must try the okonomiyaki in Hiroshima!” I was told by several friends and sensei. What’s special about it is it’s very tall, compared to the Tokyo version, and even considered quite healthy because of its huge amount of cabbage.

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Both the kangaroo and I are history buffs. We are big fans of The Tudors and would recommend any friend visiting to check out the Yasukuni shrine and museum.

So, it was a must for us to witness the relics and writings about the atomic bomb that changed Japan’s culture and outlook.

This is the site that suffered the first atomic bombing. It was a municipal building, called the Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall, and you could see from the ruins how devastating the bomb was. Everything was caved in and all that really remained standing were some metal stairs and the frame of the building.

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The kangaroo loves taking short trips when he breezes back into town. The last time we took a holiday within Japan was to Hokkaido for snowboarding.

“Let’s spend a few days out of Tokyo, babe,” he suggested in August.

“Where do you want to go?” I asked.

“Hiroshima!”

“Why Hiroshima?”

“Because I’ve never been there…”

“Okay!”

And so we packed our bags and hopped onto a shinkansen.

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I finished reading Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, and it just made me fall in love with long distance running again.

In this quirky memoir of sorts, he talks about how running shaped his life as a writer. There’s an interview he did with Runner’s World here, which is a great little introduction to his book.

As the summer morphed into autumn, I increased my jogging sessions to a few times a week. The last three months have been very busy, and like the dry leaves than sweep the sidewalks with the cool breeze, my schedule has also taken on a more languid pace.

I have toyed with the idea of running a full marathon at least once in my life but never committed to one. After reading this book, I feel like throwing myself into a serious running routine for the next 12 months and would like to run one in Japan at the end of 2010 or early 2011.

It was lovely to read about Murakami’s thoughts on marathon running and writing. He throws out gems that sum up the relationship with this popular sport and being a novelist. Both are difficult, long drawn tasks where stamina, patience, a strong will are essential to being successful. I have a new admiration for him being able to endure the pain of both. But he also says very simply that the reason why people love marathons is because it’s fun.

Because of this book, I went online to find out more about this enigmatic writer. Here’s an interesting piece in The Japan Times about baby boomers, the Sarin gas attack, and his writing/running routine. And you might also want to read about the hype around his next novel, 1Q84, here.

Fall is just around the corner in Japan and I was flipping through these photos of my camping trip in Saitama at the tail end of our hot summer.

For the sake of those who don’t know, Saitama is a prefecture north of Tokyo but it’s considered part of Greater Tokyo. Some people tend to be unimpressed when you say you live in Saitama as it’s way out in the boonies where there is cheap housing. But you know, Saitama’s kinda pretty. And quiet. And lovely.

Or at least where I went was a charming lil’ corner of Saitama.

The air was crisp as we were in higher altitudes and soon after we arrived, it poured like crazy. I only brought my light Puma jacket and my hands were constantly stuffed in my pockets.

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As I look back on my folders of photos on my desktop, I’m amazed at how busy my summer was. While chilling out on my futon enjoying the cool autumn air, I wondered where my three months went. I finally understand the idea of “summer fun”. Coming from Singapore, where it is summer all year round, I never understood the fuss.

In summer, there are tons of activities and events in Japan. I definitely notice I get markedly more invitations to do stuff in summer than any other season.

One weekend in August, we went to the annual Azabu Juban Festival. A Japanese festival, or matsuri, usually involves some kind of dance performance but I didn’t see any at this one. Apparently, it’s known for its endless rows of food stalls offering piping hot Japanese street food.

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